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Press
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PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS LANDMARK SEX OFFENDER AND CHILD PROTECTION
LEGISLATION ON 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF ADAM WALSH’S ABDUCTION
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Praises Lawmakers
for Creating National Sex Offender Registry and Enacting Tougher Measures
to Protect Children
The Adam
Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (PDF)
WASHINGTON, DC – July 27, 2006 – The National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) calls the passage
of “The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006”
the toughest and most important piece of legislation in the past 25 years
in helping to save children’s lives. This legislation (H.R. 4472)
creates a national sex offender database and implements measures designed
to drastically improve the tracking of sex offenders. It will also help
to protect children against sexual exploitation and violent crimes.
“I commend President Bush and the members of Congress for enacting
a bill allowing law enforcement to stay one step ahead of the sex offenders
in this country who prey on our children. This bill provides a more comprehensive
system for tracking sex offenders within the 50 states, calls for better
resources for keeping tabs on these predators, and holds sex offenders
accountable for failing to register,” said NCMEC President and CEO
Ernie Allen.
“The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006”
will be signed into law today on the 25th anniversary of the abduction
of Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of NCMEC Co-founders John and Revé
Walsh. The law is named for Adam, who was kidnapped from a shopping mall
in Hollywood, Florida, and found murdered 16 days later. Sadly, no one
was ever charged in Adam’s murder. His abduction and murder helped
spark the nation’s missing children’s movement.
Allen added, “Twenty-five years after Adam’s abduction we
can state with confidence that we have come a long way in our efforts
to help keep our kids safer. Thanks in large part to the tireless efforts
of John and Revé, who have turned their personal tragedy into a
call to action, we have this historic legislation. This new law will change
the way we deal with child predators across this nation. Now we need Congress
to fully fund this bill so it can be strongly executed.”
Today, there are nearly 600,000 registered sex offenders in the United
States; however, as many as 150,000 are 'lost' in the system having failed
to comply with registration duties and remain undetected due to law enforcement’s
inability to track their whereabouts. NCMEC believes this new bill builds
on 20 years of legislative efforts to better manage the problem of sex
offenders in our communities.
Highlights of the bill:
1) Creates a national public sex offender registry. Provides the public
with better and more uniform information about sex offenders so that all
communities benefit from the same kind of information. States will be
required to list all, not merely some, sex offenders on their web site
registries.
2) Provides for consistent sex offender requirements in all states. Sex
offenders will no longer be able to take advantage of different state
requirements to avoid registering. It mandates that sex offenders be registered
before they are released from prison or three days after a sentence of
probation.
3) Penalizes failure to comply with registration duties as a state and
federal felony.
4) Enhances the ability of law enforcement to track sex offenders when
they move, cutting down on the number of "missing" sex offenders
in the system. It requires sex offenders to verify registration in person
to law enforcement rather than by mail.
5) Makes important changes in the way law enforcement handles missing
child reports. Reports must be entered into the FBI’s National Crime
Information Center within 2 hours. It also prohibits the removal of a
missing child report when the child turns age 18 before being recovered.
6) In response to the growing problem of commercial child pornography
and the exploitation of children online, the bill increases the number
of Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces across the nation.
Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) was one of the primary authors of the
original bill. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Joseph Biden (D-DE) were
the primary sponsors of the bill in the Senate. NCMEC also recognizes
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Speaker
of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL); House Judiciary Committee Chairman
James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), along
with all the members of the Judiciary Committees in both the Senate and
the House and the other co-sponsors of the bill for their dedication in
getting this legislation passed.
To obtain a copy of “The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety
Act of 2006” and to learn what you can do to help protect your children,
visit www.missingkids.com.
About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for
child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 400,000 leads. Since
its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more
than 120,000 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than
100,000 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free,
24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST, or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.
CONTACT:
NCMEC Media Line
703-837-6111
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