Arizona Law Could Have Saved Dylan Groene & Family

Sex Offender Joseph Duncan Should Never Have Been Released On Bail

Arizona Law Is Model for Other States

Dylan Groene, the young murder victim whose funeral services were held on what would have been his 10th birthday, might still be alive today if the man accused of his murder had originally been convicted in Arizona for his sexual offenses.

If sex offender Joseph Duncan had been originally convicted in Arizona, Duncan would most likely never have been released on $15,000 bond and allowed to prey on children again.

In 2002, I authored an amendment to Arizona’s Constitution which could have kept Duncan behind bars.   Prop 103, named “Chris’ Law” for a young constituent of mine, was passed overwhelmingly by voters.

Chris’ Law allows judges to hold sex offenders and rapists without bond in cases where “the proof is evident or the presumption great.”  This is the same standard that Arizona and other states had previously only applied to capital cases (such as California used in the Robert Blake murder case).  Statutory components of Chris’ Law established the nation’s 1st predator-free zone around schools, preventing sex offenders on parole from living nearby. 

Instead, Minnesota authorities decided to release convicted sex offender Duncan on bail after he was arrested for molesting a six-year-old boy on a playground in 2004.  Duncan skipped bail and was a fugitive until his recent arrest following the kidnappings of Shasta and Dylan Groene and Dylan’s murder.

Shasta and Dylan’s grandmother, Darlene Torres, has publicly stated, "As far as we're concerned, the man should have never been out on the streets. It sounded like this wasn't the first time this had happened. …And if he wouldn't have been (free), maybe this would never have happened."  During the church service for Dylan in Post Falls, Idaho, Pastor Jim Putman also called for changes in sex-offender laws to better protect children.   

I agree. That’s why we need to share the success of Chris’ Law with other states so tragedies such as this can be prevented, and other lawmakers can use Arizona’s law as a model.  The website for Prop 103, www.yesonbailreform.org, contains the language of Chris’ Law.

 

Since the passage of Chris’ Law, I have authored laws to extend sex offender community notification requirements to sex offenders who live or work on college campuses (the nation’s 1^st workplace notification), and this year, I sponsored a bill to crack down on absconders, allowing judges to require lifetime probation for sex offenders.

When I uncovered the large number of sexual predators who had absconded from justice several years ago, I changed Arizona’s law from a “may” to a “shall” to require sexual predators to complete their sex offender registration prior to being released from prison.  This simple change has helped to stem the tide of absconders since then.  Sadly, many of those who absconded before the change in law are still at large.

The fight to protect innocent victims from sexual predators is ongoing; we need to continue to provide law enforcement and prosecutors with the tools they need to keep dangerous sexual predators behind bars, and to share the strong protections we have added in Arizona with the rest of the nation.

- Sen. Dean Martin (R-North Phoenix) is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.