BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr showed FOX25 Political Reporter Sharman Sacchetti the amendment he and a group of lawmakers hope will close what they say is a loophole to protect the public from dangerous sex offenders. He says public information on some of the most dangerous sex offenders can just become private.
"It isn't that they may never be classified, it's just that there's some period of time and who knows how long it is where they aren't," Tarr said.
He went on to say much of this is rooted in outdated regulations.
The law that allows convicted sex offenders to appeal the classification is called a judicial review, and it's so secret the Sex Offender Registry Board can't even talk about it. It means sex offenders can be declassified and their information can once again become protected until the case is heard again.
When asked by Sacchetti if they're allowed to just live out their lives, for days, weeks or months, without anybody knowing what they've done, he responded "and therein lies the problem."
He says it would close to the loophole "to a great extent" but "not completely."
Sacchetti headed to North Reading, where the town just recently approved a bylaw that keeps convicted sex offenders from living near places like bus stops, schools or parks. Chief Michael Murphy said the process could take up to a year before the cases could be reheard. The lobby of a police station is where you would find information posted about level three sex offenders. Once they're declassified, that kind of information, comes down.
"It's distributed widely through the community," Murphy said.
But once declassification happens, that stops, he explained.
When asked if this declassification was happening in his community, Murphy would not disclose that information.
So how can you find out if a sex offender has been declassified? You can't. The process is a secret.
A spokesman for the Sex Offender Registry Board told Sacchetti he couldn't comment on pending legislation.
