Miami Herald - June 19, 2005
Michael Vasquez, mrvasquez@herald.com

In the halls of the state Capitol, veteran lobbyist Ron Book is a powerful man -- in some ways, larger than life.

At home, he suffers the same limitations as any other father -- the inability to turn back the clock, to keep his children from being hurt.

Book's daughter Lauren was sexually abused years ago by a live-in nanny, and though the perpetrator is now in jail, the crime will never be erased. Book knows this, but through his profession he also knows a good deal about laws and that laws against sexual offenders can change.

One change Book and his daughter are currently pushing hard has taken them on car trips around Miami-Dade and Broward counties, from one city hall to another. Miami Beach, Pembroke Pines, Miami and Dania Beach have already heard Book's emotional pleas -- asking that sexual offenders be required to live 2,500 feet away from places like parks and schools.

Current state law requires only a 1,000-foot distance, and in some cities a 2,500-foot-rule would effectively make the entire municipality off limits. Despite talk of violating an ex-convict's civil liberties and the widespread expectation of legal challenges, South Florida cities are adopting the beefed-up guidelines at a brisk pace.

"Don't let them live where your children are," Book said during a recent appearance in front of Miami city commissioners. He continued: "After having gone through this horrible, tragic experience, I can tell you there is no lower form of life than a convicted sexual predator."

Lauren Book, 20, stood behind the commission chamber podium at her father's side. Silent. The room had turned even quieter.

She later calmly relayed to reporters the timelines, court decisions and other details about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her nanny, Waldina Flores. Both father and daughter talked about the subject openly, and both left the building with eyes made glossy by tears.

"Being a victim -- and now a survivor -- it's my job to protect other children so they don't have to deal with what I had to," Lauren Book said.

ARE KIDS PROTECTED?

But do these new laws really protect children? Skeptics include some you may not expect -- people who have seen the emotional damage wrought by such crimes, who may have comforted the victims of abuse, and still say zoning perpetrators out of town is wrong.

Among them: Claudine Ryce, mother of a 9-year-old Redland boy, Jimmy Ryce, who was raped and slain in 1995.

"They have cars," Ryce said of sexual predators. Then, referring to Miami Beach -- the city that pioneered the 2,500-foot-rule and whose island geography would make it impossible for certain sexual offenders to move there under that guideline -- Ryce added, "If they want a kid, they're just going to come over the bridge."

Carolyn Atwell-Davis, director of Legislative Affairs at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, worries the guidelines pushed by Book -- and hordes of South Florida politicians -- will make it so difficult for convicted sex offenders to live anywhere that the individuals will break the law by no longer registering with authorities.

Already, Atwell-Davis said, more than 100,000 of the roughly 549,000 sexual offenders nationwide who should be registered are unaccounted for.

"Placing residency restrictions is ultimately compounding the problem of under-registration," Atwell-Davis said. "You make it harder for law enforcement to track them down."

Ron Book has heard these arguments before, but is steadfast in support of the new laws, saying that if state law permits local governments to keep porn shops 2,500 feet from schools and parks, surely sexual predators should be similarly banned.

Book acknowledges this new measure has proved much more contentious than previous legislation he has championed to protect potential victims.

This is not even the second or third time father and daughter have teamed to make laws tougher on sex offenders. Those previous efforts, however, took place in the state Capitol, where Book has been a fixture for decades.

HIV INFORMATION

The quest began in 2002, when the Book family had trouble finding out if their nanny-turned-abuser had been infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. After encountering judicial delays in obtaining the information, Ron Book and his daughter successfully pushed a new state law guaranteeing victims quick, easy access to it.

Lauren Book, citing her dad's decades-long lobbying career, said she grew up exposed to the inner workings of government, which helped prepare her for pushing bills in the House and Senate while still a teenager.

"It wasn't unfamiliar territory," she said, describing Tallahassee as "exciting, kind of chaotic, always fun."

After the HIV legislation, the pair successfully lobbied to increase funding for victim service centers, to severely punish convicted sex offenders who try to contact their victims while in prison, and to close a loophole dealing with Internet sex offenders.

With virtually no politician challenging it, the current 2,500-foot-guideline will likely face its toughest test in the courts. Ron Book vows to advocate for it there, too.

"Absolutely," he said.

___

Herald staff writer Diana Moskovitz contributed to this report.

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