Popular Democratic Party Rep. Ramón Torres said he has filed a bill to prohibit convicted sexual offenders from living near their victims. Speaking on the program Claro y de Frente, Torres noted that Puerto Rico law bars a convicted sexual offender from living within 500 meters of a school, a child care center or an essentially educational institution, but says nothing about living near the offender’s own victim.
He said the idea arose from a conversation with a sexual assault victim whose attacker, upon release from prison, intended to live two houses down from where she was living. After researching the matter, Torres said his office found what he called a mistake, a "horror," in the law and filed Project 1452. The measure would prohibit a person convicted of sexual assault or a similar crime from living within 1,000 feet of where the victim lives.
Torres said he had filed the bill previously; the House approved it, but the Senate issued a negative report because of discrepancies over distance. He said the new bill corrects those discrepancies.