Cracking down on sex offenders

Assemblywoman Gunther sponsored the Child Safety and Sexual Predator Punishment and Confinement Strategy, which includes civil confinement, tougher penalties and expanded monitoring of sex offenders.

The Assembly passed this legislation in January (A.9282), and recently passed amendments to address Senate concerns. However, the Senate refused to reconvene conference committees to reach an agreement by the end of session. Gunther’s plan to keep sexual predators away from our kids includes:

• Knowing who they are
  Five months after the Assembly did so, the Senate finally passed legislation that will add Level 2, moderate-risk sex offenders to the state’s online sex offender registry and authorize police to provide information concerning Level 1 offenders to vulnerable populations (Ch. 106).

• Knowing where they live
  Gunther authored and passed a bill that requires police, probation or parole officers to visit the residence of an offender if he/she does not submit an annual verification of address form (A.7707).

• Putting them away for life
  Gunther is urging the governor to sign a measure that makes adults convicted of serious sex crimes in which the victim is under the age of 13 eligible to spend the rest of their lives in prison, regardless of any other aggravating circumstance (A.8939-A).

Expanding the DNA database to solve more crimes and put criminals behind bars

Gunther worked with her colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to triple the size of New York’s criminal DNA database by including those convicted of all felonies and 18 key misdemeanors, including petit larceny (A.11951, awaiting governor’s signature).

Eliminating the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault

To give victims an opportunity to seek justice for rape cases that they couldn’t immediately report due to the trauma of the crime, Gunther sponsored legislation that eliminates the criminal statute of limitations on rape and sexual assault—and extends the civil statute of limitations to five years (A.12012, awaiting governor’s signature), meaning criminal charges for these crimes could be brought years, or even decades later.

As a mother and grandmother, nothing is more important to me than the safety of our children. I will continue fighting to protect our families from sexual predators.

Aileen Gunther

Helping keep drunk drivers off the road

To help put an end to the senseless tragedies endured by so many families, Gunther helped pass legislation that:

• Permits registered physicians’ assistants and certified nurse practitioners to supervise blood testing for alcohol or drugs in emergency rooms (A.10891-A, passed Assembly and Senate), helping hospitals meet their round-the-clock staff commitments and helping prosecute more drunk or drug-impaired drivers

• Targets drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes, repeat drunk driving offenders and drivers with high blood-alcohol content levels with much harsher criminal penalties (A.11963, passed Assembly and Senate)

Tips to protect your children from online predators

The recent Dateline series “To Catch a Predator” has shown that sex offenders are now targeting children via the Internet. Parents need to be ever more mindful of what their kids are putting out there on the Web in order to keep them safe . . . especially in chat rooms and on social networking sites. Here are a few tips to help you protect your kids from online predators.

1. Establish rules and review them with your children

2. Remind your kids not to give out personal information, like addresses, phone numbers or photos to online strangers

3. Keep the computer in a family living area so children cannot use the computer privately

4. Spend time with your children online

5. “Block” certain services through your Internet provider that you want your children to stay away from

6. Be aware if your child spends too much time online or tries to hide what they’re viewing from you

For more information on how to talk to your kids about online safety, please visit:

staysafe.org
wiredsafety.org

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther
18 Anawana Lake Rd.
Monticello, NY 12701
(845) 794-5807
gunthea@assembly.state.ny.us