Rockland lawmakers are looking to strengthen laws in New York State to prevent child murderers and rapists from ever getting a chance at parole. The law they are proposing is an expansion of Joan’s Law, signed into law and named 15 years ago for a seven year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in New Jersey in 1973, her body found at Harriman State Park. The new law would be named for Paula Bohovesky, the 16 year-old Pearl River teen who was murdered in 1980 on her way home from the library. One of her two killers was released earlier this month, but he’s back behind bars after he violated parole, reportedly by getting drunk. At a press conference yesterday, Joan’s mother, Rosemarie D’Alessandro, says the new law would help keep other moms from suffering in the same way she and Paula’s mother have…
Rockland state senator David Carlucci’s new bill would deny parole to anyone convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting a child under 18 years old, where current law stops at children under the age of 14…
And that was North Rockland state senator James Skoufis, and Assembly members Ken Zebrowski and Ellen Jaffee. Two years ago, New Jersey became the first and only state to expand Joan’s Law to age 18.