We linked to this a long time ago but after seeing a sex offender from my neighborhood in the public library Saturday I thought I would post it up front.
allows you to punch in your zip code and the little red baloons represent the locations of all registered sex offenders in your neighborhood. You can see their mugshots and clicking the link takes you to a short description of their offense.
To use the map you first have to check the “I agree” box then double-click on southeast Idaho to center the map. Enter your zip code in the box above the map and hit the “Go” button. Zoom in by clicking the “+” sign above the slider or somewhere higher on the slider than where the current mark is. Be aware that as you zoom in you may have to double-click the map to recenter it in the Idaho Falls area. When you’ve gotten down to neighborhood level and see the red baloons simply click once on each and you will see the sex offender’s picture popup in the little talk baloon. To exit that balloon and see others simply click the little “x” in the upper right corner of the balloon.
Not only is it informative to see how close some sex offenders are living to your home it is good to study their pictures and keep watch for these guys showing up at parks or kid events. I wonder if the library was off-limits for that sex offender?
Good idea but you only get part of the picture from this. What many don’t realize is that a lot of the times the molestors are able to get plea bargains to avoid the sex offender registry - and thats not always the fault of the police / prosecutor. The guy who lives across the street from me molested his step daughter and was arrested for it. In the meantime the stepdaughter went to live across country with her real father who wouldn’t bring her back for a trial. So the molestor got the charges reduced from a felony lewd and lacivious charge to a misdemeanor battery charge- no different than if he had punched someone. He is a child molestor and he shows up on no lists. There are many more just like him.
Tonight I saw a story on our local KIDK channel 3’s website about a new website that helps parents keep track of sex offenders in their area. I wondered if they got it from our site since we just published this a few days ago (and that’s fine if they did).
Count on our local media to publish press releases and fail to take 5 minutes to investigate 3 clicks deep. They published the site URL in the following manner: Family watchdog us is a site that has a big bark and an even bigger bite. Cute soundbite but erroneous.
Maybe I’m dumb but I see the space between the two words and so just copied the watchdog us into a new browser tab. Nope that’s a link farm. Rereading the sentence. I realized it’s actually famiywatchdog us. I get to the site it is similar to the Mapsexoffenders com but not as easily maneuverable. It does use different color codes for child molesters vs rape vs batter but I see little difference.
It portends to tell you where these offenders work which the mapsexoffenders com does not however examining the entire city reveals NOT A SINGLE work location of any of these offenders.
So unfortunatley Kidk’s website they gave to viewers is not as good as the one we reported. For an easier to use tool to find local sex offenders use mapsexoffenders com
Sheesh you’d think they could have spent the time it took to write that cute phrase about bark and bite and instead gone to the site to see it does not offer what they press release may say it does.
There are many people each year freed from prison because its found out they didn’t actually molest anyone. Ooops so sorry we castrated you. Or ooops so sorry we killed your innocent family member.
Depending on what study you want to believe its also been suggested that as much as 20-40% of child molestation allegations are found to be false or unfounded. Especially when there is a custody battle going on.
I would fully support much longer PRISON sentences and closer supervision on release. Those things can be largely undone if its found later a mistake was made. Death and castration cannot.
I agree with post #12! My Dad was accussed by his granddaughter (my niece) of molesting her and after a year of humiliation lie detection tests counseling of the child etc it was later found out that it was in fact her own father that had done the molesting! Not only to her but her two sister and a couple of cousins! He is currently in prison serving 30 years. To this day my Dad refuses to be alone with any of my brothers children because of this crazy sceniario!People are falsely accused all the time!Those that are truly guilty should indeed pay for their crimes but all to often innocent people have had their lives turned upside down by an accusation alone.
To post #11…Idaho has a Sexual Offender Classification Board that currently gives input to the Parole Board for inmates that present less or more risk to reoffend. At the front end of sentencing mandatory minimums can be used for offenders that molest kids under 16. We are not talking about Statutory Rape cases…we are talking about pedophiles and hebophiles that prey on very young children. Idaho Code requires sex offenders undergo a psychosexual evaluation prior to sentencing. Right now in Idaho Falls we have a small group of counselors like Meyers Counseling. New Beginnings Mental Health. Center for Human Relations and a only 1-2 other that do these evals for around $1000 each. Now the county (you and me)is paying for some of these because guys can’t afford them. Some of these ‘professionals’ ethics and abilities are suspect to begin with…that is another story…what do you think they recommend alot of the time….?
Well of course the criminal is treatable in the community of course! Guess who does the treatment of sexual offenders? The same agencies that evaluate these offenders!!! MAJOR CONLICT OF INTEREST. MAJOR THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY LEAVING THESE GUYS IN THE COMMUNITY. Probation & Parole is strapped…they have not been given the money to watch these guys 24/7. They do what they can but it is not enough that we would expect and/or want to have happen. WE NEED TO PUT THESE OFFENDERS AWAY before they have a chance to reoffend.
Reoffense or “Recidivism” Rates of Sex OffendersAccording to a recent report by the US Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Of the 9,691 released sex offenders. 3.5% (339 of the 9,691) were reconvicted for a sex crime within the 3-year follow-up period.” It also states. “Within the first 3 years following their release from prison in 1994. 5.3% (517 of the 9,691) of released sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime.”
In United States v. Mound. 157 F.3d 1153. 1154. (8th Cir. 1998) (en banc) four dissenting Judges cite Law Review articles citing statistics finding the recidivism rate of released sex offenders is the second lowest rate of recidivism of all convicted felons. In State v. Krueger. Case No. 76624 (December 19. 2000. Eighth Judicial District of Ohio unreported) two female Judges reversed a Sexual Predator adjudication finding the statute is based on a false assumption and in essence an “old wives tale” of popular beliefs contradicted by empirical data.
NCJ-163392 (February 7. 1997). Sex Offenses and Offenders: An Analysis of Data on Rape and Sexual Assault finds the recidivism rate of 2,214 convicted rapists released from prison was 7.7% after three years. The only category of crimes with a lower recidivism rate are those persons convicted of murder (6.8%).
NCJ-193427 (June. 2002). Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 finds the recidivism rate of 3,138 convicted rapists released from prison was 2.5% after three years. The only category of crimes with a lower recidivism rate are those persons convicted of murder (1.2%).
In April. 2001 the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) released a report also on the recidivism rate of released sex offenders. In Ten-Year Recidivism Follow-Up of 1989 Sex Offender Releases. Office of Policy. Bureau of Planning and Evaluation. Paul Konicek. Principle Researcher. (available at ) the recidivism rate of 879 sex offenders released from Ohio’s prisons in 1989 after ten (10) years was found to be 8% for new sex offenses.
2) Gibbons. Soothill and Way 1980 found in Furby. Weinrott & Blackshaw. 1989. (Thirteen year study finding sex offenders recidivism rate of 12%).
3) Hanson & Bussiere. 1996. (Mega-analysis of sixty-one sex offender studies with a total of 28,972 sex offenders finding recidivism rate for new sex offenses five years after release was 13.4%).
At page 15 of the report the overall findings are summarized. The ODRC finds. “Contrary to the popular idea that sex offenders are repeatedly returning to prison for further sex crimes in this population a sex offender recidivating for a new sex offense within 10 years of release was a relatively rare occurrence.” Id at page 15. ¶ 4.
This is in stark contrast to what is presented by politicians and the mainstream media. The amount of occurrences of violent brutal rape and murder of children is minute. Unfortunately the public pays the price for this massive and ongoing campaign of misinformation in multiple ways:
Firstly the public funds the registry (staff to keep up with the registrants etc.) secondly the public is subject to loss of property values (due to proximity of a registered sex offender) and thirdly an increased level of anxiety with little benefit from the knowledge.
SOhopeful International seeks to strengthen Megan’s Law by excluding low risk former sex offenders and only register and track those deemed qualified under the original stated legislative intent. It does the public no real good to have to wade through 95 lowest risk former offenders to find the 3.5 who are considered a risk to reoffend.
Civil CommitmentWith the advent of ‘Civil Commitment’ the most violent and predatory (habitual) sex offenders are never released into society therefore rendering the registration requirement for those deemed low risk counter to the legislative intent of Megan’s Law. It is illogical to present a system that tracks non-violent one-crime one-victim lowest-risk sex offenders as a benefit to public safety. Some politicians have presented the sex offender registry as a tool to aid law enforcement and a means for which the public may check up on neighbors or others in their community indeed as necessary to keep children safe. The reasoning that was originally given for this and continues to be quoted is not based in fact but based on imaginary figures and hysteria.
If the rates are due to time studied after jail release there is still a problem. One study claims 4% recidivism in a 12-year study and another claims a 12% recidivism in a 13-year study. Do 8% of sex offenders suddenly devolve in that thirteenth year?
To my mind. 10% recidivism of 1,000 sex offenders means 100 more kids or adults will be sexually violated and it could have been prevented with stronger treatment or punishments of the offenders. 100 more people is too many in my mind.
I think the state should quit prosecuting and registering people if they are guilty of statutory rape if the ‘victim’ is within 2 or 3 years age unless the victim is 14 or under. For example my neighbor convicted of statutory rape with a 16 year old when he was 26 would still be rape.
In fact. I wonder how many of these recidivism rate studies included or excluded people convicted of statutory rape with someone within 2 or 3 years of their own age? I imagine the people in this category are not major sex offenders and probably would not repeat offend.
So I agree and disagree with you. I disagree in that I see the studies as inconclusive albeit I will agree recidivism is probably not higher than 20%. I disagree that it is all hype and fear because the few victims of recidivism are the few too many.
I will agree that we could purge the list of those most unlikely to offend again (statutory rape offenders within 2 or 3 years of their victim’s age) then we could focus on the real potential re-offenders.
Statistics are nice if you are buying a car or some other object. They don’t seem to matter a whole heck of alot when you realize that we are talking about more human victims with lifes and emotions that are ruined forever. It also matters how you measure recidivism. Some jurisdictions like our lovely Bonneville County Drug Court measure recidivism on new felony arrests for certain crimes and only for a short period. So all misdemeanors as well as probation/parole violations don’t count…and if you commit a felony forgery it may not count either…but we all know that drug abusers commit theft and forge checks and/or fradulently use credit cards that are stolen to support their habit. What Burt Butler and his crew in Bonneville County Drug Court do is manipulate the stats to get more money to keep their power. Many of the studies cited by Khan do the same thing… it’s all a shell game to be able to claim that treatment of offenders is working…all in the name of the dollar! Is it worth it if your child is a mere statistic of a repeat offender. Not in my humble opinion. Lock em up and throw away the key for a very long while. Statistically speaking…this will definitely have a favorable effect and prevent many needless victims.
I’ve often wondered why there’s not more external objective investigation going on w/ the Drug Court situation here in IF/Bonneville County. Their recidivism rates as is are dismal their costs per client are outrageous they use “canned” programs delivered to relatively huge groups yet they get more and more money while legitimate and needed programs such as ARA struggle month to month. You’d think the PR would be all over this…
The Post Register will not be all over Drug Court or Sex Offender Treatment because they love Drug Court and think it is the neatest thing since sliced bread. They also are soft on sex offenders and believe in treating this population before incarcerating them. This is exactly why Mandatory Minimums for sex offenders are needed…we can’t count on judges or the media to protect our kids. It is really amazing to see how people just stand by and let these creeps stay in our community.
Are you talking about both Felony and Family Drug Courts? Are you comparing programs like ARA which are voluntary with compulsory programs? One would hope that the voluntary programs would be more effective at least due to motivation. As far as recidivism however one defines it (and the statistics I’ve seen are all over the place) it would also not be surprising that programs dealing with people earlier in the recovery process would show a higher recidivism.
While not directly comparable the state in FY2006 spent $1.8M for Drug. Mental Health and Family Courts state-wide and $950K came in from Federal grants to support Drug Courts.
Your point about “relatively huge groups” getting more money is well-taken. I suspect that the cost would go up on a per-person basis if more people were put in an ARA-type program (assuming that such a program would even be appropriate for most of them).
Another perspective on Drug Courts is that they save huge amounts of money beyond the treatment costs - in 2004 the program cost about $3,500 per Felony Drug Court participant compared to $16K per year to incarcerate them in prison (more if one has to ship them out of state).
The PR has had several features on drug courts and drug programs. For them to investigate further. I’d think that they’d need a hook that showed that there was something specific to investigate. Do you have more info?
Since Felony Drug Court began in June of 2000 it has graduated twenty-eight people nine of whom reoffended. Fifty were terminated but I know as a fact that very few of these individuals were actually referred back to prison. Most were referred to other community-sourced treatment programs so the argument about their drug court stays being cheaper than prison isn’t really applicable.
Seems to me that the cost for twenty-eight graduates over seven years at your stated budget allocation (assuming similar amounts per year) is uh extraordinary….
Truthfully it is time for those who really know what is going on (therapists and law enforcement officials who don’t have an ax to grind) to work together with politicians to inject some common sense into this issue.
One of the first things would be to remove community notification and instead upping the probation parole and therapist aspect of this. Is community notification really doing anything other than generating a whole bunch of hysteria and fear? What about requiring when someone is convicted and has done their sentence to do all the work: the therapy the lie detectors and whatever else is required? That way if the guy or woman re-offends it will immediately go back to the criminal justice system.
One of the posters above said they lived across the street from a guy who molested his step daughter. It’s really heartbreaking for the girl who was sent back to her real father but what does this have to do with the neighbors? Is having him on some registry (if he was convicted) going t help? Or is it going to make everyone feel paranoid?
Society needs to put the onus back on the offender and the professionals instead of worrying the community. After all what does the government expect the community to do? The government knows full well that naming and shaming and demonizing is just making the situation worse and some of these guys are going to re-offend.
After what I have been able to determine not offering real counseling and real accountability from the offender is just saving the government money. What is more expensive after all: Parole probation and therapists or a computer registry system?
Plus it has also targeted a whole bunch of people who are low risk having committed one time offenses and are extremely unlikely to do so again. So society has the spectre of law enforcement spending all their time chasing down low risk offenders while the high risk offenders (the ones society is really afraid of) get away with it because they aren’t monitored as they should be.
It’s odd that society treats all sex offenders alike (brushes them with a single brush stroke) yet the criminal justice system makes distinctions among offenders in all other criminal statutes.
Something really odd is going on and I haven’t really determined the motivations except that government can say it’s doing something while actually not doing anything.
The point is that the community does have a right to know and protect themselves because the government has demonstrated that it cannot and does not protect us from predators in the community.
Second society does treat most sex offenders as just that…they have offended sexually! There are differences in registration requirements for violent sexual predators vs the ‘regular’ predators. There are also provisions in place for offenders to petition the courts after 10 years of good conduct to remove themselves from the registration requirement.
The community has a right to know and both actual offenders and potential predators know that if you do the crime that you do the time and have to have your picture plastered everywhere. It’s an old scarlet letter version of shaming those that offended against the community.
Frankly we got too far away from this…it’s high time that we got back to more community involvement and knowledge of what is going on and who the criminals are. It is problematic to rely on the government for our safety. Notification is a good thing… throwing some ’sunshine’ on the dark deeds done by predators helps more than it harms anything. Mica the motivation is simple: We don’t fully trust the government to protect us and want to take more of the responsibility on ourselves!
However we’ve seen too many cases nationwide where sex offenders re-offended again in their neighborhoods and nobody had a clue about the offender’s past.
I think we should start a new sex offender requirement whereby once a month in each zip code an “open house” is held say at the courthouse or wherenot where all sex offenders in a zip code have to show up for public display.
Maybe display isn’t the right word perhaps inspection is. People can change their appearance dramatically from their mugshots and being able to see these perps monthly gives us a better idea of what they look like currently so we can watch for them in our parks.
I see this event also providing information on the offenses of each offender ordered by severity. This way we can see all the statutory rapers in one area and probably ignore them. We can focus on the lewd and lascivious and rapers in one area and make sure we can recognize them in public.
You know I believe we do have the right to know. 3 years ago a young man just 18 years old had gotten out of juvenile center up north for sex offenses was put on probation with knowlegdge that he wasn’t to be around girls under 18 his probation officer placed him in a friends home cause him and his mom had a fight the probation officer didn’t inform anyone why he was on probation. This young man was supervised very little unfortunately the kids around the area liked to go to this persons house to hang out cause the mother of the house had young kids that went to school with all the other kids. And because know one knew about the man in the house on probation he raped a young girl in the house. This wouldn’t have happened if everyone knew about what the young man was about. I believe that we should know who is living by us cause noone wants to go through the ups and downs of what this little girl has had to go through for the last few years. The worst part is the ones that were assigned to baby sit him don’t think they are responsible.
You better belive we have every right to know where these sexual predators live. I have a little girl and I’ll be damned if some sick bastard is going to harm her in any way. Then you’ll be reading about ME in the papers. It’s not about hysteria or fear or trying to ostrosize (sp?)them from the community. But 9 out of 10 times these type of people continue to commit these crimes over and over again. They get thrown in jail and don’t get any help for their problem. Just like the drug addict. All it does is allow them to sit in an 8×10 ft cell and think about it over and over for 23 hours a day until they get out and do it again. Why do you think child molestors don’t last long in general population?
It’s about knowledge and being aware of your surroundings. It’s about knowing who your neighbors are and having a right to live and raise your children in a safe enviroment. I’m not about condeming anybody for past actions but you better believe I’ll be keeping an eye out for these people. You can call me paranoid if you want but in my opinion sex offenders are the lowest form of life on this planet. And I’m not talking about the 17 y/o boy whos having consensual “relations” with his 15 y/o girlfriend. I’m talking about the 40-50 y/o pervert who likes little boys and girls. All you have to do is look at the people in that registry and read their crimes. As far as I’m concerned making the community aware of these sick individuals is what its all about so we as parents can look out for our neighbors. After all…isn’t that what “community” is all about?
These people know what they did is wrong and if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime. And to that 17 y/o boy who’s “in love” with that 15 y/o girl keep your hormones in check and wait a year. You’ll survive. I promise. And we’ll all be alot better off. Thats my 2cents worth
I agree with CR67. I didn’t know that this young man that did this to my daughter was one nor did anyone else. The probation officer didn’t even inform anyone. So whose fault should be blamed there. If anyone knew about the man that did this my daughter. I can guarantee he wouldn’t have been dropped off at someones house because he had a family fight and couldn’t stay at his home he would have been back in jail and my daughter would still be my little girl. Always ask if you have any doubts if I would have known any kind of information that he wasn’t to be around any minor girls I would have asked and thrown a fit until someone answered and found somewhere else for him to go.
The really sick ones do it again statistics or not. Remember statistics represent the REPORTED facts not what is kept secret. There are men and women out there who fantasize plan etc even while they are in prison or therapy! Take it from a counselor on this one.
I agree look at their offenses and be the judge. Pull the record for details if you wish. The 17 year old boy and his 15 year old girlfriend are not the ones to worry about. It’s the guy who is 50 with stat rape or whatever on his list.
Better to over-react and be watchful of our children than under-react and take a blaise attitude. Then you’ll surely find your little girl or boy violated or worse forever.
More important that running around shouting statistics is to look at the real crimes these people commit. Usually it is not just one victim. There are scores of victims that have been perpetrated before an arrest. Whether it is one three five or fifty victims the point is that each “statistical” point represents a child being abused. It could be mine yours or a close friends child. US Dept of Justice studies on the topic show that most recidivism rates for known pedophiles interested in 0 to 14 age range recidivate at greater than 28%. Hebophiles interested in pre-pubescent 14 to 18 recidivate at slightly lower rate of 22%. If you consider these statistics to be acceptable and not as great as 90% bravo! You have just accepted the fact children are continually abused by persons who don’t deserve a jail cell…they deserve a grave!
The other statement that Anonymous made was: “Megan’s Law and others like it have had no appreciable effect on reducing recidivism already low to begin with.”
…this statement is laughable because of one little critical fact…most laws set up were named for Megan Kanka…sexually assaulted and murdered. I believe within the last 5 years. There have not been any appreciable studies done in this area to measure the effects of Megan’s Laws because they are relatively new and evolving. This is pure hot air being bellowed by this fellow. What a slap in the face to victims and their families to say recidivism is low enough already. You should be ashamed of yourself…Mr./Ms. Anonymous…wake up and smell the coffee… any kind of sexual abuse is intolerable. Society must take even stronger steps to put these jerks away before they can hurt anyone else.
Governor Otter and the Legislature have not done everything that they can possibly do to strengthen Idaho’s Laws. A good start would be to impose mandatory minimums on pedophiles and certain hebophiles.
It’s obvious that Mr Anonymous is either a convicted sex offender or knows somebody that is otherwise he wouldn’t have such a blaise attitude towards this issue by telling everyone we’re paranoid. What do YOU think we should do about these people Mr Anonymous? Just ignore them and let them continue to hurt our children?Obviously the sick things they do with children doesn’t bother you and its clear that you don’t have a child yourself.
I’m with CR67 & the others on this. These sick individuals better watch their back in MY neighborhood because I can promise you I’ll be watching their every move.
Also loved the debate technique of accusing the opponent of the topical behavior; a technique used far and wide by people without much else upon which to support their opinion.
BTW3 your method of watching the convicted and registered is as shown by research pointless given that most offenses are not perpetrated by recidivators.
Your own critical thought process tells us what? “BTW3 your method of watching the convicted and registered is as shown by research pointless given that most offenses are not perpetrated by recidivators”… so what? Even if this is true which it is not (show me the study please)…obviously sex offenders reoffend: Look at the case in Bonneville County of James Bray… hundereds of victims. How about Gerardo Sanchez? Reoffended last year. 2nd strike conviction got 10 years for it. How about it? How much recidivism is too much? Does it have to be at 90%?
Seriously you talk about wanting to have informed commentary…how much more ‘informed’ does the community have to be? Does it take a study pointing to the fact that sex offenders offend therefore we should do something about it? If you think my numbers before are out of date…then help all of us out and post the most current numbers. Me thinks thou does protest too much Mr./Ms. Anonymous. This rightfully raises a concern about your attachment to the issue either from a loved one or the possibility that you are an apologist for sick and evil behavior that you support … Don’t forget…we have to look at the messenger too. But in fairness cite your studies…I am willing to listen.
Thank you Mike. Excellent reply! I had given up on trying to explain myself or my opinions regarding this subject to Mr Anonymous as clearly he’s only out to push our buttons and start confrontation.
Anyone that has children would agree with me in that it is very important that we have and keep this registry active so our community is aware of these offenders. This isn’t just some misdemeanor theft charge we’re talking about. It’s a serious crime and one I feel strongly about. This type of crime ruins lives and should not be taken lightly. And I for one will stand strong in my convictions and beliefs and will not be swayed by someone elses callous attitude towards these predators! Our children deserve better!
I didn’t call anybody names… except for the sick perverts that do these types of things to children. So unless you’re one of these individuals… then I guess I am at fault and thats just something you’ll have to live with because I make no apologies for my statement. And what I stated is neither inflammatory or a stereotype. Its fact as I see it and if that bothers you then I guess you need to stop sticking up for these sick individuals. The comments you make tell me that you’re on the side of the perverts. So you can either answer mine and others questions in telling us what YOU would do or what you propose our city and/or community does or just deal with mine and others comments. I could care less if I come off as “prejudice” to you. I’m not out to make any friends here just state my opinion and point of view. Nobody said you had to like it. Either answer the questions or stop whining and go find a nice fluffy feel good story about kittens to comment about.
They most often do reoffend the kid that I have mentioned above has done this since he was 15 and nothing was ever done cause noone pushed it till I finally stood up and pushed hard enough it destroys the victims lives. I have seen it first hand and let me tell you it is one of the worst experiences for the victim and those that love them. They don’t deserve anything but 24 hour supervision that way they can’t destroy anyone elses lives.
Man what a mess made of such a simple issue. Anonymous is too busy trying to show the world he bought that new “Word Power” CD to even apply any of that brain power to the subject at hand. Its as simple an issue as it gets. Do they (child molesters) re-offend or do they not? Are treatments and therapy 100% effective or are they not? Will we as a society tolerate these perverts victimizing our innocent young or will we not? Any person who commits what I will call a “lower level sex crime” — like an 18 or 19 year old having consentual sex with his 17 year old girlfriend should have a much lesser sentance and no mandatory registration for life in my opinion. However any person who is convicted of a serious sex crime against a child (and the courts or the people should decide where the breaking points will be) should never walk on our streets again — PERIOD. End of story. I don’t care about therapy and cure rates and your statistics or your fancy words. If there is even the SLIGHTEST chance that a person will re-offend (or “recidivate” for the brain surgeons out there) then that person should NEVER get out of prison. Not ever! even after one offense. It is not worth the risk to our children. Unless a Doctor can guarantee that a given criminal has been cured without any doubt why should we take the risk? Can he live next door to your kids? I don’t want him anywhere near mine! Its just that simple. And as far as the mandatory registrations go — whatever it takes. They shouldn’t have their freedom anyway so i don’t want to hear them cry about registration if they were convicted of hurting a child it is not out of line to have some life long reprocussions. Its a pretty small price to pay for having done what they did — and still being allowed to walk our streets near our chilrdren.
Excellent post Feelinlucky. And once again Mr Anonymous hides behind his anonymity while still dodging the questions everyone has asked him. Which just makes you wonder why he’s so concerned about these perverts feelings and their freedoms. Personally I could care less if these perverts never “recidivate” again… once is enough in my book and I don’t want them anywhere near my kids!
I think our PR Editor Kortney put it really well in stating most people don’t take too much stock in posters that hide behind their anonymity anyways. As for myself and the other concerned parents see it we’ll continue to keep any eye on this registry while keeping both eyes out for our childrens wellbeing.
Fact is no one can predict 100% exactly who will re-offend. But there are some pretty good tests and measures one can use while treating a sex offender in therapy or in prison.
As I said earlier unless you have personally tried to treat or counsel a victim or an offender you really can’t speak to their mindset. I can tell you for a fact a lot of offenders are infatuated with the idea of sex with children even during therapy. It’s an addiction to them a physical and mental need like gambling or nicotine.
And the poor kids geez their family is threatened they are violated or physically hurt and pretty messed up for a long time. Come on who deserves more rights here?
There are a lot of parents out there who don’t take the time to go over (and over) with their children the subject of good touches and bad touches. And it never ceases to amaze me the weirdos moms and dads trust to take care of their kids even for an hour. Some parents really need to wise up as to who is watching their kids. Other times you have no idea.
In some states you have to register as a sex offender if you are convicted of urinating in public! I also worked with a 16 year old boy who had to stay registered until he was in his mid 20’s all for having concensual sex with a 14 year old girl who admitted she led him on and did everything she could to get him in bed. I think the laws need to be written and punishment doled out differently for this type of crime versus the 30 year old who loves little grade school boys and girls.
Beyond the recidivism rates those are just the reported recidivism not counting the build-up of these pervs as they scout out kids who know what they’re doing online etc.
That’s all I wanted to know in the first place: Why anonymous feels the way he does regarding his opinion and/or feelings on the issue. But instead of giving us that information he’d rather bash mine and others views.
The point I and other parents were trying to make is it doesn’t matter if a sexual predator is going to recidivate again or not if they did it once I personally don’t want them around my child. I wasn’t trying to dictate what they could or couldn’t do or where they could or couldn’t live just so long as they continue to enforce this registry so I’m aware of where they ARE living. I believe its our right as tax paying ciizens be informed of the whereabouts of these criminals.
I know first hand how it affects the victim and their families and for someone to stand up for these sick individuals just blows my mind! And those who don’t know all you have to do is watch a few episodes of “Datelines. To Catch a Predator” to see the extent of this problem and to what lengths these sickos will go to in order to fuel their addiction.
I think its a real shame that some people oppose the registration process these people have to go through every time they move to a new town or residence but really…who’s fault is that? Just don’t expect me to apologize for my feelings on this issue. And don’t do the crime if you aren’t ready to deal with the consequences. And if someone is getting help with their problem than that’s great and I commend their efforts. But I still want to know where their living and if its anywhere near my neighborhood. I’m willing to bet if we took a poll the majority of the parents on this site would back me on this issue.
I have read a lot of posts here and you all are pretty much in agreement that sex offenders should be harshly punished. I say we should go one step further and establish sex offender colonies for the offenders ONCE they are let out of prison or if they’ve been out of prison but are required to register. They must stay in the colony for the length of their registration period (including life).
Although I’ve posted to several sex offender blogs. I still feel it’s very important to get this message through. Our children and families are under a greater threat of domestic terrorism than at any point in our country. We should consider not only restriction the length of distance a child molester lives from our schools and parks but consider a concentrated place to intern registered sex offenders AWAY from ALL children and vulnerable citizens.
It is obvious. Nobody wants sex offenders to live in their neighborhoods or even their cities. I’m a parent and I would fight tooth and nail to prevent sex offenders from living anywhere that children may live even if their victims were people they knew. It means NOTHING to me; what means EVERYTHING to me is they committed an atrocious crime against children. That’s enough for me.
Unfortunately these sex offenders have rights. If they are not in prison they will probably get the ACLU to sue the city and we will have to spend thousands of dollars defending the restrictions.
The ONLY thing therefore is to create an amendment to the US Constitution creating sex offender colonies to restrict where these convicted sex offenders live in the first place. How to do this?
The first thing that needs to be done is to create an outline of such an amendment. I looked at the process for how an amendment is created. Here is the process:
I would submit that the state legislature route would probably be more effective but the congressional method can be tried first. It can effectively be used as a litmus test for voting i e. if someone doesn’t want to vote for proposing the amendment in congress their 2008 opponent can have a field day in saying that the incumbent protects sex offenders at the expense of children’s safety etc.
Such an amendment would solve many problems. First of all the registry would not exist in its current form. Parents don’t have to worry where the sex offenders live as they all would by law have to live in the colony. This also eliminates the need for GPS as the sex offenders would be restricted to the colony in the first place. No worries about convicted child molesters stalking your children’s school or favorite park or trolling on the Internet.
Next registrants would constitutionally have to be subjected to non-court ordered search of their premises within the zone. In addition all their mail and phone calls would constitutionally be authorized to be monitored for illicit activities. Internet usage would also be strictly regulated with all file storage for every computer actually done at the server-level. In addition emails would be assigned by the administration no Instant messaging or accessing MySpace or other children sites allowed and all keystrokes and sites visited will be recorded 100%. All costs for such usage would be borne out by the offender incidentally.
All registrants would be required to work with their paychecks being handled by the administrators. Deductions for medical rent all services and everything else would be done automatically and any credit the registrant have be used for discretionary income ONLY from the colony store. Also. EVERY registrant will be required to go through treatment appropriate to his crime and be certified as cured; otherwise he can be subject to a felony charge and returned to prison.
Now please keep in mind one thing: The sex offender colony is NOT…repeat…NOT a replacement for tough appropriately long non-paroleable sentencing guidelines in the first place! THAT IS PARAMOUNT. The colony would exist because society cannot handle the large amounts of offenders in their neighborhoods with the inherent terror parents have with the knowledge that offenders are around their children. Therefore the colony is SPECIFICALLY for offenders to spend their entire registration periods in a constitutionally-approved manner eliminating the need for registries as they exist now.
Keep in mind many offenders also are able to leave the registry for certain crimes after a specified amount of time has passed. Therefore once a registrant’s time period has expired he can petition the administration to be relieved of the duty to register and live in the SORERA zone. A panel of professionals law enforcement individuals and the offender’s victim representatives will go over the request. If they feel the offender is ready to join society then he can leave the zone and live anywhere he wants although he will have to permanently register with law enforcement wherever he goes for the rest of his life. Bear in mind also that any registrant who has to register for life will NEVER get the opportunity to leave the zone. Only the most benign of the registrants will ever be allowed to leave.
So there you have it. With a constitutional amendment we can control where they live where they work and how they communicate with confidence that they won’t have a “relapse” when our own children are in striking distance.
Ah once again. Peter V pops up to offer his sex offender colony. A pure nut case! For those of you who would deny registered sex offenders any rights re-read your U. S. Constitution and U. S. Bill of Rights and perhaps the Federalist Papers. The Bill of Rights was not written to give the majority rights. By definition,the majority rules in a democracy. The Bill of Rights was written to give the MINORITY rights otherwise they would be abridged and stomped on by the tyranny of the majority.
So all this talk of putting registered sex offenders in colonies is just window dressing - they’re really concentration camps. And then when they’re up and running (assuming the majority of politicians are willing to subvert the Constitution) who’s next? (If you have ever studied Nazi Germany or visited a concentration camp you would know that Hitler picked unpopular groups of people to imprison and kill first before working on Jews.)
I also wanted to respond to some of the previous commenters. I don’t know about Idaho but in California where I live many of the people required to register are not child molesters or at least not what society thinks of when it thinks of child molesters - an adult molesting a child. So this state’s list incorporates many who are low or no risk or those who do not pose risks to women and children. But they’re listed alongside the dangerous child molesters. And the public looking at the list has no idea. The state hasn’t shown any interest in classifying them probably because it would cost too much money and it’s unwilling to spend the money. There is a law which requires it to do so (by 2010) but my guess is it will get pushed back.
Secondly someone noted that registered sex offenders have committed a lot of crimes as reported by the national media. I think I have seen fewer than 10 in 5 years. That’s compared to the hundreds and thousands committed by those close to the child: parents step parents family friends. Scout leaders teachers youth pastors babysitters older brothers etc. Women also are much more at risk of rape from those they know (dates and friends) than the proverbial “stranger in the alley.”
The recidivism rate for sex offenders is also MUCH lower than reported in the media. For example the media will report on one high profile case (John Couey or Joseph Duncan) and since they were already registered society will think that all registered sex offenders are like them. This is clearly not the case. An analogy would be to say that all convicted shoplifters are like serial bank robbers and we should just lock them up in case these shoplifters become bank robbers. I am not offering this analogy because I equate property theft with molestation. My point is that in society’s view all sex offenders are considered the “worst of the worst” and we need to protect ourselves because sooner or later they will also behave like Couey or Duncan.
If that were the case this country would be bombarded with stories like the victims in these two criminals’ cases. Both occurred two or three years ago and the media is still talking about it.
I liked the metaphor a Skeptical Inquirer writer used last fall in describing this issue. When is society going to stop paying attention to the burning match in front of it (registered sex offenders) and turn around and address the blazing forest behind it(the real danger - people who are not identified who pose the real risk.)
It’s almost as if society REFUSES to deal with the issue preferring to think that strangers commit all these heinous crimes. It’s a head in the sand approach that refuses to address reality - that familiar adults are committing these molestations and rapes.
I’ve been thinking lately a colony or compound for sex offenders might actually work well for them. I see it as a voluntary thing almost like the Aryan Nations compound ehhh but actually not like that. Not forced but voluntary.
Basically a place they can create their own community their own little town homes businesses little movie house etc. They would be more accepting of each other I imagine and they would also be able to facilitate centralized counseling resources.
Families would know what the community is and could steer clear of settling there. This idea would give them a little space to breathe and grow and hopefully improve themselves without the current pressures of our sex-offender hysterical society (i admit i contribute to it also).
Joe this guy is obviously minimizing the problems sex offenders have caused and do cause in the future. Don’t apologize for being rabid in protecting our children. People can still have certain rights enforced. I don’t agree with colonizing these people. It is unworkable. However registration lists are important. This guy would have us all believe that registered offenders are not the real problem. Well we know they have been a problem and we have to keep an eye on them.
As for his suggestion to look at the other persons who are not registered offenders…how do we keep an eye on them? Better education of parents and others of what to watch for in typical grooming behavior exercised by perverts in the making. We don’t have to shoot one idea down i e registration to have the other. People forget we had to fight for years to get the public access to registrations. It was a long road filled by repeat offenders victimizing kids. Idaho does classify offenders in it’s prisons. These classifications are used by the parole board and are also used to designate Violent Sexual Predator Status that requires more frequent registration and newspaper notification.
So do we want to go back to the dark times where we had our heads buried in the sand and didn’t know about offenders in our midst? I don’t think this helps parents or children. While Mica is correct that many offenders are known to their victims this does not equate registration lists are a bad thing.
Why is protecting our children always about these extreme possibilities? If I suggested mandatory bicycle helmets for kids there’d be a lot more people crying here about personal freedoms. Or mandatory seat belt use laws. Or keeping a parent (doesn’t necessarily have to be mom but mom is the best) home with the kids rather than putting them in daycare?
I have three kids. I work damn hard to keep them safe and not just from other people. But I’mnot ready to tar and feather a guy who happens to be a sex offender in the neighborhood or suggest he “voluntarily” get shipped off to some kind of ghetto. And that’s what it would be no matter the terminology you use. I have a father who survived WWII as a citizen and saw first-hand the results of Nazi Germany’s camps.
For those of you who advocate such camps — what’s going to happen wehn someone proposes a camp for a category YOU fit in? Are you going to go in voluntarily or be forced and have people freak out when they find out you live there — or not be allowed to leave at all because you’ve got your own little community and counseling? Get real.
To my knowledge there is only one guy that is advocating such a camp. Nobody else seriously believes in such a thing. This thread is about community safety being improved by sexual offender registration lists being available to the public. The one thing that has not been talked about by anyone here yet is community notification. Community notification is where the authorities canvas the neighborhood(s) where offenders live and physically make contact with neighbors to report a sex offender lives near them. Based on the danger level presented by the offender (as screened by a classificataion board) the notification is either blockwide or within 1/2 a mile of the offender. Idaho does not have community notification (other than newspaper postings for violent sexual predators). Oregon does for varying types of offenders. Should this be utilized in Idaho?
I think “recidivism” is thrown around a lot but remember the data compiled by the DOJ and other agencies only speaks to commission of known crimes; these guys (and girls) cite that they have committed on average. 7 sexual offenses before they get caught the first time; think what that means in terms of later crimes especially with the alarming spike in “known” crimes at 15 years… how many unknown crimes are out there?
I worked extensively in a child abuse court system; sexual offenders who prey on children (not talking the statutory rapist cases here) cannot be treated and released and expected to be “all better”. These people are mentally ill. To suggest that you can treat a true sexual predator and release him or her into society without any follow-up monitoring would be like saying someone with another type of mental illness can “grow out of it”… doesn’t happen with schizophrenia doesn’t happen with sexual predators.
One of the aims of our criminal justice system is the protection of society; where rehabilitation is impossible we have a responsibility to protect our youngest society members. The notification laws such as Megan’s Law and the subsequent “offender registration” serves this valuable purpose. Keep in mind everything can be misused; the registries are no exception.
I agree with 80% of what Babs said with the exception about the mentally ill part. Granted there are a small portion of offenders that are mentally ill. However placing this label on the rest of them implies that they can and should be ‘treated’. I don’t buy it. Most of them are not mentally ill. They are capable of controlling themselves until they think they won’t get caught. They are predators and plain evil in our midst. They are out for power and control and have no empathy for others. They are selfish and destructive. It’s all about what pleasures them at the expense of others. This is not mental illness it is perversity in action with a purpose. Tell me that guys like Ted Bundy were mentally ill. We want to try and understand this behavior so we label it mental illness. WRONG! Call it what it is: Criminal behavior! Otherwise we will be allowing every therapist to get in their and try to cure these criminals. I like what Dr. Stanton Samenow said about educating and treating criminals: When you get done all you have is a better educated and manipulative criminal.
Sorry Babs most of these folks are bad people. They don’t have a mental defect. They have a defect of character and compassion for the thoughts and feelings of others. This makes them dangerous not mentally ill.
One person referred to me as a guy. Actually. I am a middle aged woman. And no I am not a registered sex offender nor do I know any. But I do know about public policy having studied it and reported on it as a journalist and I know when something isn’t working.
Mike you are twisting my words or maybe my intent. I am referring to the hysteria over the harm that registered sex offenders supposedly pose to children when the greatest majority (80-90% according to reliable sources) of new cases each year are committed by people NOT on a registry. And most of these people are already known to the child. So the RSO down the street may be the first choice for everyone to suspect when a child is abused but 8 times out of 10 he or she isn’t.
My main contention with the public registries is that in many states mine included they incorporate people who do not pose risks to children or women but are people who are convicted of a “sex” offense. That’s not right to include many of those people. Those registries need to be weeded out and only include the repeat offenders and child molesters like the kind of people who do have it “on their brain.” Having everyone convicted of any “sexual” offense gives the public a false sense of exactly who is a “sex” offender.
The reason the states do list all offenders or include more types of offenses is that the feds pay them to do so. The more names the more money. In Florida its list is padded with guys who are dead just passing through on vacation or in jail. It’s a cynical grab for money.
Can the law be changed to group the registered offenders perhaps using the lame homeland security color warning system? Blue labels for the statutory rape offenders red labels for the lewd and lascivious acts offenders?
can you give us some basis for the claim that the feds “pay the state” to maintain the sex offender registry on a per offender basis? It is usually a function of the state or county; not sure where there would be federal money on a “per offender listed” basis?????
Mike thank you for your support; I do still stand by my “mental illness” statement… pedophillia (I’m quite sure I mis-spelled that…) is a recognized illness in the DSM-Iv or V or VI or whatever we are up to now… so is sociopathic personality disorder….
I do not think such people can be ‘cured’ in the truest sense of the word… the “treatment” would be close monitoring and perhaps medication …. but they won’t be cured hence the need for protective measures such as the sexual offender registry…. I am hesitant about the efficacy of civil commitment……
Joe in reference to your comment: “I’m reminded of several times in my life where I’ve read or heard about our government doing little things to stir fear in the population. Mmmm?”
The government didn’t want to share this information for many years. They wanted it kept to law enforcement. It was not until the public demanded the information that the legislature acted to publicize the information. In fact after the legislature acted initially the public had to go into the Sheriff’s office and pay $5 for a copy of the registry in the zip code they wanted. No one was coming in. Finally the State Police started putting it out on the Internet and the rest is history. So. I don’t think it is accurate to blame the government for fear mongering anymore than when Mica references “…the hysteria over the harm that registered sex offenders supposedly pose to children when the greatest majority (80-90% according to reliable sources) of new cases each year are committed by people NOT on a registry.”.
If you have children and are not “hysterical” about these types of crimes something is wrong with you. Even if you don’t have children you have nieces nephews sisters brothers etc that can be victimized. Mica. I am not some luny-hysterical person…I am rightfully concerned about these offenders in our midst.
However. I do agree with Mica that we need to stay vigilant to the fact that many offenders are known to their victims. This means continued education of the public that perverts can be dentists doctors bankers and even cops. They are not the proverbial dirty old man unshaven in a trench coat lurking in parks. They can be anyone. This education effort has to filter down to our children as well. The more we talk to them about potential sexual offenders and how to report concerns the safer all of our children wifes and loved ones will be. Registration is only one part of a containment approach-it is knowledge of who we are dealing with. We can pass that knowledge on to our loved ones… we can actually show them that sex offenders can look as normal as the next person. There will always be the unknown offenders that we have to guard against. However can anyone really say that because we don’t know about the UNKNOWN offenders that we should temper what we know about the KNOWN offenders? That is not sound reasoning. I don’t care if the guy is a stat offender or not. It’s all the same when you get right down to it… you use the info to protect your kids from people who cross boundaries. If you have a legit need to know more about an offender (to cut them a break for a job etc.) either ask them and verify it against the police report or speak to their probation officer.
Alright Mike. I finally see the wisdom of lunacy as well. Lessee given your logic we’ll need a registry for aggravated batterers batterers domestic abusers. DUI’ers. SR-22 drivers meth-heads (associated strongly w/ violence and sexual aggression donchyaknow) public urinators…. I’m sure there’s more. I wanna know where EVERY potential threat to my kid lives what they look like and who they are. It’s my right as a parent.
Someone. I think Babs asked where I got the information on the feds paying the states for listing additional names. I have seen two references to this - one in a posting from a criminal justice professional (in American Justice discussion forum) another in a news article from a Florida newspaper. I will have to research further - it was a provision in either the Jacob Wetterling act or the Dru Sjoden act. I think the particular act started with the name of an individual (Charles) and there was a last name attached but it’s been awhile since I have seen the name. I will research.
I believe that the last comment (from anonymous) fit my way of thinking exactly. If parents and others want to know where all the risks to their children may be we may as well open up to the public the entire criminal justice system and let everyone see everyone else’s record. Then we can judge who is safe to have as a neighbor or not. Why stop at sex offenders? That may of course cause a whole lot of divisiveness in our society when people find out their records may be a matter for neighborhood gossip but if we’re looking to be safe why not?
Can anyone who does support public registries for sex offenders offer reasons why the criminal records of drunk drivers thieves and embezzlers and indeed any other criminal (past and current) not be placed in a giant registry and placed on the internet for all to see?
In response to #85 question. I think posting all of those records on the internet is putting the info at risk to computer hackers and such. The court computers and systems they use seem safer from outside hackers and are free to use if you take the time to request records and search for them at the courthouse.
Not that it wouldn’t be interesting but until the internet is really secure too much can happen to someone’s true record. If hackers can break into the FBI or Pentagon site who’s to say they can’t turn your innocent Uncle Ted into a rapist or tone down a real child rapist’s record on the net?
What most people don’t seem to realize is many states already have this information readily available online for the general public to look up somebodys criminal record. I had a falling out with my older brother about 10 years ago and I heard through the grapevine that he was arrested again but I didn’t know the specifics. I went on to the Broward County website and all I needed to do was type in the persons name in the search field. All their criminal past and present was available to me. Arrests convictions dates etc is avail to everyone.
Personally. I’m all for it. Peoples criminal records SHOULD be public knowledge. And they are in most states. Alot of them may not be available online yet but theyre certainly available for anyone to see if they want to go down to the courthouse and take a look. If you’re going to do the crime then be prepared to pay the price.
Like guest said. I could care less if I’ve got an international jewel thief or an embezzeler living next to me but I DO care if I have a child molestor next door. Personally I can’t even believe we’re discussing this. Obviously there’s alot of you out there that don’t have children or perhaps maybe you know some of these offendors and you don’t like the way their being treated. I don’t know. I just can’t understand why it bothers some people that this information is available. I’ve seen first hand how it ruins lives so I will continue to support these types of community registrations for sexual predators/offenders.
As for Mica: do a little more digging and you’ll see that criminal records of ALL types are already available to the general public in most states. Many states have this information avail online and some don’t. But I’m willing to bet it won’t be long until every state has this information online for the general public. And why not?
Anyone that applies for a job these days has to go through a criminal background search. Do you think this is wrong too? What about drug testing? Is that infringing on our right
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