Panel OKs limits on child sex offenders

In a party-line 4-3 vote, a House committee approved a bill Friday that would restrict offenders of sex crimes against children from certain "protected areas."

The House Law Enforcement Committee had previously opted not to vote on HB375 after raising concerns over property rights and constitutionality.

Friday, the committee reconsidered a substitute version of the bill and the four Republicans present voted for it. However, Democrats said more work needs to be done to address concerns about the bill's broad reach.

"It does say ... there are areas you (sex offenders) have no business being," said Assistant Attorney General Kirk Torgenson. "Those areas are listed here. We as a public have a right to demand that of people who have already been convicted."

However, Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, said that rather than targeting all offenders, it would be better to evaluate individual offenders based on factors such as their response to treatment.

"We need to be empowering corrections ... to be able to manage sex offenders on a case-by-case basis," Litvack said. "That's how we'd really protect our community from those most likely to re-offend. When we take this broad sweep, we're providing a false sense of security."

The bill would make it a class A misdemeanor for those registered as sex offenders for crimes against children to go to any "protected area" where children congregate, such as a school, public swimming pool, community park or public playground. It also would increase the penalty for sex offenders who commit lewdness from a class-B to a class-A misdemeanor. The substitute bill removed the original's buffer zone around those areas and also deleted restrictions on where sex offenders could live. Both of those provisions had raised concerns.

Much of the discussion centered around where registered offenders could go. An offender could go to church on Sunday, even if there's a day-care in the church building, but a fast food restaurant with a playground would be off-limits.

When the question was raised about whether registered offenders could vote at precincts located in elementary schools, the answer was "no." However, Hughes said, offenders could still vote via absentee ballot. The offenders could go to the restricted areas if they needed to as parents, such as to a school for a parent-teacher conference. Hughes said enforcement likely would be based on public complaints.

With only eight working days in the session, Hughes said "time is the biggest obstacle," but he expressed confidence that the bill would move forward with strong support.

"There are areas where parents like to know those convicted of crimes against children are not allowed to loiter or have full, unfettered access," Hughes said.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com