The Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver, has defended his record on sex-crime legislation against the recent criticisms of a cable-news personality, saying the comments by “O’Reilly Factor” host Bill O’Reilly are “not based in reality.”

During a Monday-night segment on bad politicians, Mr. O’Reilly stared into the studio camera and described Mr. Silver as “the worst politician in America” based on the Manhattan Democrat’s reluctance to advance laws that would stiffen penalties for sex offenders.

The Republican-led Senate this year passed a package of bills that would authorize the use of global positioning systems to track convicted sex criminals, allow for the lifetime confinement of the most violent sex offenders, and authorize e-mail notifications to the neighbors of all such criminals.

These and other, similar bills died in Assembly, where Mr. Silver controls the bills that make it to the floor for a vote. As a compromise, Mr. Silver proposed for later this year a series of hearings on the treatment of sexual predators. The Assembly will host a preliminary “roundtable discussion” on the issue in New York City today.

Citing the “hug a thug” nickname Mr. Silver’s political opponents frequently use to describe his longtime resistance to stiffer criminal penalties, Mr. O’Reilly, whose program often focuses on crimes against children, did not hold back in placing Mr. Silver at the top of his list of the worst politicians.

“He stopped legislation that would have tracked the most dangerous sex offenders with electronic devices, and that would have mandated that communities be notified of sex offenders,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “Everyone should know that Sheldon Silver is blocking legislation that would protect children and be tougher on sex offenders. That’s why we call this man the worst politician in office today.”

Asked to respond to Mr. O’Reilly’s characterization of his record, Mr. Silver cited the roundtable discussion and the future hearings as proof he is addressing the issue. “I didn’t watch what Bill O’Reilly had to say,” Mr. Silver said following an event at the State University at Albany, “but obviously he’s trying to sell TV time, not deal with reality.”

A spokeswoman for the Assembly’s Republican minority, Kelly Cummings, declined to address Mr. O’Reilly’s comments head-on. But she agreed with his assessment of the reason sex-offender bills have failed. “Certainly the Assembly Democrats are the lone obstacle in keeping these initiatives from becoming law in New York,” Ms. Cummings said.