Oros renews call for sex offender restrictions
Minority leader seeks protection of children from predators near county facilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 16, 2007

Contact: George Oros, 914.995.2828, Oros@westchesterlegislators.com

Following on the heels of a bill signed last week in a Long Island municipality, Westchester County Legislator and Minority Leader George Oros (R, C, I—Cortlandt) renewed his call for the Board of Legislators to act on a proposal that would prohibit any convicted pedophile or registered sex offender from residing within 2,500 feet of a county facility open to children.

The proposal was first introduced by Oros in 2005 and resubmitted by the Minority Conference in February 2006. It has since been stuck in the Legislation Committee.

Nationwide, 21 states and hundreds of municipalities, the most recent being the Village of Mineola in Nassau County, already have laws restricting where child molesters, rapists and other convicted sex offenders can live.

“The time is long overdue for Westchester to provide adequate protection for its residents from these horrible monsters,” Oros said. “There should be no lame rationale from the county bureaucracy that somehow ‘we can’t do this’ or ‘this is outside our scope’ because other counties and governments have already proven it can be done, and should be done.”

The proposed legislation would include all county parks, recreational facilities, such as Playland, the County Center, Westchester Community College and its satellites, the Medical Center and homeless shelters.

There are currently more than 24,000 sex offenders registered in New York State. Of those, 453 reside in Westchester and 80 are classified at Level 3, the highest risk of repeating a crime.

“We shouldn’t wait until some tragedy happens to act,” Oros said. “These predators could strike at any time, and their targets are society’s most vulnerable.”