Numerous high profile sex offender cases have placed our state in national headlines for several years. The legislature has amended laws a little at a time, never quite catching up to the progress of other states in these matters, even though many good strides were made to improve our offender statutes in the last few years.

Vermont started responding to the national “get tough” environment in 2003 when a statewide petition drive was begun to urge the legislature to put the sex offender registry on the internet, as most other states had done to comply with Megan’s Law. A petition drive was begun in response to the death of a young woman who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender, and it was likely she did not know about his past. The registry was put on the web, yet the Vermont registry is still not as comprehensive as other state registries. For example, you cannot find an offender’s street address and a very limited number of offenders are listed with pictures and records.

Once again, five years later, another petition drive has begun in response to the tragic death of a child. The petition urges the legislature to enact a Jessica’s Law for Vermont. It has grabbed the attention of Vermonters who feel the time has come to catch up with what other states have already implemented. Jessica’s Law is primarily about mandating a lengthy sentence for the sexual assault of a child under 13. In most states, including Florida where the law originated, the term is 25 years.

The petition is available on Lt. Governor Brian Dubie’s website. It calls for a thorough examination of our laws and our processes with respect to courts, corrections and supervision relating to sex offenders. It calls for a 25 year presumptive minimum, mandatory sentence. This means a prosecutor could accept a plea bargain if the victim cannot testify, or be credible. Expansion of community notification (sex offender registry), GPS monitoring, and expansion of special investigation units is also suggested in the proposal as well as civil confinement. The legislature has had testimony on many of these suggestions, and others, starting in 2006. Since 2006—when Florida became the first state to enact Jessica’s Law—all but six states have passed some form of this legislation. Vermont again is playing “catch up.”

Why are most states moving so strongly and so quickly on these issues? I believe this is an attempt to keep pace with both technology and expectations of citizens. For offenders access to the internet is serving to confirm their behavior and providing access to victims (and sometimes to law enforcement). Additionally, these offenders are often transitory and tracking them can be difficult. DNA testing is more prevalent and can provide the prosecution with the evidence needed to secure the conviction for a longer sentence, in some cases. Finally there is a sense of dissatisfaction with the performance of the judiciary, nationwide, and a desire for greater accountability by keeping sex offenders incarcerated for as long as possible to reduce re-offense.

The legislature and the governor cannot afford to dwell on this for long due to the competitive environment created by the actions of other states, which are now less desirable places for some offenders than Vermont. Model legislation is available from over 40 other states that we could examine. Vermonters want action to protect children. They also realize that it’s all been said, it just needs to be done, in Montpelier.

Wendy Wilton is a former State Senator representing Rutland County, who introduced Jessica’s Law in 2005.