"Child safety zones" to be be created in Bristol

City councilors plan to enact a new law next month that would bar child sex offenders from school, parks and other public places where young people congregate.
The ordinance would allow police to issue citations if registered sex offenders who have abused children are found at recreational facilities or schools, which would be designated “child safety zones.”
Offenders would face $90 fines.
“I don’t think it goes far enough,” said city Councilor Mike Rimcoski, a sentiment shared by his colleagues on the Ordinance Committee.
But the legislation the panel is urging the City Council to adopt in March is focused only child sex offenders – those who have committed a sex-related criminal offense against a minor.
Though city lawyers are still investigating their options, it appears the measure won’t bar other registered sex offenders – let alone convicted criminals who have committed other types of offenses against children – from entering the new child safety zones.
Officials said they also need to figure out whether to allow child sex offenders onto school property in unusual circumstances, which can include students who are on the registry or parents who have convictions in their past.
Generally, councilors said, they believe they can include language in the proposed statute that would let offenders into child safety zones as long as it fits with whatever probationary rules apply to the individual in question.
The measure, which largely copies one already in place in Danbury, was initiated at the request of city Councilor Frank Nicastro. Nicastro was angry that a convicted sex offender allegedly raped a 13-year-old in Brackett Park in September.
“Our parks should be considered safe havens for the youth of our city,” Mayor Art Ward said at the time.
At any given time, there are about 100 registered sex offenders living in Bristol. It isn’t clear how many of them were convicted of a crime involving a minor.
Dale Clift, an assistant city attorney, said that the new law would require Police Chief John DiVenere to send written notice of the ordinance to everyone on the registry who lives in Bristol.
Police officers who find a child sex offender within a child safety zone are required to provide them with a written warning to stay out of the areas. Only if they ignore the warnings would they face the $90 tickets, under the terms of the proposed law.
Rimcoski said he is “110 percent in favor” of the proposed ordinance but would like to see it made even tougher.
“I want it against anybody” who is on the sex offender list, Rimcoski said.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley said he, too, would like to see it apply more broadly.
But both Rimcoski and McCauley agreed with the panel’s chairman, Councilor Craig Minor, that it was best to recommend the council approve the ordinance next month.
Officials said it can always be changed later.
“It’s a start,” Rimcoski said.

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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com