Concord — The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee yesterday approved a sweeping bill that toughens sanctions against sexual offenders, but rejected potential 25-year mandatory minimum sentences for adult predators sought by Gov. John Lynch and Attorney General Kelly Ayotte.

"We wanted to be tough, but we wanted to be fair, as well," said state Rep. Patricia Dowling, a Derry Republican who chaired a subcommittee that amended a 28-point "Child Protection Act" backed by Lynch and Ayotte.

While the committee did give judges the ability to impose a minimum sentence of up to 25 years, an increase from the current 10-year minimum for such crimes, lawmakers said judges should be able to treat each case as warranted.

"We felt one-size-fits-all wasn't the right way to go," said state Rep. William Knowles, D-Dover. "The judges should have some discretion."

The bill, passed on a 17-2 vote and likely to be debated on the House floor Wednesday, increases penalties for sexual offenses; allows court-approved civil commitments of a person deemed to be a "sexually violent predator" likely to strike again; and strengthens registration requirements for sex offenders.

It also creates a study committee to look at classifying sex offenders so as to distinguish low-risk offenders from more violent predators, and would have the state use global positioning satellite technology by July 2008 to track sex offenders who are back in the community.

But the committee rejected a proposal from Lynch and Ayotte that gave prosecutors the discretion to seek a mandatory minimum 25-year-sentence for adults convicted of aggravated felonious sexual assault or for causing permanent injury or brain damage to a child under 13. Under that proposal, if prosecutors sought the 25-year minimum and the defendant were convicted, the judge would have no choice but to impose 25 years as the minimum sentence. Lynch and Ayotte sent a letter to the committee yesterday morning seeking reinstatement of the potential mandatory minimums for first-time predators, and two former police officers on the committee pushed an amendment to add them back in.

State Rep. John Tholl, a Whitefield Republican and former state police sergeant who is now the part-time chief in Dalton, said he had seen one case where a sexual predator plea-bargained to a 10-year sentence after molesting three boys the man had adopted.

"That is not adequate for that offense," said Tholl, who said the threat of a mandatory minimum 25-year-sentence would also help enhance prosecutors' negotiating position in plea bargaining with defendants.

After spirited debate, the bid to restore the Lynch-backed measure failed on a 13-6 vote, with Tholl and three other law enforcement officers among the minority.

Leaving the decision on a mandatory minimum to prosecutors' discretion did not sit well with the majority.

"Essentially, we don't like to tie the judges' hands, because every crime is different, and there are different degrees," said state Rep. David Welch, a Kingston Republican and the chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee. "Even under the committee (version), as we passed it, the judge can still sentence up to 25 for a minimum, or up to life for a maximum. All we've done is given the judge the discretion to do anything up to 25."

Nonetheless, state Rep. Peter Batula, the Hillsborough Republican who originally filed the legislation, said the decision to drop the mandatory minimums "does a lot of damage to the bill" and said there will "probably" be a floor fight over the matter when it gets to the full House.

The two Criminal Justice members who voted against the bill in committee — Tholl and Republican state Rep. Stanley Stevens, a retired police chief in Wolfeboro — said they support the overall package, but voted as they did to allow them to file a minority report, supporting mandatory minimums, in House floor debate. And Lynch and Ayotte yesterday both pledged to press the matter.

"We're going to continue to push for the mandatory minimum for the first offense," Ayotte said. "I think it is putting in prosecutors' hands the tools they need to deal with the most egregious cases, and it still leaves discretion in their hands," such as when a victim might be reluctant to testify, leading to a plea bargain.

"I'm going to continue to push hard for mandatory minimums the way they were outlined in the original bill," Lynch added.

The 25-year-mandatory minimum proposals are a key component of the so-called "Jessica's Law" proposals — named for a 9-year-old girl who was raped and murdered last year in Florida — that are sweeping the nation.

In Vermont, the House recently rejected a mandatory minimum provision, but some Senate lawmakers are talking about adding such sentences to sex offender legislation in Montpelier.

The New Hampshire bill approved by the House committee yesterday also deleted a proposal to enable local communities to prohibit sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center or park used by children, another element in Jessica's Law legislation. Dowling said such a measure was "impractical" in many communities and also noted that many children are lured by the Internet, rendering the restriction meaningless.

Dowling also questioned where the restrictions would end. "You could say, ‘What about school bus stops?' " she said. "Then we're getting to the point where they can’t live anywhere."

Welch, the Criminal Justice Committee chairman, said Concord lawmakers are balancing complex demands, including public pressure for tougher laws, and would do well to remember history.