Angelides Backs GOP Initiative to Boost Sex Crime Penalties

In a move to enhance his law-and-order credentials, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides threw his support Monday behind a Republican ballot measure -- co-sponsored by his rival, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- to toughen the penalties for sex crimes.

The Angelides announcement, coupled with accusations that Schwarzenegger has failed to protect children from child molesters, came after weeks of efforts by the governor’s reelection campaign to cast his challenger as soft on crime. Schwarzenegger advisors have accused Angelides of ducking his responsibility to take a stand on the November measure, Proposition 83.

The initiative would increase penalties for child molesters and other sex offenders, bar them from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park and require them to wear a tracking device for life.

Allan Hoffenblum, a veteran Republican strategist, said Angelides’ support of Proposition 83 appeared to be “purely an inoculation” against Schwarzenegger’s attacks.

Bill Carrick, an Angelides strategist, said the Democrat was “telling the people of California what state Treasurer Angelides’ actual positions are -- as opposed to the way they’ve been mischaracterized and distorted.”

Surrounded by law enforcement supporters outside a North Hollywood school, Angelides said the ballot measure was “just a start on what California must do to protect our children and our families against sexual predators.”

Beyond what Proposition 83 would require, Angelides proposed expanded supervision of sex-crime parolees, longer prison terms for rapists of children under age 14, broader victim assistance programs and a ban on loitering by registered sex offenders near schools, playgrounds or nursing homes.

Angelides also accused Schwarzenegger’s administration of failing to closely supervise thousands of paroled sex offenders. Just 2,000 of the 9,000 parolees are enrolled in an “intensive supervision” program intended to avert recidivism, Angelides said.

“The governor talks a good game and puts on a show about protecting our children, but he has failed as governor to do his job,” Angelides said.

Elaine Jennings, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, denied that there was a cap on the number of parolees in the program. The number rises and falls depending on how many are deemed likely to re-offend, she said.

Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Matt David said the Democrat’s support for Proposition 83 was late in coming and “raises serious questions about Angelides’ priorities and his ability to lead.

“It shouldn’t have taken Angelides months of political calculation to make a decision to protect our kids from sexual predators,” he said.

Becky Warren, a spokeswoman for the Yes on 83 campaign, echoed that sentiment, saying sponsors welcomed Angelides’ support but “wish that he was around last year to help us” when the initiative was proposed.

The lead sponsors of Proposition 83 are a husband-and-wife team of Republican lawmakers, state Sen. George Runner and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner of Lancaster. They call the measure Jessica’s Law, in commemoration of a 9-year-old Florida girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed last year by a convicted sex offender. Schwarzenegger is a co-sponsor, and he has signed the ballot statement in support of the measure.

Polls this year have found that California voters rate education, immigration and other issues as more pressing than crime. But it has long served as a touchstone issue in statewide elections. With Californians often favoring strict penalties for criminals, Republicans frequently use law-and-order issues to portray Democrats as outside the political mainstream. Democrats, in turn, spotlight tough stances on crime in an effort to blunt Republican criticism.