Assemblyman David G. McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick), noting just 13 days of the 2006 legislative session remain, today was joined by Kim Talman, state chair of the National Association to Protect Children, and local district attorneys to urge Speaker Sheldon Silver and his majority members to pass legislation aimed at further protecting New Yorkers from sexual predators.

“We have an opportunity before the end of session this year to pass legislation that would strengthen protections for the most vulnerable in our communities – children and women,” said McDonough. “If the speaker and his colleagues are serious about passing these bills, he will work hard in the next few weeks, and not block attempts to protect our communities.”

The Assembly minority has led the charge to strengthen laws that further protect state residents from sexual predators, yet the Assembly majority has consistently blocked several crucial initiatives. The measures include civil confinement of the most violent convicted sex offenders after their prison sentences end, elimination of the five-year statute of limitations for rape cases and expansion of the state DNA database.

Most notably, no vote has been taken on a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a majority member and chair of the Assembly Codes Committee, that would eliminate New York’s “incest loophole” and allow children who are raped by family members the same protections as other children. The bill passed, 58-0, in the state Senate.