[Rhodes22-list] Robert Skinner - Leering Alert

[Brad Haslett]

 Robert,

Are you guys in a competition with California for silliness? Am I going to
lose my career because I was waiting outside a public restroom waiting for
my daughter and some mother thinks I leered at her 14 year old? This should
be good for the sunglass industry. How about we pass a law that all women
have to wear a burka until they're of legal leering age?

Brad

By Dave Choate
dchoate at seacoastonline.com
 April 06, 2008 6:00 AM

Those who peer at children in public could find themselves on the wrong side
of the law in Maine soon.

A bill that passed the House last month aims to strengthen the crime of
visual sexual aggression against children, according to state Rep. Dawn
Hill, D-York.

Her involvement started when Ogunquit Police Lt. David Alexander was called
to a local beach to deal with a man who appeared to be observing children
entering the community bathrooms. Because the state statute prevents arrests
for visual sexual aggression of a child in a public place, Alexander said he
and his fellow officer could only ask the man to move along.

"There was no violation of law that we could enforce. There was nothing we
could charge him with," Alexander said.

He attended a talk with Hill a week later and brought the case to her
attention. Hill pledged to do what she could, Alexander said, and the result
was a change through the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in the
House, which made the law applicable in both private and public places.

Alexander said he's grateful Hill was willing to take up the cause, and is
hopeful the measure will clear the Senate.

"I'll be pleased that we were able to identify this flaw and take steps to
rectify it," he said.

Under the bill, if someone is arrested for viewing children in a public
place, it would be a Class D felony if the child is between 12 to 14 years
old and a Class C felony if the child is under 12, according to Alexander.

Hill said she believes the move was necessary to correct what she called a
"loophole" in the state's criminal law statutes.

"I told Lt. Alexander that I would be happy to work with him and sponsor a
bill that would correct this in the 2008 session," Hill said. "And so we
did."

In arguing for the bill, Alexander said she cited public rest rooms as
places where the people using them should have a reasonable expectation of
privacy. She said the committee determined that there would not be any major
side effects from expanding the statute to include public places.

The bill recently cleared a fiscal review, done because of the state's major
prison budget crunch, and Hill said it should be heading to the Senate
before long.

York Police Chief Doug Bracy said the statute would represent a fairly minor
change that would help keep the public safer, especially children. He noted
that York police respond fairly regularly to reports of public peepers on
the town's beaches.

With ever-growing concern over sexual predators, Bracy said the arrests will
also allow police to check backgrounds and determine if there is a criminal
history involved.

"There is a growing outcry by the public to protect our children," Bracy
said, noting that tourists from all over the country visit York.