The State Assembly recently reached an agreement on new, stronger protections from sex offenders. The new law, signed into law by Governor Pataki shortly thereafter, lengthens the amount of time sex offenders remain on the State's Sex Offender Registry.

The legislation now requires Level 2 sex offenders to remain on the registry for life, but they may petition judges for removal from the list after 30 years. In addition, Level 1 offenders will have to register for 20 years, which is twice the time required under the old statute. Level 3, the highest risk sex offenders, will continue to have to register for life.

Under the previous Megan's Law legislation most sex offenders were only required to register for 10 years and on Jan. 21, the 10th anniversary of the effective date of New York State's sex offender registry, 168 sex offenders were scheduled to be dropped from the registry. Hundreds more were scheduled to drop off the sex offender registry each month thereafter, totaling over 3,500 offenders by the end of 2006.

"We have now taken a great step to strengthen Megan's Law," said Assemblyman Joseph Saladino (R-Massapequa). "I have been pushing to extend and impose stricter parameters to the law's Sex Offender Registry requirement for some time now, along with other measures such as civil confinement, in the State Legislature. The new Megan's Law is not only a victory for my colleagues and me, but most importantly a victory for families across New York State. We must now come together and pass a civil confinement bill to handle predators after their release from prison."

"As with civil confinement, the extension of the Sex Offender Registry regarding particular groups of convicted sex offenders is an issue of great importance to all New York families," added Assemblyman David McDonough (R-Merrick), vice chair of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women. "When it comes to our children, we cannot agree to disagree."

Beginning in 1992, as part of their yearly legislative initiative, Assembly Republicans have demanded action on legislation for civil confinement of the most dangerous sexual predators.

"The Megan's Law extensions are extremely important to furthering my main goal of protecting the children of New York State, but we still have a long way to go to solidify our children's safety in communities across the state," Saladino added. "My number one goal has always been to strengthen Megan's Law and, now that we have made preliminary steps in doing so, I will continue to fight to bring civil confinement legislation to the floor of the Assembly, and I will not stop until it happens."

Saladino acknowledged Long Island Senators Kemp Hannon, Charles Fuschillo and Dean Skelos, the sponsor of Megan's Law, for their joint efforts in passing this legislation.

"By ensuring that the most dangerous sex offenders are registered for life, we will help prevent them from inflicting a lifetime of pain on another family," Fuschillo (R-8th District) added.

Last June, Assembly Republicans including McDonough, James Conte and Rob Walker, launched a petition drive to help get a civil confinement law passed.

"No child, woman or family should have to experience the physical and emotional devastation that sexually violent predators cause," said 15th District Assemblyman Rob Walker (R-Hicksville). "For these reasons all New Yorkers deserve the increased protection and legal safeguards that these legislative proposals would provide."

According to Fuschillo, legislation recently passed by the Senate would allow the state to confine a violent sexual predator in a secure treatment facility, away from the general public, for the purpose of continued rehabilitation after the end of their prison sentence.

"The statistics show that sex criminals are extremely likely to repeat their offenses, and we must make sure that dangerous offenders are not released back into society if they still pose a threat to others," stated Fuschillo. "This legislation would protect the general public by ensuring that offenders who are likely to commit another heinous crime are not allowed to roam the streets."

Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Plainview) said that since his election last year, he has strongly supported and advocated for these desperately needed measures in both the Democratic Majority Conference and on the floor of the Assembly.

"The fact of the matter is that our criminal law sentencing structure is the vestige of a system that was developed well over a century ago, long before we were able to articulate the citizen's fundamental right to privacy," Lavine added.

Lavine said he participated in all of the public hearings conducted by the New York State Assembly on the subject of civil confinement.

"One thing that has impressed me is that we now need to ask what we as a people and as a government can do to protect our citizens from those who are finishing their jail sentences for crimes that are not sexually related," Lavine stated.

Senate and Assembly members have introduced their versions of civil confinement legislation, however, they and the governor would have to compromise for the competing bills to become law.

On July 29, 1994, Richard and Maureen had their lives shattered when their 7-year-old daughter Megan was lured into a neighbor's home with the hopes of seeing his puppy. Shortly after, 30 yards from her front doorstep, Megan Kanka was raped and murdered.

Unknown to the Kankas, a convicted sex offender lived across the street. Since then, this New Jersey family has made it their mission to see the enactment of Megan's Law in every state. First passed in January of 1996, Megan's Law requires released sex offenders to register with police.

Parents for Megan's Law, a not-for-profit national community and victims' rights organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of childhood sexual abuse, maintains another database containing Level 2 and Level 3 offenders living in Nassau and Suffolk counties. While over 180 Level 2 or 3 Sex Offenders are listed on that registry, a recent Parents for Megan's Law survey found that nearly 25 percent of convicted sex offenders are failing to comply with state registration requirements.

Parents for Megan's Law released a study early last year that graded the 50 states on the strength of their own Megan's Law. New York State earned an "F" grade, along with 21 other states, based on their answers to 10 questions.

There are several resources available for residents seeking information on convicted sex offenders living in their neighborhoods. Individuals can visit the Parents for Megan's Law sex offender database at www.parentsformeganslaw.com. It is broken down by individual towns.

Currently, the Parents for Megan's Law sex offender database lists 186 Level 2 and 3 registrants. This includes four in Farmingdale and two in Bethpage.

The New York State Sex Offenders Registry, which is maintained by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, provides an overview of the sex offender registration law and how the public can obtain information about sex offenders. While the website, www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us, only lists Level 3 offenders, data is also accessible through a free information line; 1-800-262-3257. To learn the status of a convicted sex offender, a caller must have the individual's name and at least one of the following identifiers: the individual's street address and apartment number, driver's license number, social security number or birth date.

"It is very specific information that is actually counterintuitive to what the intention of the registry was," said Jessica Scaperotti, State Division of Criminal Justice Services press secretary. "The other problem with not having everybody on the Internet is that you can't go online and find out every single sex offender who is living in your community. It is impossible to do. That is why it is so important that we really get information on all of the sex offenders, regardless of level, on the Internet."

Additionally, individuals can contact the local law enforcement agency where the offender currently resides. If the agency chooses, it can release information on sex offenders residing in the community to "entities with vulnerable populations related to the nature of the offense," as stated by law. The law enforcement agency can only release information on Level 2 and Level 3 offenders through this method. Also, while the exact address of Level 3 offenders can be provided, the law provides that only an approximate address based on zip code can be provided for level 2 offenders. According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, a federal court injunction currently prohibits the release of information through this method concerning sex offenders who committed their crime prior to Jan. 21, 1996 and were assigned a risk-level prior to Jan. 1, 2000.

According to Scaperotti, their registry lists 436 total convicted sex offenders in Nassau County as of Jan. 23. This breakdown includes 213 Level 1 offenders, 150 Level 2 offenders, 55 Level 3 offenders and 18 offenders pending a risk level assessment.