TOUGH ON SEXUAL PREDATORS

Thanks to hard work by state Sen. Betty Sims, R-St. Louis, Missouri has a new law on the books to crack down on sexual predators. Gov. Carnahan signed the measure last week in a series of stops around the state that included Cape Girardeau.

The law, which will take effect Aug. 28, requires life sentences for predatory sexual offenders and increases the mandatory minimum sentence they must serve in prison. Moreover, in what may be one of its most significant features, the law requires that if released, such offenders will spend the rest of their lives under state supervision.

House Speaker Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, said of Sims' bill, that it is "unique in this country." Those with first-time convictions can be considered sexual predators if it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that other offenses occurred, even if they were never arrested for those crimes. Out-of-state convictions will also be considered at sentencing. Offenders who complete their minimum prison terms will be released only if corrections officials judge the convict unlikely to re-offend. Even after release, they will remain on parole for the rest of their lives, with parole officers monitoring all particulars of their daily lives. Treatment and counseling will also be required of these offenders following their release.

Department of Corrections director Dora Schriro said criminologists estimate that convicted sex offenders have committed an average of 300 sex crimes before they are ever caught. Although the truly predatory sex offender is a small segment of the prison population, she stressed the extreme danger posed by these especially incorrigible criminals.