The adoption of Megan's Law has increased public awareness of sexual
offenders by requiring them to become registered with authorities and making
such information available to the public. The City of Lackawanna hereby enacts
this chapter to prevent sex offenders from residing or living near areas where
children regularly meet or congregate. The City of Lackawanna believes this
chapter is necessary to further protect the best interest of all children,
and to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents in the City of
Lackawanna.
Any offender who has been assigned a risk level of 3, which means the
risks to the community are high, and/or any person over the age of 17, who
has been convicted of a violation of sexual offense upon a child age 16 or
under as defined by the New York State Penal Law, which would require that
individual to register as a sex offender under state and/or federal laws,
shall not be permitted to reside or live within 2,000 feet of the real property
of any school, park, playground, athletic field, or day-care center in the
City of Lackawanna, unless such residence has been assigned by a supervised
release program, which provides close supervision of the sex offender's daily
activities, or residency of said offender was established prior to the enactment
of this chapter.
Failure to comply with this chapter is considered a violation and shall
result in a fine of $2,000 or less and/or imprisonment for 60 days.