Escaping Justice?...

Washington, DC --President George W. Bush today signed a package of legislation (S.121) into law that includes a provision sponsored by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to create a national AMBER Alert network and that targets child kidnappers, molesters and pornographers.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

Press Release dated Wednesday, April 30, 2003

"The AMBER Alert bill has three key components

First, it authorizes $20 million to the Department of Transportation and $5 million to the Department of Justice for the development of AMBER Alert systems in States where they do not exist.
Second, it builds upon the President's Executive Order, signed on October 2, 2002, by authorizing a national coordinator for AMBER Alerts within the Department of Justice. This is crucial to coordinating region-wide Alerts, when abductors flee across State lines.

And third, to reduce the number of false alerts, the bill provides a framework for the Department of Justice to establish minimum standards for the regional coordination of AMBER alerts.

The act also includes several provisions similar to legislation that I sponsored with Senator Hatch, increasing efforts to investigate, prosecute and prevent crimes against children. This new law sends a strong message to potential offenders and hopefully prevent some of these crimes from taking place in the first place.

The law:

Mandates that sex offenders be supervised for a period of 5 years after they are released from prison.

Ensures that a murder of a child committed while part of a pattern of assaulting or torturing a child is considered first degree murder.

Increases the maximum and minimum penalties for anyone who sexually exploits a child. For a first conviction, maximum penalty is 30 years (increased from 20 years) and minimum sentence is 15 years (increased from 10 years).

Creates a mandatory minimum penalty for kidnapping of not less than 20 years.

Creates a crime - with a maximum penalty of 30 years -- for a U.S. citizen traveling within or outside the United States to engage in illegal sexual conduct with children.

Requires that a person convicted a second time of a Federal sex offense involving children receive a penalty of life imprisonment unless a death sentence is imposed.

Makes it a crime to "attempt" international parental kidnapping. Currently, only actual parental kidnapping is illegal.

Removes the statute of limitations for Child Abduction and Sex Crimes - prosecution related to child abduction and sex offenses would be allowed to be brought until a child is 25.

Creates a Federal crime with a two-year maximum penalty for creating a domain name with the intent to deceive a person into viewing obscene material on the internet. The maximum penalty is four years if the intent is to deceive a minor.

Creates a rebuttable presumption against bail for a person accused of raping or kidnapping a victim who was under 18.

Expands reporting requirements for Missing Children from 18 to 21 years - Current law requires a host of Federal agencies to report a case of a child under 18 who is missing to the National Crime Information Center. The age of a missing child is raised to 21.

Provides more funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: The bill increases funding for this organization by a total of $10 million in both FY2004 and FY2005"

I would like to draw attention to a specific part of this law, and hopefully elicit comment:

"Removes the statute of limitations for Child Abduction and Sex Crimes - prosecution related to child abduction and sex offenses would be allowed to be brought until a child is 25."

Here in the North Bay of San Francisco, a former priest, Don Kimbal, from the Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese, was convicted of child molestation from events occurring during the seventies and eighties. He was found guilty and sentenced. Since that conviction, his attorney Chris Adrienne has appealed the conviction, stating that that California law of extending the statute of limitations for child molestation is illegal.

Again, we have a point, that even though Kimbal has admitted to these molestations ("the collar I wore around my neck, was like a sex magnet,") because of the law, he might never face any legal consequences (actual jail time) for his actions.

My question is, should or does this bit of legislation, have a grand fathering in effect, and not allow child sex offenders from escaping justice, because of technicalities in the law?