Sex offenders: social networking and online address notification requirement.

Existing law requires persons who have been convicted of specified crimes, and other persons as required by a court, to register as sex offenders. Existing law sets forth the procedure for registering and provides that a violation of the sex offender registration law is a crime, punishable as specified. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2013, require a person who is required to register as a sex offender to provide to the law enforcement agency with which he or she last registered all of his or her online names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and instant messaging user names for all of his or her accounts on social networking Internet Web sites, as defined, at the time of original registration or any subsequent registration and within 30 days of establishing a new online name, address, or account, as specified, and would make it a misdemeanor to fail to do so. This bill would permit information received pursuant to these provisions to be shared with other local law enforcement agencies, upon request. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.