Pol says subway gropers should be labeled as sex offenders
Lentol’s bill would require offenders to register with state
A lewd passenger who gets caught groping a woman on the subway would be required to register with New York State as a sex offender under legislation Assemblymember Joseph R. Lentol is drafting.
Lentol (D-North Brooklyn) said he will reintroduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would increase the severity of the crime for those convicted of forcibly touching others in the subway or in other crowded situations.
There is a dire need for the legislation, according to Lentol, who said there have been an overwhelming number of cases where offenders physically and sexually harass riders on crowded subways or buses.
The bill would require individuals convicted of forcible touching to register as a sex offender under certain conditions, including if the offender was previously convicted of forcible touching, if the victim was younger than 18 or if the offender had been convicted of a different sex crime in the past.