rockin'robin
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Bill signing scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Gov. Rick Scott will sign landmark legislation that is designed to better protect children in Florida from sexual predators on Tuesday afternoon.
April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month, so the bill signing coincides with the first day.
Diena Thompson, mother of 8-year-old murder victim Somer Thompson, is expected to be in Tallahassee for the signing. She lobbied for the bill and promised she was be there when the law was signed.
Sexual abuse survivors will also be there for the historic signing. It will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Tallahassee.
WATCH LIVE: Gov. Scott signs sexual predator legislation
Thompson knows all too well the pain sexual predators can cause. Somer Thompson was abducted and killed by 26-year-old Jarred Harrell while walking home from school in Orange Park.
"One of the things I said at the beginning about this, is that if I could have anything out of this, I would have Somer's story essentially go down in history,” said Thompson.
Thompson turned her pain into progress, and has lobbied for stricter laws in Florida since she lost her daughter. Tuesday she’ll get to watch some of her hard work pay off as Gov. Scott signs new sexually violent predator legislation.
State lawmakers were also prompted into action by another Jacksonville case; The abduction and murder of Cherish Perrywinkle. Investigators said she died at the hands of Donald Smith, who has a long history of sexual crimes.
"It means people are finally starting to listen and it doesn't just stop here changing the laws, we need to educate our kids and we need educate our parents,” said Thompson.
ONLINE DATABASE: Search for sexual offenders/predators in your zip code
Also at Tuesday's signing will be Lauren Book, a sexual abuse survivor and nationally recognized child protection advocate who walks 1,500 miles across Florida to create awareness every year.
"We have to do everything we can to give law enforcement the tools to protect the public against these monsters,” said Sen. Rob Bradley.
Bradley sponsored one of the new laws, which restricts offenders from earning reduced jail sentences for good behavior. The other laws force sexual predators to disclose more personal information, and closes the loopholes that would help them avoid civil commitment after serving jail time.
”It sends a clear message to the monsters out there and the victims that this behavior is intolerable,” said Bradley.
Scott will sign four bills that are part of the Legislature’s “protecting Florida’s vulnerable” initiative:
CS/CS/SB 522, substituted for CS/HB 7019:
Closes a loophole and creates a process by which persons sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a jail can be referred to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for civil commitment; raises standards and increases accountability in the DCF evaluation process for determining whether an offender meets criteria for commitment to the Sexually Violent Predator Program.
Requires DCF to notify victims, the Department of Corrections (DOC), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and the sheriffs in the county in which the person intends to reside or, if unknown, in the county in which the person was last convicted, of the release of all persons in the custody of DCF – not just those committed as sexually violent predators.
CS/SB 524, substituted for CS/CS/HB 7021:
Creates enhanced standards for the membership of the DCF multidisciplinary team (MDT), whose duty is to assess whether convicted sexual offenders meet the clinical definition of a sexually violent predator, and requires additional annual training for all members of MDT; Allows for civil commitment consideration when at least two of the five MTD members feel it is appropriate and necessary
The bill also requires private and public colleges and universities to inform students and employees about FDLE’s sexual predator and offender registry website and toll-free telephone number that gives access to sexual predator and offender information
CS/CS/SB 528, substituted for CS/CS/HB 7025
Allows for better tracking of sex offenders/sexually violent predators by requiring them to provide expanded information to law enforcement, such as Internet usernames, tag numbers for all vehicles and passports
CS/CS/CS/SB 526, substituted for CS/HB 7027:
Imposes a mandatory sentence of 50 years for those convicted of the rape or torture of children, seniors or individuals with a disability
Expands the court’s ability to allow use of service and therapy animals to aid a child victim or witness in a sexually motivated crime
Eliminates current statutory time limitation for bringing a criminal prosecution for lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of a child less than 16 years old
Eliminates incentive gain-time eligibility for sexually violent offenses
Mandate community supervision of sex offenders who do not receive the maximum prison sentence through split sentencing, tolls community supervision period of SVPs in civil commitment to preserve the period of supervision until release from detention or commitment.
Gov. to sign sexual predator laws | News - Home
Gov. Rick Scott will sign landmark legislation that is designed to better protect children in Florida from sexual predators on Tuesday afternoon.
April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month, so the bill signing coincides with the first day.
Diena Thompson, mother of 8-year-old murder victim Somer Thompson, is expected to be in Tallahassee for the signing. She lobbied for the bill and promised she was be there when the law was signed.
Sexual abuse survivors will also be there for the historic signing. It will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Tallahassee.
WATCH LIVE: Gov. Scott signs sexual predator legislation
Thompson knows all too well the pain sexual predators can cause. Somer Thompson was abducted and killed by 26-year-old Jarred Harrell while walking home from school in Orange Park.
"One of the things I said at the beginning about this, is that if I could have anything out of this, I would have Somer's story essentially go down in history,” said Thompson.
Thompson turned her pain into progress, and has lobbied for stricter laws in Florida since she lost her daughter. Tuesday she’ll get to watch some of her hard work pay off as Gov. Scott signs new sexually violent predator legislation.
State lawmakers were also prompted into action by another Jacksonville case; The abduction and murder of Cherish Perrywinkle. Investigators said she died at the hands of Donald Smith, who has a long history of sexual crimes.
"It means people are finally starting to listen and it doesn't just stop here changing the laws, we need to educate our kids and we need educate our parents,” said Thompson.
ONLINE DATABASE: Search for sexual offenders/predators in your zip code
Also at Tuesday's signing will be Lauren Book, a sexual abuse survivor and nationally recognized child protection advocate who walks 1,500 miles across Florida to create awareness every year.
"We have to do everything we can to give law enforcement the tools to protect the public against these monsters,” said Sen. Rob Bradley.
Bradley sponsored one of the new laws, which restricts offenders from earning reduced jail sentences for good behavior. The other laws force sexual predators to disclose more personal information, and closes the loopholes that would help them avoid civil commitment after serving jail time.
”It sends a clear message to the monsters out there and the victims that this behavior is intolerable,” said Bradley.
Scott will sign four bills that are part of the Legislature’s “protecting Florida’s vulnerable” initiative:
CS/CS/SB 522, substituted for CS/HB 7019:
Closes a loophole and creates a process by which persons sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a jail can be referred to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for civil commitment; raises standards and increases accountability in the DCF evaluation process for determining whether an offender meets criteria for commitment to the Sexually Violent Predator Program.
Requires DCF to notify victims, the Department of Corrections (DOC), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and the sheriffs in the county in which the person intends to reside or, if unknown, in the county in which the person was last convicted, of the release of all persons in the custody of DCF – not just those committed as sexually violent predators.
CS/SB 524, substituted for CS/CS/HB 7021:
Creates enhanced standards for the membership of the DCF multidisciplinary team (MDT), whose duty is to assess whether convicted sexual offenders meet the clinical definition of a sexually violent predator, and requires additional annual training for all members of MDT; Allows for civil commitment consideration when at least two of the five MTD members feel it is appropriate and necessary
The bill also requires private and public colleges and universities to inform students and employees about FDLE’s sexual predator and offender registry website and toll-free telephone number that gives access to sexual predator and offender information
CS/CS/SB 528, substituted for CS/CS/HB 7025
Allows for better tracking of sex offenders/sexually violent predators by requiring them to provide expanded information to law enforcement, such as Internet usernames, tag numbers for all vehicles and passports
CS/CS/CS/SB 526, substituted for CS/HB 7027:
Imposes a mandatory sentence of 50 years for those convicted of the rape or torture of children, seniors or individuals with a disability
Expands the court’s ability to allow use of service and therapy animals to aid a child victim or witness in a sexually motivated crime
Eliminates current statutory time limitation for bringing a criminal prosecution for lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of a child less than 16 years old
Eliminates incentive gain-time eligibility for sexually violent offenses
Mandate community supervision of sex offenders who do not receive the maximum prison sentence through split sentencing, tolls community supervision period of SVPs in civil commitment to preserve the period of supervision until release from detention or commitment.
Gov. to sign sexual predator laws | News - Home