Rep. Wong takes aim at sex offenders

SAUGUS – The chairman of the Board of Selectman is using his other powers as a state representative to make life uncomfortable for sex offenders in Massachusetts.Donald Wong, a Saugus Republican, has joined with legislative colleague Sen. Bruce Tarr to co-sponsor the “Three Strikes” bill, a piece of legislation that sentences to life imprisonment any three-time sex offender.The bill does not distinguish between an act of public lewdness and the rape of a children. As Wong sees it, one sex offense is as egregious as the next.Asked what prompted him to file the legislation during February, Wong said Monday, “I had been talking to some people from Protect Mass Children. Kids can’t protect themselves, so we need to put something in place ? a law ? that protects them from the pedophiles out there.”The provisions of the bill are simple. A life sentence is required for any criminal convicted of any three sex offenses.Sex offenders convicted under this statute would also be ineligible for a reduction in sentence or parole, said Wong, emphasizing that Protect Mass Children spearheaded the initiative.”We’re here to protect the children because they can’t defend themselves. In my mind, three strikes is too much because the three are the only three we have caught them doing,” he said.The state representative added, “This is something I believe in. I don’t want children to lose their innocence. These days, the emphasis is all on the criminal. But when you bring up the victim’s rights, nobody wants to talk about it. The sad part is, the friends and families of these victims are also affected for the rest of their lives.”Twenty-nine other legislators supported the bill, Wong said.”Hopefully when this bill comes up for a vote, it will pass,” he said, explaining that the legislation will first pass through the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.Protect Mass Children is a non-profit organization committed to protecting children in Massachusetts from sexual predators. According to the group’s website, its founders were fed up with watching convicted child predators be released from incarceration, only to victimize more children.