| Website for Registered Sex Offenders | | | | their children. To view the website go to: |
| Have you ever wondered if someone living in your | | | | Reporting Child Abuse |
| neighborhood could be a potential threat to your | | | | In an effort to protect our children, California is |
| safety or the safety of a family member? To help | | | | constantly making additions to the list of those who |
| California citizens locate this very information, Megan's | | | | must report child abusers, otherwise known as |
| Law was passed on August 24, 2004 and signed by | | | | ?mandated reporters.? The law has recently been |
| the Governor on September 24, 2004. It required | | | | amended and the list of ?mandated reporters? now |
| that the California Department of Justice create a | | | | includes anyone who is providing in-home supportive |
| website, by July 1, 2005, providing the public with | | | | services to a disabled child, if the service providers |
| internet access to detailed information on registered | | | | have received relevant training or learning materials. |
| sex offenders. The site includes the names, | | | | Drug and Alcohol Testing in Custody Proceedings |
| addresses, and pictures of those who have been | | | | California legislators have recently made it clear that |
| convicted of specified crimes, as well as their | | | | the court has the power to order parents to |
| descriptions, criminal history (except unrelated | | | | undergo drug and alcohol testing. Newly enacted |
| crimes), and other relevant information. It is not | | | | Family Code, Section 3041.5, authorizes family law |
| required that the victim or the offender?s employer | | | | courts to order drug and alcohol testing for any |
| be identified. Megan's Law is named after a young girl | | | | parent involved in a custody dispute if it is found, by |
| from New Jersey, Megan Kanka, who, at the age of | | | | a preponderance of evidence, that the parent uses |
| seven, was raped and killed by a known child | | | | illegal drugs or abuses alcohol habitually or continually |
| molester who had moved across the street from the | | | | (or frequently, in the case of controlled substances). |
| family without their knowledge. In light of the death | | | | Either parent (or both parents) can be ordered to |
| of their daughter, her family sought to have local | | | | pay for the drug testing. A positive result, by itself, |
| communities warned about sex offenders in the area. | | | | cannot be grounds for a custody ruling against the |
| All states now have some form of Megan's Law. The | | | | party. The tested party will be entitled to a hearing |
| law is not intended to punish the offender, but rather | | | | to contest the results. |
| to protect members of our local communities and | | | | |