A series of legislative hearings on Vermont's criminal justice system will likely result in a recommendation for stiffer mandatory minimum sentences for the most egregious sex offenders, the chairman of a key senate committee said Thursday.
Sen. Dick Sears, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said longer sentences for "habitual" offenders would not supplant existing sexual assault statutes, but offer prosecutors in the state an opportunity to apply the more severe charge in appropriate cases.
Other recommendations likely to appear in the committee's report, due in November, include expansive prevention efforts and beefed-up oversight of convicted sex offenders."We clearly have to recognize the limitations of treatment when it comes to sex offenders," Sears said Thursday. "I think the committee will be looking at strengthening laws, in terms of lengths of sentences, as well as a bigger focus on prevention programs."
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