It is both baffling and outrageous how sexual predators operate in our society. Many act with impunity and with no regard to consequences.

Recent headlines are replete with examples.

- Last week, Murrieta police arrested parolee Nicholas John Garcia, alleging that he repeatedly attempted to lure teenage girls at two Murrieta high school campuses. Garcia remains jailed without bail.

- Lifelong sexual predator Joseph Edward Duncan faces capital murder charges for the slaying of an Idaho family and the kidnapping and abuse of the family's daughter. Riverside County law enforcement has connected Duncan to the 1997 kidnapping-murder of a 10-year-old Beaumont boy.

- NBC News caught audacious sexual predators trying to lure children via Internet chat rooms. Nineteen alleged pedophiles were recorded attempting to meet with adult decoys posing as children. Among those caught on video were a medical doctor, a special-ed teacher and a rabbi.

It's also worth emphasizing that the Internet remains a prime hunting ground for sexual predators. Law enforcement officials estimate that 50,000 predators are online at any given moment. It is foolhardy to assume that these predators are merely shopping at Amazon.com. What they are doing with greater frequency is soliciting children for sex.

Earlier this year, Murrieta school district officials issued a warning about MySpace.com, a Web site popular with teens. School officials cited the potential for harassment. Yet, the potential for infiltration by sexual predators cannot be ignored, either.

Cyberspace remains an electronic jungle when it comes to predatory perverts. Parental supervision and Web site blocking software do provide safeguards.

But there is more that we must do to keep these predators in check.

Last summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger backed "Jessica's Law" legislation in California. The legislation is the namesake of murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford from Florida. Officially titled "The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act," this proposed legislation would:

- Mandate satellite surveillance of released sex offenders.

- Establish "Predator Free Zones" around schools and playgrounds.

- Increase penalties under a "one-strike" designation for predators.

- Criminalize Internet contact of children for sexual abuse purposes.

- Enhance the possession of child pornography to a felony.

The legislation faces an uphill battle. Senate Bill 588 and Assembly Bill 231 have been blocked in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Of course, such political foot dragging only provides aid and comfort to sex offenders in California. Sexual predators do not distinguish between Democrats and Republicans when choosing their victims.

Democrat legislators must move these bills forward and stop catering to the civil libertarians who spearhead the sex offender lobby in Sacramento. To do otherwise is a perversion of justice.

Rick Reiss of Temecula is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail:ÝRickReiss6@netscape.net.