Senator Strickland's Sex Offender Bill Moves Forward

The California Assembly passed a bill today to enhance restrictions on where convicted sex offenders can live in the community.

The bill, authored by State Senator Tony Strickland (R-Newbury Park) last year, prohibits felons on probation for sex crimes against children from living within a half-mile of their victim’s homes. Strickland told the San Francisco Chronicle that, “Being forced to walk by the house of their molester in order to get to and from school will do nothing to help a child get over the tragedy of being molested.”

Current state law prevents registered sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of a school or park. Opponents of the bill argued that excluding sex offenders from residential communities leaves them with no place to live and causes them to roam the streets.

The bill, SB1253, passed 61-0 and was endorsed by the California State Sheriff’s Association. The bill will now be presented to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be signed into law.