BILL ANALYSIS
AB 50
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 10, 2006
Counsel: Kimberly Horiuchi
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 50 (Leno) - As Amended: January 4, 2006
SUMMARY : Creates the Sex Offender Containment and Management
Act of 2006 which makes numerous changes and additions to laws
relating to sex offenders. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allocates $20 million to implement county and regional Sexual
Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) teams and disperses the
funds in accordance with the proportionate share of sex
offender registrants residing in the county.
2)Adds a provision that states any person who kidnaps another
with intent to commit a specified sex offense shall be
punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the
possibility of parole.
3)Increases the penalty for a person over the age of 21 who
contacts a minor 14 years of age or younger for the purpose of
luring, or attempt to lure, that minor away from his or her
home if the person has been previously convicted of child
molestation or continuous sexual abuse to an alternate
misdemeanor/felony punishable by either one year in the county
jail or in state prison.
4)Increases the aggravated term of commitment for lewd and
lascivious acts upon a child under the age of 14 from eight to
ten years.
5)Prohibits any person who is required to register pursuant to
Penal Code Section 290 from knowingly being present on school
grounds unless that person is the parent or guardian to child
attending that school or has prior written permission from the
school.
6)Adds continual sexual abuse of a child to list of offenses
eligible for a life sentence on a first offense, as specified.
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7)Increases the period of parole from five to ten years for
those convicted of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a
child and those convicted of the continuous sexual abuse of
child.
8)Provides that when an inmate has been released on parole for a
specified offense for more than six years, the Board of Parole
Hearings shall release that inmate from parole unless the
Board of Parole finds "good cause" to retain the defendant on
parole.
9)Increases the punishment to an alternate misdemeanor/felony
for every person who knowingly sends or causes to be sent, or
brings or causes to be brought, into California for sale or
distribution, or in California possesses, prepares, publishes,
produces, develops, duplicates, or prints any representation
of information, with intent to distribute or exhibit to, or to
exchange with, a person 18 years of age or older, or who
offers to distribute, distributes, or exhibits to, or
exchanges with, a person 18 years of age or older any matter,
knowing that the matter depicts a person under the age of 18
years personally engaging in or personally simulating sexual
conduct.
10)Provides that every person who, with knowledge that a person
is a minor, or who, while in possession of any facts on the
basis of which he or she should reasonably know that the
person is a minor, hires, employs, or uses the minor to do or
assist in doing any of the acts described in Penal Code
Section 311.2 is for a first offense, shall be punished by
imprisonment either in county jail or in the state prison.
11)Creates an alternate misdemeanor/felony for a person who is
convicted of possessing sexually explicit material of a person
under the age of 18 if that person has a prior conviction for
lewd and lascivious acts with a child or the continuous sexual
abuse of a child.
12)States that the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) shall study the effects of using a
specialized supervision caseload. States that the study
should pay particular attention to the effectiveness of
different treatment models. The study shall be a two-year
analysis due on January 1, 2009, with an initial report to the
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Legislature on or before January 1, 2010 and a final report on
or before January 1, 2012.
13)Creates a specialized sex offender treatment program based on
the relapse prevention model and with the assistance of
specially trained sex offender treatment providers for
parolees deemed to pose a high risk.
14)Lists several provisions of the terms of parole for all
inmates required to register pursuant to Penal Code Section
290. Specifically:
a) The offender will not have any contact or communication
with the victim or any of the victim's families without the
prior written approval of the parole agent, including
visiting or frequenting the place of their residence, work
or crime scene whether they are present or not.
b) The offender will not possess cameras, video camera
recorders, movie cameras, viewers, or any type of video
and/or camera equipment without prior approval of the
assigned parole agent.
c) The offender will not view television shows, motion
pictures, or video tapes which act as stimulus to arouse.
d) The offender will not view, purchase, have access to,
possess or use any type of sexually stimulating, or
sexually oriented material, such as, but not limited to,
pictures, magazines, video tapes or movies.
e) The offender will not patronize or frequent areas of
sexually or pornographic activity, such as, but not limited
to, adult bookstores, massage parlors, topless bars, sex
toys/novelties shops, or other such places.
f) The offender will not utilize any "pay for call"
telephone service (e.g., 900 area code numbers)
specifically oriented to sexual discussion of any kind.
The offender must agree to have a "phone block" installed
on his or her residential phone to prevent such calls.
g) The offender will be responsible for being fully and
appropriately clothed at all times, including the wearing
of undergarments and clothing in places where another
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person may be expected to view.
h) The offender will not possess binding restraints,
handcuffs or other such devices.
1)Lists several provisions of the terms of parole for inmates
convicted of certain sex offenses involving a minor.
Specifically:
a) The offender will not initiate, establish, or maintain
contact with any minor without prior written permission
from the assigned parole agent. The offender may have no
direct or indirect contact with any minor whether
personally, by telephone, "Internet", letter, or through
another person, including any attempted contact with an
adult when the offender is reasonably aware of the
possibility that a minor is likely to be present, as well
as being in the immediate proximity of any minor.
b) The offender will not reside in an apartment complex or
other residential setting, or in neighborhoods with large
numbers of children, nor will reside in any neighborhood
near a park, school or minors' playground area.
c) The offender will not enter into the premises, nor
travel past, loiter, or frequent places where minors
congregate (including, but not limited to, playgrounds,
schools, video arcades and swimming pools), nor will
knowingly enter any area which is within a hundred yards of
the perimeter of any elementary, secondary/middle, or high
school without the prior written permission of the assigned
parole agent.
d) The offender must promptly bring to the immediate
attention of the assigned parole agent any "accidental"
contact with any minor.
e) The offender will not knowingly date, have a romantic
interest in, sexual relationship or socialize with any
person who has physical custody of any minor without the
prior written authorization of the assigned parole agent.
f) The offender will not possess children's clothing, toys,
games, etc., without the prior written approval of the
assigned parole agent.
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2)Creates an in-custody, relapse prevention treatment program
for those sex offenders incarcerated in state prison who are
deemed to be high risk and at least two years away from
parole. No more than 500 offenders shall be in the treatment
program at any time and such offenders shall be housed
separately.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that in the case of an inmate sentenced to a
determinate sentence, the period of parole will not exceed
three years unless the parole authority for good cause waives
the period of parole and authorizes the parole authority to
establish conditions of parole. [Penal Code Section
3000(b)(1).]
2)Provides that in the case of an inmate sentenced to an
indeterminate sentence, the period of parole will not exceed
five years unless the parole authority for good cause waives
the period of parole. [Penal Code Section 3000(b)(2).]
3)Authorizes the CDCR to establish and maintain academic classes
for the adult inmates of state institutions. (Penal Code
Section 2054.)
4)Establishes the Preventing Parolee Crime Program with various
components including, at a minimum, residential and
non-residential treatment multi-service centers, literacy
laboratories, drug treatment centers, and job placement
assistance for parolees. (Penal Code Section 3068.)
5)Authorizes counties to establish and implement SAFE Team
programs. (Penal Code Section 13887.)
6)Provides that the mission of the SAFE Team program shall be to
reduce violent sexual assault offenses through proactive
surveillance and arrest of habitual sex offenders and by the
strict enforcement of sex offender registration requirements.
(Penal Code Section 13887.1.)
7)Requires a person convicted of specified sex offenses to
register within five working days of coming into a city or
county with law enforcement officials in the city, county, or
city and county where he or she is domiciled and with the
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chief of police on any University of California or California
State University where he or she is domiciled. Registration
is for a lifetime, must be updated annually, and must be
completed on a form provided by the Department of Justice
(DOJ). (Penal Code Section 290.)
8)Requires a person convicted of specified sex offenses to
register within five working days of coming into a city or
county with law enforcement officials in the city, county, or
city and county where he or she is domiciled and with the
chief of police on any University of California or California
State University where he or she is domiciled. Registration
is for a lifetime, must be updated annually, and must be
completed on a form provided by the DOJ. (Penal Code Section
290.)
9)Provides that any person released, discharged, or paroled from
jail or prison shall be informed of his or her duty to
register before being released. Any person granted probation
shall be informed of his or her duty to register by either the
probation department or the court, as specified. Offenders
shall be required to read and sign a DOJ form acknowledging he
or she was advised of the duty to register. [Penal Code
Section 290(b)(1), (c)(1), and (c)(2).]
10)Requires SAFE Team programs to have the following objectives:
a) To identify, monitor, arrest, and assist in the
prosecution of habitual sex offenders who violate the terms
and conditions of their probation or parole, who fail to
comply with sex offender registration requirements, or who
commit new sexual assault offenses;
b) To collect data to determine if the proactive law
enforcement procedures of this program are effective in
reducing violent sexual assaults; and,
c) To develop procedures for operating a
multi-jurisdictional task force. (Penal Code Section
13887.2.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
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1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "In recent
years, several new laws have been enacted to address the
problem of sex offenders in our communities. However, many of
our efforts have been stymied by the lack of state resources.
Therefore, it is important to focus our available resources
wisely; that is goal of this bill.
"This bill increases funding for SAFE teams which identify,
monitor, arrest and assist in the prosecution of sex offenders
who violate the terms and conditions of their probation or
parole or fail to comply with registration requirements. This
bill also makes significant changes to the punishment and
parole terms of sex offenders, including adding the continuous
sexual abuse of a child to the "one strike" sex law which
would allow the courts to sentence an offender to a term of
15- or 25-years-to-life, increasing the term of parole for
child molesters and increasing the aggravated term of
commitment for child molesters. This bill also creates a
treatment program for offenders who are currently in prison
but scheduled for release. The goal is for offenders to begin
learning how to avoid future predatory behavior while still in
prison and to continue with a regimented treatment program
while on parole.
"This bill is a smart, sensible and effective way to enhance
community safety and decrease the likelihood that sexual
predators will re-offend creating more victims."
2)Increased Penalties : Under current law, the penalty for lewd
and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 is three,
six or eight years in prison. [Penal Code Section 288(a).]
This bill increase the aggravated term of commitment to 10
years. "Aggravated term" is the maximum time under this
particular statute the judge may impose. In order to impose
the aggravated term, the sentencing court must only state its
reasons on the record.
This bill also increases the penalty for a person over 21 who
contacts a minor 14 years old or younger for the purpose of
luring or attempting to lure that minor away from his or her
home if the person has been previously convicted of child
molestation or continuous sexual abuse of a child from a
misdemeanor to an alternate felony-misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment in state prison for 16 months, 2 or 3 years or by
imprisonment in a county jail. Existing law punishes this
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type of luring with a maximum of one year in the county jail.
This bill also prohibits specified violent sex offenders from
being on school property unless they have children in that
school and are on school grounds for specified school
functions. Additionally, this bill extends the term of parole
for those offenders who are imprisoned for lewd and lascivious
acts on a child and the continuous sexual abuse of a child
from five to ten years. This bill states that those convicted
of the continuous sexual abuse of a child shall be eligible
for a life term of either 15 years or 25 years under
California's One Strike Sex statute.
3)Findings of the Legislative Analyst's Study: A "Containment"
Strategy for Adult Sex Offenders on Parole : In 1999-2000, the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) released a study related to
the current treatment of sex offenders under California law,
"A Containment Strategy for Adult Sex Offenders on Parole".
The report noted that "about one-half of the 7,300 adult sex
offenders now under state parole supervision are considered to
pose a high risk of committing new sex crimes and other
violent acts. Very few of these offenders have received any
treatment while in prison to curb their pattern of criminal
activities, and only a fraction receive intensive supervision,
treatment and control after they are released into the
community. Two out of three fail on parole by committing new
crimes or parole violations. A program to address the
concerns of the public by sending such offenders to state
mental hospitals is proving costly and is holding relatively
few offenders.
"In light of these concerns, the LAO recommends the
implementation of a more cost-effective strategy of
'containment' of high-risk adult sex offenders. The
containment strategy includes longer and more intensive
supervision of high-risk adult sex offenders released on
parole, and pre- and post-release treatment programs to
control the behavior of sexual offenders. Specifically, the
LAO recommends intense supervision for parolees, more
background information for parole agents, longer periods of
supervision, specialized treatment programs, voluntary
medication treatments, and a pilot program for the in-prison
treatment for high-risk offenders.
"The LAO believes that the containment approach will result in
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improved public safety; better use of state parole resources
with more focus on high-risk offenders and less on low-risk
offenders; better use of parole outpatient clinic resources;
and significant long-term savings to the state and local
government, potentially tens of millions of dollars, as a
result of lower costs for the prison and mental hospital
systems."
4)LAO Concluded Treatment is Better Solution: "Correctional
professionals and experts on deviant sexual criminal behavior
are in general agreement that no treatment program can 'cure'
a person with criminal sexual tendencies. However, there is a
growing body of academic evidence suggesting that some
therapies, often referred to as 'cognitive-behavioral
treatment' or 'relapse prevention', can enable some high-risk
sex offenders in prison or on parole to learn how to curb
their impulses to commit further criminal acts.
"Experts on this subject indicate that, to be effective, such
programs must: (a) be tailored especially for sex offenders;
(b) be structured to progress through multiple phases; (c)
address individual problems such as addiction to drugs or
alcohol that may be related to their pattern of criminal
behavior; (d) be of sufficient duration and intensity to be
effective; and, (e) have a strong 'aftercare' component to
ensure there is not a return to criminality after their
release to the community. Medication treatments that can
reduce the intensity of an offender's sexual impulses are used
in conjunction with relapse-prevention therapy for particular
cases. (Informed consent and medical protocols have been used
in these instances.)
"Sex offender treatment programs containing some of these
elements have been implemented for California's sex offenders
in the past, but are rarely available now for either prison
inmates or parolees. This is the case even if an offender's
criminal record was deemed so serious that it resulted in his
or her referral to Department of Mental Health for evaluation
as a sexually violent predator (SVP). In cases when a sex
offender does not receive a SVP commitment, he or she
ordinarily would be subject to intensive supervision in the
community but probably will not participate in a specialized
sex offender treatment program."
5)New Hampshire Model : New Hampshire adopted a voluntary
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in-custody sex offender treatment program (SOP) for all sex
offenders at least one year from release. The offender must
admit his or her crime; take periodic polygraph exams; and
participate in at least one year of group and individual
therapy, homework, relapse prevention and other steps. [Tom
Fahey, "Treatment Called Key for Sex Offenses", The Union
Leader, September 27, 2005, A1.] That article also quoted the
New Hampshire Parole Board Executive Assistant as reporting,
"I can say it is one of our biggest successes." This bill
proposes a similar in-custody treatment program and lengthens
the term of parole for child molesters from five to ten years.
Perhaps this will the necessary opportunity to follow through
with treatment started in prison.
6)SAFE Teams : This bill contains an appropriation of $20
million to fund SAFE Teams in individual counties. These
teams identify, monitor, arrest and assist in the prosecution
of sex offenders who violate the terms and conditions of their
probation or parole or fail to comply with registration
requirements. This will make it more likely that those who
are not in compliance with probation or parole or who are
failing to register as a sex offender will be monitored and
regulated.
7)Arguments in Support :
a) California Coalition on Sexual Offending (CCOSO) states,
"CCOSO is quite pleased to see that this bill addresses a
number of areas in which great improvements could be made
to the way sex offenders are currently managed:
i) "We enthusiastically support the creation of a Sex
Offender Management Board in California.
ii) "We believe it is good policy to create a sex
offender treatment program for a selected portion of the
approximately 22,000 sex offenders in California prisons.
California is one of the only 11 or so states that
currently have no in-prison sex offender treatment
program.
iii) "We believe that some of the good work the CDCR has
recently begun to do with high-risk sex offenders on
parole should be greatly expanded.
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iv) "We agree that research should be conducted on the
results of such efforts.
v) "We support specialized supervision for sex
offenders on parole, including specialized and tailored
terms and conditions of parole.
"Although our expertise does not extend directly to a number
of the sentencing issues addressed in the bill, we support any
way in which the rights and safety and well being of victims
and potential victims are protected."
b) California Coalition Against Sexual Assault states,
"This bill would create the Sex Offender Management and
Containment Act of 2006 (SOMCA). SOMCA increases funding
for SAFE teams, which identify, monitor, arrest and assist
in the prosecution of sex offenders who violate the terms
and conditions of their probation or parole or fail to
comply with registration requirements. This bill also
makes significant changes to the punishment and parole
terms of sex offenders. This includes adding the
continuous sexual abuse of a child to the 'one strike' sex
law which would allow the courts to sentence an offender to
a term of 15- or 25-years-to-life, increasing the term of
parole for child molesters and increasing the aggravated
term of commitment for child molesters. This bill also
creates a treatment program for offenders who are currently
in prison but scheduled for release. The goal is for
offenders to begin learning how to avoid future predatory
behavior while still in prison and to continue with a
regimented treatment program while on parole.
"Additionally, the SOMCA, though companion legislation [AB
1015 (Chu), scheduled to be heard by this Committee today]
would establish a Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB).
The SOMB's role would be to review and assess existing
statewide practices and make recommendations to the
Legislature and the Governor regarding changes necessary to
achieve a level of standardized best practices across the
state that will most effectively ensure community safety.
With the inclusion of provisions intended to improve
containment, treatment and management of sex offenders,
this bill is a smart, sensible and effective way to enhance
community safety and decrease the likelihood that sexual
predators will re-offend creating more victims."
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8)Related Legislation : AB 231 (Runner), scheduled to be heard
by this Committee today, creates the Sexual Predator
Punishment and Control Act, "Jessica's Law", increasing
punishment for those who are convicted of certain sex offenses
and changing conditions of parole for those released after
committing certain sex offenses. Originally relating to the
CDCR, AB 231 failed passage in Assembly Public Safety and was
granted reconsideration. AB 231 was then gutted and amended
into its current form. AB 231 is on for vote only in Public
Safety on January 10, 2005.
9)Prior Legislation : AB 1300 (Rod Pacheco), Chapter 142,
Statutes of 2000 authorized the CDCR to establish and operate
sex offender treatment program for parolees and inmates deemed
to be a high risk to the public safety, and extends the period
of parole to five years for persons convicted of rape and
child molestation. AB 1300 was substantively changed before
signed into law.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Office of the Attorney General
California Police Officers' Association
California Police Chief Association
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Coalition on Sexual Offending
California District Attorneys Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744