West Tisbury selectmen are considering a new bylaw that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living or loitering near public spaces like schools, bus stops, day care centers, parks and playgrounds.

Town resident Kelly Wilson presented an early version of the bylaw to selectmen on Wednesday, a five-page document she drafted along with police chief Beth Toomey. Ms. Wilson told selectmen she herself was a victim of sexual abuse when she was young, and urged selectmen to adopt the plan to prevent abuse in the future.

“Every six minutes a child in this country is sexually assaulted,” Ms. Wilson said during an emotional presentation. “We will never be able to completely stop this, but at least this will provide a tool police can use to prevent this from happening.”

The draft version of the bylaw would restrict Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders from living within a mile-and-a-half radius of a school and prohibit them from loitering in that same area for more than 10 minutes. The bylaw would restrict offenders from living within a half-mile of a day care, children’s park or public park.

Under the draft version of the plan, violators would be fined $250 for the first violation. The state’s sex offender registry would also be notified and the person would have 30 days to move. A second violation would carry a fine of $500 with a similar notification to the sex offender board.

Ms. Wilson said she has struggled most of her life to cope with being sexually abused, which compelled her to draft the sexual offender bylaw she hopes will prevent such incidents in the future. She said she was relatively new to politics and had never drafted a bylaw, but felt it was worth the effort.

Chief Toomey said she supported the plan, largely because there are now laws that prohibit registered sex offenders from frequenting public places where children gather.

“I think there is a general misunderstanding about sexual predators. People think there are rules limiting where they go — but that’s not true. The current sex offender laws do not address a lot of important issues.”

According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, similar bylaws are being considered across the state. The state attorney general’s office has approved sexual offender bylaws in about a dozen communities while striking down several others.

While such bylaws have been applauded by parents and victims rights groups across the commonwealth, they have also sparked debate about the constitutional rights of the convicted offenders and raised concerns that the bylaws effectively will the offenders underground.

According to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board, there are a total of 25 registered sex offenders now living on the Vineyard.

Edgartown has nine Level 2 sex offenders and one Level 3 offender; West Tisbury has two Level 2 offenders; Tisbury has five Level 2 offenders and one Level 3 offender; Aquinnah has one Level 2 offender, Chilmark has one Level 2 offender, and Oak Bluffs has four Level 2 offenders and one Level 3 offender.

According to the Massachusetts sex offender registry board definitions, a Level 1 sex offender is someone who poses a low risk to the public.

A person is designated as a Level 2 offender when the board determines the risk of reoffense is moderate and there is a degree of danger posed to the public.

A person is designated a Level 3 offender when the board the risk of reoffense is high and the degree of danger posed to the public is substantial.

Selectman Dianne Powers said the draft bylaw needed more work, but she approved the general concept of the sex offender bylaw.

But selectman Richard Knabel cautioned against supporting an issue that could, in theory, violate the constitutional rights of the sexual offender. He also suggested the town might want to explore other measures to prevent sexual abuse before it occurred.

“I know a lot of similar laws have been struck down on constitutional grounds, and it seems to me this raises a number of enforcement issues for the town,” he said.

Selectmen agreed to revisit the issue at a future meeting, and agreed to reach out to other towns about the possibility of a broader plan that would address the problem on an Islandwide basis. If selectmen endorse the concept of the bylaw, it will need final approval from both voters at town meeting and the state attorney general.