RALEIGH -- A law created to protect children from child molesters goes into effect Monday in North Carolina.

Jessica's Law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old girl who grew up in Gastonia who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a sex offender in Florida.

The law, which was signed by Gov. Mike Easley in July, will require a minimum of 25 years in prison for all convicted child sex offenders and prohibits convicted child sex predators from being on school grounds or at school events.

It also requires any company doing business at a school to run a background check on its employees before they begin working at the school and every year thereafter.