Lee County recently passed an ordinance stopping sex offenders and predators from hanging around places where kids do, but one local sex offender says the law is too broad. His attorney is asking a judge to over-rule it.

Joseph Comfort is a registered sex offender living in Lehigh Acres. He was recently found in violation of the ordinance for going to a public pool. He and his Attorney Peter Aiken are asking Lee Circuit Judge Radford Sturgis to call the new "Child Safety Zone" ordinance too broad. They say it unfairly targets sex offenders who's victims were not children.

"My client's offense 20 years ago had nothing to do with children, but now he's serving basically a life sentence based on conduct 20 years ago," said Aiken.

The Lee County ordinance follows State set guidelines for defining sex offenders and predators, which do not consider the age of the victim.

Assistant State Attorney Cameron Siggs defended the law in court to Judge Stugis, and says the ordinance is not too broad, and meant to include all sex offenders.

"The legislature and Board of County Commissioners can't possibly make a list of every location, it would be 1,000 pages long," said Siggs.

Today, the Judge asked both sides for more information on their opinion of the breadth of the law, and from there he'll make his ruling.

CHRISTINA BAILEY, REPORTER
cbailey@fox4now.com