Porn ruling praised

Jeff Benson

Local leaders praised a California State Supreme Court ruling that

imposed harsher punishment upon those caught with child pornography.

According to Monday’s unanimous ruling, a person convicted of

possessing child pornography in his or her home may be required to

register as a sex offender for the rest of his or her life. The

decision overturned a 1983 ruling that had prevented the state from

requiring registration for people convicted of soliciting or

practicing lewd conduct in a public place.

“We think it benefits the public, because there are many cases in

which people who’d been sex offenders before have re-committed

crimes,” Newport Beach police Sgt. Steve Shulman said. “This is

favorable for the public.”

Shulman said 32 registered sex offenders reside in Newport Beach,

including 18 listed as “serious” and 14 listed as “other.” The

difference, he said, is that serious sex offenders’ names will pop up

as possible suspects when the department conducts a Megan’s Law

search.

As a result of the decision, those convicted of possession of

child pornography will now be listed as “serious,” whereas they were

previously listed in the “other” category, he said.

None of the Newport Beach’s registered sex offenders are on the

list for possessing child pornography, he said.

“My understanding is that people who were convicted of child

pornography in the past were put in another category for registration

purposes,” he said. “The period of time then was for 10 years. Now

it’s for life.”

In April, the Costa Mesa Police Department announced its support

of the Project Kidsafe Initiative, which would put the Megan’s Law

sex offender database on the Internet and impose tougher penalties

for offenders.

However, both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are not represented on

the website’s sex offender map. A disclaimer on the

https://www.digitalmapcentral.com site explained that the communities

haven’t yet decided whether to participate in the Megan’s Law map

program to allow residents to view the volume of sex offenders in

their vicinities.

Harbor Council PTA President Michele Graham, of Costa Mesa, said

she agreed with the decision because people can now see if people

who’d been convicted of the crimes live in their neighborhoods.

“I think it’s a good idea that they do register, but I can’t

comment on the law,” she said. “Yes, there are people that may

deserve something else, but the law’s written the way the law’s

written.”