Asa Calls For Stronger Child Predator Law In Arkansas

March 24, 2006

Asa Calls For Stronger Child Predator Law In Arkansas

Bella Vista - Asa Hutchinson, 2006 Republican candidate for Arkansas Governor, called today for a stronger law in Arkansas to protect children against sexual predators.

Looking to the model of "Jessica's Law," originally passed in Florida to subject child sex offenders to tougher penalties and more stringent monitoring, Hutchinson said that as Governor he would lead the charge to pass a similar law in Arkansas.

"With heartbreaking frequency, we see reports from around the nation about children being assaulted, exploited, abducted and preyed upon," Hutchinson said. "Right here in Arkansas, we have seen such tragedies, such as the case of Morgan Nick.

"As a parent I have walked in marches with Colleen Nick, and as Governor I can see no more valuable way to continue that fight that to strengthen our laws dealing with child predators. Arkansas needs to make it perfectly clear that we will not tolerate those who prey on the most vulnerable among us."

Specifically, Hutchinson called for a law that would:

1) Provide tougher mandatory sentences for sexual predators.

2) Tighten registration requirements for convicted sexual offenders, including mandatory revocation of parole if an offender fails to register with the proper authorities, and tightening the time frame required for sexual offenders to register when they move into a new community.

3) Tighten tracking requirements for paroled sexual offenders, including use of electronic monitoring technology to monitor their whereabouts.

At the Department of Homeland Security, Hutchinson oversaw one of the nation's most intensive crackdowns on child predators, Internet child pornographers, and human trafficking of children for purposes of sexual slavery. "Operation Predator," as the crackdown was dubbed, was hailed nationwide, including by national child protection activist and "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh.

"One of the steps we took at Homeland Security was to team up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to create a national database that could help law enforcement officials track down missing and abducted children during those first critical hours," Hutchinson said. "We also created a centralized national web portal for all of the states' Megan's Law registries to allow better tracking of convicted predators."

"Reforms such as these instituted by Homeland Security at the federal level, and by states like Florida at the local level, are common-sense steps that we can put into place to protect our children here in Arkansas," said Hutchinson. "As Governor, I will work with the Legislature to ensure that enacting such a law is one of our top priorities in the 2007 General Assembly."

Jessica's Law was named in honor of Jessica Lunsford of Florida, who was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered in March 2005. Initially enacted in Florida in May 2005, Arizona and Louisiana have since passed similar legislation.

Hutchinson endorsed the Jessica's Law model for Arkansas while speaking at a lunch meeting of the Benton County Republican Men's Club in Bella Vista.

http://www.asaforgovernor.org/get-informed/campaignnews/default.aspx?NewsID=48