Senate OKs keeping some teens off sex registry

Karen Bouffard / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing— Underage lovers soon may no longer be in danger of showing up on the state's sex offenders list under a package of bills the Senate approved today.

The proposed change would prevent teens from being listed for having consensual sex with a partner between the ages of 13 and 16, provided there is no more than four years between their ages. Children would have to be at least 14 to be added to the sex offender registry.

The new rules still have to be approved in the state House, but are likely to pass. The measures passed in the Senate with bipartisan support.

The state is required to rewrite its sex offender registry law to come into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act, according to Republican Sen. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, who sponsored the bills. Michigan is required to create a three-tiered system, with various lengths of time on the list depending on the offense. If the state doesn't comply, it stands to lose about $1.2 million in federal law enforcement grant money, Jones said.

Under the legislation passed today, Michigan's tier one registry would include offenders convicted of crimes considered less serious, like flashers and peeping Toms. They would not be listed on the public sex registry, but would be on a list that can be viewed by law enforcement for 15 years. They would have to report to the Michigan State Police once a year. Tier one offenders could petition a judge to have their name removed from the list after 10 years.

More serious, or second tier offenders would be on the public list for 25 years and have to report to the State Police twice a year. The most serious, or third tier offenders, would be on the public list for life, and have to report to the Michigan State Police every three months.

"The purpose of the Adam Walsh Act is to ensure that the dangerous predators are treated in a different manner," Jones said. "That's been toughened up. But while doing that we've taken up the 'Romeo and Juliet' situation, where it's a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl."

In addition, sodomy and gross indecency violations would not be considered listed offenses if the victim consented, the victim were 16 or 17 years old at the time of the offense, and the victim was not under the violator's custodial authority at the time of the violation.

States are required to submit their plans for a new system to the federal government by April 1, and to implement the new laws by July 1, according to Jones. Ari Adler, spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger of Marshall, said the lower chamber will take up the measure within the next two weeks.