Chelsea's Law will save lives

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation to put some sex offenders in prison for life.

Chelsea's Law is named for Chelsea King, who grew up in Naperville with her parents, Brent and Kelly King. The 17-year-old girl moved to San Diego, where she was abducted and murdered by 31-year-old convicted child molester John Gardner. He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois.

Previously, Gardner had served only five years in jail for molesting a 13-year-old girl in 2000. Upon his release, Gardner repeatedly violated his parole. If Chelsea's Law had been in effect at that time, Chelsea King and Amber Dubois would be alive today.

Chelsea's Law allows life without parole sentences for adult predators who kidnap, drug, bind, torture or use a weapon while committing a sex crime against a child. Life terms could be ordered for the first-time and repeat offenders. It also increases other penalties for child molesters, including requiring lifetime parole with GPS tracking for people convicted of forcible sex crimes against children younger than 14.

Previous law permitted lifetime GPS monitoring, but most tracking ended when offenders leave parole.

Brent and Kelly King praised California legislators for their overwhelming bipartisan support of Chelsea's Law and plan to promote it in other states. Recently, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart expressed interest in promoting legislation to protect Illinois children through Chelsea's Law.

When law enforcement officials and politicians consider supporting and passing Chelsea's Law, they should remember Chelsea's favorite quote, "They can because they think they can," from the Roman poet Virgil.

Richard F. Nelson

Aurora