Holden signs bills targeting sex and computer crimes

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The battle against computer and sex crimes got a boost Wednesday by a package of bills signed into law by Gov. Bob Holden.

The new laws allow the Missouri State Highway Patrol to create the Missouri Regional Computer Forensics Lab, combining various government resources to fight Internet and computer crimes.

They also create several new crimes, including enticement of a child, which is aimed at adults who lure children over the Internet with the intent of engaging in sexual conduct.

Another section of new law expands the definition of "sexual contact" to include touching another person's private areas through clothes.

A new invasion of privacy law is intended to crack down on people who use hidden cameras for perverse reasons, such as people who attach mini-recorders to shoes to look up a woman's dress.

The law also applies to people who secretly shoot and distribute pictures of nude or partially nude people who "are in a place where one would have a reasonable expectation of privacy."

Also created are laws prohibiting sexual contact -- even if it's consensual -- between prison workers and inmates and between nursing home or Alzheimer unit employees and patients.

The laws also restore a ban on sex between animals and people -- a provision that was accidentally left out when the state's criminal code was rewritten in the 1970s.

Another change is intended to close a loophole in the state's sexual offender registry.

Sex offenders currently are required to register with the chief local law enforcement official within 10 days of coming into a county.

But that meant that some sex offenders who were released from prison and remained in the same county never had to register.

The new law requires registration within 10 days of conviction, release from prison or placement on probation. Anyone currently not registered also will be required to do so within 10 days of the new law's Aug. 28 effective date.

------On the Net:

Gov. Bob Holden: http://www.gov.state.mo.us

Missouri Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us