Smyth's 'Surrogate Stalker' bill becomes law

Assembly Bill 534, authored by Assemblymember Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita), was recently signed by the governor.

This bill, known as the "Surrogate Stalker Act" is an attempt to stop pedophiles and surrogate stalkers such as Jack McClellan.

McClellan, a self-proclaimed pedophile, had reportedly been in the Southern California area researching places where children congregate and then posting descriptions of the children at these places on his website for other pedophiles to use as a resource.

The new law would make it a misdemeanor to engage in surrogate stalking, which is the act of publishing photos, physical descriptions and/or locations of children with the intent that another person would use that information to commit a crime against a child.

The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. Smyth represents the 38th Assembly District, which includes Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, Simi Valley and Glendale.