The tragic deaths of two female children have changed legislation across the nation and Ohio forever.
On July 31, Gov. Bob Taft signed Senate Bill 5 into action. Senate Bill 5 is the new Sex Offender Registration and Notification bill, known as Megan’s Law. The bill will strengthen Ohio’s current Megan’s Law and bring Ohio up to federal standards.
The changes were initiated by the recommendations of the SORN Task Force, a group put together by Taft to examine the law after 14-year-old Kristen Jackson was murdered by a repeat sex offender.
“Senate Bill 5 incorporates virtually all of the recommendations produced by the task force and ensures that Ohio’s SORN law remains one of the toughest in the country,” said Taft. “Kristen Jackson’s death prompted many people to work very hard for positive change and I hope these changes bring some comfort to her family.”
Senate Bill 5, which passed in June, was introduced to the Ohio Senate by Republican Sen. Jeff Jacobson.
“Senate Bill 5 will make Ohio compliant with federal law,” said Chris Ingram, assistant to Sen. Jacobson.
Changes in Ohio’s SORN law include expanding the number of offenses defined as “sexually oriented offenses,” subjecting repeat offenders to lifetime registration and community notification requirements, creating stiffer penalties for offenders who fail to register, requiring an offender to register in the county in which the offender works or goes to school.
“The main changes will include a statewide Internet database by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation,” said Ingram.
Before these changes, the sheriff’s office was required to notify only the people who lived within 1,000 feet of a sexual predator that a sex offender was in the area. A sexual predator is the most aggressive sexual offender.
Prior to Jackson’s death, the sheriff’s office was not required to notify community members if any other type of sexual offender other than a sexual predator moved into the area, said Steve Martin, chief of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
Jackson was abducted Sept. 9, 2002 from the Wayne County Fair by Joel Yockey, 46, a previously convicted sex offender who later raped and murdered her.
Yockey had been released in March of that year, after serving 15 years for a 1986 kidnapping and rape of a 17-year-old girl. He moved into his parent’s home, which was within 300 feet of Jackson’s residence, yet the family was unaware that he was a sex offender because his classification was lower than sexual predator.
Now the sheriff’s office will have to notify residents if a repeat sex offender has moved into the area.
All of these new laws stem from the death of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, who was killed in July 1997 in New Jersey.
Jesse Timmerndequas, a twice-convicted sex offender kidnapped, raped and murdered Kanka.
Kanka’s family decided to fight back and lobbied for state and federal laws that would let community members know if a sex offender has moved into their neighborhood.
In May 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the federal Megan’s Law, requiring all states to develop their own mandates informing the public about sex offenders.
“In 1996, Ohio enacted a Megan’s Law, which required mandatory registration of sex offenders and corresponding community notification,” Taft said. “Ohio enacted a law that we all thought was tough, comprehensive and protective. It was a tough law – one of the best in the country. But laws are never perfect and can always be improved.”
