Sex Offenders Are Barred From Internet by New Jersey

(More rights violations...)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 28, 2007

EWING, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey enacted legislation on Thursday banning some convicted sex offenders from using the Internet.

In signing the restrictions into law, Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who is filling in while Gov. Jon S. Corzine is vacationing, noted that sexual predators were as likely to lurk at a computer keyboard as in a park or playground.

No federal law restricts sex offenders’ use of the Internet, and Florida and Nevada are the only other states to impose such restrictions.

The bill applies to anyone who used a computer to help commit the original sex crime. It also may be applied to paroled sex offenders under lifetime supervision, but it exempts work done as part of a job or search for employment.

Assemblywoman Linda D. Greenstein said the new law, which she cosponsored, updated Megan’s Law, which requires sex offenders to register with the state after being released.

“When Megan’s Law was enacted, few could envision a day when a sex offender hiding behind a fake screen name would be a mouse-click away from new and unwitting victims,” she said. “Sex offenders cannot be given an opportunity to abuse the anonymity the Internet can provide as a means of opening a door to countless new potential victims.”

Under the new law, convicted sex offenders will have to let the State Parole Board know about their access to computers; submit to periodic, unannounced examinations of their computer equipment; and install equipment on their computer so its use can be monitored.

The State Parole Board currently supervises about 4,200 paroled sex offenders whose sentencing guidelines call for lifetime supervision — regardless of whether their original crime involved the Internet.

The board approved new rules last month banning those convicts from using Internet social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/nyregion/28offender.html?ref=nyregion

Sex Offenders Are Barred From Internet by New Jersey

Sex Offenders Are Barred From Internet by New Jersey

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