Connecticut Bill Would Make Committing Lewd Acts in Prison Cells a Felony

 

A local Connecticut news station reports that the state legislature has proposed a bill that would make it a Class D felony for prison inmates to commit lewd acts in their jail cells. Inmates who committed lewd acts would thereafter be required to register as sex offenders. Prison officials lobbied for the bill after 94 inmates committed 390 indecent exposure violations in 2011. The indecent exposure violations often involve prisoners masturbating in front of prison workers.

 

Prison officials have claimed that internal discipline has failed to deter indecent exposure incidents by inmates. However, prison officials believe that having to register as a sex offender would stop some inmates from committing lewd acts.