Politics & Government

Bill Before Massachusetts House Proposes Tougher Online Regulations for Sex Offenders

DA Morrissey is working with local representatives against internet predators.

Joint press release from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office and the offices of Representatives Galvin, Kafka and Rodgers:

The stops at the door to the internet.

But Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, Representatives William Galvin (D-Canton), Louis Kafka (D-Stoughton), John Rogers (D-Norwood) and a dozen other legislators are teaming up to try to change that.

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“Registering as a sex offender means giving police your name, home and work address, and any alias you have used,” said Norfolk DA Michael W. Morrissey. “But sex offenders aren’t required to give their screen names, online aliases, email addresses or web addresses – and that is a dangerous omission.”

That means that predators can pretend to be anyone they want in chat rooms, on social networking sites and in email correspondence without violating the sex offender registry.

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“The registry was designed before electronic communication became so much of everyday life,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “It is time for the registry to reflect the realities of this generation.”

“The legislation expands the way we protect our families from potential danger by sex offenders.  So much of our lives are connected through the Internet and identities we created.  We must update our laws to reflect the high technology world we live in," said Representative Rogers.   

“This legislation creates an additional barrier to known sex offenders who want to start communicating with children under false pretenses, and eventually gain access to them. The information will be useful for police, it will create a disincentive for creating misleading online identities and it will criminalize creating identities that aren’t shared with police,” added Representative Galvin.

“In addition to protecting children, this legislation will also discourage sexual predators from using the anonymity of the Internet to create a false online identity to probe for potential victims of all ages. With the growth in online dating sites, online personal ads, and other Internet-based forums, Email addresses and log-in handles are becoming just as important pieces of personal data as residential addresses and cell phone numbers,” said Representative Kafka.

District Attorney Morrissey, who served as state Senator from Quincy for more than a decade before his election, reached out to Rep. Rogers, Rep. Kafka, Rep. Galvin and other Norfolk County legislators to create support for the change.

“We go into the schools reminding kids to be safe on line,” Morrissey said. “This is something we can do to make that environment safer. It is a common-sense modernization that should bolster public safety while costing virtually nothing to implement.”

The Joint Committee on the Judiciary is slated to hold a public hearing on the bill, House Bill No. 3587, on Sept. 27, 2011.


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