Freedom Raleigh Bureau

RALEIGH -- The Jessica Lunsford Act is one step away from becoming law in North Carolina.

Oh Thursday, the N.C. House and Senate adopted a final version of the act, which would provide a minimum 25-year prison sentence for adults convicted of raping a child younger than 13 and require lifetime GPS monitoring for such offenders when they are released from prison.

All it needs to become law is Gov. Mike Easley's signature.

"The passage of this law makes North Carolina one of the toughest states when it comes to punishment of sex offenders in the nation," said Rep. Tim Moore of Cleveland County, one of the sponsors of the bill.

The bill is named in memory of Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Gaston County native who after moving to Florida was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a sex offender in February 2005. The offender, John Couey, was convicted of her death and has been sentenced to die.

Police had lost track of Couey, who was staying with his sister in the same neighborhood as Jessica.

"This is North Carolina's tribute to a native," said Sen. David Hoyle of Gaston County, the bill handler for the Jessica Lunsford Act in the Senate. "If this law had been in place (in Florida), we believe the person who killed Jessica Lunsford would have been in jail."

The bill also forbids people required to be on the sex-offender registry from going on the premises of places where children normally congregate, such as schools, children's museums and playgrounds.

The final version contains a provision that would allow such a person to go on school grounds only if the offender has a child at the school or if a voting place  is at a school.

If the offender has a child at school and needs to attend a parental conference or pick up his or her child, the offender must get permission from the superintendent, board of education or principal and must be supervised at all times while the offender is on the school grounds.

If a person subject to sex-offender registration plans to go to vote  at a school, he or she must notify the principal and can only be at the voting enclosure, other than when entering or exiting the voting place.

The final version also gives judges some leeway in the sentencing. The original version gave judges the option of either 25 years or life in prison. The final version would allow judges to give offenders sentences longer than 25 years.

Stricter registration rules would also be in place for when sex offenders change their addresses.

If signed by the governor, the law would take effect on Dec. 1.

A separate bill sponsored by Hoyle, which would require lifetime GPS monitoring for adults who molest children, passed the Senate earlier this year but has not been taken up by the House. Hoyle said he does not expect the House to take it up before lawmakers go home.

Adjournment of the 2008 session of the General Assembly is expected Frday.