BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2893
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2893 (Mountjoy)
As Amended April 27, 2006
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 9-0
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|Ayes:|Jones, Harman, Evans, | | |
| |Haynes, Laird, Leslie, | | |
| |Levine, Lieber, Monta?ez | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Denies custody and unsupervised visitation for certain
registered sex offenders. Specifically, this bill denies
physical or legal custody, or unsupervised visitation, to a
registered sex offender with his or her child or grandchild if
the victim was the person's child or grandchild, unless the
court finds that there is no risk to the child's health, safety,
and welfare, and states the reasons for its finding in writing
or on the record. Failure to state the court's reasons in
writing or on the record will make the order void and
unenforceable.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides courts with the widest discretion to make custody
determinations that are in the best interest of the child.
2)Provides that a person who is required to register as a sex
offender where the victim was a minor or has been convicted of
child endangerment, injuring a child, or annoying or molesting
a child, shall not be granted custody or unsupervised
visitation with a child unless the court finds there is no
significant risk to the child and states its reasons on the
record.
3)Provides that a person who resides with a person required to
register as a sex offender for a crime where the victim was a
minor shall not be granted custody or unsupervised visitation
with a child unless the court finds there is no significant
risk to the child and states its reasons on the record.
AB 2893
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4)Holds that, for purposes of establishing, modifying or
terminating a custody or visitation order, the fact that a
child is permitted unsupervised contact with a person required
to register as a sex offender for a crime where the victim was
a minor is prima facie evidence that the child is at
significant risk, and that prima facie evidence constitutes a
presumption affecting the burden of proof. The presumption
does not apply if there are factors mitigating against its
application, including whether the person seeking custody is
also required to register as a sex offender where the victim
was a minor.
5)Provides that no person who has been convicted of rape shall
be granted custody of, or visitation with, a child who was
conceived as a result of that rape.
6)Provides that no person who has been convicted of murder in
the first degree shall be granted custody of or visitation
with a child when the victim was the other parent of the
child, unless the court finds there is no risk to the child's
health, safety, and welfare.
7)Provides that an adult must register for life as a sex
offender if he or she commits a specified sex offense. There
are over 30 of such offenses, including: lewd act in public;
sexual battery; indecent exposure; annoying or molesting a
child; rape; sodomy; a lewd act with a child; oral copulation;
rape or sodomy with a foreign object; pimping or pandering a
minor under the age of 16; kidnapping for purposes of
committing a sex crime; and, continuous sexual abuse of a
child, assault with the intent to commit a sex crime.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to protect children from unsupervised
contact with registered sex offenders by prohibiting the court
from granting either physical or legal custody of, or
unsupervised visitation with, a child or a grandchild to a
parent who is a registered sex offender and the victim was the
person's child or grandchild. This prohibition is not absolute.
A court may award custody or unsupervised visitation if the
court determines that there is no risk to the child's health,
safety, and welfare. The court must state the reasons for its
finding in writing or on the record. This is the same standard
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used in custody cases involving a parent who was convicted of
first degree murder of the child in question's other parent.
The author contends this bill is necessary "to assure victims of
child sexual abuse by their own parents or grandparents that
they will never again be placed in a position to be sexually
abused by those who would be protecting them ever again. We
should put ourselves in the shoes of these children and feel the
betrayal and fear they feel when they are returned to the care
of those who have sexually abused them."
People convicted of various sex offenses are required to
register as sex offenders. The offenses requiring registration
are numerous and include: rape; sexual battery; aggravated
sexual assault of a child; sodomy; incest; soliciting
prostitution; pimping; possession of child pornography; and,
indecent exposure.
Under current law, there are three standards used to determine
custody and visitation issues for registered sex offenders and
for those who have committed specified criminal acts. First, if
the person seeking custody or unsupervised visitation with a
child is a registered sex offender or lives with a registered
sex offender, then custody or unsupervised visitation is denied
unless the court finds there is no significant risk to the
child. Second, without exception, neither custody nor
visitation is allowed with the perpetrator of a rape if the
child was conceived as a result of that rape. Third, and
somewhere between those other two standards, a person who was
convicted of first degree murder of a child's other parent, may
not be granted custody of, or unsupervised visitation with, that
child unless the court finds there is no risk to the child's
health, safety, and welfare.
Supporters of this bill argue that this bill is necessary to
protect children from being re-victimized. Writes the
California Protective Parents Association: "Our organization
believes that registered sex offenders should not be allowed
unsupervised contact with children under any condition, due to
the risk of recidivism. Once is enough."
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916)
319-2334
AB 2893
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FN: 0014056