BILL NUMBER: AB 575 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torres
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to add Section 647.8 to the Penal Code, relating to sex
offenders.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 575, as amended, Torres. Sex offenders: restrictions.
Existing law makes it unlawful for a person who is required to
register as a sex offender to reside within 2,000 feet of a public or
private school, or park where children regularly gather. Existing
law also provides that any person required to register as a sex
offender who comes into any school building or upon any school ground
without lawful business and written permission is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
This bill would make it a misdemeanor for a sex offender
certain high- risk sex offenders ,
except in limited instances, to be physically present and delay,
linger, or idle about within 300 100
feet of a sensitive use site, as defined. For purposes of those
provisions, a sensitive use site would include specified places where
children gather, including arcades, bus stops,
child care centers, children's retail stores, community
centers, cultural centers, cyber cafes, health clubs providing
childcare services, movie theaters, museums, sports
centers, and schools.
By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 647.8 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
647.8. (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions apply:
(1) "Arcade" means any of the following:
(A) Any establishment frequented by children that provides more
than five video or electronic games, including computer games, that
require coins, tokens, or any other form of payment to play.
(B) Any establishment frequented by children providing amusement
facilities, which include, but are not limited to, pinball machines,
shooting galleries, or electronic or video type skill games.
(C) Any business frequented by children at which amusement rides
are offered.
(D) Any business frequented by children providing a billiard room
or coin actuated machine including, but not limited to, electronic
game machines, machines vending any goods, wares, or merchandise
operated by coins.
(2)
(1) "Bus stop" means a location designated for the
regularly scheduled boarding and departing of bus passengers for bus
service offered to children attending school or to the general
public.
(3)
(2) "Child" or "children" or "youth" means a person or
persons under 18 years of age.
(4)
(3) "Child care center" means any of the following:
(A) A "day care center" as defined in Section 1596.76 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(B) A "child care and development facility" as defined in Section
8208 of the Education Code.
(C) A facility that provides nonmedical care and supervision of
children, including infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and schoolage
children for a period of not less than 24 hours, consecutively, and
that is required to be licensed by the State Department of Social
Services.
(5) "Children's retail store" means an establishment or place of
business dedicating at least 80 percent of floor space to consumer
items directed at children, such as children's toys, clothing, shoes,
eyewear, hats, jewelry and fashion accessories, books, hobby or
special interest items, games, musical instruments, sporting goods,
bicycles, scooters, music, recordings, dance supplies, art and art
supplies, candy, and other similar items directed toward children.
(6) "Community center" or "cultural center" means a multipurpose
meeting or recreational facility, typically consisting of one or more
meeting or multipurpose rooms, kitchen, or outdoor barbecue
facilities that are available for use by various groups for
activities such as meetings, parties, receptions, and dances.
(7) "Cyber cafe" means an establishment frequented by children
that provides more than four computers or other electronic devices
for access to the Internet, e-mail, video games, or computer software
programs, which are networked via LAN or WAN, and that functions as
a client/server program and that seeks compensation in any form from
users. Cyber cafe is synonymous with PC cafe, Internet cafe, or cyber
center.
(8) "Health club providing childcare services" means facilities
that provide for sport, exercise, and health-related activities,
group classes, and personal instruction and training, and childcare
for children of patrons while using the facilities. Additional
facilities may include a pool, spa, sauna, tennis courts, racquetball
or handball courts, and weight and exercise equipment. Additional
uses may include retail sales of exercise clothing, accessories, food
and beverages, and membership sales. This definition does not
include facilities that provide yoga, Pilates, or similar type of
studio activities.
(9) "Movie theater" means an establishment designed for the
showing of motion pictures. Additional uses may include the sale of
concession food items and nonalcoholic beverages.
(10) "Museum" means public or quasi-public facilities, such as
aquariums, arboretums, art exhibitions, botanical gardens, historical
sites, and exhibits that can be viewed by the public. Accessory uses
include such uses as restaurants, cafeterias, and gift shops.
(11)
(4) "Nontraditional school" means any of the following:
(A) A public or private preschool.
(B) A Montessori school.
(C) A home school that has filed an affidavit or statement with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the current year
pursuant to Section 33190 of the Education Code and that provides
regularly scheduled home schooling to children as an alternative to
their attendance at other public or private schools.
(D) A school approved by the state as a charter school.
(12)
(5) "Rail station" means a location designated for the
regularly scheduled boarding and departing of rail passengers for
rail-based transportation service offered to children attending
school or to the general public.
(13)
(6) "Sensitive use site" means any location defined in
paragraphs (1) to (12) (5) , inclusive,
and (16) to (20) (9) to (11) ,
inclusive, of this subdivision.
(14)
(7) "Sensitive use site parcel boundary" means the
legal boundary of the parcel or parcels occupied by the sensitive use
site, regardless of whether the site occupies the entire parcel or
any portion thereof.
(15) "Sex offender" means any person for whom registration is
required pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act, regardless of
whether that person is on parole or probation.
(8) "Sex offender" means a person required to register pursuant to
the Sex Offender Registration Act, who has been convicted of an
offense under Section 261, 269, 286, 288, or 289 where the victim is
a child under the age of 14 years, and who has been placed on
intensive and specialized parole supervision pursuant to Section 3008
because the person is deemed to pose a high risk to the public of
committing sex crimes, as determined by the State-Authorized Risk
Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders, as set forth in Sections 290.04 to
290.06, inclusive.
(16)
(9) "Sports center" means any of the
following:
(A) A
a location designed for accommodating sports or
recreational activities that is frequented by children, seasonally or
otherwise, including, but not limited to, playgrounds, skate parks,
baseball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields,
swimming facilities, karate studios, dance or ballet studios, and
other sports or recreational facilities frequented by children
regardless of whether that location is publicly or privately owned.
Facilities open to members of a common interest development or
homeowners association in which that facility exists shall be
considered a sensitive use site. All other facilities open to the
general public not otherwise addressed in this definition of
sports center that are located in residential zones not open to
the general public shall not be included in this definition of
sports center.
(B) A facility frequented by children that provides a wide range
of recreational activities including, but not limited to, roller or
ice rinks, skateboard, miniature golf, golf course, golf driving
range, batting cages, go carts, and rock climbing. Additional uses at
the facility, including food concessions and retail sales of items
related to the activity, such as clothing and accessories and
sundries, are intended to be part of the definition and scope of
sports center. Facilities open to members of a common interest
development or homeowners association in which such a facility exists
shall be considered a sensitive use site. Facilities located within
residential zones and not open to the general public shall not be
included in the definition of sports center.
(17) "Studio" means small-scale facilities that typically provide
for the teaching or tutoring of children including, but not limited
to, the arts, music, drama, production, rehearsal, dance instruction,
photography instruction, and the processing of photographs produced
by users of the studio facilities, martial arts training, or
gymnastics instruction. This definition does not include larger
facilities such as a learning center.
(18)
(10) "Traditional school" means any of the following:
(A) A private school that provides education from kindergarten
through grade 12 and that is not affiliated with a local school
district.
(B) A public school providing instruction from kindergarten
through grade 12.
(C) A community college, technical school, public or private
college, university, or professional school granting associate arts
degrees, certificates, and undergraduate and graduate degrees.
(19) "Tutoring center" or "learning center" means either of the
following:
(A) A location at which a public or private organization offers
regularly scheduled tutoring and or educational instruction to
children for purposes of supplementing the regular school instruction
of children.
(B) An establishment that provides for the teaching or tutoring of
schoolaged children in general or specific academic subjects on an
individual basis or in groups, and that is not affiliated with a
public or private school. These services are intended to supplement
normal school teachings and are not intended to replace or substitute
for public or private school.
(20)
(11) "Youth center" means a location at which a public
or private organization provides mentorship, educational, or
recreational programs to children on a regularly scheduled basis for
purposes of social, educational, artistic, athletic, or community
enrichment. Examples of youth centers include, but are not limited
to, Boys and Girls Club facilities and YMCA facilities.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (f)
(e) , it is unlawful for any sex offender , as defined in
paragraph (8) of subdivision (a), to be physically present and
delay, linger, or idle about within 300 100
feet of any sensitive use site, as defined in subdivision (a).
(c) In determining whether a particular point is within
300 100 feet of any sensitive use site,
distances shall be measured in a direct straight line from any point
of the boundary of the legal parcel on which the sensitive use site
is located.
(d) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine
not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both imprisonment
and a fine. A person is guilty of a separate offense for each day
during which a violation occurs.
(e) This section applies to every person who has been convicted of
an offense requiring registration pursuant to the Sex Offender
Registration Act, regardless of the person's probationary status,
parole status, or dates of conviction or release from jail, prison,
or confinement.
(f)
(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply in
any of the following instances:
(1) The sex offender is a minor and he or she is present within
300 100 feet of a sensitive use site
while accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
(2) The sex offender is present within 300-feet
100 feet of a sensitive use site only because he or she is
traveling, whether on foot, by car, or by other means to or from a
destination beyond the 300-foot outside of
the 100-foot area, and his or her presence within the
300-foot 100-foot area is temporary and
incidental to that travel.
(3) The sex offender is present within 300
100 feet of a sensitive use site only because he or she is
accompanying a related minor to that site and only for so long as is
necessary to provide care or supervision to the related minor. As
used in this paragraph, "related minor" means a minor to whom the sex
offender is the legal parent or guardian.
(4) The sex offender reasonably does not know that he or she is
present within 300 100 feet of a
sensitive use site, provided that he or she immediately takes steps
to move beyond that 300 foot outside of that
100-foot area upon learning or being notified of the existence
of the sensitive use site.
(5) The sex offender is exercising First Amendment rights
protected by the United States Constitution, such as the free
exercise of religion at a place of worship or freedom of speech or
the right of assembly at a traditional public forum.
(6) The sex offender is present within 300
100 feet of a sensitive use site only because he or she is
traveling, whether on foot, by car, or by other means, to or from his
or her place of employment for employment purposes.
(7) The sex offender is present within 300
100 feet of a sensitive use site only because he or she is
traveling, whether on foot, by car, or by other means, to or from a
medical facility, such as a hospital or doctor's office for a
legitimate and verifiable medical appointment.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.