Congressman Mark Green, R-Wis., announced the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to pass the Children's Safety Act today. The act, which would inflict harsher penalties for child sex offenders, also includes a provision named after a Wisconsin native who was sexually assaulted as a child.
The bill has received strong bipartisan support is also likely to pass the U.S. Senate.
"The Children's Safety act is a major step toward protecting kids from those who prey upon them," Green said.
Green added the bill also compiles each state's sex-offender registry into a national, online database to protect the public from sex offenders who may cross state lines.
"Probably the most notable [provision] from this Wisconsin perspective is the Amie Zyla Act," Green said.
After Zyla's attacker served his sentence for assaulting her, he assaulted other children while employed as a youth mentor. The assaulter was not listed in the sex-offender registry because his juvenile records were sealed once he reached age 18, providing no knowledge of the offense to his employers.
"The bottom line is, it's all about protecting our kids," Mark Zyla, Amie's father, said in a press conference. "That is what Amie and I are fighting for — at every level we possibly can."
Amie's Law was passed by the Wisconsin Legislature this year and, shortly after, Green took steps to include a similar version of the bill in the Children's Safety Act.
"One thing we know for sure is if the Amie Zyla Act had been law, those kids would not have been assaulted," Green said.
Social workers and counselors who knew Zyla's attacker during his first jail term said he was likely to prey on children again, Green added.
"Any time a crime like this happens, it is a horrible, terrible thing," Green said. "But where you had the ability to prevent that and didn't take those steps, [it's a] shame on society."
Technologies like the Internet have opened a gateway for sex offenders to prey online, Green said, but added the same innovations can be used by law-enforcement officials to fight sex crimes and prevent future assaults.
"Technology gives us tremendous tools to protect kids," Green said. "And to be able to take the registry nationwide — to make it accessible — that's giving tools to families to keep kids safe."
