AUSTIN, TX. – If Texas has its way, which it usually does, sex offenders will have to provide all of their virtual aliases when they register with the state. The state Senate voted Monday to approve Senate Bill 689, which would require convicted sex offenders to provide both their online and cellular telephone accounts. HB22 is currently awaiting a vote in the House.

According to G4TV’s The Feed, the information will not be made public but will be made available to law enforcement, social-networking sites and perhaps video game companies. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) and supported by Attorney General Greg Abbott.

“This legislation will help protect children by ensuring that state law keeps up with modern technology,” Abbott said. “By requiring sexual predators to provide their electronic identities, the Legislature is simply improving existing registration requirements – which require convicted sex offenders to provide their addresses to the Department of Public Safety. As Attorney General, I am grateful to Sen. Shapiro and Rep. Pena for their innovative approach and commitment to Texas children.”

“I have spent my career protecting the innocent against predatory sexual offenders, beginning with Ashley’s Laws in 1995,” Shapiro said. “With today’s new Internet sites, it is now time to take this fight into the virtual world and target those who target our children through social networking sites, chat rooms and live video gaming systems. I commend General Abbott for his work against these most heinous criminals as well, and am grateful to his Cyber Crimes Unit for the strides it has made to bring these offenders to justice.”

According to familybadge.org, a law enforcement news site, the bill contains the following provisions:

• Registration of Internet accounts and e-mail addresses. If enacted, the legislation would require all sex offenders to register their Internet account and online identifiers, including e-mail addresses and designations used for online chatting, instant messaging, social networking or other similar Internet communication. The law would require that sex offenders notify their primary registration authority or the Department of Public Safety, which manages the state’s Sex Offender Registry, any time offenders change their Internet service providers or other online identifiers.
• Registration of mobile telephone numbers. Dramatic growth within the mobile communications sector has increased children’s access to cellular telephones. As a result, young Texans now frequently send text messages, transfer photographs, and use their mobile telephones to chat online. To help prevent sexual predators from using mobile phones to prey upon children, the law would require registered sex offenders to register their cell phone numbers with the DPS.
• Sharing information with law enforcement. Authorizes DPS to release state sex offender Internet identifiers to the OAG and social networking sites (i.e., MySpace.com, Facebook.com).
• Internet prohibitions for certain sex offenders. Requires sentencing courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to prohibit certain sex offenders (e.g., those who committed a sex offense against a minor; are designated a level 3 sex offender; or used the Internet to facilitate the commission of the crime), as a condition of parole or probation, from using the Internet to access obscene material; access a commercial social networking Web site; communicate with other individuals or groups for the purpose of promoting sexual relations with persons under 17; or communicate with a person under 17 when such offender is over 17.