2 Investigators: New Law Will Register Some Additional Sex Offenders
CHICAGO (CBS) – A new law that aims to protect children from sex offenders was prompted by a CBS 2 investigation.
Gov. Quinn recently signed "Mindy's Law" after CBS 2's Dave Savini revealed how thousands of child sex offenders get around the state's registration law simply because their cases are too old.
Police didn't start keeping track of sex offenders in Illinois until January 1996. There is no database that keeps track of predators prior to that day.
Mindy, who asked to keep her last name private, went before lawmakers in Springfield with sponsoring state Sen. Iris Martinez. Mindy came forward 30 years after she was abducted, bound with electrical tape and assaulted in a wooded area near Niles.
She believes her offender should be listed on the registry for life, especially for what he did to her when she was only seven years old.
"How can they not have him on a list? It just blows my mind," she told Savini in a previous interview.
Here's the catch: The new law only calls for the registration of these old offenders if they commit a brand-new felony of any kind. So, the man who attacked Mindy will not have to be registered unless he gets in trouble with the law again.
The new law got watered down after the American Civil Liberties Union voiced opposition. But Martinez and Mindy believe it's a step in the right direction.
