Sex offenses; prohibiting proximity to children and school property, penalty. (HB2263)

Introduced By

Del. Tony Wilt (R-Harrisonburg)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children and school property; penalty. Adds certain prostitution and commercial sex crimes to the list offenses that would prohibit an adult if convicted of such offense from (i) loitering within 100 feet of the premises of any place he knows or has reason to know is a primary, secondary or high school, (ii) working or engaging in any volunteer activity on property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property, and (iii) entering or being present upon any property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property, a school bus, or any property, public or private, during hours when such property is solely being used by a public or private elementary or secondary school for a school-related or school-sponsored activity. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/11/2023Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100746D
01/11/2023Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/12/2023Impact statement from VCSC (HB2263)
01/30/2023Impact statement from DPB (HB2263)
02/07/2023Left in Courts of Justice

Comments

Mary D. Devoy writes:

Companion bill to SB921 that was PBI'd 9-5 in Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan 18, 2023. A VA AG representative tried to sell the Senate Committee this bill as a solution to the counselor at Glasgow Middle School in Fairfax County that lied about his employment and continued to work 20 months until Aug 2022.

Current law already prohibited the counselor from being on school property AND from working at a school, both a felony.

Current law also has a failure-to-register (RSO lying about employment) as a felony.

The failure in Fairfax Co. had nothing to do with VA proximity or employment law, it had to do with both the notification of VA arrests/registration to schools AND that self-employment for RSO's is not confirmed by the VSP by running a check with the Virginia Employment Commission and it should.

This proposal in the House and Senate not only do not "fix" the Fairfax issue but is an unnecessary overreach equating Tier 1's and Tier 2's as Tier 3's.

So why bother having a 3-Tiered system in Virginia?

Ut Prosim writes:

Please oppose this bill or present evidence that sex offenses are being perpetrated on school property by registrants. You'll find that the sex crimes occurring on campuses are at the hands of faculty and staff, not parents or guardians who have been convicted. According to the U.S. Office of Justice Programs, "One teacher offender can have as many as 73 victims, according to a 2010 GAO report." And ponder this language in the bill, "...shall be forever prohibited from working or engaging in any volunteer activity on property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property." To the novice reader, that says that anyone who has been convicted of the crimes enumerated in the bill can never volunteer with a nonprofit group to paint classrooms or plant landscape materials when no children are present.