V.I. sex offender registry under Senate review

ST. CROIX - A Senate committee unanimously approved amendments to the V.I. Sexual Offender Registration and Community Protection Act of 1997 during a hearing Wednesday after testimony supporting the bill painted it as being outdated and drawing unwanted attention.

The bill will be heard next in the Senate's Rules and Judiciary Committee.

"There have been no significant enhancements to the Virgin Islands law since its passage in 1997," said V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer. "Moreover, we believe that because the law is so archaic, many sex offenders on the United States mainland have been using the Virgin Islands as a safe haven."

The registry is available via the V.I. Justice Department website - http://doj.vi.gov - but that website has been having technical problems, according to Frazer.

The department plans to run an email list to which residents can subscribe and get email notifications when the registry is updated, Frazer said.

The amendments to the law would establish a three-tiered classification system, requiring offenders convicted of crimes of varying severity to register for a period of 15 years, 25 years or life. Currently the law requires sexual offenders to register for either 15 years or life.

In addition, the amendments update some aspects of the law and require more stringent reporting requirements, testifiers said. The Attorney General, V.I. Police Department and V.I. Law Enforcement Planning Commission all testified in favor of the amendments.

The bill received unanimous support from the Committee on Public Safety, Homeland Security and Justice: Senators Sammuel Sanes, Nereida Rivera-O'Reilly, Carlton Dowe, Celestino White Sr., Ronald Russell, Usie Richards and Alvin Williams Jr.

Concerns from senators included whether the law is too broad, in terms of the crimes that fall under the tiered system, and how juvenile sexual offenders would be treated.

"It seem like it's a penalty. If someone commit a murder, you don't require them to register," Russell said. "But the people who commit these crime - which are heinous and just as bad - have to register."

"The social science research has shown that these people who commit these offenses will continue to do so," Frazer replied.

Russell said his concern was that the law would be overly broad.

"We made it broad enough to include all sex offenses," Frazer said. Where some crimes fall in the system is determined by whether the crime involved the corruption of a minor, he said.

The bill would establish a system in which Tier 1 covers the least serious crimes and Tier 3 covers the most severe.

- Tier 1 crimes include: false imprisonment of a minor; video voyeurism of a minor; possession of child pornography; and coercion to engage in prostitution. Those convicted of Tier 1 crimes would have to register with the Justice Department for 15 years, though they would have the opportunity to appeal for a reduction to 10 years if deemed worthy.

- Tier 2 crimes include: use of minors in prostitution; enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity; sexual contact with a minor; use of a minor in a sexual performance or production or distribution of child pornography; non-forcible sexual act with minor of 16 or 17 years; and trafficking of people for sexual activity. People convicted of Tier 2 crimes would have to register with the Justice Department for 25 years following the completion of any prison sentence.

- Tier 3 crimes include: non-parental kidnapping of a minor; sexual act by force or threat; sex with someone who has been rendered unconscious or involuntarily drugged and cannot decline; sex with a minor 12 years or younger; first-degree and aggravated rape; kidnapping for rape; and first-degree unlawful sexual contact. Offenders convicted of Tier 3 crimes would have to register for life.

The bill also amends the current law to expand the requirements of who must register, Frazer said. Now, anyone who has been convicted of a sexual crime anywhere in the United States or a court of another "competent jurisdiction" must register.

Rivera-O'Reilly asked Frazer whether sexual offenders visiting the territory on vacation would have to register.

"If they are required in their state to notify their office, their notification office is required to notify us," Frazer said. "That person, when they get into the territory, would come to the office and register with us," Frazer said. Even someone coming in for a day on a cruise ship would be required to notify the department of their presence, he said.

"We've taken it a step further, given that we're a tourist destination," Frazer said.

Frazer cited an example of a man he called "Mr. X" who had been convicted in another state of molesting young boys in 2001. After serving time, the man - deemed a "sexually violent predator" by his state - notified his state's registry in March 2011 that he planned to move to the Virgin Islands where he felt the system was more lax. That state notified the Justice Department, and Virgin Islands authorities were able to locate and arrest the man for failing to report and register.

"This is an actual occurrence that serves as evidence that sex offender monitoring and tracking works and is necessary for the protection of the children of the Virgin Islands," Frazer said.

The bill also would require a sex offender background check be done for individuals applying to work in facilities where minors would be present, including schools, and prohibit the hiring of employees or volunteers who appear on a sexual offender registry.

White asked what information would appear on the website - names, photos, synopsis of the offense - for people to be able to check to see if someone is on the registry?

"Yes to all the questions you asked," Frazer said.

- Contact Daniel Shea at 714-9127 or email dshea@dailynews.vi.

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