Moms For America - Ohio passes legislation to help keep children safe from violent sexual predators

With all of the recent bad news, it's easy to miss that there is some good news. This summer, Ohio passed legislation that will help to protect our children from violent sexual predators. Moms across the country have grown increasingly concerned about this issue and we are grateful to those in our State Legislature who are working hard to ensure that our children are as safe as possible. Special thanks go to Senate President Bill Harris and House Speaker Jon Husted, as well as Ohio Senator Tim Grendell and State Representative Faber for their help on this issue. Thanks also go to State Representatives Patton, Fessler, Widowfield, Trakas, Wagoner, Raga, McGregor, Martin, C. Evans, S. Patton, Setzer, Fende, Gilb and State Representative Tim DeGeeter.

What the legislation does:

* Requires sex offenders who are sexually violent predators to be subjected to lifetime electronic monitoring upon release from prison. Monitoring will be done by the Adult Parole Authority costing $175,000 over the biennium, earmarked from the Victims of Crime Assistance Fund.
* Ensures $250,000 to support the Southern Ohio Drug Task Force to help crack down methamphetamine production.
* Prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors over the Internet.

There are efforts on-going in the Ohio House of Representatives to ensure that sexually violent predators who may pose a continued safety risk to children remain locked up. Both State Representative Comb and Faber have current bills in process, as does Senator Tim Grendell. Please check back soon for more information on further efforts by these Representatives on this issue. While we are deeply grateful that the current legislation will help law enforcement keep track of these offenders, the goal remains to keep confined any violently sexual predator who may pose a continued risk to our children if they are released.

Past Articles:

State Representative Faber

State Representative Tim DeGeeter