Ohio legislators are cracking down on sex offenders with a proposal to increase penalties and improve awareness for a safer state.
Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens, is co-sponsoring a bill along with Rep. Kathleen Walcher, R-Huron, that would include extensive protection for families and children. The legislation would decrease the time that an offender has to register in the county he or she resides from seven days to five days.
"The catalyst for this bill was an event in Wayne County last August, when a 14-year-old girl was abducted, raped and killed by a known sex offender who had recently been released from prison," said Carl Kamm, aide to Walcher. "The family lived just outside of the notification area and did not know that there was an offender in the vicinity."
Because of this event, Gov. Bob Taft created a task force to find new ways to increase legislation against sex offenders.
A high rate of repeat offenses among sex offenders needs to be stopped, Stewart said. A statewide Internet database of sex offenders would be created for law enforcement and citizens, which would give them access to the names of the sex offenders.
In 1999, OU students reported 97 incidents of sexual assault Ohio University police, the Athens Police Department, campus related organizations and community organizations, such as O'Bleness Memorial Hospital and My Sister's Place according to http://www.ohiou.edu/police.
Rape is the most common act of sexual assault, with 4,466 cases being reported in Ohio in 2001. This number is low because more than 60 percent of rapes are never reported, said Judi Moseley, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health.
The House approved the proposal last week, and the bill is in the Senate for ratification. If passed, the changed law would come under federal guidelines, which would bring approximately $2 million in grant money to the state, Kamm said.
The funding would come from the United States Department of Justice. If Ohio changes the current legislation to comply with federal issues, the state would qualify for federal grant money.
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