Governor Perdue Signs Legislation Strengthening Georgias Sexual Predator Laws

Governor Perdue Signs Legislation Strengthening Georgia’s Sexual Predator Laws

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue today signed legislation strengthening Georgia’s laws protecting children from sexual predators (HB1059). The bill was sponsored by Representative Jerry Keen and carried in the Senate by Senator Bill Hamrick.

“Our strongest obligation is to keep Georgia citizens safe, especially our children,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “This certainly includes doing everything in our power to keep sexual predators away from our children.”

HB1059 makes the most egregious sex offenses and kidnapping a child under the age of 14 subject to a 25 year minimum sentence with no parole followed by probation for life. The bill increases the time an inmate sentenced to life in prison must serve before parole consideration to 30 years (currently life sentenced inmates are considered after 14 years). HB1059 also:

• Requires lifetime GPS monitoring for sexual predators;
• Removes first offender status and the ability for a judge to probate a sentence for most sex crimes;
• Requires that a sex offender cannot loiter within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, school, church or area where minors congregate (including school bus stops and public swimming pools);
• Requires that a sex offender cannot work within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, school or church and that a sexual predator cannot be employed within 1,000 feet away from where minors congregate.
• Requires that the sex offender review board categorize all sex offenders according to their risk of recidivism.
  

Fact Sheet: Sexual Predator Bill (HB1059)

The following crimes will be punishable by imprisonment for life or a split sentence with at least 25 years to be spent in prison and probation for life:

• Rape (currently 10-20 years);
• Aggravated Sodomy (currently 10-30 years);
• Kidnapping a child under age 14 (currently 10-20 years);
• Aggravated sexual battery (currently 10-20 years); and
• Aggravated child molestation (currently 10-30 years).
  

The following crimes will be punishable by 25-50 years:

• Aggravated assault with intent to rape a child under age 14 (currently 1-20 years);
• Sexual assault against a child in custody that is under age 14 (currently 1-3 years); and
• Incest with a child under age 14 (currently 1-20 years).
  

Increases the sentence length for other crimes:

• Enticing a child for indecent purposes (from 1-20 years to 10-30 years);
• Sexual assault against persons in custody (to 10-30 years);
• Incest (from 1-20 years to 10-30 years);
• Second offense of sexual battery (from high & aggravated misdemeanor to felony; 1-5 years);
• Increases the minimum stay before a life-sentenced inmate is parole eligible to 30 years (currently 14 years);
• Increases the minimum stay before a commuted death-sentence inmate is parole eligible to 30 years (currently 25 years); and
• Failure to comply with all sexual offender registration requirements (10-30 years for first offense and life sentence thereafter).
  

Creates a New Crime:

• Harboring a sex offender (5-20 years).
  

Sentencing Provisions

• Removes first offender status, removes the ability to probate the mandatory minimum sentence and requires at least one year of probation in addition to the minimum sentence for the following crimes:
  • aggravated assault with intent to rape;
  • false imprisonment (if not the child of the victim and less than 14 years of age);
  • sodomy (excluding statutory offenses);
  • statutory rape (if the perpetrator is 21 years or older);
  • child molestation (excluding statutory offenses);
  • enticing a child for indecent purposes (excluding statutory offenses);
  • sexual assault against persons in custody;
  • incest; and
  • second or subsequent offense for sexual battery or sexual exploitation of children. (Allows the court to deviate for the above crimes for first offenders who did not use a weapon, did not intentionally cause physical harm to the victim, did not transport the victim to commit the crime and did not physically restrain the victim.);
• Adds murder, rape or kidnapping by someone who previously had committed rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation or aggravated sexual battery as an aggravating circumstance for seeking the death penalty; and
• Removes the ability for bail and appeal bonds when an individual has been convicted of child molestation.
  

Sex Offender Review Board Requirements

• Requires all sex offenders currently incarcerated and all sentenced after July 1, 2006 to be reviewed by the sex offender review board and designated as a tier 1 sexual offender, tier 2 sexual offender or sexual predator based on their risk to recidivate.
• Offenders deemed “sexually dangerous predators” must have GPS monitoring for life.
  

Sex Offender Registration Requirements

• Requires registration for life for all convicted sex offenders except those adjudicated in juvenile court and misdemeanors;
• Allows an offender to petition the court to be removed from the registry if they were a first offender who did not use a weapon, did not intentionally cause physical harm to the victim, did not transport the victim to commit the crime and did not physically restrain the victim and if they have been out of correctional supervision for 10 years;
• Adds a $250 annual registration fee to be paid to the state of Georgia;
• Reduces the registration time frame to 72 hours (from 10 days)
• Requires posting of the list of sex offenders in each county in the sheriffs office, county administrative building, main administrative building for municipal corporation, office of the clerk of the superior court and on a website maintained by the sheriff.
• Requires that sheriffs provide sex offender information to campus police and schools.
  

Other

• Adds age and sex of the victim to the criminal history database;
• States that a sex offender cannot loiter within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, school, church or area where minors congregate (including school bus stops and public pools);
• States that a sex offender cannot work within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, school or church; and
• States that a sex dangerous predator cannot be employed within 1,000 feet from where minors congregate.
  

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