\As. AN, -Le Su,vara .—Movccies, -A.AQ.14/6., - .ass• ao Task force rewriting sex offender registry • JUDI SHIMEL • ST. THOMAS = Officials' from law enforcement:are working to Upgrade thlway they keep track of • sex offenders in the Virgin Islands. The territorybas until July to corn- • ply: ith federal rules established back In 2006. Local members-of the. SORNA Task Fined recently completed A . serninar on meeting the requirements ofihe Sex Offender Registration Notification Act All U.S. states and territories are required to enact the requirements spelled out lathe act by July. • The notification act mates a unified standard for apprehendipg, tracldng and trionitoringregi.stered sex offenders. There are currently 60 sex offenders registered in, the tenitory. . The two-day compliance seminar. led by Attorney General Vincent Frazer, was held. last week at . the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort. Much of the work done at the SemWar was re-writing the local sex offender law. • • SORNA task force members • incbide representatives from. the Office of the Governor, the Virgin • Islands Police Department' the U.S. .. Attorneys Office, the U.S. Marshal Service. the Bureau of Corrections, the VI Department of Health. VI Department of Human Services. the Superior Court. the Office of Probation and Parole and the Sexual Registry Board. -Since July 'of 2009, the. Virgin Islands SORNA Task Force, spearheaded by Attorney General Vincent F. Frazer, has been Meeting regtit lady and working diligently todevelpp the ,appropriate language.to • amend .the. tenitorys' existing Sex Offender Registration. Stattite to meet SORNA requirernents by the imposed deadline," said VI Departthent of Justice spokesperson SaralrIzzaina. ' ' Under the new rules, offenders will be elassified according to the severity of their crimes. The el the offense; the, longetthe offiinderwffi besubject to.acrtitirry.ThciSe who commit the giost aevise crimes will be monitored firfife: Others will be assigned to terms of "15- to' 25 ..• Te range of offenses pri theJusdee Department go from unlaWfui texuateontact and .stattit0ry rape. where the'victini is under the age &Consent to- rape of a child and frit-degree rape, . territorialefficials do not meet the July deadline ftramendlrig the rules,'they rislc Josing,up *6-10. percent &federal funding for endinaljostice and pithlic safety. proLezarna said once the task ford ilnislits amending the language& the sex offender law. We Changes will be sent for review to Goiremmerit House and the U.S. Justice Department. Memhers of the 29th Legislature will also have a ehanee to go over the nevrchanges before they vote to approve or disapproVe. Citizens who want to •viewthe Virgin Islands sex ofkrider registry can do so by logging onto the: VI Justice Department Web site at www.doistgerv. • EFTA_R1_00019231 EFTA01735465