'I'm scared,' - Sex offender fears new law

Thousands of sex offenders living in Georgia may soon be forced to moved. That's because Georgia's tough new sex offender law takes affect tomorrow. Here are the key points: The new law stiffens minimum prison sentences, requires certain offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices, and prohibits offenders from living within a thousand-feet of places children gather.

News 12 talked with a North Georgia offender to get a point of view you seldom hear. "John," whose real name has been changed to conceal his identity, served six-years in prison after being convicted of a sex crime with a minor in 1994. He says "when you see people, you watch their face and watch their expression and think do they know?" He's rebuilt his life... Getting married, buying a house, and landing a good job. Now, John's life stands to be torn apart again, thanks to a new Georgia law. "It's just disbelief, and anger... we're doing everything we know to do and complying with every directive that we've been given." [...]

Opponents of the new law fear it could backfire, prompting offenders to go underground. If they face 10 to 30 years in prison for violating the provision, some may feel they have nothing to lose by not reporting. But Georgia's Attorney General believes the safety of children outweighs any inconvenience to offenders.

source: Article < "I'm scared," - Sex offender fears new law > by Joe Legge; www.wdef.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WDEF/MGArticle/DEF_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149188860057&path=; WDEF.com; 30 June 2006