Comments on Current Events In Criminal Law from the Federal Criminal Courts in Texas

October 15, 2007

A 2007 TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

The 80th Texas Legislative Session, as other legislators across the United States, was preoccupied with sex offenses and sex offenders. This is hardly surprising given the intense media attention to these types of cases and the public outrage against sex crimes. So, rather than focus on a myriad or other issues that would bring real change to the lives of our citizens and purposeful change to our system of criminal justice, our legislature took the easy way out and focused, again, on an easy target.

The Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire reported in 2006 that 60,000 to 70,000 arrests are made each year in sex crimes against children. USA TODAY reported that same year that the number of sexual assaults against children ages 12 to 17 decreased by 79 percent in the decade between 1993 and 2003. Relying upon government figures, the newspaper added that sexual abuse against children of all ages declined by 39 percent during that same period.

These government figures also showed that the vast majority of sex offenders are male and their victims female. While these offenders enjoy a lower recidivism rate than other former inmates (40 percent recidivism rate), the ones who are rearrested (20 percent recidivism rate) are generally arrested for another sex crime.

There are approximately 551,000 sex offenders registered in the United States and about 100,000 of them are missing, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The following is a synopsis of the sex offense legislation produced by Texas lawmakers.

HB 8: DEATH PENALTY FOR 2ND AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT

Art. 37.072. PROCEDURE IN REPEAT SEX OFFENDER CAPITAL CASE

Sec. 1. If a defendant is found guilty in a capital felony case punishable under Section12.42(c)(3), Penal Code, in which the state does not seek the death penalty, the judge shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole. ***
(3) Notwithstanding Subdivision (1) or (2), a defendant shall be punished for a capital felony if it is shown on the trial of an offense under Section 22.021 otherwise punishable under Subsection (f) of that section that the defendant has previously been finally convicted of:
(A) an offense under Section 22.021 that was committed against a victim described by Section 22.021(f)(1) or was committed against a victim described by Section 22.021(f)(2) and in a manner described by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A); or
(B) an offense that was committed under the laws of another state that:
(i) contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section 22.021; and
(ii) was committed against a victim described by Section
22.021(f)(1) or was committed against a victim described by Section 22.021(f)(2) and in a manner substantially similar to a manner described by Section 22.021(a)(2)(A).
(4) Notwithstanding Subdivision (1) or (2), a defendant shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole if it is shown on the trial of an offense under Section 21.02 that the defendant has previously been finally convicted of:
(A) an offense under Section 21.02; or
(B) an offense that was committed under the laws of another
state and that contains elements that are substantially similar
to the elements of an offense under Section 21.02.

The Louisiana Supreme Court in May of this year upheld a similar law enacted in that state allowing the death penalty for the rape of a child 12 years of age or younger. See, State v. Kennedy, 957 So.2d 757, 2005-1981 (La.5/22/07). The defendant in Kennedy was indicted for the aggravated rape of his eight-year-old stepdaughter in violation of La.R.S. 14:42. The Louisiana Supreme Court discussed the history of this death penalty issue:

Before 1977, aggravated rape was punishable by death in Louisiana. In 1976, the United States Supreme Court invalidated the death-penalty provision of Louisiana's aggravated-rape statute based on the notion that the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty for that crime constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Selman v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 906, 96 S.Ct. 32l4, 49 L.Ed.2d 1212 (l976). In 1977, the Court held that capital punishment for the rape of an adult woman violated the Eighth Amendment. Coker, supra. The Louisiana Legislature again capitalized the crime of aggravated rape in 1995, but restricted it to the aggravated rape of a child under the age of 12 years, and provided for the punishment of "death or life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, in accordance with the determination of the jury. .." Id., at 780.

See also: Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584, 97 S.Ct. 2861, 52 L.Ed.2d 982 (1977).

The Louisiana Supreme Court distinguished Kennedy from Coker by pointing that the U.S. Supreme Court in Coker repeatedly stated that its ruling applied only to the rape of an adult female. Id. The conservative bent of the Supreme Court today offers encouragement to states like Texas and Louisiana that the court will strictly interpret Coker to apply only to the rape of adult females and not for the rape of a child, upholding the death penalty in those cases.

HB 8: NEW PUNISHMENT RANGE FOR SUPER AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD

Section 22.021: PENAL CODE IS AMENDED BY ADDING SUBSECTION (f) TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(f) The minimum term of imprisonment for an offense under this section is increased to 25 years if:
(1) the victim of the offense is younger than six years of age at the time the offense is committed; or
(2) the victim of the offense is younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense is committed and the actor commits the offense in a manner described by Subsection (a)(2)(A) [causes serious bodily injury or attempt to cause death of the victim or another person in the course of the same criminal episode; place victim in fear or threatens death, kidnapping or serious bodily injury; uses a deadly weapon; uses rohypnol in commission of the offense]

The United State Department of Justice, through its Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention, reported a 40% decline in sexual offenses against children between 1992 and 2000. During that same period, there was a 56% decline in victim-reported offenses against children.

There are nearly 9,000 sex offenders who committed crimes against children in the Texas prison system. They will serve longer sentences than offenders convicted of non-sex offenses. The U.S. Justice Department reports that these sex offenders will have a 15% recidivism rate while other offenders will have a 43% recidivism rate.

Running against the grain of lower offense/recidivism rates involving sex offenders, the Texas legislature opted to increase criminal penalties. This legislation will contribute significantly to inmate overcrowding in a system that can barely keep pace with current incarceration rates. It will impose pressure on the decision-makers at the back end of the system – pardon/parole board members and prison officials – to release other, less-than-suitable candidates for release, and some of these offenders (who are part of that higher 43% recidivism rate category) will commit violent crimes involving serious damage to, or loss of, human life.

HB 8: NEW OFFENSE: CONTINOUS SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD

Sec. 21.02. CONTINUOUS SEXUAL ABUSE OF YOUNG CHILD OR CHILDREN.

(a) In this section, "child" has the meaning assigned by Section 22.011(c).
(b) A person commits an offense if:
(1) during a period that is 30 or more days in duration, the person commits two or more acts of sexual abuse, regardless of whether the acts of sexual abuse are committed against one or more victims; and
(2) at the time of the commission of each of the acts of sexual abuse, the actor is 17 years of age or older and the victim is a child younger than 14 years of age.
(c) For purposes of this section, "act of sexual abuse" means any act that is a violation of one or more of the following penal laws:
(1) aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04(a)(4), if the actor committed the offense with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually;
(2) indecency with a child under Section 21.11(a)(1), if the actor committed the offense in a manner other than by touching, including touching through clothing, the breast of a child;
(3) sexual assault under Section 22.011;
(4) aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021;
(5) burglary under Section 30.02, if the offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and the actor committed the offense with the intent to commit an offense listed in Subdivisions (1)-(4); and
(6) sexual performance by a child under Section 43.25.
(d) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are not required to agree unanimously on which specific acts of sexual abuse were committed by the defendant or the exact date when those acts were committed. The jury must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 30 or more days in duration, committed two or more acts of sexual abuse.
(e) A defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal action of an offense listed under Subsection (c) the victim of which is the same victim as a victim of the offense alleged under Subsection (b) unless the offense listed in Subsection (c):
(1) is charged in the alternative;
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense alleged under Subsection(b) was committed; or
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (b).
(f) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count under Subsection (b) if all of the specific acts of sexual abuse that are alleged to have been committed are alleged to have been committed against a single victim.
(g) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the actor:
(1) was not more than five years older than:
(A) the victim of the offense, if the offense is alleged to havebeen committed against only one victim; or
(B) the youngest victim of the offense, if the offense is allegedto have been committed against more than one victim;
(2) did not use duress, force, or a threat against a victim at the time of the commission of any of the acts of sexual abuse alleged as an element of the offense; and
(3) at the time of the commission of any of the acts of sexual abuse alleged as an element of the offense:
(A) was not required under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, to register for life as a sex offender; or
(B) was not a person who under Chapter 62 had a reportable
conviction or adjudication for an offense under this section or
an act of sexual abuse as described by Subsection ©.
(h) An offense under this section is a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years.

The Supreme Court of Hawaii found this statute to be unconstitutional. State of Hawaii v. Arceo, 928 P.2d 843 (1996). California and New York have had similar laws on the books for a few years. Texas is taking these laws a step farther: opting for a very small window of time (30 days versus 90) and a substantially higher degree of punishment in an attempt to address the problem of a family member who molests a child undetected for an extended period of time.

Offenders who continuously sexually assault a child are generally immediate family members, close relatives, or family acquaintances. A cursory review of the court records in all Texas counties will reveal that these are the cases in which prosecutors are more apt to plea bargain. Increased penalties for these kinds of sex offenses are not going to either reduce or deter family-oriented sexual assaults. The face of the child predators are the “strangers” who kidnap, rape, and often kill children – not a father sexually abusing his daughter or an uncle abusing his niece. Family-oriented sexual assaults are plea bargain cases – and if the Legislature wants to correct this situation, it should impose sanctions on the prosecutors who engage in plea bargaining in these cases.

SB 75: AUTOMATIC LIFE FOR SECOND INDECENCY

SECTION 12:42(2)(c) IS AMENDED SO THAT THE SECOND OFFENSE OF INDECE NCY WITH A CHILD BY CONTACT IS PUNISHABLE BY AUTOMATIC LIFE IN PRISON

This means that there are now three automatic life 2nd offenses:
If the defendant is on trial for:
• aggravated sexual assault
• sexual assault
• indecency with a child by contact.
And the defendant has a prior conviction for:
• Sexual performance of a child
• Possession of child pornography
• Obscenity [using child or image appearing to be a child under 18]
• Indecency with a child (contact or exposure)
• Sexual assault
• Aggravated sexual assault
• Prohibited sexual conduct
• Aggravated kidnapping with intent to abuse the victim sexually
• Burglary with intent to commit sexual assault or indecency with a child
• Any out-of-state conviction with substantially similar elements of the
• above
Automatic life in prison [35 years flat time before eligible for parole]

Prior to its amendment, an offender convicted under Tex. Penal Code Art. 21.11, indecency with a child by contact, could be sentenced from 2 to 20 years in prison pursuant to Tex. Penal Code art. 12.33. Had stiffer sentences been imposed on those committing these offenses under the § 21,11, there would be no objective penological need for a life sentence for any second offense.

HB 8: NO PROBATION FOR CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN UNDER AGE 14

SECTION 4(d), ARTICLE 42.12, CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(d) A defendant is not eligible for community supervision under this section if the defendant:
(5) is convicted of an offense listed in Section 3g(a)(1)(C), (E), or (H), if the victim of the offense was younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense was committed;
(6) is convicted of an offense listed in Section 3g(a)(1)(D), if the victim of the offense was younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense was committed and the actor committed the offense with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually; or
(7) is convicted of an offense listed in Section 3g(a)(1)(I).

HB 8: NO DEFERRED ADJUDICATION FOR CONTINUOUS SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD OR AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT

SECTION 5(d), ARTICLE 42.12, CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(d) In all other cases the judge may grant deferred adjudication unless the defendant is charged with an offense under Section 21.02, Penal Code [Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child or Children] or Section 22.021 [“Super” Aggravated Assault against children].

HB 8: NO PAROLE FOR CONTINUOUS SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD OR AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT

SECTIONS 508.145 (a) AND (d), GOVERNMENT CODE, ARE AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(a) An inmate under sentence of death, [or] serving a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, serving a sentence for an offense under Section 21.02, Penal Code, or serving a sentence for an offense under Section 22.021, Penal Code, that is punishable under Subsection (f) of that section is not eligible for release on parole.

HB 8: SEXUAL PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD IS NOW A 3(g) OFFENSE AND BUMPS TO A FIRST DEGREE FELONY IF THE CHILD IS YOUNGER THAN 14 YEARS OF AGE

SECTION 3g(a), ARTICLE 42.12, CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(a) The provisions of Section 3 of this article do not apply:
(1) to a defendant adjudged guilty of an offense under:
(I) Section 43.25, Penal Code (Sexual performance by a child);

SECTION 43.25(c) AND (e), PENAL CODE, ARE AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(c) An offense under Subsection (b) is a felony of the second degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if the victim is younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense is committed.
(e) An offense under Subsection (d) is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if the victim is younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense is committed.

HB 8: HINDERING APPREHENSION INCLUDE S APERSON WHO HAS FAILED TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER

SECTION 38.05, PENAL CODE. IS AMENDED BY AMENDING SUBSECTION (c) AND ADDING SUBSECTION (d) TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an [An] offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(d) An [, except that the] offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the person who is harbored, concealed, provided with a means of avoiding arrest or effecting escape, or warned of discovery or apprehension is under arrest for, charged with, or convicted of a felony, including an offense under Section 62.102, Code of Criminal Procedure, or is in custody or detention for, is alleged in a petition to have engaged in, or has been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that violates a penal law of the grade of felony, including an offense under Section 62.102, Code of Criminal Procedure, and the person charged under this section knew that the person they harbored, concealed, provided with a means of avoiding arrest or effecting escape, or warned of discovery or apprehension is under arrest for, charged with, or convicted of a felony, or is in custody or detention for, is alleged in a petition to have engaged in, or has been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that violates a penal law of the grade of felony.

SB 6: SOLICITING MINORS

Increases penalty from online solicitation of a minor from SJF to 3rd degree felony, and if minor is younger than 14, which is a 2nd degree felony. All offenses involving soliciting a minor to a meeting are now 2nd degree felonies. The punishment for these offenses can now run consecutively under Penal Code Section 3.03.

HB 8: SEXUAL VIOLENT PREDATOR COMMITMENT REQUIREMENTS INCLUJDE GPS TRACKING

SECTION 941.082, HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE, IS AMENDED BY ADDING SUBSECTION(b) TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(b) A tracking service to which a person is required to submit under Subsection (a)(5) must:
(1) track the person's location in real time;
(2) be able to provide a real-time report of the person's location to the case manager at the case manager's request; and
(3) periodically provide a cumulative report of the person's location to the case manager.

With more than one in five of the registered sex offenders in this country missing, the Texas Legislature obviously feels compelled to use sophisticated technology to keep track of its registered sex offenders.

HB 8: MUST COMPLETE SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT BEFORE BEING RELEASED ON PAROLE

SEC. 499.054. SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT PROGRAM.

(a) In this section, "sex offender treatment program" means a comprehensive treatment program that:
(1) psychologically evaluates inmates who are serving a sentence for an offense described by Section 12.42(c)(2), Penal Code;
(2) addresses the motivation and psychosocial education of inmates described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) provides relapse prevention training for inmates described by Subdivision (1), including interruption of cognitive and behavioral patterns that have led the inmate to commit criminal offenses.
(b) The department shall establish a sex offender treatment program to treat inmates who are serving sentences for offenses punishable under Section 21.02(h) or 22.021(f), Penal Code. The department shall require an inmate described by this subsection to participate in and complete the sex offender treatment program before being released from the department.
(c) The department may establish a sex offender treatment program to treat inmates other than those inmates described by Subsection (b).

The State of Washington leads the nation with penal sex offender treatment programs. Last year the Washington State Institute for Public Policy released a study that reported the state’s prison treatment programs for male offenders had no real effect at reducing recidivism rates for sex offenders. A 2005 California study drew similar conclusions concerning a hospital program for confined sex offenders.

“There’s pretty good evidence that if you pick out the right kind of people, who feel badly about what they’ve done, you can alter those patterns,” said Roxanne Lieb, director of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. “But if you have someone who’s anti-social, who hates women or who is sexually attracted to little kids, no one knows anything about what to do about those three things.”

Washington maintains a 200-bed, $1.8 million-a-year program at the Twin Rivers Unit in the Monroe Correctional Complex – and, in fact, state officials want to establish a similar program in yet another penal facility.

“The study says what it says,” said Sally Neiland, program’s prison supervisor. “But being here every day, seeing the men released, watching them graduate, hearing from them, they have successful lives – they report that wouldn’t have happened without treatment.”

The statistics in Washington are indeed impressive. 2.7% of the sex offenders who did not receive treatment and released from prison were convicted of a sexual felony within six years while only 1.8% of those who received treatment were convicted of a sexual felony within six years. The figure is even less for those offenders who wanted treatment but couldn’t get it – 0.t6%
In the United States, Canada and other Western countries 9.9% of sex offenders who participate in state-of-the-art treatment programs re-offend with new sex crimes while 17.4% of those who do not receive treatment re-offend with new sex crimes

Prison sex treatment include teaching offenders how to recognize stressors for anger or boredom, how to develop social skills, and how to empathize with their victims. They are also instructed about how to change their thought and behavioral patterns. The latter is frequently accomplished with a treatment called “arousal conditioning” – associating a foul odor like Limburger cheese or rotting meat to a deviant sexual fantasy. Supervisors and counselors in these programs measure success with polygraph examinations and plethysmograph tests, the latter of which measures penile arousal to pornographic material.

The programs also include controversial treatment therapies such as “chemical castration” – combining anti-depressants and anti-androgens which reduces testosterone, but the latter drug has such severe side effects that only a few offenders try it.

“The reality is this: Nothing beats intelligence,” said Robert Packard, a clinical forensic psychologist and past president of the Washington Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. “We spend no money on trying to understand how to do better – how to evaluate and treat offenders better.”

But one Washington lawmaker is not buying treatment. “It’s no big secret treatment doesn’t work,” said Pam Roach, a longtime advocate of decreased funding for the state’s sex offender treatment programs. “You cannot rewire somebody’s mind.”

HB 8: PRIORITIZATION OF CASES INVOLVING THE PROSECUTION OF CERTAIN SEX OFFENSES

SECTION 23.101(a), GOVERNMENT CODE, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLL0WS:

(a) The trial courts of this state shall regularly and frequently set hearings and trials of pending matters, giving preference to hearings and trials of the following:
(C) an offense under:
(i) Section 21.02 or 21.11, Penal Code;
(ii) Chapter 22, Penal Code, if the victim of the alleged
offense is younger than 17 years of age;
(iii) Section 25.02, Penal Code, if the victim of the alleged offense is younger than 17 years of age; [or]
(iv) Section 25.06, Penal Code; or
(v) Section 43.25, Penal Code; and
(D) an offense described by Article 62.001(6)(C) or (D), Code of Criminal Procedure;

HB 8: ATTORNEY GENERAL ASSISTANCE

CHAPTER 2, CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, IS AMENDCED BY ADDING ATICLE 2.021 TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

Art. 2.021. DUTIES OF ATTORNEY GENERAL. The attorney general may offer to a county or district attorney the assistance of the attorney general's office in the prosecution of an offense described by Article
60.051(g) the victim of which is younger than 17 years of age at the time the offense is committed. On request of a county or district attorney, the attorney general shall assist in the prosecution of an offense described by Article 60.051(g) the victim of which is younger than 17 years of age at the time the offense is committed. For purposes of this article, assistance includes investigative, technical, and litigation assistance of the attorney general's office.

HB 401: SOLICITATION OF A MINOR THROUGH TEXT MESSAGES

New legislation is necessary to address the problem of the solicitation of minors online through the use of such technology and the use of new technology by some teachers to further improper relationships with their students. While it is a crime to use certain types of technology to solicit minors and a crime for teachers to have sexual relationships with students, limited definitions of both crimes are a shortcoming in the current law.

H.B. 401 adds the use of text messages or other electronic message services to the list of ways in which the offense of online solicitation of a minor may be committed. The bill expands the offense of improper relationship between educator and student to include online solicitation of a minor, regardless of the age of the victim.

HB 1804: VISUAL RECORDING BROADENED

Amends Penal Code 21.15 to broaden the improper photography / visual recording statute to include situations in which no recording was made. The definition is also expanded and is ripe for a First Amendment challenge because the language is very broad – you cannot:
• photograph,
• record,
• broadcast,
• take a cellphone video, etc.
if
• it is without the other person’s consent and
• with intent to invade the privacy of the other person
• arouse sexual desire of any person.
The signs you see posted in dressing rooms saying that ‘you are being recorded/under surveillance’ is not sufficient to establish a person’s consent.

HB 76: STATISTICAL DATABASE ON SEXUAL ASSAULTS

Current law requires the bureau of identification and records (bureau) within the Department of Public Safety(DPS) to collect certain information regarding offenses reported or known to have been committed in the state, including a statistical breakdown of those offenses in which family violence was involved. However, no statewide sexual assault data is required to be collected, and therefore, there is a lack of statewide statistics about sexual assault.

H.B. 76 requires the bureau to collect information regarding sexual assault and defines the specific sexual assault data that must be collected, including information about the offender and the offender's relationship to the victim, any weapons used, and any injuries sustained by the victim.

SB 584: SEXUAL ASSAULT EPO’S

Current law authorizes a magistrate to issue an order for emergency protection for a victim of family violence or stalking. A victim of sexual assault is not eligible for such an order. However, the days immediately following the arrest of a sexual offender are particularly dangerous for the victim and an emergency protective order would provide critical and immediate protection for the victim while the victim seeks to obtain a more formal temporary ex parte or standard protective order.

Amends Article 17.292 and authorizes a magistrate to issue an emergency protective order for a victim of sexual assault.

HB 8: NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR MOST SERIOUS SEX OFFENSES; 20 YEAR STATUTE FOR MOST OTHER SEX OFFENSES

No statute of limitations for:
(B) sexual assault under Section 22.011(a)(2), Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021(a)(1)(B), Penal Code;
(C) sexual assault, if during the investigation of the offense biological matter is collected and subjected to forensic DNA testing and the testing results show that the matter does not match the victim or any other person whose identity is readily ascertained;
(D) continuous sexual abuse of young child or children under Section 21.02, Penal Code;
(E) indecency with a child under Section 21.11, Penal Code; or
. . .
(5) if the investigation of the offense shows that the victim is younger than 17 years of ageat the time the offense is committed, 20 years from the 18th birthday of the victim of one of the following offenses:
(A) sexual performance by a child under Section 43.25, Penal Code;
(B) aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04(a)(4), Penal Code, if the defendant committed the offense with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually; or
(C) burglary under Section 30.02, Penal Code, if the offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and the defendant committed the offense with the intent to commit an offense described by Subdivision (1)(B) or (D)of this article or Paragraph (B) of this subdivision [ten years from the 18thbirthday of the victim of the offense:

While the legislation mandating GPS tracking and improved sex offender data bases and perhaps mandatory treatment programs in the prison setting are important, the bulk of this law-and-order legislation will do very little – if anything at all – to make Texas safer from sex offenders. Public policy on a major crime issue cannot be shaped by responding to “politics” rather than good common sense.

SOURCE: 2007 Legislative Summary prepared by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (August 28, 2007)[“Sex-Offender Therapy is Behind the Times”].

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