§ 18-59. Purpose and intent.

(a)

The members of the town council are deeply and profoundly concerned about the unfortunate numerous occurrences within the state and the United States when convicted sexual offenders have been released from custody and then repeat the unlawful acts for which they had originally been convicted.

(b)

The town council finds from the available evidence that the recidivism rate for released sexual offenders is alarmingly high, especially for those who commit crimes upon children.

(c)

The United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), studied the recidivism of sex offenders released since 1994 and found the following:

(1)

Within three years following their release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime.

(2)

On average the 9,691 sex offenders served less than half of their eight-year sentence.

(3)

Compared to non-sex-offenders released from state prisons, released sex offenders were four times more likely to be rearrested for a sex crime.

(4)

Of the released sex offenders, 3.5 percent were reconvicted for a sex crime within the three-year followup period, 24 percent were reconvicted for a new offense and 38.6 percent were returned to prison, either because they received another prison sentence or because of a parole violation.

(5)

The 9,691 released sex offenders studied included 4,295 men who were in prison for child molesting.

(d)

Other BJS surveys have shown that 70 percent of all men in prison for a sex crime were men whose victim was a child.

(e)

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy published its findings of high recidivism rates among 417 released sexual predators and determined that 57 percent of the predators re-offended within six years of being released from prison and the study further showed that felony sex offenses were the crimes of choice for the sex offenders of which 16 percent did not register as sex offenders and that approximately 180 of the recidivists committed crimes considered precursors to child molestation.

(f)

Experts in the area of criminology have stated that all sexual assaults should be considered violent behavior.

(g)

F.S. § 947.1405(7) provides, in pertinent part, that any inmate who is convicted of a crime committed on or after October 1, 1995, or who has been previously convicted of a crime committed on or after October 1, 1995, in violation of F.S. ch. 794, sexual battery; F.S. § 800.04, lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of persons less than 16 years of age; F.S. § 827.071, Sexual performance by a child; or F.S. § 847.0145, selling or buying of minors; and is subject to conditional release supervision, shall have, in addition to any other conditions imposed, the following special conditions imposed by the commission:

(1)

A mandatory curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The commission may designate another eight-hour period if the offender's employment precludes the time specified in this subsection, and such alternative is recommended by the department of corrections. If the commission determines that imposing a curfew would endanger the victim, the commission may consider alternative sanctions.

(2)

If the victim was under the age of 18 years, a prohibition on living within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center, park, playground, designated public school bus stop, or other place where children regularly congregate. A releasee who is subject to this subsection may not relocate to a residence that is within 1,000 feet of a public school bus stop. Beginning October 1, 2004, the commission or the department may not approve a residence that is located within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center, park, playground, designated school bus stop, or other place where children regularly congregate for any releasee who is subject to this subsection. On October 1, 2004, the department shall notify each affected school district of the location of the residence of a releasee 30 days prior to release and thereafter, if the releasee relocates to a new residence, shall notify any affected school district of the residence of the releasee within 30 days after relocation. If, on October 1, 2004, any public school bus stop is located within 1,000 feet of the existing residence of such releasee, the district school board shall relocate that school bus stop. Beginning October 1, 2004, a district school board may not establish or relocate a public school bus stop within 1,000 feet of the residence of a releasee who is subject to this subsection. The failure of the district school board to comply with this subsection shall not result in a violation of conditional release supervision.

(h)

During the recently ended Legislative Session, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 1877 which is commonly known as the "Jessica Lunsford Act" which Act was approved by Governor Jeb Bush on May 2, 2005 and has been codified as chapter 2005-28, Laws of Florida.

(i)

The "Jessica Lunsford Act" will likely increase the number of offenders who will be designated as sexual offenders and will require electronic monitoring of certain offenders and will otherwise strengthen the state's efforts to control the cancer of child sexual victimization.

(j)

The state department of law enforcement provides a database containing public record information on offenders classified as sexual predators and sexual offenders under state law because of a conviction for a sex-related crime and/or a specified crime against children which information is made available to interested citizens to help them educate themselves about the possible presence of such offenders in their local communities.

(k)

Experts in the field of child sex crimes, such as those at the John Jay College in New York, state that " . . . child sexual abuse is significantly underreported" and a study of the Center for Sex Offender Management, a project of the United States Department of Justice, noted that "although sex offenders account for only a small percentage of the total offender population, probably no other group of offenders evokes as much fear in citizens and concern among policymakers and practitioners. In an effort to protect the public from the threats posed by known sex offenders and to ensure that the most effective management practices possible are in place, communities across the country are working hard to assess and plan improvements in their current approaches to sex offender management.

(l)

One expert author has written that there is overwhelming evidence that indicates that our current system of punishing or treating sexual offenders is failing us and a publication of the American Medical Association (AMA) states that "child sexual abuse has been endemic for generations, but recognition of the prevalence and the potential devastating psychological effects have only recently received attention" and the AMA publication goes on to state that recent studies suggest that approximately 20 percent of children will be sexually abused in someway before they reach adulthood, with this figure cumulating at a rate of about one percent each year.

(m)

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has noted that "the theme of the 1997 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation, Crime and Place, reflects an emerging trend among criminal justice researchers and practitioners to shift the focus of crime prevention and suppression efforts from people (potential offenders) to places.

(n)

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has assembled the following relevant statistics:

(1)

In 2001, there were approximately 386,000 registered sex offenders in United States.

(2)

Approximately 95 percent of sex offenders in the U.S. are under correctional supervision in the community.

(3)

At least half of convicted child molesters report that they also have been sexually assaulted as a child.

(4)

Over 80 percent of convicted adult rapists report that they have molested children.

(5)

Approximately one-third of sex offenders report assaulting both males and females. Research shows that most convicted sex offenders have committed many, many assaults before they are caught.

(6)

Most sex offenders report that they have committed multiple types of sexual assault (sexual assault crimes include exhibitionism, voyeurism, oral sex, vaginal penetration, attempted penetration, fondling, and incest).

(7)

Over two-thirds of offenders who reported committing incest also said they assaulted victims outside the family.

(8)

Studies of victims have found that less than 16 percent of sex crimes are reported to law enforcement.

(9)

Young victims who know or are related to the perpetrator are least likely to report the crime to authorities.

(10)

Most offenders commit multiple crimes against multiple types of victims with whom they have varying types of relationships (adults, children, male, female, known and unknown). This behavior is known as "crossover."

(11)

Sex offenders rarely commit a single type of offense. Many offenders have no official criminal record or sex crime history of any kind.

(12)

There is no such thing as a "typical" sex offender, however all tend to be manipulative, deceptive, and secretive. Sex offenders come from all backgrounds, ages, income levels, and professions.

(13)

Sex offenders usually do not commit their crimes impulsively. They usually carefully plan their crimes.

(o)

The town is a family-oriented community which highly values its children and is a place that families with young children find highly desirable.

(p)

Schools, day care centers, public parks, playgrounds (such as miniparks and recreational open spaces), libraries and churches are places within the town that children are frequently and regularly located and involved in activities and to which children walk thereby passing the residences of persons who may target the children for criminal activities.

(q)

State board of education F.A.C. Rule 6A-3.001 and Rule 6A-3.0171; the statutes which those rules implement; and the policies of the county school district provide that children living within two miles of the school must provide their own transportation or either walk or ride their bicycles to their assigned school.

(r)

The town council desires to ensure that the citizens of the town are protected from criminal activity to the maximum extent afforded by controlling law in order to advance the public health, safety and welfare, and benefit the citizens of the town to the maximum extent possible.

(s)

The town council may act in accordance with the provisions of article VIII, section 2(b) of the Constitution of the state, which provides, in pertinent part, that "municipalities shall have governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for municipal purposes except as otherwise provided by law."

(t)

The town council may act in accordance with the provisions of F.S. § 166.021(1), which provides, in pertinent part, that as provided in S.2(b), art. VIII of the state Constitution, municipalities shall have the governmental, corporate, and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions, and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by law.

(u)

The town council may act in accordance with the provisions of F.S. § 166.021(3), which provides, in pertinent part, that the legislature recognizes that pursuant to the grant of power set forth in S.2(b), art. VIII of the state Constitution, the legislative body of each municipality has the power to enact legislation concerning any subject matter upon which the state legislature may act" except for certain very limited matters.

(v)

The town council finds and concludes that the town is not prohibited from acting on the subject matter of this division, that the legislature of the state may act upon the subject matter of this division and that the provisions of this division are not preempted by and are consistent with state law.

(w)

This division is enacted under the general home rule and police powers of the town and is not a zoning matter or a land development regulation.

(x)

The town has complied with all requirements and procedures of state law in processing, noticing and advertising the ordinance from which this article is derived.

(Ord. No. 2005-03, 10-11-2005)