Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504100029
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Hearst Newspapers
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
The federal requirement, part of the Clinton administration anti-crime bill enacted last year, is designed to help law enforcement officials keep track of sex offenders.
Any sex offender who fails to register would face criminal charges, according to the Justice Department guidelines released Friday.
``These requirements will send a message to sex offenders, many of whom will tell you they really can't help themselves,'' said Bonnie Campbell, director of the department's Violence Against Women Office.
``This law is about peace of mind,'' Campbell said. ``Parents, children, and women everywhere need to know that local police know when sexual predators are released from prison, when they come to their neighborhood and walk their streets.''
Sex offenders are six times more likely to repeat their crime than other violent criminals, she said.
The guidelines were promulgated under the law known as the Jacob Wetterling Act, named for an 11-year old boy abducted by an armed man in 1989 and never found.
The rules will go into effect after a 90-day period for comments. States would have three years to enact laws complying with the guidelines.
Forty states have registration laws for sex offenders.
by CNB