Ohio bill would add restrictions to where registered sex offenders can live
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – While registered sex offenders in Ohio cannot live within 1,000 feet of any school or childcare center, there is currently no law stopping them from living next door to their victims.
House Bill 102, sponsored by Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Township) and Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland), would change that. Introduced in February, the legislation would ban sex offenders and child-victim offenders from living within 2,000 feet of their victim’s residence or loitering within 1,000 feet.
“Under no circumstance should a child fear their safety in their own home,” Williams said in a news release. “It is critical we act swiftly to close this dangerous loophole and ultimately, protect our kids and other victims of sexual assault.”
In Ohio, child-victim offenders are defined as individuals who have pleaded guilty to, or were convicted of, certain offenses against children that were not sexually motivated. Those classified as sex offenders have been held legally responsible for certain sexually oriented offenses, whether the victim was an adult or minor. Both types of offenders are required to register with local authorities and appear on the state’s database of sex and child-victim offenders.
If an offender were to break the rules laid out in the bill, property owners, lessees or local prosecutors would be permitted to seek a court order to compel the offender to move or stop loitering. The offender could also be criminally charged, with the severity of the charges varying depending on the original offense and any prior violations.
“Eighty percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows,” Klopfenstein said in a statement. “Updating current law to prohibit offenders from living near their victims is critical to ensure the safety of our children and greater communities.”
The legislation would not apply if a victim moves or chooses to live near their offender. All sex and child-victim offenders would be required to abide by the living requirements within the bill, regardless of whether the offense was committed prior to the legislation's implementation.
The bill’s sponsors said it was modeled after legislation in Oklahoma that passed unanimously in 2018 and has since been adopted in five other states.
HB 102 was referred to the Public Safety Committee, where it awaits its first hearing. It has one Democrat and 18 Republican cosponsors.