“Tarra’s Law” a Reality
The Pal-Item reports that the Gov. signed the bill into law yesterday:
The objective of HEA 1276, which was authored by State Rep. Phil Pflum, D-Milton, is to give the judicial system time to cool off or take time to review a sexual predator’s past offenses and set bail at a level that is in the community’s best interest.The need for this law came after a teenage girl, Tarra Pickett, was murdered near Cambridge City in May 2007, Pflum said.
“The individual accused of Tarra’s death was found to have been previously convicted of rape in 1982. Additionally, the person accused of her murder was out on a $5,000 for an unrelated case that involved three counts of molestation. The accused paid the $5,000 bail bond and had been released from jail when he murdered Pickett.”
This statute applies specifically to those arrested for a sexually violent offense, which includes rape, sexual misconduct, sex or human trafficking and sexually deviant behavior. They will then be subject to a background check to determine the likelihood of repeat offenses.
