No more child porn for sex predators
Posted on February 18, 2010For the third time in as many years, the Washington State Senate passed a bill that would allow residents of the state's Special Commitment Center for sexually violent predators on McNeil Island to have computer access only if Department of Social and Health Services representatives deem it necessary for an individual's treatment plan. Senate Bill 6308, which was unanimously approved Tuesday, is sponsored by Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood.
“This is just good policy and I’m pleased my colleagues in the Senate are underscoring its importance by sending it to the House of Representatives a third time,” Carrell said. “All politics aside, the state simply should not be enabling these sex predators to continue down the path that they’re on by providing them with the means to engage in their errant behavior.”
Carrell added that the urgency in his bill is warranted since the revelation that a total of sixteen residents of the SCC are facing federal indictments for crimes related to child pornography. That development was disclosed by SCC Superintendent Kelly Cunningham while testifying in favor of SB 6308. Carrell says he expects that number to double due to the nine-month backlog of confiscated computers still awaiting inspection.
“It’s very likely that many of these individuals under indictment will be spending the rest of their lives in prison if convicted, due to our state’s two-strike law for sex crimes,” Carrell said. “To me, allowing sex predators to have a device which they can use to view child porn is like keeping an open bar in a rehab clinic and punishing the patients when they get drunk. My bill will give them access to a word processor with limited storage capacity so as to not undermine their treatment.”
SB 6308 passed the Senate 47-0 and will now be considered by the House of Representatives.
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2 Comments
February 19th, 2010 at 8:01 am
While I'm not a doctor or professional with a degree behind my name, it has never made sense to me to provide someone who is addicted to pornography with the means to indulge in the addiction. I hope the rest of the common sense citizens get behind Sen. Mike Carrell on this bill.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
3rd time? Why is the House of Representatives in Olympia NOT passing this bill? I certainly hope this is the last time this bill has to be presented to them. This is definitely a no-brainer, they should not be allowed to indulge in child pornography while incarcerated.