Sex offenders with misdemeanor convictions can get real estate licenses.
That’s the loophole that real estate groups, state senators and others say exist in state law and should be closed. Currently, convicted felons cannot get licenses, but when it comes to any type of misdemeanor, including sex-related offenses, state officials have the choice of granting or taking away licenses.
“It’s giving a sex offender . . . a key to your house,” said Sen. Charles Fuschillo R-Merrick), who, as head of the consumer protection committee, introduced a bill to close the misdemeanor loophole for sex offenders and require licenses to be revoked if agents are found guilty of misdemeanor sex crimes.
The Senate passed it and today, real estate trade associations and Parents for Megan’s Law, based in Stony Brook, will hold a news conference today in Fuschillo’s Freeport office to pressure the Assembly o vote on the bill.
Dan Weiller, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), said the bill agenda has not been set yet for Tuesday’s special legislative session.
Fuschillo said the New York State Association of Realtors alerted him to the loophole, but he does not know if anyone listed on the sex offender registry is currently a real estate agent.
The state Realtors group could not be reached for comment.
Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, said she did not know either, but in googling for answers, she found cases of Long Island real estate agents arrested on sex offender charges, including one man who befriended three teenage boys after helping their families find housing.
She noted that sex offenders initially charged with felonies often plead their cases down to misdemeanors.
“Agents have a key to the seller’s home and any other agent in that office who is licensed can take that key,” Ahearn said. “The state wouldn’t give a homeowner’s house keys to a convicted burglar. Giving a real estate license to a convicted sex offender is giving them the keys to access and target potential victims.”
Comments (1)
Not enough jobs for law enforcement now who are stretched beyond usefulness?
Maybe its offender failure to live up to some pious extremists expectation for the world?
Is NASA in need of imminent danger related to their fiber optic program which was never funded?
building a nation on the backs of sex offender opens the door for this.
http://www.libertyforlife.com/jail-police/us_concentration_camps.htm
China's ahead of us by about ten years.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://clearwisdom.net/emh/article_images/wang_xiuying.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/death_cases/death_list_100.html&h=222&w=146&sz=31&hl=en&start=3&sig2=YZRnOrgXklv-mrWawCOGiA&um=1&tbnid=v9426QMJ9Jx9oM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=70&ei=9ZEBR5i_GqDwgQOmuJzaDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Huludao%2522%2BLu%2BMay%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
The 1,2,3's of sex offenders.
1. The recidivism rate of sex offenders is under 5%
2. 90% of all sex crimes are committed within the family.
3. 92% of all sex crimes are perpetrated by people not on the sex offender registry.
If the bulls eye is 5% of the target and the bulls eye scores no points, what justifies the billions of tax payer dollars for the project?