District Attorney Steve Cooley announced that he supports the state assembly bill known as “Chelsea’s Law” that strengthens and enhances laws against sex offenders who prey on children.
“This tragic case illustrates that it is essential to remove violent predators who attack children from the public at large and more closely supervise those who are released,” Cooley wrote.
In a letter to Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, author of the bill, Cooley also proposed two amendments that “might be helpful in avoiding constitutional attack on certain provisions of this much-needed law.”
The first amendment would declare that sexual offenders who commit crimes on children are least likely to be rehabilitated and most likely to reoffend.
The second amendment would require signs to be posted at park entrances and exits to warn registered sex offenders that they are not allowed to enter a public park where children regularly gather without written permission.
The bill, he said, would establish mandatory life without possibility of parole sentences for serious sex offenses against young children and require increased sentences and lifetime parole for offenses involving older children.
In pledging his support, Cooley commended Assemblyman Fletcher and the King family for introducing the legislation and their “commitment to bringing justice for victims of child sexual abuse.”
Assembly Bill 1844 was named in honor of Chelsea King, a 17-year-old Poway High School student who was raped and murdered by a convicted child molester in February of this year.