The VAs Sundar —Mondan, WMareh AT-2% 201) Task force rewritiag sex offender registry — JUDI SHIMEL ST. THOMAS — Officials: from law enforcement are working to upgrade the way they keep track of sex offenders in the Virgin Islands. The territory has until July to com- ply with federal rules established back in 2006. Local members-of the SORNA Task Force recently completed a i seminar on meeting the require- ments of‘the Sex Offender Regis- tration Notification Act. All U.S. states and territories are required to enact the requirements spelled out in the act by July. The notification act creates a uni-_ fied standard for apprehending, tracking and monitoring registered sex offenders. There are currently 60 sex offenders regietered in the territory. The two-day compliance semi- nar, led by Attorney. General Vin- cent Frazer, was held last week at : the Wyndhain Sugar Bay Resort. Much of the work done at the sem- inar was re-writing the local sex offender law. SORNA task force members ° inchide represéntatives from the Office of the Governor, the Virgin - Islands Police Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Bureau of Corrections, the VI Department of Health, V1 Department of Human Services, the Superior Court, the Office of | Probation and Parole and the Sex- ual Registry Board. “Since July of 2009, the Virgin Islands SORNA Task Force, spear- headed by Attorney General Vincent F. ifreses, has been meeting regu larly and working diligently to devel- op the appropriate language to » amend the. territory's existing Sex Offender Registration Statute to \” meet SORNA requirements by the , imposed deadline,” said VI Depart- ment of Justice SPOkeaperson ; Sarah Lezama., Under the new: ‘jpules,: bflenders will be classified according to the : severity of their crimes. The harsh- er the offense, the longet-the offend- er will be subject to scrutiny, ‘Those who commit the most severe crimes will be monitored forlife. Others will be assigned to terms of 15: (0 25 - . years: ‘The range of offenses on theJus- tice Department go from unlawful sexualcontact and statutory rape, © where the victim is-under the age of coneent:.to-rafie ol m:chilt-and : first-degree rape,, If territorial officials do: fab ineet the July deadline foramending the - rules, ‘they risk losirig;up to-10 percent of federal funding for crim- inal justice and public sale: : grams; Lezama'said once the task Suck i finisHies amending the language’ of the sex offender law, the. changes will be sent for review to Govern- ment House’and the: U.S, Justice — Department. Members ofthe. 29th ‘Legislature will also have a chante disapprove. Citizens who want to. view-the Virgin Islands sex offender registry can.do so by. logging onto the: VI Justice Department Web. site at www.doj.vi.gov. penne anni atten eee oem EFTA00293646