Testimony of Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr.
before the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety on
“The Effectiveness of City, State and Federal Sex Offender Laws”

November 29, 2005

Thank you Chairman Vallone, and members of the Public Safety Committee for holding this hearing and allowing me to share my views on the law regarding convicted sex offenders.

As the chief law enforcement official of my borough, I feel it is my duty to protect the citizens of my borough as well as punish those who prey upon them. As a prosecutor, I believe that current law in New York State does not go far enough to protect our most vulnerable citizens from violent sexual predators. As a result of this failure, it may be time for our city and federal governments to take the initiative and act where the state has failed to do so.

The sexual assault and murder of 9 year-old Jessica Lunsford earlier this year in rural Florida, by a convicted sex offender, is the latest in a long string of tragedies where our children have been preyed upon by habitual sexual predators. This tragic story has provided a national impetus to strengthen the laws governing the movement and registration requirements of convicted sex offenders. Unfortunately it has not been enough of an impetus to untangle the gridlock in Albany.

Similar cases, in which convicted sex offenders attacked again after being released from prison, have occurred throughout the nation and here in New York State. The fact is that many of these violent sex offenders simply cannot be rehabilitated and are likely to strike again upon release.

Legislation to protect our most vulnerable citizens has been swiftly enacted across the nation and currently is pending in Albany but has not been permitted for a floor vote by the Assembly leadership. This legislation, which reflects the prevailing law across the country, would:

• Enact a program of civil confinement where the most dangerous predators, with the highest chance of recidivism, can receive the treatment they require while the public is protected. This type of legislation is law of the land in over a dozen states and has already been upheld by the Supreme Court. Legislation of this nature is vital because sexually violent predators are released into our communities upon the expiration of their prison sentences without the benefit of treatment designed to address their problems. Some critics of this legislation have argued that the answer to violent sexual predators is to simply enact longer sentences. Our system of justice does not allow judges to incarcerate someone indefinitely. Short of a life sentence without parole, there will always be a chance that these predators will be free to roam our streets.

Let me give you a brief example of a tragedy from my borough which could have been averted had New York State enacted a civil confinement law. In May 2004, a paroled sex offender is alleged to have raped a 15-year old girl in Mariner’s Harbor. This man, a career criminal who has spent 24 of the last 27 years in prison, was convicted of a rape in Brooklyn in 1986. Three months after his parole, he is alleged to have assaulted and repeatedly raped the girl at knifepoint. He also assaulted the girl’s mother and then set their
apartment aflame. Fortunately no one was killed in this horrific attack. Had civil confinement been “on the books” in New York, this defendant would have received the psychological treatment he obviously needs and two victims would have been spared this horrific ordeal.
• Require the most dangerous sex offenders to wear electronic devices linked to Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites in order to monitor their whereabouts.

• Expand the information available about sex offenders on the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ website to include information on all registered offenders. New York State’s “bare-bones” website lags far behind other states in the level of detail available and only provides information regarding Level 3 offenders. I would urge our legislators to look to other states, such as California’s database, for inspiration.

• Require law enforcement to release information on Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders - those at the highest risk of committing additional crimes – to vulnerable populations in the community, rather than placing the burden on the public to seek out such information.

• Require lifetime registration for all sex offenders on the NYS Sex Offender Registry.

Also included in this legislation is a requirement that would prevent convicted sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of a school or school grounds. Unfortunately, the bill exempts municipalities of over 1 million from this requirement. I would hope that a compromise can be reached which meets our desire for public safety with the realities of the density of urban living. This legislation would seem to be a common sense measure aimed at anyone who has been convicted of a sexual assault, let alone against a child. However, there are cases which illustrate why this requirement needs to be codified. To that end, I would also encourage our elected legislators to consider restricting the proximity of places of employment for sex offenders relative to our schools.

Just in the past few months, my office was contacted by citizens, who consulted our state’s Sex Offender Registry and learned that a sexual predator, convicted of 3rd Degree Rape against a 16 year old girl and 1st Degree Sexual Abuse against an 8 year old girl, moved into a hotel facility where he was working as a handyman. It just so happened that this hotel facility was directly across the street from an elementary school. Working with the Department of Probation, we were able to have this man moved from that location. Unfortunately, he then relocated to a new neighborhood, yet again a stone’s throw from an elementary school. Again, as a community, we were able to have this individual moved – to a new apartment where he is not in proximity to children.

Fortunately, members of our community, working with my office and Department of Probation were able to track this individual’s movements. However it is not realistic to leave this responsibility to the community.

In yet another case, a Level 3 sex offender, who sexually molested two boys, aged 8 and 10, moved into a residence where there was a public school bus stop right outside his front door. Literally, potential victims were being delivered to this predator’s doorstep.

In this instance, in lieu of state legislation, perhaps the City Council, through the valuable work of this committee, can mandate that sex offenders not reside within a proscribed distance of school bus stops before there is yet another tragedy. It is common sense that convicted sexual predators, many of whom readily admit they can barely
contain their urges, should be prohibited from living and working so close to our children. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

I would like to take a moment to speak briefly on legislation pending in Washington which I believe is essential to protecting our communities from sexual predators. In the past months I have stood with Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Vito Fossella to voice our support for federal legislation that would create: a national sex offender registry, stronger registration standards for offenders, establishes strict penalties for failure to register - making failing to register or to update registry information a federal felony and links state registries so that an offense committed in one state does not go unrecognized in another.

Let me briefly give you an example that illustrates the need for federal standards regarding these sexual predators. In 2003, my office was prosecuting a man for a domestic violence incident in which he assaulted his girlfriend. In reviewing his “rap sheet” one of my prosecutors noted a 1993 conviction in South Carolina for sexual abuse. Specifically the defendant sexually assaulted his 3 year old cousin, who contracted syphilis. Upon his release from prison, the defendant, who had registered as an offender with South Carolina, relocated and told state authorities it was none of their business where he was relocating to. He chose to come to New York City and never bothered to register here. South Carolina authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest but declined to extradite him after he was arrested in our case because he was only facing a misdemeanor charge of not complying. My office could not charge him with a crime for failing to register because there was no evidence that defendant was aware of the requirements in New York. We conducted a Sex Offender hearing in Supreme Court in August 2003 and the defendant was found to be a Level 3 offender.

Because of loopholes in the current system, this sexual predator, with a lengthy rap sheet, was free to roam our city – without anyone knowing his heinous history. Were a federal system in place, every state would have been notified of his failure to register and he would have been facing a federal prison sentence for failing to maintain his registration.

In New York State there are over 20,000 registered sex offenders that we are aware of, with nearly 5,300 residing within the five boroughs. I believe that our government has a responsibility to enact the strongest laws possible to protect our most vulnerable citizens from this threat. Sadly, on the state level here in New York, our citizens are being failed in this most basic responsibility. I would encourage this body to use your legislative powers, along with affirmative votes on the resolutions before you today, to prod our Albany legislators to action.

It would not be a moment too soon.

I again thank the Committee, and especially Chairman Vallone, for your continued dedication to protecting our city.

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov