Sex Offender Registry: Joanne and Alyssa Act

H879, the Joanne and Alyssa Act, is designed to tighten the state's Sex Offender Registry Law, Mass. General Laws c.6 s.178C-178P. The bill was reported favorably out of the House Judiciary Committee on January 11, 2006, and is now in the Ways and Means Committee. The bill is named after Joanne and Alyssa Presti, a mother and daughter who were murdered by a sex offender who had apparently been staying with his girlfriend in Woburn, although he was registered in Lowell. According to the Woburn Advocate, the proposed law would "expand the availability of a sex offender's history by requiring that the information be provided on board of probation sheets and by mandating that sex offender registry backgrounds be contained on criminal offender record information. In addition, the act creates a special commission to examine sex offender laws to determine how they can be improved. Other provisions include creating clear rules for listing secondary addresses of sex offenders. " More information on the Sex Offender Registry can be found at Law About Sex Offenders.