MOBILE, Ala.) - Alabama lawmakers are considering legislation that would place more registering requirements for convicted sex offenders. State Senator Ben Brooks (R-Mobile) is sponsoring the bill that would make sex offenders register things like their email address and social media log-in names.
"This is a tool that we'll be able to use that we will be able to track them better," said Lori Myles with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.
Myles says the laws that force sex offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies were written in a time when things like text messaging and Facebook didn't exist, and it's time the laws reflect how potential victims now are contacted.
"We are just now catching up with it. It was a playground for them, for a while," said Myles.
"So much communication takes place on the internet," said Child Advocacy Director Pay Guyton.
Guyton says this proposed law could prevent children from being victimized. He says if sex offenders provided their technology addresses, investigators would have a better idea of what to monitor and would be able to track what offenders are doing online.
"A lot of that can be traced if we have the correct address," said Guyton. "You go on a Facebook account, and someone posts something on your Facebook and says, 'I'm a 15 year old girl and I just want to know what other girls think about this.' And really it's a 65 year old sex offender. You have no way of knowing that. And it happens. Unfortunately, it happens all the time."
