COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio House of
Representatives has pushed forward legislation that will require a
mandatory prison sentence for sex offenders.
House Bill 405 establishes a mandatory prison sentence for soliciting a child under 13 years old to engage in sexual activity.
The bill also stipulates that if an offender is more than 10 years
older than a victim, who is 13 to 16-years-old, the offender will
receive a mandatory prison sentence.
State Representative Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster), who joint sponsored
the bill, said House Bill 405 will fix a major legal problem in Ohio.
“Unfortunately it is not always an officer on the other side of the
computer screen, it is a child,” Schaffer said. “House Bill 405 will fix
a loophole in Ohio law that is allowing dangerous sexual predators to
get away with their crimes against children with a slap on the wrist and
no disincentive to commit these crimes again.”