State Senate Approves Changes To Sex Offender Laws
BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Senate has unanimously backed a plan to overhaul the state's procedures for classifying convicted sex offenders.
The proposal was approved as an amendment to the Senate version of the state budget. It is also designed to strengthen information sharing between the Sex Offender Registry Board and other state agencies.
Senate President Therese Murray said the Senate decided to take action after the arrest of a Wakefield man last year for allegedly sexually abusing children at his wife's unlicensed day care.
John Burbine was registered as a Level 1 sex offender, a classification given those least likely to reoffend.
The Senate amendment allows the Sex Offender Registry Board to reclassify a sex offender without a new conviction and authorizes the release of information on Level 1 sex offenders to the Department of Early Education.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
