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Full Color Brochures Starting at Print Place._ Order Now! $52.50 SunSentinel Home Collections Central Florida n Recommend 1:11341111 State senators fast-track sex offender n Recommend 3 legislation March 3, 2014 I By Tonya Alanez and Dana Williams, Staff writers 1 • 9 • TALLAHASEE - State senators are poised to pass landmark legislation Tweet 8+1 aimed at better protecting Floridians from rapists and child molesters Tuesday, the first day of the annual Legislative session. 1 • 9 • "I don't want to let one more day go by without making Florida scorched Tweet 8+1 earth for sexual predators," said Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. Commercial Bankmg Services Starkey Hearing Aids TALK TO ONE OF OUR Hearing Consultants are Standing By Risk Free 30-Day Trial, BANKING SPECIALISTS TODAY. Call Now! LEARN MORE The package of four bills would toughen sex-crime sentences, increase community monitoring, and keep People& United more of the most dangerous offenders confined after their prison terms end. It would provide the most "Bank' comprehensive overhaul of sex offender legislation in more than a decade. what know-now Cart do' Nernty, Gaetz said he will convene his chamber immediately after the pomp and circumstance of opening day dwindles down and take the "unusual step" of moving the bills right through from debate and a preliminary Related Articles vote to what he is certain will be final passage. Funeral Date Set For Jimmy Ryce "We will break precedent, we will break tradition, we will bring the bills to the floor immediately," Gaetz December 22. 1995 said. "I don't want one more child to be a victim of violent sexual predators. I want to move these bills as Jimmy Ryce Killer Loses Supreme Court Appeal quickly as we can. We've already waited too long." May 31.2002 This action comes in response to the Sun Sentinel's "Sex Predators Unleashed" investigative series in Jimmy Ryce Murder Trial Postponed Another Day August that revealed nearly 600 sex offenders had attacked again after the state had a chance to stop September 1, 1998 them. La historia de Jimmy Ryce House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said the legislation is a priority in his chamber as August 20. 2013 well, and he aims to take it up during the second week of session. Justice for Jimmy Ryce came too late To ensure quick passage in its chamber, the House Judiciary Committee on Monday rolled seven of its February 24. 2014 bills into the four Senate bills and perfectly aligned the language so that they would match. "There is a lot of questions in my mind whether there is value to treatment, but I know there is value to incarceration because when people are incarcerated they're not reoffending," said State Rep. Matt Gaetz, Find More Stories About R-Fort Walton Beach, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee. "And for the worst of the worst, I think we should lock them up and throw away the key." Central Florida Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Hollywood Democrat, agreed. Jimmy Ryce Sexual Predators "These sociopaths are going to be kept locked up for a longer time," she said. "There's no medical cure, there's no psychological cure for some of their behavior, and I believe that until we have a cure, we should keep them locked up." The Sun Sentinel documented shocking failures in a law that allows Florida to keep sex offenders locked up after they finish their prison sentences if prosecutors can prove they are likely to reoffend. Named in memory of a South Florida boy who was raped and murdered, the Jimmy Ryce law requires the EFTA01121746 state to evaluate convicted sex criminals before their release and to recommend predators — those with a mental disorder that makes them likely to reoffend — for lockup at a treatment center in Central Florida. The newspaper found fewer predators were recommended for confinement in recent years, and safeguards within the program had broken down at every level. The investigation was published two months after the June rape and strangulation of an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl, Cherish Perrywinkle. Her accused killer was a registered sex offender released from jail just three weeks earlier. "The issue is very raw and very personal for the people I represent in northeast Florida," said Sen. Rob Bradley, an Orange Park Republican whose district includes Jacksonville. "We've lost two young girls at the hands of these monsters since 2009." The bill sponsored by Bradley, SB 526, enhances sentences for some adult-on-minor sex offenses and would require judges to hand out sentences requiring some offenders to serve either house arrest or probation after they are released from prison. "This law ensures that if they are not in prison, then they are being watched very carefully by law enforcement," Bradley said. Bradley's bill also includes a provision put forward by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Ft. Myers, that would waive statute of limitations on certain sex crimes. Lawmakers vowed to close loopholes and began holding hearings in September, gathering suggestions from prosecutors, police and mental health experts. [email protected], 954-356-4542 or Twitter@talanez What the four bills include •SB 522, introduced by Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring: Requires the Department of Children & Families, which runs the predator program, to be notified when offenders are rearrested and convicted of misdemeanors or felonies. Requires the department to notify sheriffs when offenders are released from confinement, and allows the team that evaluates offenders to consult with a prosecutor, a police officer and a victim advocate. •SB 524, introduced by Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood: Requires evaluators to recommend confinement if at least two people on the evaluation team vote for confinement. Requires schools and colleges to inform staff and students about the sex offender website. •SB 526, introduced by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Orange Park: Increases minimum sentences for some adult- on-minor sex offenses, and prohibits early release from prison for good behavior. Requires post-release supervision for some sex offenses. •SB 528, introduced by Senator Greg Evers, R-Baker: Requires more information from registered sex offenders. See Also 1. Juvenile Offenders 5. Reverse Mortgage Calculator 2. Cars to Buy in 2014 6. Best Luxury SUVs 3. Signs of Prostate Cancer 7. Type 2 Diabetes Treatment 4. 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