--- description: On the 20th anniversary of the conviction of the man who raped and murdered Megan Kanka, here's the story of the law that bears her name. title: Megan's Law: Crime That Created the Sex Offender Registry image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5364433aa332f1f/6988ced77cdbac6284d587b1/gettyimages-567426203.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The History Behind the Law That Created a Registry of Sex Offenders  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 30, 2017 1:30 PM CUT  At the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, a booth was set up for fairgoers to check on sex offenders in their neighborhood under the Megan's Law. At the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, a booth was set up for fairgoers to check on sex offenders in their neighborhood under the Megan's Law.Lawrence K. Ho/LA Times —Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 30, 2017 1:30 PM CUT On May 30, 1997 — exactly 20 years ago Tuesday — when Jesse Timmendequas was [convicted](http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/30/megan.kanka/indexold.html "undefined") of kidnapping, raping and murdering 7-year-old Megan Kanka, the case had already changed American law. Kanka had gone missing from her home in Hamilton Township, N.J., in July of 1994\. Within 24 hours, her body was found dumped in a nearby park. In the aftermath,[ her parents said](http://www.megannicolekankafoundation.org/mission.htm "undefined") they never would have let her play outside unsupervised if they had known that their neighbor — Timmendequas, who had lured Megan to his house by saying he wanted her to meet his new puppy — was a sex offender who had previously gone to jail for his crimes. That statement sparked a nationwide outcry that led the state to pass [“Megan’s Law,”](http://www.nj.gov/njsp/spoff/megans%5Flaw.html "undefined") requiring communities to be notified when sex offenders moved into their neighborhoods. Other states did the same, and President Bill Clinton signed a federal version into law on May 3, 1996, which created an online sex offender registry. A few months after Megan’s murder, TIME [reported](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,981384,00.html "undefined") that the outcry represented a shift in law enforcement: --- > “” --- In a 1996[ cover story on protecting children](http://time.com/vault/issue/1996-06-03/page/1/ "undefined"), the magazine also pointed out that a long-term obstacle to making substantive changes to protect children is that it takes national headlines for lawmakers to pay attention. A horrific crime like the one that created Megan’s Law had the power to move lawmakers, but — as Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund argued in the story — threats to children from things like poverty were more politically difficult to confront. “Unlike the civil rights movement,” TIME reported, “however — or for that matter the seat-belt, drunk-driving and environmental movements, all of which have changed the way Americans live — the children’s movement is more like a series of spasms than a focused, well-coordinated effort.” Today, [all 50 ](https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Registry/allregistries "undefined")states have some version of Megan’s Law. Timmendequas, who was originally sentenced to death, is now serving a life sentence[ after the state abolished the death penalty.](http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/17/death.penalty/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4793292/history-origins-sex-offender-registry/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4793292/history-origins-sex-offender-registry/"},"headline":"The History Behind the Law That Created a Registry of Sex Offenders","datePublished":"2017-05-30T13:30:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:06:23.461Z","description":"On the 20th anniversary of the conviction of the man who raped and murdered Megan Kanka, here's the story of the law that bears her name","url":"https://time.com/4793292/history-origins-sex-offender-registry/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5364433aa332f1f/6988ced77cdbac6284d587b1/gettyimages-567426203.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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