ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 TAG: 9612110058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer said Tuesday that parents should be allowed to tap into Virginia's sex offender registry to determine whether prospective baby sitters have been convicted of a sex crime.
Beyer told a state Crime Commission subcommittee that he would propose legislation expanding access to the registry to parents and volunteers who work with children.
The state began keeping a list of people convicted of sex crimes on July 1, 1994. Under current law, only schools, day care centers, criminal justice agencies and child welfare agencies have access to the information.
``I want to take it to the next step and give parents the ability to use the registry to check names of people who work with their children,'' Beyer said.
Beyer is the likely Democratic nominee for governor in 1997. Attorney General James Gilmore, the probable Republican candidate, could not be reached for comment because he is in Israel.
Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia, said the state must strike the right balance between protecting children and not violating offenders' privacy rights.
``The line needs to be drawn so that the state makes the names available only to the extent necessary to protect children."
LENGTH: Short : 35 linesby CNB