California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is set to sign Assembly Bill 1844, "Chelsea's Law". Yesterday, the California Assembly unanimously passed the bill that will enact one of the nation's toughest sex offender laws on the books. It's about time. Both Chelsea King and Amber Dubois were killed by registered sex offender, John Albert Gardner III. Amazingly, despite being a registered sex offender and sporting a tracking bracelet, Gardner roamed freely around Southern California stalking victims, after serving time for another violent crime against a child. He should have been monitored. In my opinion, he should never have been released. Both Amber and Chelsea would have been alive today had he been kept behind bars. Our local Senator, Dennis Hollingsworth, has authored a bill which passed unanimously today in the senate. This bill, S85, will help families preserve the memories of their slain children. It is called the "Deceased Child Victims Protection and Privacy Act". Under this bill, the gruesome details of a child's murder and autopsy results can be sealed by the victim's family. If a family has lost a child in a perverse killing, they have every right to privacy. I can't imagine, as a mother, turning on the t.v. to see my child portrayed as a victim of sexual torture and abuse. It would be nearly as devastating as the murder itself.
New laws proposed in California require a checklist for police to follow during missing child investigations, reduce the reporting time to get authorities working on the case, and provide for a Director of Missing Child Operations, a new position in the State Attorney General's office. All of these new laws will go into effect in January, 2011. Governor Schwarzenegger will sign them all. He has stated "I am committed to protecting our children and keeping our communities safe from the threat of sexual predators, and Chelsea's Law will help to do that by creating harsher penalties on those that prey on children". I don't think the penalties could ever be harsh enough, but California is leading the way in passing laws that actually have teeth. Chelsea's Law mandates life sentences for those who commit violent sex crimes against children. No three strikes. One strike, and it's life behind bars, just as it should be. The recidivism rates for sex crimes are so high that repeat offenders are a given. In my view, a death sentence wouldn't be too harsh, but putting them in jail and throwing away the key is going to protect children from what Chelsea and Amber and their families have gone through.
If you go to the Megan's Law website and look up the sex offenders in your neighborhood and in your city, you will be astounded. They are everywhere. Time to get them out of our neighborhoods and into jail where they belong. There is no more heinous crime than a sex crime against a child.
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