Those of us who used Version for our internet services had to change our email address on February 1st when Fair Point took over Verizon’s internet services. Many people had problems with the switch and even more problems when they tried to call Fair Point; lines were jammed and service poor. I was able to change my email address to Fair Point but I was not receiving mail that was sent to my Verizon address. If you have sent me an email in the last 3 or 4 weeks and have not heard from me this is the reason. Please resend the mail.

I tried for days to talk to a service representative either in person or through their chat room. Finally I got up at 1:30 a.m. to call and was connected after about an hour wait. The person I talked with was about as rude as anyone I have talked to. I plan to stop using Fair Point as my internet provider and as a first step I am switching to use my own domain name for my email address. My new address is Bill@RepBillFrank.com. If you have me in your address book please make this change. As a transition for the next two months I will keep my Fair Point account so Rep.BillFrank@myfairpoint.net or Rep.BillFrank@verizon.net can still be used.

Last summer we were all reacting with shock and outrage to the violent acts committed against Brooke Bennett, the young woman from Randolph, Vermont. The horrific circumstances surrounding her abduction and death amount to one of the most heinous crimes ever committed in our state. This terrible tragedy also raises significant questions about Vermont’s criminal justice system. The Senate Judiciary Committee and members of the House Judiciary and Intuitions Committees held eight committee meetings and five public hearings to address: 1) What went wrong? 2) What changes to Vermont Law on Sexual Abuse were made between 2004 and 2007? 3) Recommended changes to Vermont law.

The Committee created a 34-point comprehensive plan for Vermont‘s sexual abuse response system that was developed with the comments of Brooke Bennett‘s mother in mind when she told the Committee that her “only hope was that the Legislature would change the laws in such a way that it would protect children.” The plan was used in developing Senate bill S.13 “An Act Relating to Improving Vermont’s Sexual Abuse Response System”. S.13 was voted out of the Senate on January 23 and was read the first time in the House on January 27. The bill was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee but different sections of the bill were reviewed by five other House committees including my committee, Human Services. I expect the bill will be voted out of committee and discussed by the full House by the time you are reading this report and hopefully on the Governors desk before Town Meeting.

S.13 is a lengthy and comprehensive bill; there are 4 main parts and 53 sections covering many parts of Vermont’s Statutes. Here are a few highlights of the bill:

Part I – Prevention, Sections 2-15

• Task the appropriate legislative committees with developing a comprehensive statewide approach to the prevention of child sexual abuse;
• Conduct outreach efforts to raise awareness of families and communities about child sexual abuse;
• Require school boards to ensure that all school employees receive orientation on the prevention, identification, and reporting of child abuse, and that parents and caregivers receive information and education about child sexual abuse;
• Require that licensed child care facilities ensure that all employees receive orientation on the prevention, identification, and reporting of child abuse;
• Require registered sex offenders to report whether they are living in a household with a child under the age of 16;

Part II - Investigation and Prosecution, Sections 16-29

• Fund and staff special investigation units fully and place responsibility for sex offender registry compliance with the units;
• Upon passage of the act, require collection of DNA from any person convicted for a misdemeanor domestic violence or a misdemeanor sex offense for which registration as a sex offender is required;
• As of July 1, 2011, require collection of DNA from any person arraigned for a felony offense;
• Eliminate the right to take pretrial depositions of child victims in sexual abuse cases;

Part III – Sentencing, Sections 30-37

• Create a new crime of sexual exploitation of a minor;
• Establish a new crime of aggravated sexual assault of a child with a mandatory 25 year to life sentence;
• Clarify that the general assembly did not adopt the common law definition of consent and did previously enact legislation to ensure that teenagers who engaged in consensual sexual acts would not be criminally liable, or would at least not be subject to high mandatory minimum sentences;

Part IV - Corrections and Supervision, Sections 38-48

• Require courts to review and amend conditions of probation for sex offenders as appropriate when a split sentence is imposed;
• Permit periodic polygraph examinations and supervision of computer activities as special conditions of probation;
• Require a judicial hearing prior to discharging a sex offender from probation;

Visit my web site www.RepBillFrank.com, for a more complete list of purposes of the bill and a link to read the complete bill.


As always I like to hear from you, either by email at my new address Bill@RepBillFrank.com, at 899-3136 or 19 Poker Hill Rd, Underhill, 05489. I look forward to seeing you at Town Meeting.