Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has announced support for state Assembly Bill 2727, bipartisan legislation that would restrict elder parole for violent sex offenders and require all sex offenders granted parole to be screened under the Sexually Violent Predator Act before release.
The bill was authored by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove.
"Violent sex offenders and child sex predators should not be released into our communities to retraumatize victims and put our children at risk," Hochman said. "Victims who face unimaginable trauma from these heinous crimes are often caught off guard when their abuser or their child's abuser is released under elder parole laws before their sentence is served. This is unjust, unsafe and must change today."
Hochman also called on the Legislature to pass the bill and the governor to sign it "without hesitation before more innocent people become victims."
Under existing law, violent child sex predators have been granted parole under the elder parole program despite being denied parole under California's general parole process.
As amended April 7, AB 2727 would make inmates sentenced for a one-strike sex offense, as a habitual sex offender, for aggravated sexual assault of a child, or for sex offenses against a child 10 years old or younger ineligible for elder parole until age 65 and after at least 25 years of continuous incarceration for their current sentence. Current law allows those inmates to seek elder parole at age 50 after 20 years of incarceration.
The bill would also close a loophole by requiring all sex offenders granted elder parole — including those serving life sentences — to be screened under the Sexually Violent Predator Act to determine whether they should be civilly committed to a secure state hospital rather than released into the community.
The California District Attorneys Association has backed the legislation.