OKLAHOMA CITY (March 14, 2012) – Legislation approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives would ban sex offenders who previously abused a child from living with minors.
House Bill 3049 is long overdue, according to the bill’s author, state Rep. Mike Sanders.
“It is incredible that our state law says nothing about a child living with a convicted sex offender,” said Sanders (R-Kingfisher). “They cannot reside near our schools but could live with a child under current law. I had a case in my district where an offender was living with a child and this legislation could have helped. It is long past time we corrected this oversight.”
House Bill 3049 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 91-4 vote and will now proceed to the Senate for consideration.
This bill amends 57 O.S. 2011, Section 590 to include:
It shall be unlawful for any person who is required to register pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act for any offense in which a minor child was the victim to reside with a minor child or establish any other living accommodation where a minor child resides. Provided, however, the person may reside with a minor child if the person is the parent, stepparent or grandparent of the minor child and the minor child was not the victim of the offense for which the person is required to register.
In April 2011 lifetime registered sex offender, Ronald Gene Lewis, was arrested . He's accused of raping a young family member and was living with his girlfriend and her young grandchildren at the time.
According to a police report, a 13-year-old girl said Ronald Lewis would bring her and her brother to his trailer and then have her walk the short distance to another trailer next door and the teen said that's where the rapes occurred and they'd been going on for years.
And according to the DOC sex offender registry, Lewis is listed as a level three lifetime registered sex offender and spent time in prison two separate times, both for lewd acts with children.
This bill does not go far enough. Alowing sexual perditors to live with there child, step child, or grand child is putting these children at risk. Sexual preditors do not stop at there family.
ReplyDeleteThe guy was not their grandfather. He hide his past from the girlfriend and her family. They found the day he was arrested. As the girl it was his daughter and the mother knew of his past before they had kids. She turned him in after he refused to give her money or it would have continued. His family even hide it from the girlfriend. How I know this the girlfriend at the time is my mom. And we after years of therapy are still dealing with it.
ReplyDelete