ALBANY---New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act Wednesday that will tighten regulations for convicted sex offenders and implements civil confinement, helping to protect New Yorkers from repeated sexual predators.

The new law allows the ongoing supervision and custody of sex offenders upon the expiration of their criminal sentences.

Under the new law, mental health professionals will determine whether a detained sex offender has a mental abnormality that predisposes him or her to commit future sex crimes. The Attorney General's office would have the burden to prove the mental abnormality to a jury. Upon a unanimous finding, a judge would order an individual either confined to a mental health facility or require the individual to undergo intensive supervision after his or her release from prison.

In addition, the new law establishes mandatory treatment programs during incarceration and after release. It creates a new crime of "sexually motivated felony," and it mandates longer periods of post-release supervision for sex offenders. The law will create the Office of Sex Offender Management in the State Division of Criminal Justice Services to develop a comprehensive policy and standards for the evaluation, treatment and management of sex offenders.

"This legislation is a critical public safety initiative helping to keep the most dangerous sexual predators off our streets and place them in secure supervised environments away from our families," Spitzer said. 3-14-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette