Those who kidnap and commit violent sex crimes against Ohio’s children may face longer prison sentences if legislation introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives is passed.

Ohio House Bill 642, currently in the initial bill stages, could extend the minimum term of incarceration from three years to 10 years for sex offenders who kidnap and rape children 13 years of age and younger.

The minimum sentence for aggravated murder under 642 would be life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. James Trakas, R-Independence, said he “started formulating ideas for the bill” after the September murder of Wooster resident Kristen Jackson.

Jackson, 14, disappeared from the Wayne County fairgrounds Sept. 9. Her remains were found five days later.

Joel Yockey, 46, who was paroled from an Ohio prison in March after serving 15 years for the 1986 rape of a 17-year-old girl, has been charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of Jackson.

Yockey pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Trakas said there is a reason why 642 protects only prepubescent children even though the bill’s drafting was initiated by the murder of a 14-year-old.

He said that 642 excludes minors 14 to 17 years of age because the profile of the sex offender who attacks prepubescent children is different from that of the sex offender who attacks post-pubescent children.

Michael Vasey, associate professor of psychology, said there is some merit to the view that sex offenders who victimize young children differ psychologically from those who abuse adolescents.

“The research does in fact suggest that adults who abuse prepubescent children exhibit different characteristics and patterns of behavior than those who abuse post-pubescent youth,” Vasey said.

“In the case of perpetrators who abuse prepubescent children, the very fact that they experience sexual arousal toward such children is deviant,” he said.

However, he said some sexual predators do not follow an age pattern when choosing their victims.

“Minors who are post-pubescent need to be protected, too,” Vasey said. “Why differentiate for kids who are 14 and older? Why not expand it to include them as well?”

Trakas said he would not be opposed to changing the bill’s meaning to protect post-pubescent children also.

Darrin Rogers, a graduate student whose research has focused on juvenile and adult sex offenders, said it is imperative that convicted sex offenders receive psychological treatment while they are in prison.

“Prison without appropriate treatment is more likely to make sexual offenders more violent once they are released – and they will be released unless they murder somebody,” Rogers said. “Without treatment, sexual offenders are likely to stay as dangerous as they are or become more dangerous.”

Stephanie Beougher, spokeswoman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, said violent kidnappings in Ohio are rare.

“The last known abduction – besides the one in Wayne County – was in 1999,” Beougher said. “They don’t happen very often.”

She said, “Just one percent of missing children is abducted,” and the remaining 99 percent are either runaways or kidnapped by a “non-custodial parent or guardian.”

Beougher said the actual number of national child abduction cases has actually decreased from 2001 to 2002 despite the media blitz during the summer covering the abductions of children in California and Arizona.

House Bill 642, which will be considered for passage when the House reconvenes in November, is not the sole legislation in Ohio aimed at protecting children.

Ohio Senate Bill 175 took effect May 7, and requires sex offenders – as a condition of their release from prison – to register with the local sheriff’s department at least 20 days before the sex offender enters the county in which he or she expects to reside.

In addition, people living within 1,000 feet of the sex offender’s future residence must be notified in writing by the sheriff at least 72 hours before the sex offender moves into the neighborhood.

Detective Chris Floyd of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said there are 103 registered sex offenders in Franklin County. Their listing can be found on the Internet at www.sheriff.franklin.oh.us.