STATESTAT UPDATE ON EFFORTS TO PROTECT MARYLANDERS FROM SEX OFFENDERS

GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY RELEASES STATESTAT UPDATE ON EFFORTS TO PROTECT MARYLANDERS FROM SEX OFFENDERS

ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 11, 2010) – Governor Martin O’Malley released a StateStat update today on the State’s progress to protect Maryland families from sex offenders. In a video update available online, Governor O’Malley urged Maryland citizens to call on their legislators to approve legislation to require lifetime monitoring for convicted sex offenders, expand sex offender registration criteria, and align Maryland’s laws with federal child safety regulations.

“Our highest priority in the State of Maryland – and the most sacred priority of government at every level – is the public’s safety,” said Governor O’Malley. “In our State, we’re united by our belief in the dignity of every individual and our belief that there is no such thing as a spare Marylander. The loss of even one more innocent life is unacceptable. We can pass these important reforms, but we can’t do it alone.”

In the past three years, violent crime has been driven down to its lowest levels since 1987, including the steepest three-year reduction in homicides since the 1970s and a 46 percent reduction in juvenile homicides over the same period of time. The O’Malley-Brown Administration has set a goal of reducing violent crime against women and children 25 percent by 2012.

In 2007, Governor O’Malley signed Jessica’s law to protect Maryland families from violent sex offenders. The O’Malley-Brown Administration has championed the use of emerging innovative public safety technologies like clinical polygraph examinations, computer monitoring, and GPS tracking, which is currently being used to track 231 sex offenders. Governor O’Malley also dedicated the necessary resources three years ago to close an inherited backlog of 24,000 unanalyzed and 15,000 uncollected DNA samples, and as a result the State has used DNA evidence to arrest 106 sex offenders.

Initiatives introduced this legislative session include proposals to:

Require the most serious sex offenders to be monitored by law enforcement for life, aligning Maryland with 24 other states which currently have some sort of lifetime supervision law on the books.

Align Maryland’s sex offender laws with federal notification and registration standards for sex offenders, ensuring Maryland does not become a safe haven for offenders seeking less stringent registration requirements.

Classify persons convicted of child pornography and indecent exposure to minors as sex offenders, and require that they register as such.

Require more employees at facilities that care for or supervise children to undergo criminal background checks; and
Reform the Maryland Sexual Offender Advisory Board so its members will be required to have relevant experience and expertise, and so the Board’s charge will be targeted and focused on important priorities like developing risk-assessment criteria for the supervision of offenders.