II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sex Offender Registra5 tion Tips Program Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘SORT Act of 

6 2009’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Parents for Megan’s Law, Inc., a nonprofit 

2 corporation described in section 501(c)(3) of the In3 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and headquartered in 

4 New York, has since 1998 educated and supported 

5 the community, law enforcement, criminal justice, 

6 and government agencies on issues related to sex of7 fender registration, notification, responsible use of 

8 information, sexual abuse and abduction prevention, 

9 Internet Safety, and crime victim support. 

10 (2) Parents for Megan’s Law, Inc., established 

11 and operates the National Megan’s Law Helpline, a 

12 free confidential telephone helpline that provides in13 formation, support, and criminal justice referrals, 

14 nationally and internationally, on sex offender man15 agement issues. Parents for Megan’s Law, Inc. is a 

16 certified rape crisis center and provides support and 

17 assistance to child and adult victims of sexual abuse 

18 and all victims of violent crime. Research suggests 

19 that sexual assault victims who receive counseling 

20 support are more likely to report their attack to the 

21 police and participate in the prosecution of the of22 fender. 

23 (3) The National Megan’s Law Helpline has 

24 generated over 70,000 requests for assistance, infor25 mation, or follow-up contacts on sex offender manVerDate Nov 24 2008 19:30 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1146.IS S1146

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1 agement, crime victim support, and prevention edu2 cation issues. Helpline requests utilize the Helpline’s 

3 resources and often entail coordination with outside 

4 resources, follow-up calls, or actual referrals to any 

5 or all of the following: law enforcement and other 

6 criminal justice agencies, state and local crime vic7 tims assistance agencies and organizations, social 

8 service and human service providers, and other serv9 ice provider organizations. 

10 (4) The Internet website of Parents for 

11 Megan’s Law, Inc., serves as a clearinghouse and 

12 national resource for information related to sex of13 fender registration, notification, sexual abuse and 

14 abduction prevention, and crime victims’ support 

15 and referrals. Such Internet website is also utilized 

16 by the public to anonymously report Internet child 

17 pornography and child sex tourism and as a resource 

18 for Internet Safety education. Reports are forwarded 

19 to local law enforcement for appropriate follow-up. 

20 (5)(A) With limited resources, the National 

21 Megan’s Law Helpline has provided the public with 

22 a resource for confidentially reporting registered sex 

23 offenders failing to comply with registration require24 ments, supervision, or employment restrictions or 

25 who are in positions of trust where potential child 


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1 victims can be accessed. Confidential tips are 

2 triaged, crime victim support is provided, and refer3 rals are made to the appropriate criminal justice 

4 agency for follow-up action. 

5 (B) In fact, because of anonymous tips to the 

6 Helpline, actions have been taken to mitigate poten7 tially dangerous situations, including— 

8 (i) sending a registered sex offender back 

9 to prison after he was identified as residing in 

10 a registered child day care center where he 

11 could access potential child victims; 

12 (ii) preventing a convicted former middle 

13 school teacher required to register as a sex of14 fender and give up his teacher’s license, from 

15 gaining employment as an in home children’s 

16 tutor for a reputable tutoring company where 

17 he could gain unsupervised access to potential 

18 child victims; 

19 (iii) having a registered sex offender who 

20 targeted a child, and subsequently was barred 

21 from using the Internet to develop online rela22 tionships, removed from an Internet Dating 

23 service where he attempted to develop a rela24 tionship with whom he believed was a single 

25 woman with children; 


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1 (iv) sending a registered sex offender, who 

2 was on parole for a weapons charge and re3 stricted from entering school grounds, back to 

4 prison for entering school grounds and drug 

5 possession; 

6 (v) identifying and reporting a registered 

7 sex offender, convicted of sexually victimizing a 

8 4-year-old boy while baby-sitting, who had ab9 sconded and failed to register; and 

10 (vi) identifying, locating and reporting reg11 istered sex offenders in violation of conditions 

12 of probation, parole, local employment or other 

13 restriction laws. 

14 (6) A national Sex Offender Registration Com15 pliance survey conducted by Parents for Megan’s 

16 Law, Inc., in 2003, indicated that, 24 percent of (or 

17 over 100,000) registered sex offenders were not com18 plying with sex offender registration laws. Sex of19 fender registry information provides parents and 

20 community members an opportunity to protect them21 selves, their children, and their communities from 

22 sexual victimization, but that information, in order 

23 to be of value, requires labor intensive follow-up 

24 intervention and proactive maintenance to be kept 

25 current. 


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1 (7) Access to the National Criminal Informa2 tion databases is necessary for Parents for Megan’s 

3 Law, Inc., to effectively evaluate the veracity of tips 

4 received, proactively research noncompliant reg5 istrants or registrants engaged in criminal activities 

6 and provide law enforcement with viable accurate in7 formation for follow-up action. 

8 (8) The Sex Offender Registration Tips 

9 (SORT) Program will reduce sexual victimization 

10 and increase sex offender registration compliance 

11 through community tips and proactive maintenance. 

12 (9) Authorizing federal funds for the SORT 

13 Program will reduce criminal sexual victimization 

14 by— 

15 (A) supporting crime victims seeking as16 sistance; 

17 (B) supporting sex offender registration, 

18 notification, and sexual abuse and abduction 

19 prevention education and Internet Safety in20 quiries; and 

21 (C) providing the public two interactive 

22 confidential resources, the Helpline and Inter23 net website, for the public to provide informa24 tion— 


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1 (i) about registered sex offenders who 

2 are believed to be out of compliance with 

3 registration requirements, supervision, or 

4 employment restrictions and who are in po5 sitions of trust where potential child vic6 tims can be accessed; or 

7 (ii) concerning sex offender activities 

8 that indicate a heightened risk of re-of9 fending. 

10 (10)(A) The SORT program will serve as a 

11 powerful national tool supporting communities and 

12 crime victims while assisting and advancing the mis13 sion of Federal, state, and local law enforcement in 

14 combating sexual victimization. 

15 (B) The SORT program and the National 

16 Megan’s Law Helpline is unique in the following 

17 ways: 

18 (i) It provides up to date sexual abuse pre19 vention information, deters vigilantism, and re20 inforces responsible use of information. 

21 (ii) It provides victims who come forth with 

22 needed information with an infrastructure of 

23 advocacy, enforcement, and therapeutic support. 

24 (iii) It maximizes law enforcement’s al25 ready strained resources by screening anonyVerDate Nov 24 2008 19:30 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1146.IS S1146

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1 mous tips promptly and effectively through the 

2 use of trained investigators with access to pub3 lic, private and law enforcement databases. 

4 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SEX OFFENDER 

5 REGISTRATION TIPS PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of the 

7 funds authorized to be appropriated under subsection (d), 

8 the Attorney General shall provide grants and access to 

9 information and resources to the not-for-profit community 

10 and victim’s rights organization, Parents for Megan’s 

11 Law, Inc., to implement the Sex Offender Registration 

12 Tips Program described in subsection (b). 

13 (b) SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION TIPS PROGRAM

14 DESCRIBED.—For purposes of subsection (a), the Sex Of15 fender Registration Tips Program is a program to reduce 

16 sexual victimization and support victims of violent crime 

17 by— 

18 (1) providing up-to-date and accurate sex of19 fender registry information to Federal, State, and 

20 local law enforcement entities through the National 

21 Megan’s Law Helpline staffed by Parents for 

22 Megan’s Law, Inc., and the Internet website of such 

23 organization; 

24 (2) enabling the analysis and coordination of 

25 community tips relating to sex offenders who fail to 


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1 register in the sex offender registry maintained by 

2 the jurisdiction involved or who engage in activities 

3 in violation of conditions of their probation or parole 

4 or other criminal activities; 

5 (3) using existing Internet sex offender reg6 istries, public information, and the National Crimi7 nal Information databases to compare and contrast 

8 information and proactively identify high-risk reg9 istrants who are out of compliance, in violation of 

10 conditions of supervision, and identify the location of 

11 wanted registrants in order to ascertain the need for 

12 follow-up action by law enforcement; 

13 (4) providing crime victims support, informa14 tion, and referrals; and 

15 (5) supporting community members with up-to16 date sex offender registration, notification, and sex17 ual abuse and abduction prevention and Internet 

18 Safety information. 

19 (c) ACCESS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

20 law, the Attorney General shall ensure access by Parents 

21 for Megan’s Law, Inc., to the National Crime Information 

22 Center databases operated by the Federal Bureau of In23 vestigation pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United 

24 States Code, to the extent that such access is only for pur25 poses within the scope of the organization’s duties and reVerDate Nov 24 2008 19:30 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1146.IS S1146

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1 sponsibilities to assist or support law enforcement agencies 

2 in administration of criminal justice functions. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for grants 

5 under subsection (a) for each of the fiscal years 2010 

6 through 2014. 

Æ 


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