On December 11, 2011 Stephanie was sexually abused by her neighbor. Her abuser was finally arrested on July 26th, 2012 by Plainfield, IL police, but to our disbelief he was only charged with battery/makes physical contact, instead of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.  When there is a case of sexual abuse to a minor, 93% of the time the child knows the offender.  It can be a relative, teacher, or neighbor, usually someone a child trusts.  However, this also makes it very difficult for a prosecutor to go after the accused. It comes down to the defendants word against the victim, in this case a child.  Unfortunately in these cases where prosecutors charge them with battery because of lack of physical evidence, this also denies their eligibility to be registered as a sex offender.  Battery is not an offense that is subject to Sex Offender Registration in the state of Illinois. 

This leaves the issue of an offender to be able to visit schools and parks.
This translates into schools NOT being notified, which means they can work, visit, or participate in all school activities.  They can also work and live near a park or park district.  If the state's sentencing laws do not allow all sex offenders to be correctly identified in our system, safety protocols in the schools and parks are compromised.

If charged with just battery, the abuser can also remain in his/her home, (in Stephanie's case, the house right behind hers), and if you were to look up the charge of someone who was found guilty of battery, you could interpret the charge as a physical altercation or fight, instead of sexual contact. This allows offenders to never have to report their sexual preference of children to the government, and more importantly to you.

House Bill 2548 (Stephanie's Law) can change all of that.  In special circumstance cases where someone is found guilty of battery, but it is sexually motivated, the judge/jury can decide to place that person on the sex offender list. 

HB2548 amends 730 ILCS 150/3 and the synopsis as introduced:
Amends the Sex Offender Registration Act. Provides for registration under the Act of a person convicted of a battery when the court: (1) finds that the battery was sexually motivated as defined in the Sex Offender Management Board Act; and (2) in its discretion requires the person to register under the Act.

Recently, Erin's Law Illinois Public Act 96 was passed and sent into the school systems, requiring our health classes to educate students on safe and unsafe touches, with their motto being "get away and tell today." When a child comes forward that has been abused, there won’t be physical evidence in most of these cases that could have happened 3 months, 6 months, or even a year before.  How will we prosecute these offenders?  We are asking our children to have the courage to come forward, yet we don't have the laws in place to properly hold their offenders accountable for their actions.   

Help us put this law in place to protect future victims, and prevent abusers from having opportunities to re-offend.  We are just adding another tool to help keep our children safe, and this is everyone's responsibility.