Sexual Predators To Be Tracked By GPS

Sexual Predators To Be Tracked By GPS
Victim's Father Testifies That Lives Will Be Saved
Steve Saunders, 7NEWS Anchor
POSTED: 3:58 pm MST February 20, 2008
UPDATED: 10:08 pm MST February 20, 2008

DENVER -- State lawmakers backed a bill requiring violent sex offenders to wear GPS tracking devices. The vote followed emotional testimony from the father of a Florida girl who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender in 2005.

 Mark Lunsford told the House Judiciary Committee how he saw the fingers of his 9-year-old daughter, Jessica, poking through the plastic bag she was buried alive in and how she must have been struggling to get some air.

"I am sure when she was dying, she was crying for me," said Lunsford, who has lobbied for similar bills across the country.

He said his daughter's killer kidnapped her from her bedroom three months after his GPS device was removed by authorities.

At times in tears Lunford told lawmakers about the special bond he had with his 9-year-old daughter.

Holding up two fingers pressed together he remembered his daughter saying, "Daddy, I love you this much and nothing will come between us."  He also described his hatred for the man who took her away.

"I can't tell you how many times I wanted to kill him," Lunsford said. "My job is to declare war on sex offenders and predators."

Lawmakers agreed to change the bill to only require sexually violent predators to be tracked with GPS. There are 91 sexually violent predators living in Colorado and several hundred more in prison that the bill would apply to. Sexually violent predators includes people convicted of first-degree sexual assault or sexual assault on a child.

In Colorado, about 50 of the 1,300 sex offenders who are out on parole or probation are already being monitored by GPS because they are considered to be the most high risk. It's not clear how much overlap there would be between the two groups.

Rep. Bob Gardner , R-Colorado Springs, originally wanted to monitor all 1,300 sex offenders in Colorado, with the offenders footing the bill.

But that would have cost a total of $4 million a year. State officials estimated only about 10 percent of the offenders would be able to cover the cost of monitoring, which ranges from $10 to $15 a day depending on how often they are checked.

Other lawmakers balked at spending that much money. They also questioned the need to monitor people classified as sex offenders for such minor convictions as streaking or urinating in public.

Despite the scaled-down scope, Gardner called the bill a good first step and said he was surprised it passed at all.

Lunsford said he preferred more monitoring of all sex offenders, saying they tend to increase the severity of their crimes over time. But he too called the Colorado bill a good start.

"By all means, let's monitor the worst of the worst first," he said after the hearing.

The bill now must go before another committee to determine whether the state can afford it.

Stacie Rumenap, executive director of Stop Child Predators, who also backed the bill, said 33 other states have passed laws requiring GPS monitoring for sex offenders since Jessica's murder. She said most have a tiered system where offenders at most risk of repeat crimes are monitored for life while others are monitored while on probation, which can last for years.

Some states have also passed laws limiting how close sex offenders can live to parks or schools. Rep. State Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, said she preferred GPS monitoring to limiting where sex offenders can live.

The man convicted of raping and killing Jessica, John Evander Couey, was designated a sex offender for exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl in 1991. He has been sentenced to death in Jessica's slaying.

 source:  ww.kmgh.com