Last Tuesday, the New York State Senate acted on legislation that would strengthen Megan's Law by mandating lifetime registration for convicted sex offenders. According to senate members, the action was necessary due to the fact that over 220 sex offenders will be dropping off the New York State sex offender registry by the end of January and more than 3,500 will be purged from the statewide registry by the end of the year due to a provision in the original law.

Passed overwhelmingly, this legislation now needs approval in the New York State Assembly. This legislation is part of a broad package which is designed to protect women and children from sexual predators, much of which has already passed the New York State Senate in past years.

Joseph Saladino and Charles Fuschillo, the Massapequa area's two state senators, both supported the bill. Senator Saladino recently held a press conference expressing his "unwavering" support for Gov. George Pataki's five-point plan on the matter. "I fully support the governor's plan to protect New York's children and families from dangerous sexual predators," he said. "These bills have been brought to the table time and time again...2006 is the year where we must make protecting children priority one."

Currently, most sex offenders are required to register for ten years and on January 21, the 10th anniversary of the effective date of New York State's sex offender registry, a number who have committed heinous crimes will be purged from the system if the Assembly does not approve similar legislation.

Members of the Senate Majority were joined by Laura Ahearn, Executive Director of "Parents For Megan's Law," a not-for-profit, national community and victim's rights organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of childhood sexual abuse.

"Legislative action must be taken immediately to prevent thousands of convicted sex offenders from vanishing off of the Registry," said Ms. Ahearn. "Without immediate legislative intervention, sexual predators will be allowed to go about completely unnoticed in our communities. They could be coaching your child, selling them ice cream or working in a toy store and parents or employers would never know."

The legislation is the first step in a series of bills the Senate will act on this month to toughen New York's sex offender laws. Shortly, the Senate plans to act on legislation that would provide for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators after they have completed their prison sentence in order to protect the public from criminals likely to commit repeated acts of sexual violence.