(KMOV) -- Some Illinois parents are trying to change sex offender registry laws because their children had a close call with a convicted sex offender who wasn’t registered.
Why wasn’t he registered? Because the crime occurred when he was a juvenile.
Information about convicted juvenile sex offenders is only available to police and not the public, and that’s what Marie and Eric are trying to change. They want a juvenile sex offender registry.
East Alton Police Chief Dwynn Isringhausen said under current laws, they only release the information to schools, known daycares and known childcare facilities.
Illinois state Sen. Bill Haine and state Rep. Dan Beiser said they like what Marie has proposed and believe it would make communities safer.
The group Illinois Voices sent a fax to Beiser’s office while News 4 was there. They want reform to sex offender laws so not all convicts are treated the same.
Illinois Voices’ site says, “Current laws are over-broad, over-inclusive and do not distinguish between violent sex offenders and non-violent persons charged with sexually based crimes.”
Crimes covered in sex offender laws include consensual teenage sex and sexting.
Lawmakers are toying with the idea of a tier system which would categorize offenders based on the severity of the crime.
Both lawmakers said they plan to hammer out a bill and bring it up on the floor during the next legislative session to deal with what they said is a loophole in sex offender laws.
