Legislation Tightens Tracking of Convicted Sex Offenders
Posted August 10, 2007

This week Governor Corzine signed into law the Sex Offender Monitoring Act, which establishes a sex offender tracking program in the state of New Jersey.

According to the bill description, the legislation “make[s] permanent the sex offender monitoring program which was originally established as a two-year pilot program … [and which] provides continuous, satellite-based monitoring of high risk sex offenders….”

Under the provision, the criteria for selection for monitoring are:

1. Offenders who have been determined to have a high risk of re-offense
2. Offenders who have been determined by the chairman of the State Parole Board to require continual monitoring, including those who
   • are sexually violent predators and have been conditionally discharged or discharged
   • have been sentenced to community or parole supervision for life
   • have been convicted of or ruled delinquent for a sex offense involving a victim under 18 years of age or over 60 years of age

Welcoming the bill’s official enactment, co-sponsor Assemblywoman Allison Littell McHose (R-Sussex) released a statement, which read in part

It’s a well known fact that offenders who commit serious and violent sex crimes have high recidivism rates. Studies show they are four to five times more likely to commit a new sex offense than those without such prior convictions[,] which poses an unacceptable level of risk to our communities. Intensive supervision of such offenders, as prescribed in this new law, is crucial to the safety of our children and communities….

This law should not only give some level of comfort to parents and guardians, but it serves notice to sex offenders everywhere that New Jersey will not tolerate repeated deviant sexual criminal behavior, especially against our children.

Using global positions system (GPS) technology and a device worn by the offender, officials will be able to track the location of convicted sex offenders and share this information with law enforcement personnel. And the benefits of the provision are significant, both in crime prevention and in crime solving. Not only will law enforcement personnel be able to determine if a convicted sex offender was in the area of a crime at the time it occurred, but officials will also be able to ensure that sex offenders are living at their registered locations.

According to Assemblywoman McHose, already the pilot program, in place since 2005, has proved the necessity of the bill, as officials were able to arrest a repeat sex offender after GPS technology showed that he was not living where he claimed to be.

The NJFPC has called both for stricter sex offender laws and for stronger penalties for convicted sex offenders in order to protect our innocent children. In addition, the NJFPC is supportive of a lawsuit, filed by Lower Township, which seeks to uphold buffer zones designating areas where convicted sex offenders may not live. Not surprisingly, the ACLU and company are challenging the law, which currently imposes a 1,000-foot buffer zone surrounding schools, school bus stops, daycares, etc.

Nevertheless, the NJFPC will continue to fight to protect New Jersey’s children. We applaud the passage of this bi-partisan legislation and urge its strict enforcement.

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