Members of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women (SAVE-New York) met in Hempstead Town Hall earlier this month to listen to testimony from experts in child abuse treatment and prevention. They also heard from advocates for a stronger Megan's Law and other measures to protect children across the state from sexual predators. This was the second forum held across New York but the first held in Albany.

Task Force Chair and Assemblyman Mike Spano of Yonkers noted that the task force's goal is to educate its members as to what can be done to prevent sexual predators from harming both women and children in New York. The assembly members on hand, including Steve Labriola, Dave McDonough, Maureen O'Connell, James Conte and David Townsend, all of whom are task force members, as well as Spano, agreed that the primary goal of the hearings was to better educate members and help them craft solid legislation to further enhance protection for women and children and also be aware of ways to strengthen current laws.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray welcomed Task Force members to town hall. "As a former assemblywoman, I know that meaningful legislative initiatives come out of hearings such as this. We need to make sure our laws adequately protect our children."

Murray added, "As a former advocate with Suffolk University's Battered Women's Advocacy Project, I am acutely sensitive to the plight of exploited and abused programs. The work of this Task Force will help safeguard children from sexual abuse through the development of stronger legislation. Perhaps one of the greatest areas of concern is that of the Internet. It is an impressive research tool that opens up vast educational horizons. At the same time, it can present serious dangers for our children. The Internet has been misused by people who have exploited children and issues such as cyber stalking merit serious attention on the part of our governmental leaders."

The Task Force heard testimony from experts, including Cynthia Scott (executive director, Coalition on Child Abuse and Neglect), Joanne Gorman (director, community services, Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk), Robert Lloyd (executive director, Long Island Citizens for Community Values), Alane Fagin (executive director, Child Abuse Prevention Services) and Joy Watson (deputy district attorney, Nassau County).

During her testimony, Watson praised Megan's Law for affording protection for potential victims of sex offenders and also for putting offenders on notice that they are being watched. At the same time, Watson noted that one significant flaw is that Megan's Law does not apply to Youthful Offender Adjudications where the court permits the defendant to receive a sealed record.

Watson asked Task Force members to take appropriate steps to correct the current legislation so that those who receive a Youthful Offender Adjudication will still be subject to registration requirements under Megan's Law. Watson said that those 20 years of age or younger who commit sexual crimes against children have indicated a clear potential for recidivism and asked that legislators strengthen the law by making it a requirement that they register under Megan's Law.

The Hempstead forum was especially timely, given the recent arrest of James Kimp, a convicted sex offender who did not register under Megan's Law and was allowed to run a youth group in Roosevelt because a background check was never performed.

"James Kimp was allowed to work with children because he was not subject to a background check. Employers need to be able to look into the histories of prospective employees who are going to be around children. This is not a hypothetical situation. This is real life and we need to adjust our laws accordingly, so they afford our children as much protection as possible," O'Connell said.

Much of the testimony provided at the forum focused on Internet safety. Fagin, executive director of Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) since its inception in 1982, told Task Force members that a major problem is that parents are not properly educated when it comes to the Internet. She noted that many parents let their children "surf the net" for hours on end and don't see the signs that their children may be involved in something that could be potentially dangerous.

"Many [children who are on the Internet] are meeting people who they think are other children but are actually sex predators," Fagin said. "Parents, as well as children, need to be educated in the topic of Internet safety."

Scott also addressed the challenges of Internet safety, noting that it's an area where it is necessary to be innovative and unafraid of taking dramatically unheard of action.

"I see that the Task Force has proposed an Internet Protection Act that would penalize those who disseminate and display sexually explicit material, among other actions, and has created and defined 'cyber stalking,' making it a Class E felony," Scott said. "Like Megan's Law, this too is another good start. But to be truly effective we'll need to take it into the arena of placing restrictions on use of the Internet by sexual predators - possibly 20,000 of them - and deal with the right to freedom of speech. What we can and must do quickly is educate our children about the dangers of the Internet."

Scott added that "just as the Internet email providers industry has begun to collaboratively address the problem of spam and junk mail delivery, it is necessary to press Internet providers to prevent the purveyors of a debased human sexuality from having access to the electronic highway. We need our elected officials to lead us in this action to protect our children and keep them safe."

SAVE-New York has planned five public forums across the state in 2003. The next is scheduled to take place in Syracuse next month.