One of these 'tools' is the expansion of the state's DNA Databank. New York and the country as a whole has seen a drastic reduction in crime. Our state leads the way with a 39 percent drop as compared to the 25 percent average drop for the other nine most populous states. The updated Sexual Assault Laws will help in this effort. The updated law is expansive and covers a wide variety of issues that redefines sex crimes and contains other provisions that are designed to protect the public, particularly children, from sexual predators and other violent felons.
Children are innocent and trusting, and as such, they are quite often vulnerable to predators.
The reformed state law provides greater protections for our children on several different fronts. The Criminal Procedure Law will lower the age from 12 to 9 in which a child who is a sexual assault victim can give sworn testimony in court. Prosecutors have been hampered by the fact that young children have not been allowed to tell their story in court. Further, the new law increases the age of a 'child victim' from less than 11 years old to less than 13 years old. Also, probation of sex offenders will increase the time a convicted predator will be on parole if released and bars them from entering school grounds.