Penalties set for sex offenders who fail to register online

By Marc Kovac | December 11, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

Sex offenders who fail to register their email addresses and details of any other online accounts would face criminal penalties, under legislation approved by the Ohio Senate this week.

Senate Bill 184 passed unanimously and heads to the House for consideration.

Convicted sex offenders already are required to register their addresses, workplaces and other personal information with county sheriffs.

Internet identifiers, email addresses and cellphone numbers are included as part of the registrations.

But Sen. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, the bill’s primary sponsor, said current state law does not include criminal penalties for offenders who provide inaccurate or incomplete information about their online accounts.

“In other words, this omission is illegal but not punishable,” he said.

SB 184 would change that, enabling criminal penalties for failing to provide details of online accounts.

“When a person changes or adds an Internet identifier, he or she also is required to update the sheriff within three days,” Balderson said. “The purpose of this bill is to prevent offenders from knowingly omitting Internet-specific information from their registration form and in turn keeping the general public safe and informed of offenders communicating online.”