Wednesday, November 26, 2003
|
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 |
|
Sex offender gets pass on new law By JOHN MUNFORD For lack of one more day, a sex offender living in Peachtree City would be in violation of a state law saying his home is too close to a recreation facility. But because Floyd William Bacon signed up for the state’s sex offender database on June 3 — one day before the new law took effect — he cannot be held in violation of that law, according to Fayette County Magistrate James A. White. Bacon, 41, was convicted in Texas in December 1999 for committing an indecent act with a child, according to the state sex offender database. Bacon lives at 310 Walnut Grove Rd., which was measured within 680 feet of the Riley Field recreation complex, according to Sgt. Belinda McCastle of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department. The new law forbids a registered sex offender from living within 1,000 feet of any child care facility, school, park, recreation facility, playground, gym, neighborhood center and similar facilities providing programs or services directed towards persons under 18 years of age. But he is not held to the standards of the new law because criminal law in Georgia cannot be made retroactive, White explained. “According to the detective, he had registered with the sheriff’s office like he was supposed to before the law went into effect,” White said. “When he moved into the house it was legal.” Should Bacon move away and return to that house, however he would then be in violation of that statute, White said. Anyone found guilty of violating the new law faces a prison sentence of between one and three years. Georgia law requires those who move here to register as a sex offender even if they were convicted in another state. The sex offender registry, which is maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is published on the Internet and may be viewed by clicking on the link to “sex offenders” on the GBI home page at www.state.ga.us/gbi/index.html. The Internet site features a search engine where residents can use a city, county or ZIP code to search for sex offenders in their area. The database also includes photos of many of the registered sex offenders and the date their address was last verified.
|
||