It's long overdue,'' said Deborah Savoia, a North Andover mother who began pushing for harsher punishment four years ago when she heard a paroled sex offender might be moving into her neighborhood. It also creates lifetime parole for some sex offenders, allowing them to be yanked back to jail if they're breaking the rules. Gov. Paul Cellucci pledged to sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk. Under current law, as well as the House bill, criminal classified as sex offenders must register with their local police departments when they get out of jail or if they move to a new neighborhood. More than 8,000 of the state's estimated 13,000 eligible sex offenders have registered with their local police departments since the state first created the sex offender registry in 1996.
Parents can go to the local police station and get information about neighborhood sex offenders.
But the state's highest court last summer ruled that police couldn't publicize information about even the most dangerous sex offenders until the offenders were offered a chance to challenge their classification as likely to commit another crime. The House and Senate failed to pass a new law before the end of the 1998 legislative session. The House bill gives judges the power to require registration as part of a sex offender's sentence. Judges will also decide whether the offender's name should be available at police headquarters or widely publicized. We're putting some teeth into it.