[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1146 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1146

    To direct the Attorney General to provide grants and access to 
 information and resources for the implementation of the Sex Offender 
          Registration Tips and Crime Victims Center Programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2009

  Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To direct the Attorney General to provide grants and access to 
 information and resources for the implementation of the Sex Offender 
          Registration Tips and Crime Victims Center Programs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Sex Offender Registration Tips 
Program Act of 2009'' or the ``SORT Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., a nonprofit corporation 
        described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 and headquartered in New York, has since 1998 educated and 
        supported the community, law enforcement, criminal justice, and 
        government agencies on issues related to sex offender 
        registration, notification, responsible use of information, 
        sexual abuse and abduction prevention, Internet Safety, and 
        crime victim support.
            (2) Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., established and operates 
        the National Megan's Law Helpline, a free confidential 
        telephone helpline that provides information, support, and 
        criminal justice referrals, nationally and internationally, on 
        sex offender management issues. Parents for Megan's Law, Inc. 
        is a certified rape crisis center and provides support and 
        assistance to child and adult victims of sexual abuse and all 
        victims of violent crime. Research suggests that sexual assault 
        victims who receive counseling support are more likely to 
        report their attack to the police and participate in the 
        prosecution of the offender.
            (3) The National Megan's Law Helpline has generated over 
        70,000 requests for assistance, information, or follow-up 
        contacts on sex offender management, crime victim support, and 
        prevention education issues. Helpline requests utilize the 
        Helpline's resources and often entail coordination with outside 
        resources, follow-up calls, or actual referrals to any or all 
        of the following: law enforcement and other criminal justice 
        agencies, state and local crime victims assistance agencies and 
        organizations, social service and human service providers, and 
        other service provider organizations.
            (4) The Internet website of Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., 
        serves as a clearinghouse and national resource for information 
        related to sex offender registration, notification, sexual 
        abuse and abduction prevention, and crime victims' support and 
        referrals. Such Internet website is also utilized by the public 
        to anonymously report Internet child pornography and child sex 
        tourism and as a resource for Internet Safety education. 
        Reports are forwarded to local law enforcement for appropriate 
        follow-up.
            (5)(A) With limited resources, the National Megan's Law 
        Helpline has provided the public with a resource for 
        confidentially reporting registered sex offenders failing to 
        comply with registration requirements, supervision, or 
        employment restrictions or who are in positions of trust where 
        potential child victims can be accessed. Confidential tips are 
        triaged, crime victim support is provided, and referrals are 
        made to the appropriate criminal justice agency for follow-up 
        action.
            (B) In fact, because of anonymous tips to the Helpline, 
        actions have been taken to mitigate potentially dangerous 
        situations, including--
                    (i) sending a registered sex offender back to 
                prison after he was identified as residing in a 
                registered child day care center where he could access 
                potential child victims;
                    (ii) preventing a convicted former middle school 
                teacher required to register as a sex offender and give 
                up his teacher's license, from gaining employment as an 
                in home children's tutor for a reputable tutoring 
                company where he could gain unsupervised access to 
                potential child victims;
                    (iii) having a registered sex offender who targeted 
                a child, and subsequently was barred from using the 
                Internet to develop online relationships, removed from 
                an Internet Dating service where he attempted to 
                develop a relationship with whom he believed was a 
                single woman with children;
                    (iv) sending a registered sex offender, who was on 
                parole for a weapons charge and restricted from 
                entering school grounds, back to prison for entering 
                school grounds and drug possession;
                    (v) identifying and reporting a registered sex 
                offender, convicted of sexually victimizing a 4-year-
                old boy while baby-sitting, who had absconded and 
                failed to register; and
                    (vi) identifying, locating and reporting registered 
                sex offenders in violation of conditions of probation, 
                parole, local employment or other restriction laws.
            (6) A national Sex Offender Registration Compliance survey 
        conducted by Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., in 2003, indicated 
        that, 24 percent of (or over 100,000) registered sex offenders 
        were not complying with sex offender registration laws. Sex 
        offender registry information provides parents and community 
        members an opportunity to protect themselves, their children, 
        and their communities from sexual victimization, but that 
        information, in order to be of value, requires labor intensive 
        follow-up intervention and proactive maintenance to be kept 
        current.
            (7) Access to the National Criminal Information databases 
        is necessary for Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., to effectively 
        evaluate the veracity of tips received, proactively research 
        noncompliant registrants or registrants engaged in criminal 
        activities and provide law enforcement with viable accurate 
        information for follow-up action.
            (8) The Sex Offender Registration Tips (SORT) Program will 
        reduce sexual victimization and increase sex offender 
        registration compliance through community tips and proactive 
        maintenance.
            (9) Authorizing federal funds for the SORT Program will 
        reduce criminal sexual victimization by--
                    (A) supporting crime victims seeking assistance;
                    (B) supporting sex offender registration, 
                notification, and sexual abuse and abduction prevention 
                education and Internet Safety inquiries; and
                    (C) providing the public two interactive 
                confidential resources, the Helpline and Internet 
                website, for the public to provide information--
                            (i) about registered sex offenders who are 
                        believed to be out of compliance with 
                        registration requirements, supervision, or 
                        employment restrictions and who are in 
                        positions of trust where potential child 
                        victims can be accessed; or
                            (ii) concerning sex offender activities 
                        that indicate a heightened risk of re-
                        offending.
            (10)(A) The SORT program will serve as a powerful national 
        tool supporting communities and crime victims while assisting 
        and advancing the mission of Federal, state, and local law 
        enforcement in combating sexual victimization.
            (B) The SORT program and the National Megan's Law Helpline 
        is unique in the following ways:
                    (i) It provides up to date sexual abuse prevention 
                information, deters vigilantism, and reinforces 
                responsible use of information.
                    (ii) It provides victims who come forth with needed 
                information with an infrastructure of advocacy, 
                enforcement, and therapeutic support.
                    (iii) It maximizes law enforcement's already 
                strained resources by screening anonymous tips promptly 
                and effectively through the use of trained 
                investigators with access to public, private and law 
                enforcement databases.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION TIPS 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of the funds 
authorized to be appropriated under subsection (d), the Attorney 
General shall provide grants and access to information and resources to 
the not-for-profit community and victim's rights organization, Parents 
for Megan's Law, Inc., to implement the Sex Offender Registration Tips 
Program described in subsection (b).
    (b) Sex Offender Registration Tips Program Described.--For purposes 
of subsection (a), the Sex Offender Registration Tips Program is a 
program to reduce sexual victimization and support victims of violent 
crime by--
            (1) providing up-to-date and accurate sex offender registry 
        information to Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
        entities through the National Megan's Law Helpline staffed by 
        Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., and the Internet website of such 
        organization;
            (2) enabling the analysis and coordination of community 
        tips relating to sex offenders who fail to register in the sex 
        offender registry maintained by the jurisdiction involved or 
        who engage in activities in violation of conditions of their 
        probation or parole or other criminal activities;
            (3) using existing Internet sex offender registries, public 
        information, and the National Criminal Information databases to 
        compare and contrast information and proactively identify high-
        risk registrants who are out of compliance, in violation of 
        conditions of supervision, and identify the location of wanted 
        registrants in order to ascertain the need for follow-up action 
        by law enforcement;
            (4) providing crime victims support, information, and 
        referrals; and
            (5) supporting community members with up-to-date sex 
        offender registration, notification, and sexual abuse and 
        abduction prevention and Internet Safety information.
    (c) Access.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Attorney General shall ensure access by Parents for Megan's Law, Inc., 
to the National Crime Information Center databases operated by the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to section 534 of title 28, 
United States Code, to the extent that such access is only for purposes 
within the scope of the organization's duties and responsibilities to 
assist or support law enforcement agencies in administration of 
criminal justice functions.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $1,000,000 for grants under subsection (a) for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
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