The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

February 2, 2008

Bill aims to protect college students from sexual predators

By Alexandra Nicolas

news@joplinglobe.com

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — At least 180 registered sex offenders live or work in and around Joplin, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Currently, there are no restrictions regarding their presence in university residence halls, but Missouri House Bill 1352 would change that. It would require universities, community colleges and technical schools to check every potential student in a residence hall against the national sexual offenders registry. Any registered offender would be denied university housing.

“It just makes sense that convicted sexual offenders don’t live in close quarters with young men and women,” said state Rep. Sam Page, D-St. Louis, who is sponsoring the bill.

Though no particular incident inspired the bill, similar legislation is already in place in Illinois, California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Utah, Iowa, South Carolina, Michigan and Florida.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Ken Kennedy, director of public safety at Missouri Southern State University. “I don’t think there is a risk at Southern but it doesn’t hurt to be extra cautious.”

Page said the legislation in Illinois has been effective for two years, inspiring similar action in Missouri.

“What we’ve seen is a lot of colleges have already started doing this, it’s just common sense. This is something that is so obvious to me,” he said.

The bill is being re-introduced this year after running out of time in last year’s session. Page believes it will pass without incident this year.

“This is a pretty basic thing to ask for,” he said. “Students deserve some level of comfort in the fact that a measure was taken to ensure that someone in the dorm next door wasn’t on the sex offender registry.”

In addition to violent crimes of rape, forcible sodomy and sexual assault, “non-violent” crimes such as furnishing pornography to a minor and statutory rape are among the dozens of offenses that will result in registration. The primary concern surrounding HB 1352 is that the intensity of the bill could lock out students who committed a non-violent crime.

“There are extenuating circumstances to everything,” said Doug Carnahan, dean of students at Southern. “There probably ought to be some way to appeal if a person feels like they should be excluded (from the list). There are exceptions to every rule.”

Page believes all offenses on the registry should be grounds for removal from the dorms.

“Sexual activity with a dramatic age difference is predatory,” he said, “Even the colleges that recognize this is a little extra work agree, this is common sense.”

Missouri children may also soon be receiving greater protection from methamphetamines.

It is the hope of state Rep. Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, that House Bill 1468 will close Missouri loopholes concerning controlled substances around minors.

“We need to put Missouri children first,” he said.

Currently, someone must be witnessed using a controlled substance to be charged with child endangerment. HB 1468 would criminalize having controlled substances in the vicinity of a child or the child’s home.

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