NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the MTA is not doing enough to keep repeat sex offenders off the subway.
“You have people who target victims in the subways,” he said. “I believe that the MTA has been remiss."
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The Daily News reports, Cuomo supports a law that would ban serial offenders.
"I believe you need legislative change. Some jurisdictions have tried to do it administratively. ... That really hasn’t worked,” he said.
Cuomo said district attorneys can ask a judge to bar repeat offenders from the system.
“Two convictions for a sexual assault on a subway, you should be banned,” said Cuomo.
California has put this kind of statute in place.
NYPD Commisioner James O'Neill and Transit Chief Edward Delatorre told the City Council's public safety committee that they support banishment.
“I think the really sad part of all of this is that we know what they’re there to do and most of the time when we’re following them, they do commit the crime again," said Delatorre. "We have to wait until they victimize their victim before we can go and arrest them again.”
Authorities say a significant chunk of subway sex crimes can be traced to repeat offenders.
"(The men) wake up in the morning for one purpose, and that is to commit these crimes," an NYPD insider told the Post.
The paper said one guy has been arrested 32 times for transit sex crimes. James Hunt, 41, is alleged to have a habit of sucking his thumb while touching himself.
Others are accused of grinding against and even groping other passengers. On Valentine's Day, 40-year-old Ronald Dudley was accused of rubbing against a 9-year-old girl.
Authorities say the offenders come from all walks of life.
“These are family men, too. They have wives, they have kids,” a source told the Post, “They say, ‘Please don’t tell my wife.’”
Cops say there are behavior patterns they look for when busting subway perverts.
“The individual who’s looking to commit the crime is looking at who’s around, letting trains go by,” a police source said, “They look for that very precise time where they feel nobody is watching and they’re going to be able to commit the crime."
The source told the Post the men prefer express trains and like to get into the first car because it tends to be the most crowded.