Rep. Chris Turner Files Bills Targeting Sexual Predators

House Bill 2396 and House Bill 2397 Will Help Detect Child Pornography and Aid Local Law Enforcement in Tracking Sex Offenders

Austin - In an effort to create added protections for children and communities across the State of Texas, State Representative Chris Turner has filed legislation which targets both child pornography and sex offenders who seek to evade registration laws.

House Bill 2397 would require paid computer technicians who find child pornography on a computer they are repairing to report their findings to local law enforcement. Similar laws have been passed in at least eight states. In Florida in May 2008, a Best Buy Geek Squad employee discovered what appeared to be child pornography on a computer which he was repairing. The discovery led to the arrest of a 37-year old man who was charged with six counts of having obscene sexual pictures of children.

“By requiring computer technicians to report the discovery of child pornography, we are giving law enforcement one more tool to help fight this heinous crime,” said Rep. Turner. “We need to do everything possible to protect our children from child predators and this is one more step in the right direction.”

When passed and signed into law, House Bill 2396, will require sex offenders who claim no permanent residence to register with local law enforcement at least every seven days. According to the Texas Police Chiefs Association, many sex offenders falsely claim they are homeless in order to avoid eviction from homes where they cannot legally reside due to their sex offender status.

“It is critical that local law enforcement are able to track sex offenders in their communities,” said Rep. Turner. “We can’t let sex offenders claim they are homeless so that they can evade the law. If they do in fact have no permanent residence, we need to know where they are in order to keep our families safe.”

“It is our job to keep the people in our community safe from sex offenders, which is made considerably more difficult when we don’t know how to find them,” said Chief John R. Chancellor, Legislative Committee Chair, Texas Police Chiefs Association. “This law will help us keep track of potentially violent criminals and will help strengthen the protections we have for our citizens.”

The text of both bills may be found here:
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/billnumber.aspx