Child Protection: Bush signs Dru's Law

Amongst the following, these clauses could have some interesting applications over
the years:

"The law imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years for raping a child; a
mandatory 10-year penalty for sex trafficking offenses involving children and for
coercing child prostitution; and increases minimum sentences for molesters who travel
between states."

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/15141150.htm?source=rss&channel=grandfo
rks_news

Posted on Fri, Jul. 28, 2006
CHILD PROTECTION: Bush signs Dru's Law
Bill calls for closer monitoring of sex offenders, harsher penalties

By Susanne Nadeau
Herald Staff Writer

<::link::> -- AG touts N.D.'s sex offender site

It's not just the 17 names that stand out at the top of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection Act signed into law Thursday.

It's the missed smiles, the missed hugs. The missed children.

Dru Sjodin, 22, Adam Walsh, 6, Carlie Brucia, 11, Jimmy Ryce, 9, Samantha Runnion, 5,
and more, all abducted and murdered. Some of the perpetrators, or alleged
perpetrators, in these assaults and deaths had prior sex-related convictions.

In the memory of those who have died, in the name of those who have been assaulted -
the bill, signed into law by President Bush on Thursday, calls for the close
monitoring of sex offenders. State's attorneys will be notified of the pending
release of an offender so they can consider civil commitment, and there will be
harsher punishments for those who offend against children.

National database

As part of the comprehensive bill, Dru's Law, legislation that creates a national
database of sex offenders for the public to use, also was signed into law.

"I think this legislation is a big step forward and I'm happy to see it signed into
law," said North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, who authored Dru's Law in 2004. The law
was named after 22-year-old Dru Sjodin, who disappeared from a Grand Forks mall in
2003. Her body was found six months later near Crookston.

A twice-convicted sex offender, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., has been charged in relation
to her disappearance and death. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of
kidnapping resulting in death, and is currently sitting through hours of jury
selection in U.S. District Court in Fargo.

Dru's mother, Linda Walker, who also sits in the U.S. District courtroom, a small,
pink photo album filled with photos of her daughter among her personal items toted
into the courthouse day after day, has been instrumental in getting the bill passed,
officials said.

"(Linda's) tireless work was really inspiring to us," Dorgan said in a telephone
interview.

Walker joined Sen. Dorgan and North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy, who introduced the bill
to the House, in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, as the bill was signed into law.

"It's been a big day for all of us who have been involved in this," Dorgan said. "It
was obviously the culmination of a lot of work, over a long period of time. The fact
is that this bill is going to save lives, and I am pleased to have been a part of
it."

Child advocates have called the bill the most sweeping sex offender legislation to
target pedophiles in years. It will:

? Establish a comprehensive federal DNA database of material collected from convicted
molesters, and procedures for the routine DNA collection and comparison to the
database when someone has been convicted of such an offense.

? Provide federal funding for states to track pedophiles using global positioning
devices.

? Allow victims of child abuse to sue their molesters.

7/27/2006 10:39:39 PM
Written By Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The mother of slain University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin said
Thursday it was "very, very surreal" to attend a White House bill-signing ceremony
for a new law to protect against child predators.

Linda Walker joined "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh and other families of
victims at a ceremony when President Bush signed a law that requires convicted child
molesters to be listed on a national Internet database and face a felony charge for
failing to update their whereabouts. The database will be named after Sjodin.

Outside the White House, Walker had tears in her eyes as she hugged Sen. Byron Dorgan
and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., sponsors of "Dru's Law" in the House and Senate.

"I'm not sure I could wrap my head around it all," Walker said.

Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., disappeared from a Grand Forks, N.D., shopping
mall in November 2003. Her body was found the following April in a ravine near
Crookston, Minn.

A convicted sex offender, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. of Crookston, is charged in federal
court with kidnapping resulting in Sjodin's death. He is currently standing trial in
Fargo, N.D. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

Walker has spent much of the last two years traveling to Washington in support of the
offender's database, lobbying members and studying the details of the many bills that
have included parts of "Dru's Law."

"I was thrust back into Government 101," Walker said.

The bill had stalled for a long time, but eventually moved out of House-Senate
negotiations as part of a larger measure to curb child predators.

"She was an advocate like none other I have experienced," Pomeroy said of Walker.
"She was persistent and she knew the issues inside and out."

Walker said after the ceremony that the day was rather bittersweet for her.

"I knew I wasn't going to give up until it was done," she said, adding that she
doesn't think her work protecting children is finished.

The measure aims to help police find more than 100,000 sex offenders by creating the
first national online listing available to the public and searchable by ZIP code. It
also calls for harsh federal punishment for sexually assaulting children, including
the possibility of the death penalty when a victim is murdered.

At the ceremony, Bush said the new law will help prevent child abuse by creating the
national child abuse registry and requiring investigators to do background checks on
adoptive and foster parents before they are approved to take custody of a child.
Giving child protective services professionals in all 50 states access to this
information will improve their ability to investigate their child abuse cases, he
said.

Child advocates have called the bill the most sweeping sex offender legislation to
target pedophiles in years.

The law imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years for raping a child; a
mandatory 10-year penalty for sex trafficking offenses involving children and for
coercing child prostitution; and increases minimum sentences for molesters who travel
between states.

The larger measure is named after Walsh's 6-year-old son, Adam, who was abducted
exactly 25 years ago Thursday, and subsequently murdered.

"This bill is going to save the lives of children," said Dorgan after the ceremony.

Walker's friend of 20 years, Liz Nelson, accompanied her to the event.

"It was overwhelming, exuberant, bittersweet," Nelson said. "It was really a
beautiful moment for all of us. I believe (Dru) is here with us in spirit and she's
throwing her hat up for her mom and her family."



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