New Jersey, through Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, signed into law a bill forbidding Internet access to sex offenders who used the medium in committing crime.

Convicted sex offenders will have to submit to periodic, unannounced examinations of their computer equipment and install equipment on their computers so their use can be monitored. Sex offenders caught using the Internet would face 18 months in jail and a $10,000 fine. New Jersey is now the third state, after Florida and Nevada, to restrict sex offenders’ access to the Internet.

“No matter how much you trust your kids, no matter how much you think you know what they’re doing, there are some sick people out there that will stop at nothing to prey on them,” Governor Codey said. “This legislation will give us some of the toughest tools in the nation to crack down on the growing threat of Internet predators. Hopefully this law will help a lot of parents sleep easier at night.”

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