Wesselhoft pleased by Gov's signature on bill

OKLAHOMA CITY — Governor Brad Henry’s signature on a bill aimed at keeping sex predators off Internet Web sites that attract children is drawing praise from the measure’s author and a promise to make the measure even tougher next year.

On Friday, State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, said he was pleased by Henry’s endorsement of House Bill 1714 and added that he would work “to strengthen” the bill next year.

Henry signed HB 1714 Thursday.

“This is commonsense legislation that will help protect children using the Internet,” the governor said in a media statment. “It builds on the progress of Oklahoma’s Safe Net initiative.”

That initiative, which became law last year, established a full-time Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit within the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

On Friday, Wesselhoft thanked Henry for his support.

“It’s very commendable,” he said. “I’m absolutely convinced it’s going to save lives. I think that’s crucial.”

The bill allows a judge to prohibit a registered sex offender from accessing an Internet-based, social networking Web site when there is a potential of contacting a minor there.

Web sites such as MySpace, Zanga and others are considered “social networking” sites and, often, have thousands of users under the age of 18.

The measure also gives courts the ability to require a convicted sex offender to register any e-mail addresses and other Internet-related identification for communication.

“We’re going to curtail registered sex offenders from communication and grooming young children,” Wesselhoft said. “A sex offender’s entire goal is to have a meeting with the child; then when they met that child, a rape or homicide can occur.”

Should the offender violate the judge’s order, they would then be forced to return to court.

“They (offenders) would have to go back to the judge and explain their behavior,” Wesselhoft said. “And, often, when they violate a court order, the judge throws the book at them.”

While Wesselhoft acknowledged that judges already have the authority to prevent sex offenders from accessing the Internet, making that authority statutory, he said, was necessary.

“We have many judges who will look to the statutes — who are law and order judges,” he said. “By placing this on the books, it gives them another weapon they might not have considered.”

And next year, he said, he wants to make the law even tougher.

“Right now I’m working on similar legislation for next year,” he said. “I want to make it a felony for a registered sex offender to use the Internet to communicate with children.”

That action, he said, would decrease the number of sex crimes in the state and better protect Oklahoma children.

“It should be a felony for predators to use these social networking sites to lure kids,” he said.