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Megan's Law - A Brief History
In 1995, a convicted child molester was arrested for the murder and
rape of 7 year-old Megan Kanka in a New Jersey suburb. The offender
lived right across the street from the Kanka residence, however the
Police Department was prohibited from disclosing the presence of this
child molester because at the time the law did not allow the release
of sex offender information to the public.
On May 17, 1996 President Bill Clinton signed to law the first federal
version of Megan's Law stating "From now on, every state in the
country will be required by law to tell a community when a dangerous
sexual predator enters its midst." Authored by Congressman Dick
Zimmer, Megan's Law requires every state to develop a procedure for
notifying concerned people when a person convicted of certain crimes
is released near their homes. The law has been amended several times
since the original bill was passed, and different states have
different procedures for making the required disclosures.
Click here for South Carolina Law Enforcement's Sex Offender
Registry.
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