Effective September 2009, a new law will require the Connecticut Department of Public Safety to inform school superintendents whenever a registered sex offender is released into the community, moves or plans to reside in the school district, according to ConnPost.com.
The new sex offender notification law, which was signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, makes certain that school authorities are immediately informed when a sex offender has moved into the area. Previously, it was the individual police departments’ decision to provide school officials with that information.
Those in opposition of the new law said children are at more risk of sexual abuse from adults they know. Further, the opposition claimed the bill can be harmful to public safety because it lumps all the offenders into one category, which can diminish the public’s ability to tell which offenders are the most threatening.
There are 5,000 people on Connecticut’s sex offender registry. Those on the list are not just pedophiles, but those who have been convicted of possession of pornography, sexual assault, unauthorized sexual contact, statutory rape and rape.
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