MEGAN'S LAW AN ESSENTIAL TOOL; CALIFORNIA VERSION GIVES VITAL INFORMATION PARENTS CAN USE TO PROTECT CHILDREN.

Byline: Dan Lungren 

MEGAN Kanka's parents did all they could do to protect their young daughter from unpredictable dangers. They taught her to not trust strangers and not to stray far from her parents. They took the measures that all loving parents take to protect their child.

What they couldn't know - because the law wouldn't let them - was that a man with a criminal record of assaults against children had moved into their neighborhood. He lured their beautiful 7-year-old girl into his house with the promise of seeing a puppy, then cruelly sexually assaulted and killed her.

A New Jersey jury needed just 4-1/2 hours to convict Megan's killer of her rape and murder. But long before justice was served by the courts, Megan's parents had started a national movement to make sure that other parents can know what they wish they had known.

By now, most of us have heard of Megan's Law. I sponsored California's version of the law in the Legislature last year. Employing new technologies and empowering local police, it gives the benefit of the doubt to parents and community leaders by removing the veil of secrecy that has shrouded the whereabouts of more than 64,000 registered sex offenders in California.

Megan's Law builds upon our earlier efforts to provide citizens information about sex offenders in our communities. In 1995, the Legislature implemented my proposal to create a phone line - [phone] - that allows people to call the California Department of Justice and inquire whether an individual is a registered child molester.

The success of the 900 line regularly includes parents learning that a new neighbor, youth athletic coach or youth program volunteer is a child molester and a potential threat to children. Often, the information our staff receives from a caller indicates that the subject is not properly registered, and local police are notified. Later this summer, we will hit the 1,000 mark - that is, the thousandth time a caller received confirmation using this line that the individual they inquired about is a registered child molester.

Megan's Law increases the effectiveness of the 900 line by allowing my office to now confirm not just sex offenders against children, but virtually all sex offenders.

In addition, it makes available a second resource to the public. On July 1, a CD-ROM containing the names of nearly 64,000 registered sex offenders will be available for public viewing at local law enforcement offices. About 1,500 of those offenders are deemed to be high-risk and are specifically highlighted as such.

By using a computer at a local law enforcement office, concerned residents can search by name, ZIP code or county to see the names of registered sex offenders in California. At first, about half of the entries will have a picture of the registered offender, with more photos to be added in coming months.

No other state will have yet offered such a resource. The public will have more access to the maximum amount of information about sex offenders than the law has ever allowed.

In addition to these responsive resources, Megan's Law allows local police to proactively notify their communities about the whereabouts of registered sex offenders.

Police agencies can notify the public by three methods.

The first procedure is officer notification. An officer in the field can immediately warn citizens who are at risk from a registered offender. For example, an officer patrolling his beat may notice that an individual consistently sits across the street from a park and watches children play. Previously, the officer could contact this individual and learn that he is a registered sex offender, but he was prohibited by law from warning potential victims.

Now, thanks to Megan's Law, the same officer can alert parents in the park that the individual watching their children play is a registered sex offender.

The second mode of notification is a warning by local police to neighborhoods or schools that a registered offender lives nearby. Some local authorities have already begun this practice by distributing fliers to affected residents or schools, giving them information that can help protect their children. At the same time, those registered have been put on notice that an entire community is aware of their presence.

The final application of Megan's Law available to law enforcement is public broadcast notification for the 1,500 high-risk offenders. When it comes to these ``worst of the worst,'' local police have the option to advertise to their community the identity and whereabouts of a high-risk registered sex offender.

We wrote Megan's Law so that local law enforcement would have the discretion to make the judgments about public notifications. Your local sheriff and police chief know better than anyone what the appropriate level of notification is for the community they serve and protect.

Critics of Megan's Law argue that public awareness of these convicted sex offenders constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The purpose of Megan's Law is not to further punish convicted sex offenders, but rather to provide the law-abiding public with information they can use to protect themselves, their families and neighbors.

The information being made available should not frighten people, but rather make them feel empowered. Information saves lives, and Megan's Law is about giving law-abiding people information.

I am confident that parents, school principals, teachers and others seeking to protect kids from the brutality of sexual assault will use this information in a reasonable and lawful manner.

Those who would use this information illegally, particularly to engage in vigilantism, will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The obligation we have to protect the innocent must be placed ahead of the inconvenience Megan's Law means for those whose violent assaults have hurt so many.

If Megan Kanka's parents had known the man across the street had a frightening record of assaulting children, their daughter might very well be alive today. But thanks to the national movement begun by her parents, many children will surely now be spared the fate of their Megan. We owe them a debt of gratitude.