New law proposed for crackdown on sex offenders, online predators
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Attorney General Martha Coakley unveiled legislation this morning that is designed to allow prosecutors to more easily pursue sex offenders and online predators.
The legislation, which the House will take up within weeks, provides a series of minimum mandatory sentences for child predators and gives prosecutors new tools for going after them.
“This bill sends a strong message that we are serious about better protecting the children of Massachusetts,” said DiMasi, who was joined by Coakley and a crew of district attorneys.
Yet the legislation stops short of the 25-year mandatory sentences that exist under Jessica’s Law, a bill approved three years ago in Florida that has become the model for 33 other states.
Representative Eugene O’Flaherty, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said, “This legislation will give prosecutors the tools they need to punish sex offenders.”
O’Flaherty was confronted outside his home in March by a producer for Fox News’ "Bill O’Reilly" show, questioning why the state was not enacting Jessica’s Law.
The Massachusetts bill creates three new criminal charges -- aggravated forcible child rape, aggravated statutory child rape, and aggravated assault and battery on a child. It carries mandatory minimum sentences that range from 10 to 20 years in prison.
The bill also will allow prosecutors to more easily obtain subpoenas to Internet service providers to get subscriber information they can use to track online predators.
