Eight months after
the death of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett, Vermont’s governor signed into law a bill aimed at improving
the state’s prosecution of sex crimes.
Legislation that’s designed to reduce the incidence
of child sexual abuse in Vermont was given preliminary
approval in the House last night. The
vote on the bill was 131 to 2.
Vermont
corrections officials say a man whose relatively lenient sentence for sexually
molesting a child generated national controversy almost three years ago is
likely to be released from prison in about a month.
An advocate for
victims of domestic and sexual violence says an ordinance being considered by
the city of Rutland that would require sex offenders to live far from
schools, playgrounds and day care centers won’t work.