Congress gets Lunsford legislation

Poe: 'I hope we ... can quit naming bills after murdered children'

Thursday, April 21, 2005 Posted: 9:22 PM EDT (0122 GMT) Thursday, April 21, 2005

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Members of Congress on Thursday were introduced to legislation that would require states to keep closer tabs on convicted sex offenders not behind bars.

The legislation would be called the Jessica Lunsford Act in honor of the Homosassa, Florida, girl who was allegedly abducted and slain by a convicted sex offender.

"Jessica Lunsford's murder is a horrifying example of the need for stricter laws regulating sex offenders," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Florida Republican, via her Web site.

"While individual states have passed legislation targeting sexual offenders and predators, I feel that we need to have strong federal guidelines for states to follow."

Lunsford's father, Mark, and other lawmakers joined Brown-Waite at a news conference Thursday to discuss the legislation.

"Eight weeks ago I had a beautiful 9-year-old daughter who was the light of my life," said Mark Lunsford. "I will never see Jessie go on her first date. I will never be a grandfather to her children."

Police have said John Evander Couey, 46, confessed to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering Jessica Lunsford. He is charged with capital murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Jessica's body was found last month, buried behind Couey's half-sister's home, where Couey had been living.

Last Saturday, the body of another Florida girl, 13-year-old Sarah Michelle Lunde, was found in a pond.

Sex offender David Onstott, who previously dated the girl's mother, told authorities he choked the teen and dumped her body there a week earlier, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said.

Currently, states are supposed to send sex offenders an annual mailer with an address verification form.

Under the Jessica Lunsford Act, states would be required to send the mailers semiannually and at random times, so offenders don't know when to expect them.

For those who do not answer the mailers, the legislation would increase penalties to imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. Any offender who fails twice to register with a state or fails more than once to answer a mailer would be required to wear an electronic ankle monitor.

"No longer will these sexual offenders and predators be repeatedly ignoring the letter of the law and be allowed to roam the streets at will," Brown-Waite said.

Lunsford's father said, "To me, it's pretty simple: It makes states' sex-offender laws much stronger, and makes states do what they should already be doing to register sex offenders and protect our kids."

The bill is currently in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, according to a congressional bill-tracking site. Brown-Waite said 43 lawmakers have signed on.

The Florida Senate is now considering a bill, also called the Jessica Lunsford Act, that would impose longer sentences and tougher penalties for convicted sex offenders. It would mandate that, after their release, the offenders be electronically monitored for the rest of their lives. The Florida House unanimously approved a similar bill Tuesday.

Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican Congressman from Texas, has introduced legislation that would make the FBI's database of sex offenders available to the general public, Brown-Waite said.

"The reason we're here is because of a little girl who was 9 years old and lived in Florida," Poe said. "I hope we get to the day in this country when we can quit naming bills after murdered children."