By Connor Adams Sheets
State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) is introducing legislation this week aimed at strengthening protections for women who are victims of abusers.
Padavan joined the bill with Sens. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn) and Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) in the wake of the gruesome Jan. 26 murder of Qian Wu in Flushing and the arrest of her accused murdererHuang Chen. Wu had obtained an order of protection against Chen after he attacked her in 2006 and police said he had been stalking her for weeks.
“Women in New York state deserve to know that they are being protected under our criminal justice system,” Padavan said in a statement. “There were numerous warning signs that this victim was at great risk. We need to strengthen the state’s order of protection laws to ensure that women are actually protected.”
If passed, the legislation would mandate jail time for individuals who violate an order of protection more than once and require that repeat violators who have criminal records wear a GPS tracking device and live a certain distance away from any of their victims.
“This horrific murder shows the crack in our public safety system which failed Ms. Wu in so many ways. Women seeking an order of protection against an abuser should feel confident that everything is being done to keep them safe,” Lanza said in a statement. “We need to tighten up the law by preventing repeat abusers from having access to their victims and punish them if they try to violate an order of protection.”
Bryan Gorman, a spokesman for Padavan’s office, said the senator is working on getting a co-sponsor for the legislation in the state Assembly to introduce a parallel bill. Gorman did not say exactly what day the legislation will be introduced.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
