Why would anyone want to protect the identity of sex offenders? They have no compunction about preying on the innocent. One unfortunate incident should not take away the public’s ability to know or be aware of, and protect one’s self from preditors.
i don,t beleve there is a cure for sexual predatures,in our society any time you turn on the computer or television there is a product or service being sold with sexual content no matter how vague.
lets face it this is a problem we will have for a long time to come , possabily in the future there will be some sort of cure through meds or technology but all i can say for sure is that if a person was to go after any one in my family i won,t call the police that person will face his /HER demise in my hands.AMEN
I believe it is wrong to take the law into your own hands but I believe the list of offenders should remain open to the public. If they sentence was stiffer in the first place there might not be so many perverts walking the streets. Thanks.
According to data compiled by the U.S. Justice Department, the high recidivism rate of sex offenders is a myth. Sex offenders have an overall recidivism rate of less than 6 percent over three years, and 40 percent of those who do reoffend do so in the first year after their release. More detailed analysis confirms that a sex offender’s likelihood of committing a new crime decreases the longer he or she remains free; in other words, if they’re going to commit another crime, it will probably happen in the first few years after their release.
Of course, this sort of data doesn’t make for good sound bytes for politicians seeking to foster a “get tough” image to bolster their chances for election or re-election; but it’s the truth, as much as they may deny it.
Nonetheless, the supposedly high sex offender recidivism rates that politicians seem to pull out of thin air (when was the last time you heard one cite an actual study to validate the numbers they quote?) have created an environment where the mere presence of an individual who commited a sex crime five, ten, or twenty years ago is enough to cast a community into a state of panic. Given the misinformation and lies of the politicians (and the media’s dutiful reporting of same), it’s no wonder that some, at least, feel that vigilante justice is an appropriate response.
In the end, it all comes down to a simple question: Should our government be in the business of facilitating vigilantism? Certainly the legislators who wrote these laws will argue that that was not their intention, but the effect is the same.
These laws remind me of the “attractive nuisance” concept in liability law. People who work with potentially dangerous equipment (circular saws, pesticides, chemicals, and so forth) are required to safeguard those items to prevent curious children (and others) from hurting themselves. If a carpenter leaves his circular saw unattended and a child picks it up and cuts himself, the carpenter is liable for costs and damages related to the child’s injuries. The argument that it wasn’t the carpenter’s intent that a child pick up and play with his circular saw is irrelevant. By leaving it unattended, he created an attractive nuisance; and he is therefore liable.
Creating a public hysteria about sex offenders, and then publishing their names and addresses on the Web, where anyone can access that information without so much as providing identification, is akin to leaving a power saw unattended. Anyone — stable or unstable, honorable or malicious — can access that information and use it in any way they like. This opens the door not only to vigilantism, but also to innocent people being killed because of mistaken identity.
If this information is to be made public at all (personally, I think it should only be available to law enforcement professionals), then the only safe balance between the public’s “right to know” and the concept of the rule of law is to release the information only to adults who physically walk into a police station, present identification, and make an inquiry about a particular individual. This creates accountability and helps safeguard against random vigilantism.
In other words, if the neighbor down the street seems to be a bit too friendly towards your children and you want to check him out, that seems to me a legitimate use of sex offender registration information. But to simply publish all of this data on the Web, with no safeguards to prevent it from being used irresponsibly or criminally, is unconscionable in a society whose conduct supposedly is based upon the rule of law.
Anyone who values their liberties and who has studied history should be afraid – very afraid — of these laws.
Long before Hitler killed the first Jew in Nazi Germany, he paved the way for the wholesale disenfranchisement of human beings by — you guessed it — attacking the rights of sex offenders. From 1933 through 1936, a series of amendments were passed to Paragraphs 173 through 188 of the German Penal Law specifically targeting homosexuals and others determined to be “sexual deviants.”
The sex offender laws created under the Nazi Third Reich may as well have been the model for “Megan’s Law.” They established the first sex offender registry, required sex offenders to register their whereabouts and to wear pink triangles, and established draconian punishments for sex crimes that included long prison terms, loss of voting rights, confinement in concentration camps, and (sometimes) the death penalty. All of these laws were justified by the Nazi’s in the same way that our present-day politicians justify Megan’s Law: to protect the children from sexual predators.
Of course, Hitler had other things in mind, as history shows us; and targeting sex offenders was just a way to establish the precedent of wholesale deprivation of human rights in preparation for his later attacks against the people he truly hated.
It’s doubtful that the German people would have acquiesced to Hitler’s rounding up Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Socialists, trade unionists, and so forth, and sending them off to death camps in 1933 when he first ascended to power. Hitler had to first establish a precedent that some people were subhuman and unworthy of human rights — and he started with the most universally despised group he could find.
Anyone who thinks that this couldn’t happen again is delusional. The simple fact is that history shows that you can’t single out one group for deprivation of civil rights without weakening those rights for everyone else.
No, registries were used by the Nazi’s back in Hitler’s days to single out jews and other people.
This only opens the flood gates for vigilante’s.
If they have registries, they should have a registry for EVERYONE WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS, don’t just single out sex offenders and meth cookers, that is discrimination.
These not only put offenders lives in jeapardy, but also the kids and family of offenders who are trying to live a normal life.
Everyone who is for these, needs to wise up, next will be a registry you will be on, and then concentrations camps, etc.
If you are a Cristian, how can you label someone a “sex offender”? This is a scarlett letter.
If the public wants to know, go to the court, they are open records there.
I am for 2 strikes you are out. 1st time, depending on the crime, you get either jail/prison time, but MUST get treatment while in jail/prison. And re-evaluated before you are released back to the public. If you are deemed ok, then you should be let back into society without all these crazy laws, so you can get on with your life. If you are not ok, then you should remain in jail until you get help, and are re-evaluated.
Regardless of what the media says, ALL people can be cured.
Also, “sex offenders” covers a wide range of sex crimes, not just CHILD MOLESTORS, which the general public thinks all “sex offenders” are violent pedofiles hiding behind a bush waiting for you or your kids, which is not correct.
I personally know of a person who is labeled a “sex offender – child molestation” who was in his own home, and an 11 year old peeked into his house, which she said in court, and saw him nude and scratching himself. Now he’s labeled a “CHILD MOLESTOR” and for what?? She’s the one who was looking into the guys house, she should’ve been charged with “peeping tom”.
“sex offender” is not what everyone thinks, even people 15 and 17 having concensual sex, the 17 year old is labeled a “sex offender”.
Again, I am not for people who molest, rape and kill kids, don’t get me wrong.
People need to wise up, and see that the politicians are scaring the public, and it’s working, to see if the public accepts these draconian laws. Eventually there will be a Christian registry, Jew Registry, Muslim Registry, drunk registry, drug user/seller registry, gang member registry.
If you do this, make everyone with a CRIMINAL record have their name, photo, address on the internet.
Now when that happens, do you think the world will be safer?
Some people would use it, to FIND drugs, or, locate a murderer, and go kill them, taking the law into their own hands.
Absolutely get rid of the public hit list. I have written 2 editorials on this issue.
There is no proof that registration has saved a single child but sex offenders have an extremely low recidivism rate.
If the state of Maine has the fortitude to do away with this tool of hysteria, it will become established fact that the recidivism rate does not go up.
I suggest that Maine takes this step and the Dept of Justice should do the followup study as they are the only known agency with no bias for either side.
Come on, Maine! Change the course of history.
I only wish to leave a quote about this question.
“A people who would surrender their liberties in the name of safety, will deserve neither on and lose both!”
Thomas Jefferson
Before pushing for toughter laws and longer sentences, people need to find out who really is on the registry! Everyone knows, that has had ANY dealings with law enforcement that the laws and the police are not always fair. I am sure that most do not know that 99% of these people are not convicted. That is right, plea deals. Most say, now why would you sign a plea deal for something you did not do? Easy, imagine this, you are a 12,13,14,15 year old, you had sex with your girlfriend a year younger, or better yet, you are this same child and let’s say your parents are very sexually ‘free’ or liberated, your parents often don’t shut doors, dad leaves books out, a family member has touched you, you are just a little kid. Having grown up this way, this is your norm, see that? You touch someone,a friend a sibling, etc. You are not stalking a playground, a bus stop, have never attacked anyone ever. Same with the kid with a girlfriend a year or two younger and you BOTH are under 18. Never have used vilence ever, never attacked anyone! The police get involved and poof you are a sex offender, level two. If you as so much get a traffic ticket your level will go to a 3, the most dangerous of offenders. Your charge is sexual assault of a minor. Your act, consensual sex with your partner, both under 18. If it is of a child under 12 and more than 4 years age difference, some states three years, that is child molesting. If your hand was in a questionable area, that is ATTMEPTED child molestation. If you have been married for 20 years, you are in the back yard, YOUR back yard, kids are all asleep, you think you are alone, it is late at night, you and your mate think all is well, you have sex with your husband/wife under the stars. Someone sees you from an upstairs window, public indecency, you are now a sex offender, you can’t be around your kids, usually just the man. You lose your job, you are now a flasher! a pervert! so is your kid! no one wants them around because their dad is a flasher. You tell the public, they say they have no sympathy for you and say you are a liar. Why would they do this? Easy, political gain, look at the ones becoming famous, moving to the top and money. If this is not the case, then why would they take a VIOLENT SEX OFFENDER, that they could sentence to 25 years in prison but instead the prosecutor scares the kids and the others, usually having no previous record, into thinking that they have all of this condeming evidence, NO DNA of course in most cases, maybe in consensual sex cases, and scare them to 30 years in prison. Now they will take that same person that has committed a crime ‘worthy’ of 30 years in prison and give him a plea deal of ONE year in county jail and LIFETIME probation! Then let the public think they got off! The rules with lifetime probation are those that you can NOT live with. If you are one minute late for therapy, are in the shower when the probation officer comes, don’t wake up in the two minutes that they stay at your door, you are written up and a petition to revoke is sought. You are set up to fail.Most may say, hey they have to knowy you are home, you should be written up. My family memeber just missed a call, he was in the shower, jumped out, called right back, no answer, she never came back, never called back, wrote him up for not being at home. If she really didn’t get the call back, why did she leave and not try to find him?? You guessed it, she knew he was home and not a threat to anyone! Open your eyes people!
Ok, I am on a roll and have more to say, I am SO sick of all of this and see the many lies being told to push this hysteria to the point of people getting killed. I hear several times a day about how unfair the war is, how it is all about the oil, the power, innocent Iraqis being killed. Look at the laws being passed. The Gov now has reason to listen to phone calls, read your emails, soon surveillance cameras will be in our street lights, in schools, we have GPS in cell phones, cars,(ON STAR), the gov now can make you move if they want to put a shopping mall through your living room, they are taking away our rights as parents, you can’t disapline kids, they would like to be able to give kids medication without parents consent,(I have the article from the newspaper and we KNOW they are accurate, ) We have indentify theft that I can personally say that I have tried and tried to alert police to a major counterfiet ring and no one listens! It is like hmmm, really? Write a $20 check to WalMart and have it bounce and see what happens! Perfect solution, micro chips. Then they will know all about YOU. Gotta protect your kids, right? Look at all of the PREDATORS lurking around! Hitler didn’t have a computer registry as he didn’t not have the technology, imagine if he did! This sex offender registry is just that, a tool to get the public to accept these laws. It is a huge smoke screen. If what they were saying were true, you would not be able to go to your mail box without being assaulted! Even the most innocent touches, accidents even are sex offenses. If you are a man, if you do service calls, DO NOT go alone. Victims are awarded punitive damages, they can sue you. All that needs to be made in the accusation, no evidence is needed for sexual assault cases. It has been said that it is an insult to have the victim in court to testify, she has been through enough, I would agree in case where real evidence was there and there had been an attack. Usually by a stranger, I know if someone I knew touched me in a wrong way, I would not be traumatized I would be mad, attacked in a parking lot or someone breaking in is totally different and if you are older and not a small child. Most will think that we are saying that even in those cases we are saying it is all a lie, a set up. You know the sad truth? Many do slip through the cracks, the police are too busy with the kids and the non violent offenders that the real ones get away. Also, the prisons are standing room only and most prisons are privately owned and the states are MAKING up to 23 million a year, we have proof of this! You all have NO idea the money that is being made! A word for the older guys in this. Notice pre Megans Law 1994, no one made a fuss over most of these cases, (NO FUNDING) after Megans law, ($$$FUNDING$$$) they made this law retro active, making men register up to 50 years retro. MOST of the men had the girlfriends two or three years younger.. sexaul assault of a minor, now 50 years later that looks really nice huh? A 68 year old or so man with that charge, not to mention he has lived and worked for 50 years in the same neighborhood, no one has been killed, now suddenly he is a threat. You have to be a level 2 to be listed on the registry and they get more money if you are on the internet, everyone is a level 2! Most are not a level one and most states are trying to get level ones on the internet, Gee I wonder why?
I say it is obvious! Another famous story, you have divorced parents, you can do just about anything you want, parents guilty for the divorce, parents trying to be the favorite over the other parent, parent always out dating, not paying too much attention to you. Then all of a sudden, mom is married, YOU HATE HIM! He works, mom has more time with you! She is on your back! There goes your freedom! You can hear at school that Sally’s step dad was arrested for ‘touching’ her. Now sometimes this happens, there are real cases that this does happen and I am not talking about those, they are there, I am pointing out the false accusations. NO evidence is needed, often they do not even try to talk to the man, hearsay evidence is allowed in these cases. Let’s look at JonBonet’s recent case. Jon Carr. I have my opinion, see if this makes sense to you. They take this man from overseas, fly him FIRST CLASS! He eats better than all of us! NO EVIDENCE, nothing check out before all the money was spent! All the publicity, the media saying he had child porn charges but he would be lucky to get 7 months due to time served and the lack of tough laws. WELL, I deal with most states in the US and know this is not the case. I feel they made this case, knowing it was weak, if not totally a waste of time, to make the public think that they look for DNA in all cases, that these guys often get off. To see how well he was treated and how his rights were protected. NO ONE gets that treatment in real life. Check out this site read their reports. http://www.ncrj.org/who.html
Plus from the NEW TIMES:From the New Times 10-23-2003:
Presently, 18-year-old Eryk Dykert is awaiting trial for possession of six
Internet photos of underage girls involved in sex acts. Dykert downloaded
the photos when he was 17, but prosecutors waited until Dykert was 18 to
charge him to ensure he’d face adult court.
He is looking at a maximum sentence of 144 years on six counts of
possession. In Arizona, thanks to sentencing enhancements in the criminal
code, all sentences for possession of child pornography must run
consecutively, and each count carries a mandatory sentence of 10 to 24
years.
If he were given the minimum sentence, Dykert would not be eligible for
release until he is 78 years old.
“Arizona has unquestionably the harshest Internet sex crimes laws in the
country,” says Dykert’s attorney, Jason Lamm, who has handled dozens of
Internet-involved cases around the country. “In Arizona, you can rack up
more prison time in a couple seconds alone at home than a serial killer
would receive for a month-long rampage.” Now I would much rather know if my neighbors hormone driven teenager had pictures of teenage girls under 18 when he is also, than a serial killer any day! Some may still be fooled and if so that is too bad, but what if we are right? Just like God, I would rather believe in something that MAY not be there and taking the chance of being wrong than to not believe and one second after my heart stops realizing I was WRONG! I do believe in God by the way, just using that as an analogy. Listen up people, don’t let your kids talk to police or anyone, Childrens services, school principals about anything legal or incriminating without YOU there! The kids can sign ‘confessions’ even as young as 10 and there is nothing anyone will do for you! They trick a child into saying they did it with a promise of letting them go home! Just like they say sex offenders do, they use their positions of authority, threaten the kids, gain their trust, then set them up to ruin their lives. Please listen, I have no reason to lie to you! I wish someone would have told me!
Putting a select few n a registry is certainly a test of power. Get one through the courts and more will follow.
There are currently registries for arsonists and meth cookers. There will be more to come.
Ultimately, anyone who is a danger to the government, not the public, will be on one of these lists. They will be proposed as a “protective measure”. A tyranny can not exist without the support of the populace.
Think about it.
Comment by Cool Rich — September 7, 2006 @ 7:34 am
Sex offender registries should be for law enforcement only. If you suspect a friend or neighbor of acting strange toward your child you can go to the court or sheriff’s office and look the person up. It’s free to do. The general public, and I’ll even include my friends and family don’t have the training to deal with the information on the registry. All of us, the general public runs pretty much off emotion and not the years of training that law enforcement get. Leave the police work to the police and take down these registries especially for people that have completed their sentences. Putting peoples photos and addresses on the internet for the whole WORLD to see is not going to save one child.
“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation. ” -Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler, Publ. Houghton Miflin, 1943, Page 403
It is time to take this crazy registry and get rid of it..when has it “saved” any children? It has only put people’s lives in danger. Why don’t they start with the people in Hollywood?? They are the ones promoting this crap, they should be on a list! Think about it!!
These laws don’t protect children and politicians know it. In a report on their effectiveness, only 4 of the 36 Illinois legislators interviewed about their state registry thought it kept children safe. But most thought it was a great way to address public hysteria about the man who killed Jessica Lunsford.
In Ohio you can now be put on the sex offender registry even if you have NEVER been convicted of a crime. This is the future. If Maine repealed their law, they would bring some sanity to this issue and be on the side of criminal justice researchers and many victim’s and child advocates.
I don’t agree with the registry, never have because no other convicted people are subjected to that. I don’t agree with it because it subjects the innocent family members to the label and the foul treatment of society.
I don’t agree with the registry because it does nothing to protect the kids.
I disagree with the registry. It implies that those listed have commited a crime that is ongoing. It puts those listed and their families in grave danger. The media is encouraging great hatred of sex offenders and stirs up violence against them. Offenders on probation or parole already have restrictions. This is certainly additional punishment, especially with the residency laws hooked to many of the registries. We do not have the right to take away people’d homes and livlihood. These laws will spread and destroy our constitution unless something is done to change them.
Comment by may061946 — September 7, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
The original intent of sex offender registry and community notification laws were designed for law enforcement to track the most violent and predatory offenders. What is the difference between Jerry Burke Inman, John Evander Couey or Joseph Edward Duncan III and over 90 percent of the folks on a Sex Offender Registry? These three were intentionally absconding from the system at the time of their most recent crimes. The conditions of their release did not matter to them. They wanted to offend and should be incarcerated for the rest of their lives, end of story.
The public needs to be more concerned about absconders, not low risk offenders, or even higher risk offenders who are working hard to comply with their court and therapy guidelines. Many have paid their debt to society, and are on the Sex Offender Registry by law. Under our current system, law enforcement spends precious resources tracking low risk offenders, instead of high-risk absconders and predators. If the registries were working, why are we seeing an 8% increase each year in the number of registrants?
The politicians, and some in the media, want you to believe in the stranger danger myth. The fact is that, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, American Psychological Association, the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and other experts; children are abused by a family member or someone trusted by the family in around 90 percent of all the cases.
According to the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, most sex offenders live in an area due to its proximity to their family or therapy provider. Chasing them away from therapist and family support network is not in the best interest of public safety.
Why must those who are deemed a low risk of re-offending register (some for life) as a sex offender? They have paid their debt to society and have been living offense free for up to twenty years in some cases. Why are they the only class of citizens who are demonized by the media, politicians, and citizens based on the actions of a few? Does that make anyone feel safer?
What has not been publicly discussed is the impact of registration on those low risk registrants and specifically their families and children – many times (DOJ stats show 40%), the offender is under 18, and the victim is a younger friend or sibling. These victims are doubly victimized when their family, older sibling or friend is humiliated and ostracized.
There are countless stories of children beat up at school after school, and losing all social support structure that is so crucial for healthy development. Does this sound like justice to you? According to our legislators, it is.
How can anyone look into the eyes of a child and tell them that they somehow deserve to be homeless, harassed, beaten, humiliated, stigmatized, and made a pariah. Whose children are worthy? Only those of others, do the children of registrants even count? According to our legislators, they do not.
We must have more faith in ourselves than in government to solve the problem. Citizens, communities, journalist, media personalities, and legislators should demand a National Sex Offender Public Policy Forum to address this issue. Then state and local governments can better formulate workable, cost effective laws that protect the rights of all citizens. Forums should include mental health professionals, jurist, law enforcement and corrections personnel, victims and their families, offenders and their families. The offender’s families are secondary casualties of ill-conceived laws.
In lieu of fostering a fearful witch-hunt mentality for election year sound bites, legislators should step up to this societal challenge. They should strive to dispel the myths and create the environment for policy and subsequent legislation to succeed, creating a safe society for all children. Educate yourself to protect your children, visit http://sosnet.bravehost.com/index.htm
We are way too easy on those who decide to abuse children. Here is my answer to these people who abuse our loved ones
Sex Offender Legislation “Wish List”
1-GPS and lifetime supervision/treatment Law The failure of today’s solutions regarding sexual offenders is because we are stuck in the strategy of “public notification” rather than “controlling offenders”. The current model puts the burden on parents rather than offenders, and makes the wrong people work to prevent abuse. Remotely (GPS) knowing where an offender is at all times throughout his lifetime can help to prevent that offender from creating new cases of sexual abuse.
2-Include all known offenders in the management plan-for life. It is wrong to include just those under supervision since the Meagan’s Law was written. People do not ever age out of this behavior so why an old is charge less important than a new charge. Sexual offences are the most under reported crimes (according to the FBI). The fact that a molester has not been arrested recently does not necessarily means he has not offended. In my opinion all offenders should be included in any plan, regardless of when their offense occurred. I believe some states have done this already.
3-Put all offenders , levels I, II or III on the website . I believe Florida does this. The leveling tool is very poor and pedophiles often end up with only a level I because they did not use force, and they superficially complied with treatment. The way the leveling system works pedophilic “groomers” who do not use force (and are the most busy of all offenders with hundreds of victims) are often not level III’s and therefore are able to have their offense relatively unknown. In New York for example offenders can lawyer up and reduce the “level” they get at their hearing. Molesters can assert they are “non violent”, “sober”, ect, and get the “points” reduced or get the judge to “override” the scale. Currently the public notification system is failing. All offenders of all levels should be on the website.
4- “Victim Shield Law”. As you know one of the few protections we offer rape victims is “Rape shield laws”, in order to at least try and prevent a rape victim’s sexual history from being put on trial rather than the rapist. In child sexual abuse cases there are no “Rape shield laws” to prevent the victim, or the victim’s family (often the mother) from being made the center of negative attention. In the past defense lawyers for rapists would portray rape victims as promiscuous, today child molester’s lawyers portray victims and victim’s mothers as manipulative, litigious, unreliable, angry, mentally ill, sociopathic, medicated, or undedicated. Because we as a society love to blame women, especially mothers, molesters have been able to harness the misogyny in our culture in order to escape responsibility for their offences. Like the old rape cases that would revolve around the victims sexual past, today molester cases revolve around a child or a mother’s real or fictional problems instead of the focus of attention being the sexual abuse committed by the offender. I do not know if there can ever be a “victim shield law” to prevent the victim/victim’s mother being put on trial rather than the molester, but I know it would help victims avoid being re-traumatized in the system and help society hold sexual offenders accountable. One of the things to always remember with offenders is they are control seekers, and will take any opportunity to attack rather than just defend. They feel entitled to their behavior and see being held accountable as an injustice they are being forced to suffer, and they have zero guilt in harming any number of people (even their children) in order to escape the consequences they deserve.
5-Plea deals down to “Endangering the welfare of a minor”. Despite the underlying behavior being the sexual abuse of children offenders are often given convictions that hide the nature of their behavior. When this happens offenders can get employment that gives them access to children, offenders are not on the State Sex Offender Registry. The other consequence to their being given non-sexual charges is that it cuts their supervision time in half. Misdemeanor sex offences carry 6 years probation supervision but “Endangering the welfare of a minor” carries only three. I feel the law should be changed so offenders cannot be given non-sexual abuse charges.
6-Make “Endangering the welfare of a minor” registerable , if the judge feels it was a sexually motivated crime. The registry is to narrow and limited as to what crimes can be registered. Laws be changed so “endangering the welfare of a minor” is registerable when the behavior or motivation was sexual.
7-“Standardized” conditions for those on sex offender probation. Right now offenders with good lawyers can get specific (or all) sex offender conditions removed from their sexual offender conditions of probation. This means that sexual offenders are on probation but are allowed to drink alcohol, work with children, have computers, go to bars, and do other things that will create a higher risk for the community. I feel there should be a “Statewide Sex Offender Conditions of Probation” that conditions cannot be removed from (but conditions can be added to suite the offenders issues).
8-Sexual Offender Contraband law- Strangely it is legal for sexual offenders off probation to own all kinds of things such as handcuffs, police lights, spy cameras, and software to make their internet behavior more anonymous.
9-Sex Offender use of technology law- When bank robbers use technology such as wearing body armor the penalties are increased, why are sex offender allowed to use any technology without added consequences. Offenders choose the internet because it allows greater access to children and greater anonymity. They should be punished for use of technology to harm a child. (technology such as Computers, digital cameras, webcams, ect)
10-“Secrecy Bind Law” The offender getting his victim to not report the crime he committed should be a separate crime that he suffers added consequences for. The pain that a victim suffers because the offender threatened, tricked, or manipulated the victim into silence should be seen as a separate and deserving of added consequences.
11- “Parental Alienation Syndrome” is a pseudo syndrome that is being used to get offenders off the hook by saying (incorrectly) that sexual abuse allegations come from a manipulative ex- playing head games with a child rather than because the child was actually molested. This “Parental Alienation Syndrome” is not a legitimate disorder, has not been subjected to peer review, has been ignored for 20 years by the APA, AMA, NASW, ECT because it is just a sophisticated way to say your wife is crazy and turned everyone against you. It is being pushed by hired guns such as Doctors, PhD’s, and lawyers to get their child molesting clients out of trouble. It is a favorite of the “Fathers Rights” groups who see men as victims of the Family Court system. By the way, these “Fathers rights” groups, “wrongly accused” groups, and “victims of allegations” groups are very organized and spend a good deal of time and energy networking and paying professionals. These angry, entitled molesters are organized and work hard, and I feel we need to work just as hard against them. My point is I feel we need some legislation to block this fake disorder from being used in court
The Myths and Truths about sexual offenders—The Myth::We can relax a bit now that we have sex offender registration.….The Truth Despite Megan’s Law, the overall number of sex offenses occurring have actually increased, the websites can only do so much; we need GPS and lifetime probation to control this population. Currently we are failing to control them The Myth::Some Sex Offenders are not violent.….The Truth Non “Violent” Crimes such as molestation are just as traumatizing, and calling them “non-violent” is not in any way accurate. The Myth::Most sex offenders don’t have a lot of victims …The Truth Although 75% of sexual offenders were convicted of one offense, that just means they were only caught once, almost 100% of them have multiple victims. Many have been found to have hundreds when they were polygraphed on this question. The Myth::Most Sex Offenders were at one time abused as a child themselves, that’s why they do it.…The Truth Most “sex offenders” has never been sexually abused. In fact, offenders say this to appear less culpable for their crimes. When they are polygraph on this question their rates of being molested go way, way down, their rates are in fact close to the rest of us who are not molesting The Myth: :Sex.Offenders get serious punishment, and we don’t have to worry about them for years….The Truth They get revolving door sentences, if they even go to jail, and the vast majority do not, Offenders usually get probation, and even then sex offenders do not get GPS and lifetime probation(as they need to). Offenders quickly get back to a normal life while victims have lifetime consequences.The Myth::Sex Offenders are very controlled on probation or parole and cannot look for more victims. The Truth Offenders without GPS are on part time supervision, they are “good” while in the Probation officers eyesight for the weekly office visit. Offenders have all week to create more victims. Lifetime supervision with GPS would put society in charge. Currently offenders run the show, and this means more victims. The Myth:: Sex Offenders will grow old and out of this behavior.The Truth There is no “aging out” of offending. An offender has these desires and intentions for life. If they change it is to prevent being caught again. The Myth::Sex Offenders are all on the registry ….The Truth Sadly it’s very narrow and limited as to what crimes can be registered. Many offenders are given plea deals for non registerable crimes even though their actual behaviors were sexual offences. Laws must be changed so these “endangering the welfare of a minor” and other charges are registerable The Myth::Offenders friends and family support their recovery …..The Truth In realty the offender’s friends and family have denial regarding the offender’s full responsibility for his offense (they like to blame victims, police, DA ect). Offenders friends and family usually minimize the crime (he only touched her breast), and offenders friends and family often belittle rather than support the goals of supervision and treatment. Overall friends and family help the disorder rather than the offender who has it. Almost all of the time friends and family are working against the good of the community, although they may not know this. The Myth::The community is the main concern during the supervision process ….The Truth Actually, the current situation is budgets and offender rights are more important than community safety. The Myth::Offenders have to register immediately with local law enforcement. …..The Truth Sex offenders are often given up to 10 days to register upon moving in, or being employed within a state. Some states don’t require sex offenders visiting their state to register. Most states do not require sex offenders to register in advance of a move, they can move in and then inform. Getting a violation on a manipulative offender trying to beat the system is far too difficult. The Myth::Megan’s Laws are consistent across the United States and protect the public equally. ….The Truth States laws vary, from only a 10-year registration without being put on the website to a more appropriate lifetime registration with community notification. (although registration is not supervision, and supervision without GPS is only 20 minutes a week of supervision) The Myth::Judges do not have discretion and have to give offenders the registration and probation terms that apply. …. The Truth In New York for example offenders can lawyer up and reduce the “level” they get at their hearing. Molesters can assert they are “non violent”, “sober”, ect, and get a level I or II and avoid the III that gets them posted on the website. Pushy lawyers advocating for the offender can get the Judges to change the sex offender conditions of probation as well, removing bans on child contact, allowing offenders to drink alcohol, own a softball team, and have computers, ect. Currently Judges have far too much leeway and offender’s attorneys use this to give the offender more freedoms that he then uses to act his sexual offences, even while on probation. Taking away judges discretion will allow society to determine the rules rather than the offender’s lawyer.
I am a registered sex offender. I do believe that the offenders who are convicted of crimes involving children should be easily viewable by the public. They are dangerous, that’s a fact. And they cannot be cured easily and are most likely to continue their deviance. I am also a parent, I have 2 wonderful children and no one in the judicial system ever questioned my parenting abilities. I currently am responsible for them for any length of time I can care for them. Why am I on that website? I wish the state actually spent some time reviewing each person’s case…for I know of one young man on the site who was convicted of the same crime. He actually deserves to be there because he had a habit of sleeping with underage girls. I did not. It was an isolated incident – a fact. FWIW, I spent 5 days in jail and had 1 year of probation. I was also required to see a REGULAR psychologist during that year. I learned a lot about why I did not make the right decisions. But that’s all I can say for that year. For the most part, the SOR website makes me feel alienated. It truly is cruel and unusual punishment. It has created a lot of anxiety and depression for me. Imagine going to college and being one of a few people in the town who is on that site. Oh, that’s right, I also continued to complete 4 years of college. I now make almost twice the income of the average male my age in this state. And only because my employer does not screen for misdemeanors. I am a professional who has real responsibilities. My mother hasn’t taken it so well. She is now an alcoholic and has lost her license for OUI. I wish I could help her but I feel helpless for another 5 years. This site was created by politicians. And I must agree, it’s a good idea but why must good citizens like me suffer for it?
Comment by always me — September 9, 2006 @ 6:11 am
Exactly what purpose is served by having the ex-offender list public? It doesn’t help to “keep our children safe”, parents and carers should be doing that anyway. The knowledge that Mr Smith at no 43 once committed an offence – the details of which are usually unknown – tells us nothing about what he is like now, what he might or might do or if he’s dangerous.
As for “protecting the ex-offenders”, removal of the list from public view will also protect their families, including their children. There are children being victimised because of what a family member did, even before they were born. And, of course, there are cases of mistaken identity. The Mob doesn’t worry about facts when it’s out for blood – anyone’s will do.
In England, no-one in Law Enforcement or the Probation Service wants a public Register. It would make their job ten times more difficult, and the compliance rate would drop considerably. It hasn’t caused a rash of crime because we don’t know which house has the ex con in it.
In fact, where it becomes known where one does live, it usually causes crime because the rent-a-mob people turn up.
The Public Registry benefits no-one except the governmental bean counters. Scrap it, and we will all be a lot safer.
Comment by Laurence — September 11, 2006 @ 5:39 am
I BELEIVE THAT PUTTING A SEX OFFENDER ON THE LIST, IS OR SHOULD BE FOR THE REPEATED OFFENDER. A FIRST TIME OFFENDER, SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO PROVE HIMSELF, AND NOT BE PUT ON IT, CAUSE IT CAN CAUSE FAMILY BLAME ALSO, AND PUT FAMILY AT RISK, ALSO, WHICH, IS NO FAULT OF THE FAMILY.
Comment by JEANNE PULIERIS — September 13, 2006 @ 8:03 am
I agree with taking the sex offender registry off the internet, it serves no purpose.It only makes it harder for the ex offender and his family, and makes it easier for that “good” person to “take the law into their own hands” If they must register then let it be with the law enforcement agentcy, but not made public for all to see. People should be watching their children instead of looking on the net for sex offenders.
Comment by shirley Burton — October 3, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
Individuals such as “joe joe” are engaging in thought that is very dangerous to everyone–themselves, their children, and society as a whole. The chances of a human being allowing themselves to be subjected to the increasingly harsh, sweeping punishments that are appearing and that “joe joe” recommends are slim. Put yourselves in the shoes of a sex offender that just wants to go back to a somewhat normal, non-offending life, raise a proper family, and become a benefit to society–such as myself. When it’s hard to get a home and a job, a lot of people will eventually commit crimes just to survive. By bumping both sentence and post-sentence punishment to unreasonable levels, I can guarantee you that more offenders will stop complying with the law. You’ll take ex-sex offenders and turn them into thieves, beggars, and so on. My probation officer allows me to live at my mother’s home for my probation, despite my 15-year-old brother also living here, because I have nowhere else to go at this point and at least this way I have a home and a consistent address for the putrid registry.
Just remember that sex offenders aren’t waiting behind trees in the school parking lot to jump out and rape and murder your child, despite the image given. Remember that they are ALL human beings, and are subject to human tendencies.
Also, every case is different, and the law does not allow room for interpretation and understanding. There are no grey areas in the law and punishment, and judges are limited in how they are allowed to handle things.
Reacting to crime emotionally is not the way to solve anything. Consider the real-world facts rather than opinions and taboo, and you will understand what a mistake registration really is.
My neighbor got an anonymous letter from someone with my entry printed on it. They know *exactly* what happened and understand fully, and he knows I’m not going to harm his son. The registry and peoples’ emotions are not so clear, however.
sex offender sites are bad enough but to dig up someones 20 year past is sad not all are re- offenders and others plea bargained 20 years ago to stay out of jail..why not jump on drunks the pollute our kids under your nose
Comment by slave04976 — November 2, 2006 @ 12:14 am
Love the site – the information is useful and relevant and it is good to know it
Why would anyone want to protect the identity of sex offenders? They have no compunction about preying on the innocent. One unfortunate incident should not take away the public’s ability to know or be aware of, and protect one’s self from preditors.
I, for one, have no sympathy for these people.
Comment by Rudi — April 23, 2006 @ 10:31 am
i don,t beleve there is a cure for sexual predatures,in our society any time you turn on the computer or television there is a product or service being sold with sexual content no matter how vague.
lets face it this is a problem we will have for a long time to come , possabily in the future there will be some sort of cure through meds or technology but all i can say for sure is that if a person was to go after any one in my family i won,t call the police that person will face his /HER demise in my hands.AMEN
Comment by r-gary — April 23, 2006 @ 5:29 pm
I believe it is wrong to take the law into your own hands but I believe the list of offenders should remain open to the public. If they sentence was stiffer in the first place there might not be so many perverts walking the streets. Thanks.
Comment by anomous — April 30, 2006 @ 2:39 pm
According to data compiled by the U.S. Justice Department, the high recidivism rate of sex offenders is a myth. Sex offenders have an overall recidivism rate of less than 6 percent over three years, and 40 percent of those who do reoffend do so in the first year after their release. More detailed analysis confirms that a sex offender’s likelihood of committing a new crime decreases the longer he or she remains free; in other words, if they’re going to commit another crime, it will probably happen in the first few years after their release.
Of course, this sort of data doesn’t make for good sound bytes for politicians seeking to foster a “get tough” image to bolster their chances for election or re-election; but it’s the truth, as much as they may deny it.
Nonetheless, the supposedly high sex offender recidivism rates that politicians seem to pull out of thin air (when was the last time you heard one cite an actual study to validate the numbers they quote?) have created an environment where the mere presence of an individual who commited a sex crime five, ten, or twenty years ago is enough to cast a community into a state of panic. Given the misinformation and lies of the politicians (and the media’s dutiful reporting of same), it’s no wonder that some, at least, feel that vigilante justice is an appropriate response.
In the end, it all comes down to a simple question: Should our government be in the business of facilitating vigilantism? Certainly the legislators who wrote these laws will argue that that was not their intention, but the effect is the same.
These laws remind me of the “attractive nuisance” concept in liability law. People who work with potentially dangerous equipment (circular saws, pesticides, chemicals, and so forth) are required to safeguard those items to prevent curious children (and others) from hurting themselves. If a carpenter leaves his circular saw unattended and a child picks it up and cuts himself, the carpenter is liable for costs and damages related to the child’s injuries. The argument that it wasn’t the carpenter’s intent that a child pick up and play with his circular saw is irrelevant. By leaving it unattended, he created an attractive nuisance; and he is therefore liable.
Creating a public hysteria about sex offenders, and then publishing their names and addresses on the Web, where anyone can access that information without so much as providing identification, is akin to leaving a power saw unattended. Anyone — stable or unstable, honorable or malicious — can access that information and use it in any way they like. This opens the door not only to vigilantism, but also to innocent people being killed because of mistaken identity.
If this information is to be made public at all (personally, I think it should only be available to law enforcement professionals), then the only safe balance between the public’s “right to know” and the concept of the rule of law is to release the information only to adults who physically walk into a police station, present identification, and make an inquiry about a particular individual. This creates accountability and helps safeguard against random vigilantism.
In other words, if the neighbor down the street seems to be a bit too friendly towards your children and you want to check him out, that seems to me a legitimate use of sex offender registration information. But to simply publish all of this data on the Web, with no safeguards to prevent it from being used irresponsibly or criminally, is unconscionable in a society whose conduct supposedly is based upon the rule of law.
Comment by Bugsy — May 4, 2006 @ 10:01 am
Anyone who values their liberties and who has studied history should be afraid – very afraid — of these laws.
Long before Hitler killed the first Jew in Nazi Germany, he paved the way for the wholesale disenfranchisement of human beings by — you guessed it — attacking the rights of sex offenders. From 1933 through 1936, a series of amendments were passed to Paragraphs 173 through 188 of the German Penal Law specifically targeting homosexuals and others determined to be “sexual deviants.”
The sex offender laws created under the Nazi Third Reich may as well have been the model for “Megan’s Law.” They established the first sex offender registry, required sex offenders to register their whereabouts and to wear pink triangles, and established draconian punishments for sex crimes that included long prison terms, loss of voting rights, confinement in concentration camps, and (sometimes) the death penalty. All of these laws were justified by the Nazi’s in the same way that our present-day politicians justify Megan’s Law: to protect the children from sexual predators.
Of course, Hitler had other things in mind, as history shows us; and targeting sex offenders was just a way to establish the precedent of wholesale deprivation of human rights in preparation for his later attacks against the people he truly hated.
It’s doubtful that the German people would have acquiesced to Hitler’s rounding up Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Socialists, trade unionists, and so forth, and sending them off to death camps in 1933 when he first ascended to power. Hitler had to first establish a precedent that some people were subhuman and unworthy of human rights — and he started with the most universally despised group he could find.
Anyone who thinks that this couldn’t happen again is delusional. The simple fact is that history shows that you can’t single out one group for deprivation of civil rights without weakening those rights for everyone else.
Comment by Liberty Lover — May 7, 2006 @ 8:54 am
No, registries were used by the Nazi’s back in Hitler’s days to single out jews and other people.
This only opens the flood gates for vigilante’s.
If they have registries, they should have a registry for EVERYONE WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS, don’t just single out sex offenders and meth cookers, that is discrimination.
These not only put offenders lives in jeapardy, but also the kids and family of offenders who are trying to live a normal life.
Everyone who is for these, needs to wise up, next will be a registry you will be on, and then concentrations camps, etc.
If you are a Cristian, how can you label someone a “sex offender”? This is a scarlett letter.
If the public wants to know, go to the court, they are open records there.
I am for 2 strikes you are out. 1st time, depending on the crime, you get either jail/prison time, but MUST get treatment while in jail/prison. And re-evaluated before you are released back to the public. If you are deemed ok, then you should be let back into society without all these crazy laws, so you can get on with your life. If you are not ok, then you should remain in jail until you get help, and are re-evaluated.
Regardless of what the media says, ALL people can be cured.
Also, “sex offenders” covers a wide range of sex crimes, not just CHILD MOLESTORS, which the general public thinks all “sex offenders” are violent pedofiles hiding behind a bush waiting for you or your kids, which is not correct.
I personally know of a person who is labeled a “sex offender – child molestation” who was in his own home, and an 11 year old peeked into his house, which she said in court, and saw him nude and scratching himself. Now he’s labeled a “CHILD MOLESTOR” and for what?? She’s the one who was looking into the guys house, she should’ve been charged with “peeping tom”.
“sex offender” is not what everyone thinks, even people 15 and 17 having concensual sex, the 17 year old is labeled a “sex offender”.
Again, I am not for people who molest, rape and kill kids, don’t get me wrong.
People need to wise up, and see that the politicians are scaring the public, and it’s working, to see if the public accepts these draconian laws. Eventually there will be a Christian registry, Jew Registry, Muslim Registry, drunk registry, drug user/seller registry, gang member registry.
If you do this, make everyone with a CRIMINAL record have their name, photo, address on the internet.
Now when that happens, do you think the world will be safer?
Some people would use it, to FIND drugs, or, locate a murderer, and go kill them, taking the law into their own hands.
Comment by ZMan! — September 6, 2006 @ 11:39 pm
Absolutely get rid of the public hit list. I have written 2 editorials on this issue.
There is no proof that registration has saved a single child but sex offenders have an extremely low recidivism rate.
If the state of Maine has the fortitude to do away with this tool of hysteria, it will become established fact that the recidivism rate does not go up.
I suggest that Maine takes this step and the Dept of Justice should do the followup study as they are the only known agency with no bias for either side.
Come on, Maine! Change the course of history.
Comment by Ohara — September 7, 2006 @ 1:17 am
I only wish to leave a quote about this question.
“A people who would surrender their liberties in the name of safety, will deserve neither on and lose both!”
Thomas Jefferson
Comment by Product — September 7, 2006 @ 1:32 am
Before pushing for toughter laws and longer sentences, people need to find out who really is on the registry! Everyone knows, that has had ANY dealings with law enforcement that the laws and the police are not always fair. I am sure that most do not know that 99% of these people are not convicted. That is right, plea deals. Most say, now why would you sign a plea deal for something you did not do? Easy, imagine this, you are a 12,13,14,15 year old, you had sex with your girlfriend a year younger, or better yet, you are this same child and let’s say your parents are very sexually ‘free’ or liberated, your parents often don’t shut doors, dad leaves books out, a family member has touched you, you are just a little kid. Having grown up this way, this is your norm, see that? You touch someone,a friend a sibling, etc. You are not stalking a playground, a bus stop, have never attacked anyone ever. Same with the kid with a girlfriend a year or two younger and you BOTH are under 18. Never have used vilence ever, never attacked anyone! The police get involved and poof you are a sex offender, level two. If you as so much get a traffic ticket your level will go to a 3, the most dangerous of offenders. Your charge is sexual assault of a minor. Your act, consensual sex with your partner, both under 18. If it is of a child under 12 and more than 4 years age difference, some states three years, that is child molesting. If your hand was in a questionable area, that is ATTMEPTED child molestation. If you have been married for 20 years, you are in the back yard, YOUR back yard, kids are all asleep, you think you are alone, it is late at night, you and your mate think all is well, you have sex with your husband/wife under the stars. Someone sees you from an upstairs window, public indecency, you are now a sex offender, you can’t be around your kids, usually just the man. You lose your job, you are now a flasher! a pervert! so is your kid! no one wants them around because their dad is a flasher. You tell the public, they say they have no sympathy for you and say you are a liar. Why would they do this? Easy, political gain, look at the ones becoming famous, moving to the top and money. If this is not the case, then why would they take a VIOLENT SEX OFFENDER, that they could sentence to 25 years in prison but instead the prosecutor scares the kids and the others, usually having no previous record, into thinking that they have all of this condeming evidence, NO DNA of course in most cases, maybe in consensual sex cases, and scare them to 30 years in prison. Now they will take that same person that has committed a crime ‘worthy’ of 30 years in prison and give him a plea deal of ONE year in county jail and LIFETIME probation! Then let the public think they got off! The rules with lifetime probation are those that you can NOT live with. If you are one minute late for therapy, are in the shower when the probation officer comes, don’t wake up in the two minutes that they stay at your door, you are written up and a petition to revoke is sought. You are set up to fail.Most may say, hey they have to knowy you are home, you should be written up. My family memeber just missed a call, he was in the shower, jumped out, called right back, no answer, she never came back, never called back, wrote him up for not being at home. If she really didn’t get the call back, why did she leave and not try to find him?? You guessed it, she knew he was home and not a threat to anyone! Open your eyes people!
Comment by Rhonda — September 7, 2006 @ 3:12 am
Ok, I am on a roll and have more to say, I am SO sick of all of this and see the many lies being told to push this hysteria to the point of people getting killed. I hear several times a day about how unfair the war is, how it is all about the oil, the power, innocent Iraqis being killed. Look at the laws being passed. The Gov now has reason to listen to phone calls, read your emails, soon surveillance cameras will be in our street lights, in schools, we have GPS in cell phones, cars,(ON STAR), the gov now can make you move if they want to put a shopping mall through your living room, they are taking away our rights as parents, you can’t disapline kids, they would like to be able to give kids medication without parents consent,(I have the article from the newspaper and we KNOW they are accurate, ) We have indentify theft that I can personally say that I have tried and tried to alert police to a major counterfiet ring and no one listens! It is like hmmm, really? Write a $20 check to WalMart and have it bounce and see what happens! Perfect solution, micro chips. Then they will know all about YOU. Gotta protect your kids, right? Look at all of the PREDATORS lurking around! Hitler didn’t have a computer registry as he didn’t not have the technology, imagine if he did! This sex offender registry is just that, a tool to get the public to accept these laws. It is a huge smoke screen. If what they were saying were true, you would not be able to go to your mail box without being assaulted! Even the most innocent touches, accidents even are sex offenses. If you are a man, if you do service calls, DO NOT go alone. Victims are awarded punitive damages, they can sue you. All that needs to be made in the accusation, no evidence is needed for sexual assault cases. It has been said that it is an insult to have the victim in court to testify, she has been through enough, I would agree in case where real evidence was there and there had been an attack. Usually by a stranger, I know if someone I knew touched me in a wrong way, I would not be traumatized I would be mad, attacked in a parking lot or someone breaking in is totally different and if you are older and not a small child. Most will think that we are saying that even in those cases we are saying it is all a lie, a set up. You know the sad truth? Many do slip through the cracks, the police are too busy with the kids and the non violent offenders that the real ones get away. Also, the prisons are standing room only and most prisons are privately owned and the states are MAKING up to 23 million a year, we have proof of this! You all have NO idea the money that is being made! A word for the older guys in this. Notice pre Megans Law 1994, no one made a fuss over most of these cases, (NO FUNDING) after Megans law, ($$$FUNDING$$$) they made this law retro active, making men register up to 50 years retro. MOST of the men had the girlfriends two or three years younger.. sexaul assault of a minor, now 50 years later that looks really nice huh? A 68 year old or so man with that charge, not to mention he has lived and worked for 50 years in the same neighborhood, no one has been killed, now suddenly he is a threat. You have to be a level 2 to be listed on the registry and they get more money if you are on the internet, everyone is a level 2! Most are not a level one and most states are trying to get level ones on the internet, Gee I wonder why?
Comment by Rhonda — September 7, 2006 @ 3:38 am
I say it is obvious! Another famous story, you have divorced parents, you can do just about anything you want, parents guilty for the divorce, parents trying to be the favorite over the other parent, parent always out dating, not paying too much attention to you. Then all of a sudden, mom is married, YOU HATE HIM! He works, mom has more time with you! She is on your back! There goes your freedom! You can hear at school that Sally’s step dad was arrested for ‘touching’ her. Now sometimes this happens, there are real cases that this does happen and I am not talking about those, they are there, I am pointing out the false accusations. NO evidence is needed, often they do not even try to talk to the man, hearsay evidence is allowed in these cases. Let’s look at JonBonet’s recent case. Jon Carr. I have my opinion, see if this makes sense to you. They take this man from overseas, fly him FIRST CLASS! He eats better than all of us! NO EVIDENCE, nothing check out before all the money was spent! All the publicity, the media saying he had child porn charges but he would be lucky to get 7 months due to time served and the lack of tough laws. WELL, I deal with most states in the US and know this is not the case. I feel they made this case, knowing it was weak, if not totally a waste of time, to make the public think that they look for DNA in all cases, that these guys often get off. To see how well he was treated and how his rights were protected. NO ONE gets that treatment in real life. Check out this site read their reports. http://www.ncrj.org/who.html
Plus from the NEW TIMES:From the New Times 10-23-2003:
Presently, 18-year-old Eryk Dykert is awaiting trial for possession of six
Internet photos of underage girls involved in sex acts. Dykert downloaded
the photos when he was 17, but prosecutors waited until Dykert was 18 to
charge him to ensure he’d face adult court.
He is looking at a maximum sentence of 144 years on six counts of
possession. In Arizona, thanks to sentencing enhancements in the criminal
code, all sentences for possession of child pornography must run
consecutively, and each count carries a mandatory sentence of 10 to 24
years.
If he were given the minimum sentence, Dykert would not be eligible for
release until he is 78 years old.
“Arizona has unquestionably the harshest Internet sex crimes laws in the
country,” says Dykert’s attorney, Jason Lamm, who has handled dozens of
Internet-involved cases around the country. “In Arizona, you can rack up
more prison time in a couple seconds alone at home than a serial killer
would receive for a month-long rampage.” Now I would much rather know if my neighbors hormone driven teenager had pictures of teenage girls under 18 when he is also, than a serial killer any day! Some may still be fooled and if so that is too bad, but what if we are right? Just like God, I would rather believe in something that MAY not be there and taking the chance of being wrong than to not believe and one second after my heart stops realizing I was WRONG! I do believe in God by the way, just using that as an analogy. Listen up people, don’t let your kids talk to police or anyone, Childrens services, school principals about anything legal or incriminating without YOU there! The kids can sign ‘confessions’ even as young as 10 and there is nothing anyone will do for you! They trick a child into saying they did it with a promise of letting them go home! Just like they say sex offenders do, they use their positions of authority, threaten the kids, gain their trust, then set them up to ruin their lives. Please listen, I have no reason to lie to you! I wish someone would have told me!
Comment by Rhonda — September 7, 2006 @ 4:12 am
Putting a select few n a registry is certainly a test of power. Get one through the courts and more will follow.
There are currently registries for arsonists and meth cookers. There will be more to come.
Ultimately, anyone who is a danger to the government, not the public, will be on one of these lists. They will be proposed as a “protective measure”. A tyranny can not exist without the support of the populace.
Think about it.
Comment by Cool Rich — September 7, 2006 @ 7:34 am
Sex offender registries should be for law enforcement only. If you suspect a friend or neighbor of acting strange toward your child you can go to the court or sheriff’s office and look the person up. It’s free to do. The general public, and I’ll even include my friends and family don’t have the training to deal with the information on the registry. All of us, the general public runs pretty much off emotion and not the years of training that law enforcement get. Leave the police work to the police and take down these registries especially for people that have completed their sentences. Putting peoples photos and addresses on the internet for the whole WORLD to see is not going to save one child.
Comment by Glitch — September 7, 2006 @ 8:15 am
“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation. ” -Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler, Publ. Houghton Miflin, 1943, Page 403
Comment by ZMan! — September 7, 2006 @ 8:22 am
It is time to take this crazy registry and get rid of it..when has it “saved” any children? It has only put people’s lives in danger. Why don’t they start with the people in Hollywood?? They are the ones promoting this crap, they should be on a list! Think about it!!
Comment by Lucy — September 7, 2006 @ 8:26 am
These laws don’t protect children and politicians know it. In a report on their effectiveness, only 4 of the 36 Illinois legislators interviewed about their state registry thought it kept children safe. But most thought it was a great way to address public hysteria about the man who killed Jessica Lunsford.
In Ohio you can now be put on the sex offender registry even if you have NEVER been convicted of a crime. This is the future. If Maine repealed their law, they would bring some sanity to this issue and be on the side of criminal justice researchers and many victim’s and child advocates.
Comment by Holly — September 7, 2006 @ 8:36 am
I don’t agree with the registry, never have because no other convicted people are subjected to that. I don’t agree with it because it subjects the innocent family members to the label and the foul treatment of society.
I don’t agree with the registry because it does nothing to protect the kids.
Comment by Charlie — September 7, 2006 @ 9:13 am
I disagree with the registry. It implies that those listed have commited a crime that is ongoing. It puts those listed and their families in grave danger. The media is encouraging great hatred of sex offenders and stirs up violence against them. Offenders on probation or parole already have restrictions. This is certainly additional punishment, especially with the residency laws hooked to many of the registries. We do not have the right to take away people’d homes and livlihood. These laws will spread and destroy our constitution unless something is done to change them.
Comment by may061946 — September 7, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
The original intent of sex offender registry and community notification laws were designed for law enforcement to track the most violent and predatory offenders. What is the difference between Jerry Burke Inman, John Evander Couey or Joseph Edward Duncan III and over 90 percent of the folks on a Sex Offender Registry? These three were intentionally absconding from the system at the time of their most recent crimes. The conditions of their release did not matter to them. They wanted to offend and should be incarcerated for the rest of their lives, end of story.
The public needs to be more concerned about absconders, not low risk offenders, or even higher risk offenders who are working hard to comply with their court and therapy guidelines. Many have paid their debt to society, and are on the Sex Offender Registry by law. Under our current system, law enforcement spends precious resources tracking low risk offenders, instead of high-risk absconders and predators. If the registries were working, why are we seeing an 8% increase each year in the number of registrants?
The politicians, and some in the media, want you to believe in the stranger danger myth. The fact is that, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, American Psychological Association, the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and other experts; children are abused by a family member or someone trusted by the family in around 90 percent of all the cases.
According to the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, most sex offenders live in an area due to its proximity to their family or therapy provider. Chasing them away from therapist and family support network is not in the best interest of public safety.
Why must those who are deemed a low risk of re-offending register (some for life) as a sex offender? They have paid their debt to society and have been living offense free for up to twenty years in some cases. Why are they the only class of citizens who are demonized by the media, politicians, and citizens based on the actions of a few? Does that make anyone feel safer?
What has not been publicly discussed is the impact of registration on those low risk registrants and specifically their families and children – many times (DOJ stats show 40%), the offender is under 18, and the victim is a younger friend or sibling. These victims are doubly victimized when their family, older sibling or friend is humiliated and ostracized.
There are countless stories of children beat up at school after school, and losing all social support structure that is so crucial for healthy development. Does this sound like justice to you? According to our legislators, it is.
How can anyone look into the eyes of a child and tell them that they somehow deserve to be homeless, harassed, beaten, humiliated, stigmatized, and made a pariah. Whose children are worthy? Only those of others, do the children of registrants even count? According to our legislators, they do not.
We must have more faith in ourselves than in government to solve the problem. Citizens, communities, journalist, media personalities, and legislators should demand a National Sex Offender Public Policy Forum to address this issue. Then state and local governments can better formulate workable, cost effective laws that protect the rights of all citizens. Forums should include mental health professionals, jurist, law enforcement and corrections personnel, victims and their families, offenders and their families. The offender’s families are secondary casualties of ill-conceived laws.
In lieu of fostering a fearful witch-hunt mentality for election year sound bites, legislators should step up to this societal challenge. They should strive to dispel the myths and create the environment for policy and subsequent legislation to succeed, creating a safe society for all children. Educate yourself to protect your children, visit http://sosnet.bravehost.com/index.htm
Comment by sosnet — September 8, 2006 @ 12:42 am
We are way too easy on those who decide to abuse children. Here is my answer to these people who abuse our loved ones
Sex Offender Legislation “Wish List”
1-GPS and lifetime supervision/treatment Law The failure of today’s solutions regarding sexual offenders is because we are stuck in the strategy of “public notification” rather than “controlling offenders”. The current model puts the burden on parents rather than offenders, and makes the wrong people work to prevent abuse. Remotely (GPS) knowing where an offender is at all times throughout his lifetime can help to prevent that offender from creating new cases of sexual abuse.
2-Include all known offenders in the management plan-for life. It is wrong to include just those under supervision since the Meagan’s Law was written. People do not ever age out of this behavior so why an old is charge less important than a new charge. Sexual offences are the most under reported crimes (according to the FBI). The fact that a molester has not been arrested recently does not necessarily means he has not offended. In my opinion all offenders should be included in any plan, regardless of when their offense occurred. I believe some states have done this already.
3-Put all offenders , levels I, II or III on the website . I believe Florida does this. The leveling tool is very poor and pedophiles often end up with only a level I because they did not use force, and they superficially complied with treatment. The way the leveling system works pedophilic “groomers” who do not use force (and are the most busy of all offenders with hundreds of victims) are often not level III’s and therefore are able to have their offense relatively unknown. In New York for example offenders can lawyer up and reduce the “level” they get at their hearing. Molesters can assert they are “non violent”, “sober”, ect, and get the “points” reduced or get the judge to “override” the scale. Currently the public notification system is failing. All offenders of all levels should be on the website.
4- “Victim Shield Law”. As you know one of the few protections we offer rape victims is “Rape shield laws”, in order to at least try and prevent a rape victim’s sexual history from being put on trial rather than the rapist. In child sexual abuse cases there are no “Rape shield laws” to prevent the victim, or the victim’s family (often the mother) from being made the center of negative attention. In the past defense lawyers for rapists would portray rape victims as promiscuous, today child molester’s lawyers portray victims and victim’s mothers as manipulative, litigious, unreliable, angry, mentally ill, sociopathic, medicated, or undedicated. Because we as a society love to blame women, especially mothers, molesters have been able to harness the misogyny in our culture in order to escape responsibility for their offences. Like the old rape cases that would revolve around the victims sexual past, today molester cases revolve around a child or a mother’s real or fictional problems instead of the focus of attention being the sexual abuse committed by the offender. I do not know if there can ever be a “victim shield law” to prevent the victim/victim’s mother being put on trial rather than the molester, but I know it would help victims avoid being re-traumatized in the system and help society hold sexual offenders accountable. One of the things to always remember with offenders is they are control seekers, and will take any opportunity to attack rather than just defend. They feel entitled to their behavior and see being held accountable as an injustice they are being forced to suffer, and they have zero guilt in harming any number of people (even their children) in order to escape the consequences they deserve.
5-Plea deals down to “Endangering the welfare of a minor”. Despite the underlying behavior being the sexual abuse of children offenders are often given convictions that hide the nature of their behavior. When this happens offenders can get employment that gives them access to children, offenders are not on the State Sex Offender Registry. The other consequence to their being given non-sexual charges is that it cuts their supervision time in half. Misdemeanor sex offences carry 6 years probation supervision but “Endangering the welfare of a minor” carries only three. I feel the law should be changed so offenders cannot be given non-sexual abuse charges.
6-Make “Endangering the welfare of a minor” registerable , if the judge feels it was a sexually motivated crime. The registry is to narrow and limited as to what crimes can be registered. Laws be changed so “endangering the welfare of a minor” is registerable when the behavior or motivation was sexual.
7-“Standardized” conditions for those on sex offender probation. Right now offenders with good lawyers can get specific (or all) sex offender conditions removed from their sexual offender conditions of probation. This means that sexual offenders are on probation but are allowed to drink alcohol, work with children, have computers, go to bars, and do other things that will create a higher risk for the community. I feel there should be a “Statewide Sex Offender Conditions of Probation” that conditions cannot be removed from (but conditions can be added to suite the offenders issues).
8-Sexual Offender Contraband law- Strangely it is legal for sexual offenders off probation to own all kinds of things such as handcuffs, police lights, spy cameras, and software to make their internet behavior more anonymous.
9-Sex Offender use of technology law- When bank robbers use technology such as wearing body armor the penalties are increased, why are sex offender allowed to use any technology without added consequences. Offenders choose the internet because it allows greater access to children and greater anonymity. They should be punished for use of technology to harm a child. (technology such as Computers, digital cameras, webcams, ect)
10-“Secrecy Bind Law” The offender getting his victim to not report the crime he committed should be a separate crime that he suffers added consequences for. The pain that a victim suffers because the offender threatened, tricked, or manipulated the victim into silence should be seen as a separate and deserving of added consequences.
11- “Parental Alienation Syndrome” is a pseudo syndrome that is being used to get offenders off the hook by saying (incorrectly) that sexual abuse allegations come from a manipulative ex- playing head games with a child rather than because the child was actually molested. This “Parental Alienation Syndrome” is not a legitimate disorder, has not been subjected to peer review, has been ignored for 20 years by the APA, AMA, NASW, ECT because it is just a sophisticated way to say your wife is crazy and turned everyone against you. It is being pushed by hired guns such as Doctors, PhD’s, and lawyers to get their child molesting clients out of trouble. It is a favorite of the “Fathers Rights” groups who see men as victims of the Family Court system. By the way, these “Fathers rights” groups, “wrongly accused” groups, and “victims of allegations” groups are very organized and spend a good deal of time and energy networking and paying professionals. These angry, entitled molesters are organized and work hard, and I feel we need to work just as hard against them. My point is I feel we need some legislation to block this fake disorder from being used in court
The Myths and Truths about sexual offenders—The Myth::We can relax a bit now that we have sex offender registration.….The Truth Despite Megan’s Law, the overall number of sex offenses occurring have actually increased, the websites can only do so much; we need GPS and lifetime probation to control this population. Currently we are failing to control them The Myth::Some Sex Offenders are not violent.….The Truth Non “Violent” Crimes such as molestation are just as traumatizing, and calling them “non-violent” is not in any way accurate. The Myth::Most sex offenders don’t have a lot of victims …The Truth Although 75% of sexual offenders were convicted of one offense, that just means they were only caught once, almost 100% of them have multiple victims. Many have been found to have hundreds when they were polygraphed on this question. The Myth::Most Sex Offenders were at one time abused as a child themselves, that’s why they do it.…The Truth Most “sex offenders” has never been sexually abused. In fact, offenders say this to appear less culpable for their crimes. When they are polygraph on this question their rates of being molested go way, way down, their rates are in fact close to the rest of us who are not molesting The Myth: :Sex.Offenders get serious punishment, and we don’t have to worry about them for years….The Truth They get revolving door sentences, if they even go to jail, and the vast majority do not, Offenders usually get probation, and even then sex offenders do not get GPS and lifetime probation(as they need to). Offenders quickly get back to a normal life while victims have lifetime consequences.The Myth::Sex Offenders are very controlled on probation or parole and cannot look for more victims. The Truth Offenders without GPS are on part time supervision, they are “good” while in the Probation officers eyesight for the weekly office visit. Offenders have all week to create more victims. Lifetime supervision with GPS would put society in charge. Currently offenders run the show, and this means more victims. The Myth:: Sex Offenders will grow old and out of this behavior.The Truth There is no “aging out” of offending. An offender has these desires and intentions for life. If they change it is to prevent being caught again. The Myth::Sex Offenders are all on the registry ….The Truth Sadly it’s very narrow and limited as to what crimes can be registered. Many offenders are given plea deals for non registerable crimes even though their actual behaviors were sexual offences. Laws must be changed so these “endangering the welfare of a minor” and other charges are registerable The Myth::Offenders friends and family support their recovery …..The Truth In realty the offender’s friends and family have denial regarding the offender’s full responsibility for his offense (they like to blame victims, police, DA ect). Offenders friends and family usually minimize the crime (he only touched her breast), and offenders friends and family often belittle rather than support the goals of supervision and treatment. Overall friends and family help the disorder rather than the offender who has it. Almost all of the time friends and family are working against the good of the community, although they may not know this. The Myth::The community is the main concern during the supervision process ….The Truth Actually, the current situation is budgets and offender rights are more important than community safety. The Myth::Offenders have to register immediately with local law enforcement. …..The Truth Sex offenders are often given up to 10 days to register upon moving in, or being employed within a state. Some states don’t require sex offenders visiting their state to register. Most states do not require sex offenders to register in advance of a move, they can move in and then inform. Getting a violation on a manipulative offender trying to beat the system is far too difficult. The Myth::Megan’s Laws are consistent across the United States and protect the public equally. ….The Truth States laws vary, from only a 10-year registration without being put on the website to a more appropriate lifetime registration with community notification. (although registration is not supervision, and supervision without GPS is only 20 minutes a week of supervision) The Myth::Judges do not have discretion and have to give offenders the registration and probation terms that apply. …. The Truth In New York for example offenders can lawyer up and reduce the “level” they get at their hearing. Molesters can assert they are “non violent”, “sober”, ect, and get a level I or II and avoid the III that gets them posted on the website. Pushy lawyers advocating for the offender can get the Judges to change the sex offender conditions of probation as well, removing bans on child contact, allowing offenders to drink alcohol, own a softball team, and have computers, ect. Currently Judges have far too much leeway and offender’s attorneys use this to give the offender more freedoms that he then uses to act his sexual offences, even while on probation. Taking away judges discretion will allow society to determine the rules rather than the offender’s lawyer.
Comment by Joe Joe — September 8, 2006 @ 8:32 pm
I am a registered sex offender. I do believe that the offenders who are convicted of crimes involving children should be easily viewable by the public. They are dangerous, that’s a fact. And they cannot be cured easily and are most likely to continue their deviance. I am also a parent, I have 2 wonderful children and no one in the judicial system ever questioned my parenting abilities. I currently am responsible for them for any length of time I can care for them. Why am I on that website? I wish the state actually spent some time reviewing each person’s case…for I know of one young man on the site who was convicted of the same crime. He actually deserves to be there because he had a habit of sleeping with underage girls. I did not. It was an isolated incident – a fact. FWIW, I spent 5 days in jail and had 1 year of probation. I was also required to see a REGULAR psychologist during that year. I learned a lot about why I did not make the right decisions. But that’s all I can say for that year. For the most part, the SOR website makes me feel alienated. It truly is cruel and unusual punishment. It has created a lot of anxiety and depression for me. Imagine going to college and being one of a few people in the town who is on that site. Oh, that’s right, I also continued to complete 4 years of college. I now make almost twice the income of the average male my age in this state. And only because my employer does not screen for misdemeanors. I am a professional who has real responsibilities. My mother hasn’t taken it so well. She is now an alcoholic and has lost her license for OUI. I wish I could help her but I feel helpless for another 5 years. This site was created by politicians. And I must agree, it’s a good idea but why must good citizens like me suffer for it?
Comment by always me — September 9, 2006 @ 6:11 am
Exactly what purpose is served by having the ex-offender list public? It doesn’t help to “keep our children safe”, parents and carers should be doing that anyway. The knowledge that Mr Smith at no 43 once committed an offence – the details of which are usually unknown – tells us nothing about what he is like now, what he might or might do or if he’s dangerous.
As for “protecting the ex-offenders”, removal of the list from public view will also protect their families, including their children. There are children being victimised because of what a family member did, even before they were born. And, of course, there are cases of mistaken identity. The Mob doesn’t worry about facts when it’s out for blood – anyone’s will do.
In England, no-one in Law Enforcement or the Probation Service wants a public Register. It would make their job ten times more difficult, and the compliance rate would drop considerably. It hasn’t caused a rash of crime because we don’t know which house has the ex con in it.
In fact, where it becomes known where one does live, it usually causes crime because the rent-a-mob people turn up.
The Public Registry benefits no-one except the governmental bean counters. Scrap it, and we will all be a lot safer.
Comment by Laurence — September 11, 2006 @ 5:39 am
I BELEIVE THAT PUTTING A SEX OFFENDER ON THE LIST, IS OR SHOULD BE FOR THE REPEATED OFFENDER. A FIRST TIME OFFENDER, SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO PROVE HIMSELF, AND NOT BE PUT ON IT, CAUSE IT CAN CAUSE FAMILY BLAME ALSO, AND PUT FAMILY AT RISK, ALSO, WHICH, IS NO FAULT OF THE FAMILY.
Comment by JEANNE PULIERIS — September 13, 2006 @ 8:03 am
I agree with taking the sex offender registry off the internet, it serves no purpose.It only makes it harder for the ex offender and his family, and makes it easier for that “good” person to “take the law into their own hands” If they must register then let it be with the law enforcement agentcy, but not made public for all to see. People should be watching their children instead of looking on the net for sex offenders.
Comment by shirley Burton — October 3, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
Individuals such as “joe joe” are engaging in thought that is very dangerous to everyone–themselves, their children, and society as a whole. The chances of a human being allowing themselves to be subjected to the increasingly harsh, sweeping punishments that are appearing and that “joe joe” recommends are slim. Put yourselves in the shoes of a sex offender that just wants to go back to a somewhat normal, non-offending life, raise a proper family, and become a benefit to society–such as myself. When it’s hard to get a home and a job, a lot of people will eventually commit crimes just to survive. By bumping both sentence and post-sentence punishment to unreasonable levels, I can guarantee you that more offenders will stop complying with the law. You’ll take ex-sex offenders and turn them into thieves, beggars, and so on. My probation officer allows me to live at my mother’s home for my probation, despite my 15-year-old brother also living here, because I have nowhere else to go at this point and at least this way I have a home and a consistent address for the putrid registry.
Just remember that sex offenders aren’t waiting behind trees in the school parking lot to jump out and rape and murder your child, despite the image given. Remember that they are ALL human beings, and are subject to human tendencies.
Also, every case is different, and the law does not allow room for interpretation and understanding. There are no grey areas in the law and punishment, and judges are limited in how they are allowed to handle things.
Reacting to crime emotionally is not the way to solve anything. Consider the real-world facts rather than opinions and taboo, and you will understand what a mistake registration really is.
My neighbor got an anonymous letter from someone with my entry printed on it. They know *exactly* what happened and understand fully, and he knows I’m not going to harm his son. The registry and peoples’ emotions are not so clear, however.
Comment by Jody — October 14, 2006 @ 6:45 pm
sex offender sites are bad enough but to dig up someones 20 year past is sad not all are re- offenders and others plea bargained 20 years ago to stay out of jail..why not jump on drunks the pollute our kids under your nose
Comment by slave04976 — November 2, 2006 @ 12:14 am
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