EQUAL TIME: Weakening the law would hurt too many

In 2006, I authored the bill that created the toughest sexual offender law in the nation in response to the tragic death of Jessica Lunsford. The 9-year-old girl was raped, bound with speaker wire, wrapped in garbage bags and put into a hole in the ground before being buried alive by her kidnapper: a convicted sex offender. John Couey was apprehended here in Georgia.

In Georgia, as much as possible, we want to protect children from people who want to rob them of their innocence and even their lives.

In their zeal to protect the rights of convicted felons, those fighting the new sex offender law have trivialized the rights of the victims of sexual crimes. And they haven’t told you the whole story.

Offenders who received first offender treatment before the new law went into effect should be able to come off the registry if they are in compliance with the requirements of their probation. Those who are still on the registry have either committed subsequent crimes or were not granted first offender treatment because the judge in that particular trial did not consider it appropriate.

Sexual offenders are placed on the state registry for a reason. We do not always hear every sordid detail of one offender’s case because those who are pushing so hard for relief for offenders often leave out the particular circumstances that led the offender to be placed on the list in the first place.

For that reason, it is incumbent upon us to trust the criminal justice system. Each offender on the registry list has been indicted by a grand jury, gone to trial and convicted by a jury of his or her peers.

The new law also provides that, for certain crimes, teenagers who are engaging in what some might call “consensual” sex acts will be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges.

If found guilty of a misdemeanor sex act, a teenage offender will not have to register. Only felony crimes require registration for life.

Those convicted offenders who were on the registry before the new law went into effect were not reviewed by the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board and we have no way of knowing how dangerous they could be.

The law needs to be tough, because as much as sexual criminals want you to believe that they will not reoffend, we know that they can, do and will re-offend. If you don’t believe that, think of Jessica.

It is not the role of the General Assembly to play judge and jury. When the legislature passes a law it does so for a class of people. It would be reckless for the General Assembly to exempt an entire group of offenders from registration and monitoring requirements.

We created a law that is designed to keep all sexual criminals away from any future victims. To weaken the law for one has grave potential to hurt many.

No matter how vigorously some might argue that the General Assembly needs to fix the woes of convicted sexual offenders, I believe that our duty is first to the victims of these crimes, and that is where we should focus our time and energy.

> Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons) is House majority leader in the Georgia General Assembly.