Bill to Prevent Sex Offenders From Exploiting Legal Loophole

ALBANY – A loophole in New York State Law allows convicted sex offenders to be employed in positions that give them unsupervised access to residential properties—positions that include the roles of property managers and building supervisors.  A bill sponsored by Senator Sue Serino (R, C, I—Hyde Park) that would close the dangerous loophole passed in the Senate.

“Imagine finding out that your property manager or superintendent—a person you trust with a key to your most personal space—is a convicted sex offender,” said Senator Serino. “This loophole leaves innocent New Yorkers vulnerable in a place where they should feel safest.”

Under the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA), convicted sex offenders are required to register with the state so that information about where they reside can be made public and certain residential prohibitions can be implemented to better protect community members.

Unfortunately, there are no prohibitions in the law against employing a registered sex offender in a role that would grant them unsupervised access to residential properties, leaving unknowing residents vulnerable. Various news stories in recent years have highlighted the issue, and noted specific cases in which residents have been victimized as the result of a sex offender being placed in these kinds of positions of trust.

Notably, this kind of case was tried by former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, and resulted in a $2 million recovery agreement for victims of who had been harassed by their landlord—a convicted sex offender—in 2012. At the time, the agreement represented the largest recovery in a sexual harassment suit brought by the United States under the Fair Housing Act.

Senator Serino’s bill (S. 2170) would close the loophole by specifically prohibiting an individual who is a convicted sex offender from working or volunteering in a position where they would have that access.

Senator Serino continued, “This loophole is especially egregious when you consider the access that property managers and residential supervisors have to family homes that often include children and the elderly. As a mother, I shudder to think that anyone’s children could be put directly in harm’s way like this. Parents have enough to worry about when they send their children out into the world, and the last place that they should have to be concerned is in their family homes. We have a responsibility to close this legal loophole.”

The bill has been sent to the Assembly.