Community Watch

Registered sex offender accused of lewd punching at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park

Orlando Sentinel - August 12, 2011

Moses Velasquez, 39, is accused of touching the girls in the wave pool at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon.

A sex offender was jailed Friday after three girls say he touched them inappropriately by punching their genitals at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park Thursday.

Moses Velasquez, 39, was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, according to the Orange County Jail.

Witnesses and alleged victims told an Orange County Sheriff's deputy that Velasquez was in the wave pool with the children when the alleged incidents occurred. Once a Disney employee was made aware of the incident, Velasquez was quickly removed from the pool.

"We are focused on deterring this type of behavior in coordination with law enforcement," said Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said in a statement. "Among the tools we use is a training program to raise awareness among our Cast to help them recognize and report suspicious behavior.

"

The children said Velasquez punched them in their genitals and pulled down their swimsuits while the waves were in motion, according to an arrest report.

One of the victims said another person in the pool told her Velasquez ducked under the water and kissed her buttocks.

One of the girls told the deputy she was punched so hard it caused a burning sensation.

The three girls, who are vacationing with their families, are related, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Velasquez was escorted to the park office, where he was interviewed by a deputy. Velasquez's wife, who was also at the park, went with him.

 Deputies issued Velasquez a trespass warning for all of Disney properties and took him to jail.

Velasquez is a registered sex offender who was found guilty of molesting a girl between the ages of 12 and 15 in 2002, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Community Watch comments:

Registered sex offenders in Disney Water Parks?  In 2011, that is just not acceptable based on available technology.

Consider the following: http://www.raptorware.com/

Raptor's V-soft provides an effective and affordable way to help facilities keep unwanted visitors out while tracking those they allow in. Simply scan a visitor’s Driver License (or other state issued ID) and web-based V-soft instantly screens for registered sex offenders, domestic dispute offenders and other trespassers. If a potential threat is identified, V-soft’s system instantly alerts designated officials, such as administrators and law enforcement, via email, telephone, text messaging and/or page. 

Note: Community Watch is not affiliated with Raptor and we do NOT receive affiliate or sales commissions from Raptor.

 

Michigan not alone in seeking changes to Adam Walsh Act and related sex offender registry laws

By Ed Brayton 5/10/10 12:31 PM
The Michigan Messenger

The state of Michigan is not the only state struggling to comply with the changes required by the federal Adam Walsh Act to the state’s sex offender registry. The Bangor Daily News reports that Maine is having a difficult time with those requirements as well and may ask for a delay in implementation of those changes.

Legislators from that state call many of the changes required “unworkable” and “draconian” and say they have not yet found a way to comply with the law in a way that makes sense. One of the major problems there, as here, is how to treat juvenile offenders and those in so-called Romeo and Juliet relationships.

Community Watch comments:

Agreed, the Adam Walsh Act must provide states with workable solutions for all all situations - but, these "situations" are VERY rare and these cases could be exempted from the new requirements of the Adam Walsh Act until an agreement is reached that works for all states.

Obama Talks with John Walsh about sex offenders on "America's Most Wanted"

President Obama sat down yesterday with "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh at the White House to congratulate the show on hitting a 1,000 episode milestone and to reassure viewers that he would continue "providing the states the support that they need" to keep law enforcement officials on the ground. 

"Last year when we came in, obviously you had a huge economic crisis, one of the things we were most worried about was how would this affect law enforcement because you started seeing state and local budgets hemorrhaging," Mr. Obama told Walsh. 

"There were the prospects of tens of thousands of cops on the streets being laid off, and so what we did was working with state and local governments, got four billion dollars additional funding so that we kept those law enforcement officials doing great work that they do each and every day," he continued. 

The president also threw his full support behind The Adam Walsh Act, a law signed by President George W. Bush that categorizes sex offenders and ensures they can be tracked and monitored. The act is named after the son of John Walsh, who was kidnapped and murdered in Florida almost 30 years ago. 

John Walsh later became an advocate for victims and violent crimes, and soon after became the host of "America's Most Wanted," a show committed to assisting law enforcement in apprehending fugitives. 

"It's about saying we need justice, we need these people caught, we need them off the streets, and we need the highest level of politicians to focus in on our needs," Walsh told the president, grateful for his commitment. 

"Well John," the president responded, "we couldn't be prouder of what you've done and I know Adam's looking down on us and saying, you know, my dad's really done something incredible, so congratulations to you." 

The interview will be part of the 1,000th episode of America's Most Wanted, which airs this Saturday. 

Community Watch comments:

1,000 episodes have made a significant impact on our communities - congratulations John Walsh and America's Most Wanted.  

Indiana Supreme Court ruling that child sex offender should be removed from sex offender registry endangers public

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-sexoffenderregist,0,2138848.story

A court's ruling that a convicted child molester did not have to register with the state as a sex offender because heas convicted before the requirement became law has thrown many counties into turmoil as offenders ask to be removed from the rolls. 

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that Richard P. Wallace no longer had to register as a sex offender because his crime occurred in 1989, and the registry wasn't created until 1994. 

The Department of Correction, which maintains the state's official registry, says the ruling applied only to Wallace's case. But several counties say it applies to everyone and have begun purging their local registries of offenders who don't fall within the reporting guidelines. 

Cpl. Jeff Shimkus of the Allen County Sheriff's Department says the situation undermines the state's goal of uniform, standardized reporting on sex offenders. 

The Allen County registry, for example, is supposed to be an offshoot of the state registry. Now, though, the registries do not match. 

"It's going to cause problems with the state site because its accuracy can't be guaranteed," Shimkus said. 

Shimkus, who is charged with enforcing the registry laws in Allen county, said officials from the sheriff's department and prosecutor's office met after the Wallace ruling to determine how it would impact the local registry. 

They decided to remove the names of offenders who committed crimes before the registry was created and to purge the names of people who had committed lesser crimes that previously did not require registration. 

For instance, between 1994 and 1997, people convicted of rape were required to register only if the victim was younger than 18. Someone who raped an adult in 1995 would not have been required to register. But laws were later amended to require all convicted rapists to register as sex offenders. 

Now, people convicted of rape before the law was amended no longer appear on the Allen County sex offender registry. 

"We don't have to like it, but that's what the law says," Shimkus said. 

The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department has reviewed sex offender files but has not found any affected by the Wallace ruling, department spokesman Sgt. Chad Hill said. 

DeKalb County says it will not remove names unless given a court order. 

Brent Myers, director of registration and victims services for the Indiana Department of Correction, said that's the right approach. 

He said corrections officials, prosecutors and the Indiana Attorney General's office met after the Wallace decision and agreed that offenders who wanted off the registry because of the ruling should take their case up with a local court. 

He said DOC has received fewer than 70 orders to remove offenders from the registry. 

Shane Call, who claims he was wrongly convicted by a jury of child molesting in 1991, asked Allen Superior Court to remove him from the registry. 

He said appearing on the registry has affected his ability to work and support his wife and 13-year-old son. 

"Before I was on the list, I hated the fact I was accused of that crime, but as soon as I got on the list, things got hard," he said. 

Call hopes things get better soon. The court has agreed to remove him from the list. 

Community Watch comments:

These are not accused sex offenders being removed from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry; these are convicted sex offenders being removed from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry, all due to a legal loophole.  

So, if you are a known and convicted terrorist, should the CIA and TSA take you off their terrorist watch list because you were not a known and convicted terrorist prior to 911.  Does that make sense?  Would that make us safer?  Put yourself in the shoes of the terrorist.  Is it fair or legal to be placed on a list of terrorists if the list did not exist prior to you committing terrorist acts?  If you say our terrorist example is ridiculous, you got the point.

Search for Sex Offenders on Texas Campuses

CommunityWatch.org on January 4, 2010

The Texas Department of Public Safety provides a sex offender search for colleges, universities and community colleges in Texas.  Sex offenders will be listed if they are attending the college OR if they work at the college.

https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/SorNew/PublicSite/Search/index.aspx?PageIndex=Search&SearchType=Education

Education Campus Notification: Subscribe to one or more campuses of higher education and notification will be e-mailed when an offender is reported to be attending or employed by that campus or when an offender no longer is attending or employed by that campus.

Sex Offender Registry Notifications

The Texas Department of Public Safety has created a notification system that allows the public to subscribe to e-mail notifications regarding database changes relating to registered sex offenders. You will receive daily notifications whenever modifications are made to your related subscription(s) and a summary report once a month.

Click here to setup an account (free) and start monitoring the campus where your child or family member attends: https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Notifications/index.aspx

Community Watch comments:

These features are National Best Practices for all State Sex Offender Registries.  Great job Texas!

Panic about school safety? Focus on the basics like Visitor Registration. It's the front door, stupid.

10/06/2006
What can we learn from recent events?

October 2006
Dr. Ronald Stephens
Executive Director
National School Safety Center

This week Americans watched as three tragedies unfolded on school campuses across the nation. These events generated unsettling images and powerful emotions. The alleged sexual nature behind two of these events caused intense and disturbing personal reactions. In the midst of such crisis, America was also afforded lessons in dignity, compassion and forgiveness to counter the ugliness of violence. As is often the case of unspeakable acts, burning questions remain.

Americans were not the only ones to observe and react to these incidents. The National School Safety Center hosted numerous calls and inquires from around the world. Regardless of whether the calls came from concerned parents, school officials, media outlets, legislators or the international audience, three key questions resonated above all others:

• Are schools in America safe?
• Do these acts of school violence represent a trend?
• Could these acts have been prevented?

In response to the first two questions, the public must consider that while on the same days that these three schools experienced the unthinkable, thousands of other schools experienced relative calm, peace and order. On a daily basis, the vast majority of American schools go about the mission of educating our children in safe and welcoming environments. Schools remain among the safest places for our children to be.

Since the Columbine High School shooting incident and 9/11, increased vigilance and attention to school safety have served American schools well. Many schools have applied the lessons learned from such incidents and are engaged regularly in the process of planning for safe schools, crisis response and crisis recovery. A more notable trend today is the number of schools engaged in such strategies as:

• Establishing law enforcement and education partnerships;
• Proactive problem-solving;
• Relationship and rapport building;
• Sharing common goals;
• Training;
• Engaging in drill and practice;
• Conducting safety assessment;
• Applying current technology to school safety issues.

Following incidents such as those that have occurred this week in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, schools are asking the haunting question: Was there anything that could have been done to prevent such tragedies?

In retrospect, it is easy to see many things that could have been done differently. During a crisis, educators and law enforcers face challenging situations, difficult questions and often a very short time line for making life-and-death decisions. These responders are also forced to accept the responsibility for their actions before the court of public opinion.

School officials and communities should not be too rough on themselves because violence remains a matter of the heart. Violence often prevails because we cannot predict, fully control, or completely understand all the factors of human behavior and thought that foster such violence.

Each school safety tragedy provides new insights and reminders for school communities to rethink, revise and assess their strategies for keeping their schools safe. Every school community is unique. NSSC recommends that schools assess their unique challenges and needs and then develop a plan in response to those circumstances. Cookie cutter plans, solutions and responses are ill-advised.

The following recommendations highlight some of the basic lessons learned from incidents of violence in schools:

Recommendations:

• Assess the public’s access to your school. How easy is it for intruders to gain access to your facilities? How are vehicle and pedestrian access controlled? What non-school functions provide additional access to your site?

• Review screening policies for visitors, volunteers, workers and service personnel. Be aware that individuals who are "rule followers" will abide by the rules and directional signs for visitor check in. Those who intend to do harm will circumvent screening procedures. Train school personnel regarding non-confrontational methods for approaching strangers on campus. Direct them to report all unknown persons who are in the building.

• Encourage students to report any unusual activities, behaviors or people that they encounter on campus. Students must be taught that they share the responsibility for their own safety and for promoting the safety of their school. Students may be the first to see something unusual that requires an immediate response. Consider the use of a student tip line that gives students an avenue to report suspicious behaviors or rumors.

• Review your official partnership agreements with law enforcement so that crisis roles and responsibilities of educators and law enforcers are clearly understood. School personnel must know when to lead, when to follow and when to step aside when a crisis unfolds.

• Train members of the custodial and maintenance staff to assume roles and responsibilities for crisis response. Maintenance personnel may be the first line of defense against a campus intruder. They should be capable of being in radio contact with the central office to report unusual or threatening circumstances.

• Provide all staff members with adequate crisis training and support. Become aware of those staff members on campus who have medical or other skills that can be used in an emergency.

• Establish protocols and procedures for assessing and dealing with threats at school. Establish threat assessment teams - teams of school personnel, law enforcement and mental health professionals who are called upon to assess the validity of a specific threat or who work together in an information network to discuss as appropriate students who are experiencing unusual emotional stress or who are showing signs of trouble.

Community Watch comments:

It takes daily and constant vigilance to protect our children and our society.  All too often we panic and overreact due to outlier or rare events - while the common, everyday threats go unnoticed - or even ignored.

READ THIS TIP AGAIN - Review screening policies for visitors, volunteers, workers and service personnel. Be aware that individuals who are "rule followers" will abide by the rules and directional signs for visitor check in. Those who intend to do harm will circumvent screening procedures. Train school personnel regarding non-confrontational methods for approaching strangers on campus. Direct them to report all unknown persons who are in the building.

Most schools do not even have a visitor registration and check-in - or if they do it is a paper log - not to mention an electronic registration system that checks whether the person is a sex offender - on every visit.  These systems are VERY affordable...

When tragedy strikes our schools, we awaken from our ignorant bliss, open our wallets wide, and demand better security for our children.  Committees are formed, meetings are held, initiatives are outlined, budgets are funded, vendors are selected, and the projects begin...soon, our memories of the tragedy are faint and we wonder why everyone is so paranoid about safety and why we are spending so much money...school safety budgets are quickly decreased and the "crisis" money is shifted to teacher pay and other administrative overhead.

Soon we will be back in ignorant bliss again...ahh, ignorant bliss..it's so much easier than thinking or taking simple action.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

President Bush Signs Bill to Monitor Child Molesters

Bush Signs Bill to Monitor Child Molesters

By TOM RAUM
The Associated Press
Thursday, July 27, 2006; 6:54 PM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, joined by "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh, signed a new law Thursday that requires convicted child molesters to be listed on a national Internet database and face a felony charge for failing to update their whereabouts.

"Our nation grieves with every family that's suffered the unbearable pain of a child whose been abducted or abused," Bush said in a bill-signing ceremony in the Rose Garden. "This law takes an important step forward in this country's efforts to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

The measure was named for Walsh's 6-year-old son, Adam, who was abducted exactly 25 years ago Thursday, and subsequently murdered.

It aims to help police find more than 100,000 sex offenders by creating the first national online listing available to the public and searchable by ZIP code. It also called for harsh federal punishment for sexually assaulting children, including the possibility of the death penalty when a victim is murdered.

"Today is truly a family day for us," Walsh's wife, Reve, told reporters outside the West Wing following the event. "Adam's presence is felt here with us today. This is all about children. It tells children in our country that they are precious and are cared about _ even though they don't have any money, or vote or lobby _ that we will take care of them."

Bush said the new law will help prevent child abuse by creating the national child abuse registry, and requiring investigators to do background checks on adoptive and foster parents before they are approved to take custody of a child. Giving child protective services professionals in all 50 states access to this information will improve their ability to investigate their child abuse cases, he said.

"These improvements will help prevent sex offenders from evading detection by moving from one state to the next," Bush said.

Child advocates have called the bill the most sweeping sex offender legislation to target pedophiles in years. It would:

_Establish a comprehensive federal DNA database of material collected from convicted molesters, and procedures for the routine DNA collection and comparison to the database when someone has been convicted of such an offense.

_Provide federal funding for states to track pedophiles using global positioning devices.

_Allow victims of child abuse to sue their molesters.

The law imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years for raping a child; a mandatory 10-year penalty for sex trafficking offenses involving children and for coercing child prostitution; and increases minimum sentences for molesters who travel between states.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said the measure the president signed into law closes loopholes in current child Internet pornography laws. The senator and co-sponsor, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., pushed to include what they dubbed "Masha's Law" into the legislation Bush signed.

Now 13, Masha Allen was adopted from a Russian orphanage at age 5 by a man who sexually abused her. Her abuser was convicted, yet her images on the Internet are being downloaded around the world.

"It's an absolute outrage that the penalty for downloading songs illegally off the Internet was three times the penalty for downloading disgusting images of children," Kerry said. "We need to do everything we can to end the disgrace of child pornography. This is a start."

The new law dramatically increases penalties for anyone who downloads child pornography off the Internet, raising the civil penalties from $50,000 to $150,000. It will also change existing law to allow victims ages 18 or older to recover damages from those who downloaded images of them taken while they were children.

Community Watch comments:

Finally...

Congress passes the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006

Attorney General Hails Passage of the Child Protection Act

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales released the following statement today regarding Congressional passage of H.R. 4472, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006:

"America's children will be better protected from every parent's worst nightmare - sexual predators - thanks to passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

I applaud both the House and Senate - and in particular the leadership of Chairman Specter in the Senate and Chairman Sensenbrenner in the House - for passing this comprehensive bill, which includes provisions proposed by the Department of Justice. The protection of our Nation's children has been, and will continue to be, one of the Department's highest priorities, and we believe this bill will help us do our job even better."

BACKGROUND

Important measures in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act include:

* Providing statutory authorization for one of the Attorney General's major initiatives, Project Safe Childhood, which will be implemented through U.S. Attorney-led, locally designed partnerships of federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute technologically-facilitated crimes against children.

* Strengthening the national standards for sex offender registration and notification, including:

- Consistent requirements that convicted sex offenders register in the jurisdictions in which they live, work, or go to school, and periodically appear in person before officials of those jurisdictions to verify and update their registration information.

- Longer required registration periods for sex offenders, including registration for at least 25 years or for life for persons convicted of offenses involving sexual abuse or exploitation of children, for rapists, and for recidivists.

- More consistent availability to the public through the Internet of information concerning the identities and locations of sex offenders who are required to register.

* Enhancing the penalties for various federal violent crimes and sexual offenses against children.

* Authorizing the Attorney General to make grants to support pilot programs for electronic monitoring of released sex offenders, and to support effective civil commitment programs for mentally disordered or abnormal sex offenders who remain dangerous.

*Allowing the Attorney General to seek the federal civil commitment of sexually dangerous persons to treatment facilities until such time as they no longer pose a threat to other persons.

* Including the provisions of what is popularly known as "Masha's Law," to make it clear that adults who were victims of sexual exploitation when they were children can sue both those who initially committed the exploitation and those who perpetuate the exploitation by downloading the images of abuse.

* Enhancing recordkeeping requirements to ensure that minors are not depicted in sexually explicit material.

* Prohibiting the insidious practice engaged in by certain sexually explicit web sites of hiding innocuous terms in the hypertext markup language so that a search for those terms on the Internet yields links to the sexually explicit web sites.

Community Watch comments:

Excellent work on the legislation - now let's get moving on the National and State Initiatives.

Critics Look For Alternative to Sex Offender Civil Commitments

Critics Look For Alternative to Sex Offender Civil Commitments

Monday , July 10, 2006

By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

   
WASHINGTON — Learning that a child has been abducted by a predator who was just let out of prison is a state official's worst nightmare.

So states have been under pressure to create laws to keep violent sexual predators off the street. No law, however, seems to be as controversial as that which allows civil commitments, a term describing the confinement of sex offenders to mental health facilities after they've completed their prison sentences.

The purpose of civil commitments is to attempt treatment on prisoners who are considered liable to commit their crimes again, and to release them after they have been deemed safe for society. For many of the country's most heinous offenders, this could mean a life sentence in lock-up.

While civil commitments is a popular idea for many law-abiding citizens, critics are grappling with the implications. They say, ethically and even constitutionally, these convicts should either be let go after doing their time or given longer minimum sentences at trial.

"We think [civil commitment] is the wrong way to go," said Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, Calif. "Not because they shouldn’t hold on to these people, but we see it as a cumbersome way to do it."

"You don't want to mix violent sexual predators with people who have severe mental disorders," said Jeff Keller, deputy director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York State.

"We understand that these people are dangerous and violent and shouldn’t be walking on the street, but we don’t want them thrown in with the mentally ill," he said.

Still other opponents, like the American Civil Liberties Union, say that civil commitments could lead to unfair confinements, taking sentencing out of the hands of a judge and jury and putting it into the hands of state lawmakers.

State officials appear to appreciate the concerns of these groups, but say they need to find an immediate solution to the challenge of releasing potential repeat offenders into local communities. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld civil commitments for sex offenders.

"Are we supposed to wait and see if they go back and molest another child and then put them back into prison? I think government needs to have a reasonable response in these circumstances," said Chauncey Parker, New York State Director of Criminal Justice.

New York Gov. George Pataki has been trying to join the ranks of 16 other states and the District of Columbia in getting a civil commitments statute for sex offenders, and proposed legislation is pending in New York's Senate and General Assembly.

In the meantime, Pataki has been using the state's general civil commitments statute, which allows for the confinement of persons considered a danger to themselves and others, to apply to sex offenders.

The New York State Defenders Association says the legislation on the table is not acceptable in its current form.

"The proposed bills lack meaningful standards to guide judges and juries charged with applying the law, and would result in arbitrary lifetime confinement of persons with a low risk of re-offending," NYSDA said in a statement released June 6.

States Debate Civil Commitments

In Nebraska, Gov. Dave Heineman signed legislation in April that requires sex offenders to be evaluated for a mental illness or personality disorder that would suggest he or she is more likely to commit future acts of sexual violence and is unable to control his or her conduct. The law also requires notification of appropriate officials of an impending sex offender's release from prison so that a recommendation for civil commitment can be made.

As it continues its seven-year-old program of civil commitments, Virginia lawmakers are looking at ways to build separate facilities to house more offenders. However, the cost of the program is now aggravating the debate as more dangerous sex offenders finish their time.

Meanwhile, Parker said Pataki wants to build separate facilities for civil commitments to accommodate the concerns of the mental health community and to reduce cost. But with upwards of 5,000 sex offenders due for release this year, the governor will continue to commit the most dangerous of them to mental health facilities for now, said Parker.

"If there is a sexually violent predator who is such a risk to others that they are going to molest or rape again, what do the people expect government to do?" he asked, noting that under the law, it takes a total of three doctors and a series of hearings to have someone committed, and the offender is allowed to have an attorney. Treatment is continued throughout the confinement.

But detractors say confining sex offenders to mental health facilities after they have done their time is a misguided drain on resources and has the potential for abuse.

It also adds to the unfair stigma already attached to the mentally ill, say many mental health professionals who argue that not all sex offenders are mentally ill nor can all sex offenders be cured.

Putting predators into state mental facilities would be expensive and dangerous to others, said Keller, at New York's mental illness alliance.

Longer Jail Sentences

Federal studies comparing sex offender and non-sex offender recidivism rates are rare, and a November 2003 study by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics cites data collected from 15 states only up until 1994.

It finds that within three years following their release from state prisons, 5.3 percent of sex offenders — men who had committed rape or sexual assault — were rearrested for another sex crime, and 43 percent were rearrested for other general crimes. That rate is lower than non-sex offenders, of whom 68 percent were rearrested for any offense. But of those non-sex offenders, only 1.3 percent were arrested again for sex offenses.

In a 2003 study of 89 released sex offenders who had qualified for the Washington State's civil commitment program but were never confined, researchers found that 57 were re-arrested on new felony charges, with 40 percent of them arrested for contact crimes, including a sexual offense. At the end of the six-year follow-up period, almost half were incarcerated

"There is an ethical question there, but we do know that sex offenders are the most likely of offenders to recidivate," or repeat their crimes after release, said Joe de Raismes, vice chairman for public policy for the National Mental Health Association, which is a proponent of keeping dangerous sex offenders in a criminal setting.

Rushford and others say stiffer minimum sentences, perhaps including "indeterminate" jail time, would allow states to keep offenders in prison if they felt the individuals might repeat their crimes once on the outside. State officials say they are increasingly looking toward revising the state penal codes to allow for that option or to avoid civil commitments altogether.

"We're moving in that direction," said Brian Relay, who works in the office of the ombudsman for Minnesota's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities division.

Minnesota has been confining sex offenders to prisons since 1990, and has not yet released any of them, according to Relay.

"It was for the protection of society that they needed to further incarcerate [sex offenders] and attempt to treat them," he said, adding that the state has increased minimum sentencing requirements in recent years and is also looking at separate facilities for civil confinements.

Congress Weighs In

Though courts have found the practice of civil commitments legal, critics still wonder if people who are further confined for a crime they have not yet committed is a form of "double jeopardy."

The 17 state legislatures that now engage in civil commitments aren't willing to take a risk.

Neither is the U.S. House, which last fall passed the Children's Safety Act. The legislation not only includes civil commitments and stiffer minimum sentences for sex offenders under federal jurisdiction, but dictates a more thorough sex offender registry program at the state level. The bill is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

John Walsh, creator and host of the television program America's Most Wanted and the father of Adam Walsh, who was abducted and murdered in 1981 when he was age six, told FOXNews.com he has no doubt that the states and Congress are headed in the right direction with these new provisions.

"It's been tragically proven time and time again that these predators just don't stop — not even after being locked up for a long time," Walsh said. "Some people may be willing to take a chance on these offenders. I'm not."

Community Watch comments:

Once you read past all of the bureaucratic nonsense in this article - you get to John Walsh's statement:

"It's been tragically proven time and time again that these predators just don't stop — not even after being locked up for a long time," Walsh said. "Some people may be willing to take a chance on these offenders. I'm not."

Exactly right.  Everyone wants to work the process and say "let's take our time on this" or "they have done their time" but if it was their child abducted or molested by a sex offender, these same bureaucrats would be calling in favors and cutting red tape to get to this resolved asap - it is very sad, very unfortunate, and very true.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

New York's Governor signs law making level 2 sex offenders searchable on internet

GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW MAKING LEVEL 2 SEX OFFENDERS SEARCHABLE ON INTERNET

Click HERE to search the New York Sex Offender Registry

Latest Expansion of Megan's Law Enables NY Families To Search More Easily for Level 2 or Level 3 Sex Offenders in Their Area; Law Also Expands Public Notice About Level 1 Sex Offenders

Governor George E. Pataki today attended a ceremonial bill signing for legislation that will require all level 2 sex offenders to be listed on the Internet, along with the level 3 sex offenders currently listed. The law also expands public notice regarding level 1 sex offenders.

"We've fought for years to strengthen Megan's Law in a host of ways -- and in particular, to make the locations of all sex offenders easily searchable on the Internet -- so that New York families would have as much information as possible to keep their loved ones safe. So I am proud to sign a law that takes us yet another step toward that goal," Governor Pataki said. "Until now, you could not find out if a level 2 sex offender lived in your area unless you had both the offender's name and other specific personal information about that offender, such as a social security number or driver's license number. Because of this expansion, New Yorkers will soon be able to find out if any high or moderate risk sex offenders live in their neighborhoods by simply searching our website by geographic location, enabling all of us to be better informed and therefore better able to keep our families safe."

"In January, I signed an expansion to Megan's Law to ensure that all sex offenders remain on the registry for as long as possible – most for life. I said at that time that we must do even more to give every parent and family the tools to protect their children and families. This most recent expansion is certainly another step in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done," the Governor said. "We have strengthened Megan's Law significantly, but I would still like to see every single sex offender searchable on the Internet, so that parents can have the peace of mind to find out if anyone who has been designated a sex offender lives in their area."

Under the previous law, only level 3 sex offenders, considered "high risk" of re-offending, were listed and easily searchable on the Internet. All level 2 offenders are expected to be posted on the DCJS website by mid-July. Governor Pataki has proposed that all sex offenders be listed on the Internet since 2004.

This expansion of Megan's Law will require more than 8,000 level 2 sex offenders, considered to be a "moderate risk" to re-offend, to be listed on the website maintained by the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) under New York's Sex Offender Registration Act. DCJS estimates that this includes approximately 150 level 2 offenders in Nassau County and 300 in Suffolk County.

The law also expands public notice about level 1 sex offenders by authorizing local police to provide information about their presence in the community. This legislation was signed into law on June 23rd and was effective immediately.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said, "There is nothing more important than ensuring the health and safety of all New Yorkers, particularly children who are the most vulnerable. We will continue to pass laws to crack down on dangerous criminals who prey upon the innocent. I applaud Governor Pataki for signing this important bill into law and I commend Senator Skelos for his commitment to expand Megan's Law and make our communities even more safe from dangerous predators."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, "The public hearings the Assembly held last year helped in developing this legislation, which the Assembly then passed in January. Enacting this law strengthens our efforts to ensure the safety of our communities by providing another critical tool in our battle against sex crimes."

Senator Dean G. Skelos said, "Megan's Law provides information to parents and concerned members of the community to protect their families from dangerous sexual predators. Through the Governor's leadership, we have continually worked to strengthen Megan's Law by extending the registration requirements and making information more readily accessible. This important new law builds upon that success and empowers both law enforcement and the public to take the steps necessary to keep our communities safe."

Chauncey G. Parker, New York State Director of Criminal Justice, said, "For years, Governor Pataki has been advocating for a comprehensive plan to manage sex offenders living in New York State, and today we are one step closer to accomplishing this goal. By increasing the amount of information available to the public on the Internet and allowing law enforcement officials to notify the community regarding all sex offenders living in their neighborhoods, every New Yorker will have far more of the information they need to make decisions about the best way to keep their loved ones safe."

Laura Ahearn, Executive Director of Parents for Megan's Law, said, "Protecting children from sexual predators requires us to continually evaluate what is working and what more needs to be done. Today, New York has taken a giant step forward for our children's safety by recognizing the need and enacting the legislation to provide parents with information about sex offenders living in our communities. There is never a wrong time to do the right thing for our children. I applaud the Governor for his leadership and in consistently making our children a top priority."

Kathleen Rice, Nassau County District Attorney, said, "This represents another step in our fight to keep children in New York and in Nassau County safe. Like the expansion of the DNA databank, this is a common sense move that will improve our ability to keep our children safe in Nassau County."

Peter Kehoe, Executive Director of the New York State Sheriffs' Association, said, "These legislative expansions will further empower New York's parents and law enforcement officials to keep children safe. Every bit of information that the law enforcement community is able to share with New York's parents will go a long way in protecting us from dangerous sex offenders that may prey on our children and families."

John Grebert, Executive Director of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, said, "New York State has made great strides in implementing laws that protect New York's children, and today we are once again making tremendous progress. Information sharing and public disclosure are two necessary tools that police and parents need so we can work together to keep children free from harm."

James H. Lawrence, Nassau County Police Commissioner, said, "I applaud the expansion of the public notice policy regarding sex offenders. This will augment our efforts to keep our residents safe and suppress crime. I have always maintained that by keeping our communities informed we have enlisted their aid in keeping them safe."

Over the past ten years, violent crime in New York State has been cut in half. Crime is at its lowest levels since statewide crime reporting began - nearly 40 years ago.

NEW YORK'S MEGAN'S LAW

Effective in 1996, and expanded in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, New York State's Sex Offender Registration Act requires registration as a sex offender upon a conviction of a listed offense or a conviction for an attempt to commit a listed offense. There are currently over 40 registerable offenses in New York State.

New York State law requires that level 3 sex offenders be on the Sex Offender Registry for life, level 2 offenders be on Registry for life, but may petition a court to be removed from the Registry after 30 years if they are not designated a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or predicate sex offender; and level 1 offenders are required to remain on the Registry for 20 years if they are not designated a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or predicate sex offender. As required by amendments made to Megan's Law in 2002, at the Governor's urging, any offender who has received a designation as a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or predicate sex offender, is required to register for life and cannot be relieved from this duty regardless of risk level.

Previously, New Yorkers could obtain information regarding level 3 sex offenders from the Internet as well as from local law enforcement agencies and from the Sex Offender Registry Information line, (800) 262-3257. Information about level 2 sex offenders could only be obtained from local law enforcement agencies and from the Sex Offender Registry Information line. Information about level 1 sex offenders could only be obtained by calling the Sex Offender Registry Information line. A caller to that line must know the name of the individual about whom they are inquiring and also provide one of four identifiers: drivers license number, social security number, date of birth or exact address. After providing this information callers can verify if an individual is a registered sex offender. No further information could be provided about a level 1 sex offender. If the offender is a level 2, or a level 3 sex offender, more information including the crime of conviction, modus of operation and type of victim targeted could be disclosed. In the case of a level 2 sex offender, the caller is given the offender's approximate address based on the offender's zip code. For level 3 sex offenders, the exact address will be provided. With the enactment of this legislation, the local law enforcement agency can provide information pertaining to all registered sex offenders, including the approximate address based on zip code for level 1 and level 2 offenders and the exact address for level 3 offenders. Additionally, for level 2 and 3 offenders, all information, including the exact address, is available via a Sex Offender Subdirectory Search at www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us. Information about level 2 offenders will be posted on the DCJS website by mid-July. Callers to the Sex Offender Registry Information line will be able to access information on level 1 offenders immediately.

The practical effect of the prior law was that a person moving into a new neighborhood would be unable to learn whether any offenders who were "moderate" risks to re-offend were residing in the area – without knowing specific personal information, including the name, of such a person unless the local law enforcement agency notified the community of such moderate risk offenders. The amendment addresses that unacceptable situation by allowing members of the public to search the Subdirectory on the Internet for all level 2 and level 3 offenders by geographic location, thus providing easily accessible information regarding sex offenders to those who need this information to protect themselves and their children.

The Sex Offender Registration Act has four distinct procedures for community notification. First, local law enforcement agencies are notified whenever a sex offender moves into their jurisdiction and may, in turn, notify the community as allowed by the Act. Additionally, DCJS maintains official information on moderate and high risk, level 2 and level 3, sex offenders on its website. DCJS also maintains a Sex Offender Registry Information Line (1-800-262-3257) and produces a Subdirectory of Sex Offenders, which is accessible at local police agencies.

There are currently over 23,000 convicted sex offenders listed on the Registry. To access information on the State's Sex Offender Registry, visit the DCJS website at www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us.

Community Watch comments:

Great work Governor Pataki!  Let's help keep each other safe and aware!

All 50 states are now participating in the National Sex Offender Public Registry

WASHINGTON, July 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- All 50 states are now participating in the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) Web site, the Justice Department announced today. South Dakota and Oregon have now been added to the Web site, which provides real- time access to public sex offender data nationwide with a single Internet search. The Department of Justice-sponsored site allows parents and concerned citizens to search existing public state and territory sex offender registries beyond their own states.

"As of July 1st, an important child protection tool will be a truly comprehensive one, with information for all 50 states available nationwide," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "The full completion of the structure of the National Sex Offender Public Registry is very good news for parents and law enforcement officers nationwide. The constant effort to safeguard our children from sex offenders is never finished, but today's announcement marks a clear accomplishment on the side of protection."

The Justice Department announced the activation of a national registry Web site last year and initially linked 22 states to the site. Oregon and South Dakota recently passed the sex offender legislation that now allows the state to be included in the NSOPR as of July 1, 2006. With the addition of these two states inclusion, the registry connects 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territory of Guam the site. The list of the states and territory currently available through NSOPR follows.

"With the inclusion of the last two states to the registry, the capacity grows for parents and communities to be informed and aware of sex offenders residing in their neighborhoods. We commend Oregon and South Dakota for making the site truly available nationwide." said Regina B. Schofield, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. "The coordination among states, private organizations, and the Department of Justice moves us closer to making information about all registered sex offenders available to parents and concerned citizens."

The NSOPR provides an opportunity for all states and territories to participate in an unprecedented public safety resource by sharing comprehensive, public sex offender data with citizens nationwide. NSOPR searches public state and territory sex offender registries to deliver matched results based on a name, state, county, city/town or zip code through a single query on its Web site located at http://www.nsopr.gov.

The technology for NSOPR is both time and cost-effective. Web services and DOJ's Global Justice eXtensible Markup Language (XML) establishes a link between existing state and territory public sex offender registries. The link allows data from different hardware and software systems to be recognized and shown through the national search site.

With more than 500,000 registered sex offenders nationwide, access to national public registry information is essential for citizens to help identify sex offenders beyond their own streets or neighborhoods.

Community Watch comments:

Great job - all 50 states are finally in the National Registry!  Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

Illinois May Create Violent Offender Registry

Illinois May Create Violent Offender Registry

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Jun. 24, 2006(AP) Fresh out of prison, Kerry Skora would much rather be known as a murderer than a sex offender. The law said otherwise.

Skora, who served 15 years in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit, found out that because the victim was 16, he would have to register as a sex offender - even though the crime didn't involve sex.

"I was shocked," Skora said. "It's just unbelievable, you know."

The Illinois General Assembly recently passed legislation that would create a unique registry for people who commit violent but non-sexual crimes against youth, allowing people like Skora to avoid the stigma of the sexual offender registry. Supporters see it as a matter of fairness for hundreds of people who were caught up in the rush to crack down on sex offenders.

"The reality is sex offenders are a great political target," said Rep. John Fritchey, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the measure after being contacted by Skora's mother. "But that doesn't mean any law under the sun is appropriate."

If signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, it would become the nation's only registry solely for violent offenders against youth, experts say.

Florida has a registry for career offenders, many of which are convicted of violent crimes, officials there say. Montana and Indiana also register violent criminals but they are included in the larger sex offender registry, said Blake Harrison of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Blagojevich is still reviewing the measure, spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said. He has until June 30 to sign or veto the bill or it automatically becomes law.

Laura Ahearn, executive director of the national advocacy group Parents for Megan's Law, said moving non-sex offenders off the sex offender registry should help strengthen its effectiveness as a public safety tool. She hopes other states follow.

"Somehow if it's not (only sex offenders), it takes away the impact and the ability for the community to really recognize the type of danger that they're dealing with," Ahearn said.

State lawmakers in the mid-1990s added a host of crimes against minors to the sex offender registry requirements, including first-degree murder, kidnapping and child abduction _ regardless of whether the crime involved a sex offense.

People on the state's sex offender registry can't live within 500 feet of schools and other public places where children are found. The public can look up their names, pictures and addresses on the state's Web site, which makes no distinction between people who committed sex crimes and people who committed violent crimes involving minors.

Skora was released from prison earlier this month and, for now, is a registered sex offender. His version of the crime that put him on the registry is that he was out partying with friends when they had an altercation with another group. Skora, then 19, says he left as two friends were beating one teen. Police arrested him later, however, and all three were charged and convicted in the boy's murder.

Prosecutors said at his trial that Skora and the victim were rival gang members and Skora beat the teen and dropped a concrete block on his head.

Skora isn't thrilled at the idea of registering as a violent offender, but figures that's better than the alternative.

"A big weight was lifted off my back," he said.

Fritchey said details of the proposed registry are still being worked out but it should be similar to the sex offender registry, so the public can track offenders living in their neighborhoods. Violent offenders wouldn't face the same residency restrictions, however.

Law enforcement groups raised a few concerns about the measure but ultimately did not oppose it.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office feared creating the separate registry would prompt defendants to avoid the sex offender tag by pleading guilty only to violent crimes. Fritchey changed the measure to require a court determination that an offense is not sexually motivated to qualify for the violent offender list.

An Illinois State Police spokesman said the agency is reviewing all aspects of the legislation and would not answer further questions.

An analysis the state police provided to Fritchey indicates more than 800 offenders already on the sex offender registry could be placed on the new registry. The report also cautions that many of those people also committed sex offenses that could require them to register on both lists.

Sex Offender Facebook for South Carolina Schools

Police department creates sex offender facebook for local schools

MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Local law enforcement officials in South Carolina are required to notify schools and child care centers when a registered sex offender moves into the area, but one police department is going a step further to make sure educators know their neighbors.

The Darlington police department is in the midst of putting together a booklet of pictures and information about the county's sex offenders, including addresses and the crimes they have committed, to be distributed to area schools.

Darlington police Lt. Danny Watson said he thinks his agency may be the first in the state to take on this type of project. He hopes to have the books to educators next week.

"If we keep one person from being abducted, if we keep one person from being violated, we have a small victory," Watson said.

The idea for the manuals has been discussed for several years, Watson said, and wasn't spawned by the case of Kenneth G. Hinson. But the release of the books comes just three months after Hinson, 47, a registered sex offender, was arrested in Darlington County and charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls in an underground room behind his home.

There are currently 148 sex offenders registered in Darlington County, according to the State Law Enforcement Division's Web site.

The Internet database doesn't always get the information out, said Jim Pasco, the executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police.

"I would encourage local people to use the method that they feel is most efficacious in their area," said Pasco, a retired federal law enforcement officer.

He said this is the first he has heard of any police agency distributing a sex offender roster exclusively to schools.

"If you saw somebody just walk by on the street, who was otherwise acting normally, that person could be a sex offender, and you'd have no way of knowing," Pasco said. "With something like the book, you'd know in advance."

Schools and child care centers are notified by law enforcement if registered sex offenders are moving within a half-mile, but other than that, there are no geographic restrictions on sex offenders, said Celeste Proffitt, who runs the registry for the State Law Enforcement Division.

But at least one civil rights advocate is worried the books might unnecessarily prejudice those on the state's registry.

"It plays into the 'stranger danger' myth around sexual assault, that the majority of sexual assaults happen by someone who's waiting in the bushes, waiting to jump out and attack our children," said Sara Totonchi, public policy director for the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights.

Totonchi said 80 to 90 percent of crimes against children occur by someone the child knows.

Totonchi is part of a lawsuit filed to stop a new law in Georgia that would restrict convicted child molesters from coming within 1,000 feet of a number of locations, including churches, schools, child care centers and school bus stops.

Such dramatic action would make it hard for anyone on that state's registry to be an effective parent, she said.

That's not law enforcement's concern, Watson said.

"When you made that mistake, you pretty much brought that stigma on yourself," he said. "I think any person with common sense would realize, I do not want to go where I am not wanted."

Audrey Childers, spokeswoman for the Darlington County School District, said school officials were appreciative of this service from law enforcement.

"It's another level of protection for our students," she said. "You can never be too prepared."

That's the goal, Watson says.

"Forewarned is forearmed," he said. "That's why it's so important for us to get this information out."

Community Watch comments:

"Forewarned is forearmed" - Those who know that something is coming are better prepared to face it than those who do not know.

We agree completely.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

May is National Foster Care Month - Are there sex offenders living near foster homes in your state?

Are you

monitoring

whether

sex offenders

are living near

foster homes

in your state?

Michigan arrests 405 in sex registry violations sweep

405 arrested in sex registry violations
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF
FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF

May 5, 2006

LANSING -- A 14-day sweep resulted in 405 arrests of people who didn't register properly with Michigan's sex offender registry, State Police said Thursday.

Officers from more than 100 police departments checked 2,884 residences across Michigan to find violators, State Police said.

An additional 585 warrants for sex offender list violations were requested. The sweep ended April 30.

It was the second such sweep led by the State Police to pick up convicted sex offenders who haven't kept their registrations or addresses up to date. A similar sweep in 2005 resulted in 846 arrests.

Among the 405 recent arrests, 58 were in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties. Those counties accounted for almost half of the additional warrants issued.

The sweep targeted those who failed to change or verify their addresses for the sex offender registry by the April 15 deadline.

Those convicted of felony sex offenses must verify their addresses four times a year with their local police. Those convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses must verify their places of residence once a year.

Penalties for not complying with the sex registry ranged from a 93-day jail sentence to a 4-year felony.

All offenders must report changes of address within 10 days of moving.

Most of the warrants were for not verifying addresses; a few were for minor infractions such as not paying for or signing registration forms. Forty-two people were charged with additional crimes.

The registry was created to help the public determine whether convicted sex offenders live nearby. Critics say the registry stigmatizes even those convicted of lesser offenses, including teens who have had consensual sex with minors.

As of May 1, 38,936 people were listed on the state's registry.

"Compliance with the state's sex offender registry is not optional, it is the law, and we are prepared to enforce it," Michigan State Police Director Tadarial Sturdivant said.

Contact CHRIS CHRISTOFF at 517-372-8660 or christoff@freepress.com.

Community Watch comments:

Great job Michigan!  Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

Students seek to raise awareness of Oklahoma sex offender registry

Students seek to raise awareness of Oklahoma sex offender registry

The Norman Transcript

Transcript Staff Writer

The name of the game is "Guess the Sex Offender," and students at the University of Oklahoma will be at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 333 N. Interstate Drive, from 1-4 p.m. Sunday in attempts to educate Norman residents about an online database that allows families to locate sex offenders in their neighborhoods and community.

"The goal of the project is break down stereotypes that sexual predators are easily identified. Our mission is to take the guessing out of identification by educating people that they can find offenders in their community through the Web site," said C.J. Caudle, a Team Passion representative.

The Oklahoma Sex and Violent Offender Registry can be accessed at:
http://sde.sta-te.ok.us/home/defaultie.html

Team Passion is comprised of students in the principles in public relations class at OU, who chose public awareness of the online database as a group project.

"This event is the culmination of a semester worth of work for Team Passion," Caudle said. Our preliminary research involved working with both the Norman Police Department and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. Both agencies educated us on the nature of the issue, and provided an excellent theme for our project.

"'Know Your Neighbor' is our theme. We aim to raise awareness of the service and more importantly, get citizens involved in fostering relationships with their neighbors. By creating awareness and dialogue between neighbors, we can build a safer community for our families," he said.

The booth will use the game to attract and educate the public. In addition, Team Passion will provide candy, food and drinks to those who visit the booth.

Community Watch comments:

Know your Neighbor and Let's help keep each other safe and aware!

Senate Passes Crackdown on Sex Offenders

Senate Passes Crackdown on Sex Offenders
By Associated Press

8:44 PM PDT, May 4, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday passed sweeping legislation to set mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of sex crimes against children and set up a public database linking state lists of sex offenders.

By voice vote, the Senate approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. The House passed a similar measure in March as part of a broader crime bill. The bills, which differ on matters ranging from courthouse security, hate crimes and registration of juvenile sex offenders, must be reconciled by negotiators from each chamber before the legislation is sent to the White House for President Bush's signature.

Both bills would create a national database to link individually-managed state Web sites that track sex offenders. Members of the public would be able to search all the states' data.

The legislation also would require convicted sex offenders to register their whereabouts every month, in person, and would upgrade failure to comply from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Under current law, those convicted of child sex crimes are required to register once per year, by mail, Hatch's office said. Failure to comply is a misdemeanor.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said more than 58,000 children are abducted by people who are not family members and that 100,000 convicted sex offenders in the United States are unregistered.

The Senate bill is S. 1086.

Community Watch comments:

Excellent progress - let's help keep each other safe and aware.

Rethinking Sex Offender Laws?

Rethinking Sex Offender Laws a Tough Sell
By DAVID CRARY , 04.19.2006, 03:50 PM

The killings of two men listed on Maine's Internet sex offender registry may offer a grim lesson about the consequences of such registry laws, but defense lawyers and crime researchers question whether a thoughtful national debate on the subject is possible.

In a climate where politicians seek ever-tougher punishment and ostracism of sex offenders, they say, few are willing to examine the fairness and risks of registry requirements.

"We've basically dehumanized these people with words such as 'predator,'" said psychiatrist Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic in Baltimore.

"Every decent human being wants to protect children," he said, but even suggesting that criminals who have done their time are entitled to rebuild their lives can tarnish a politician.

"It's close to heresy," Berlin said.

Every state has an online registry with photographs and personal information about convicted sex offenders, often to be posted for at least 20 years and sometimes for life. Many states, including Maine, provide offenders' exact street address; that information apparently was used by a Nova Scotia man to locate and fatally shoot two registered sex offenders Sunday.

There have been many cases of vigilantism in the past, ranging from harassment and arson to the slayings of two convicted child rapists in Washington state. A man mistaken for his sex-offender brother was nearly beaten to death with a baseball bat in New Jersey - the state where the 1994 killing of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a neighbor gave rise to the nationwide trend of "Megan's Law" registries.

Though they decry vigilantism, police, prosecutors and politicians overwhelmingly support the laws. Maine is maintaining its online registry despite the shootings; the governors of nearby Vermont and New Hampshire rejected appeals by their states' American Civil Liberties Union branches to eliminate the online databases.

James Backstrom, a board member of the National District Attorneys Association and chief prosecutor in Minnesota's Dakota County, said the registries "are appropriate and needed."

"The victims of crime and the public in general have a right to know where sex offenders are living," he said.

Backstrom acknowledged, however, that the registries contribute to a serious problem facing Minnesota and other states: Because virtually no one wants sex offenders in their neighborhood, they have difficulty finding an appropriate place to live.

That problem has become particularly severe in states where many towns forbid registered offenders from living near schools, parks and other facilities, said New Jersey defense attorney William Buckman.

"We're essentially seeing people forced into refugee status," said Buckman, a board member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "The experts say the major thing in preventing recidivism is to allow offenders to rebuild their lives, put down roots. But because of feel-good, poorly thought-out, knee-jerk reactions by politicians, the effect is to increase recidivism."

Those advocating reconsideration of sex offender laws aren't suggesting that authorities back away from vigilant monitoring. They note that some states have developed sophisticated risk-assessment systems for deciding which offenders are listed in publicly available registries, so the whereabouts of high-risk offenders are known while lesser risks are granted more anonymity.

"I'm the first to say, 'Lock up the harmful sexual offenders,'" said Nancy Sabin, who heads a Minnesota-based victims advocacy group called the Jacob Wetterling Foundation.

But not all offenders fall into that category, she said: "We need to step back, take a breath and get more educated about the most effective ways to deal with the issue."

In Missouri, the state Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on one of the few major legal challenges to a registry system. A class action suit contends the state law is applied too broadly and unfairly punishes those who pose little risk - such as a woman who had consensual sex with a 15-year-old boy when she was 20, and a man classified as a child abuser because he spanked his son with a belt.

"All these draconian Sex Offender Registry Acts need to be trimmed back - eliminating people who never should have been on in the first place," said Arthur Benson, the lawyer handling the lawsuit.

Jill Levinson, a professor and sex-crimes researcher at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., said the recidivism rate for sex offenders is lower than for most other serious crimes. She urged legislatures to tailor laws so low-risk offenders have the maximum opportunity to rehabilitate themselves.

"The intentions are good," she said, "but there's very little evidence that these registries improve community safety or protect children."

Community Watch comments:

"We've basically dehumanized these people with words such as predator" says psychiatrist Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic in Baltimore. 

We believe sex offenders have dehumanized our children and should receive severe prison sentences - instead of just a slap on the hand and "treatment".

Dr. Berlin's comments are self-serving and he has a serious conflict of interest as he specializes in the evaluation and treatment of patients with sexual disorders, such as pedophilia, voyeurism, and exhibitionism - which means Dr. Berlin gets paid to help these sex offenders and predators - in the privacy of his office and in the press.

New Jersey defense attorney William Buckman says "But because of feel-good, poorly thought-out, knee-jerk reactions by politicians, the effect is to increase recidivism". 

What? So, now placing a sex offender and predator on a sex offender registry increases their recidivism?  How about sex offenders taking some personal responsibility for their actions against innocent children - the sex offenders are attacking our children sexually and not serving much time (if any).  If DAs and judges are going to place dangerous predators on our streets, the community has a right to know, be aware, and protect itself - that is the role of sex offender registries and they work.

Jill Levinson, a professor and sex-crimes researcher at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., says "there's very little evidence that these registries improve community safety or protect children."

Jill, where is the evidence that says these registries do not improve community safety or protect children?  We are not interested in your "evidence"  - and by the way, when did self-serving case studies run by psychologists with conflicts of interest become known as "evidence" - we are interested in keeping our communities safe and aware - your interests are biased.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware - online!

Keeping Children Safe Online 
This tip brought to you by the Department of Homeland Security & US-CERT

Children present unique security risks when they use a computer — not only do you have to keep them safe, you have to protect the data on your computer. By taking some simple steps, you can dramatically reduce the threats.

What unique risks are associated with children?
When a child is using your computer, normal safeguards and security practices may not be sufficient. Children present additional challenges because of their natural characteristics: innocence, curiosity, desire for independence, and fear of punishment. You need to consider these characteristics when determining how to protect your data and the child.

You may think that because the child is only playing a game, or researching a term paper, or typing a homework assignment, he or she can't cause any harm. But what if, when saving her paper, the child deletes a necessary program file? Or what if she unintentionally visits a malicious web page that infects your computer with a virus? These are just two possible scenarios. Mistakes happen, but the child may not realize what she's done or may not tell you what happened because she's afraid of getting punished.

Online predators present another significant threat, particularly to children. Because the nature of the internet is so anonymous, it is easy for people to misrepresent themselves and manipulate or trick other users (see Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for some examples). Adults often fall victim to these ploys, and children, who are usually much more open and trusting, are even easier targets. The threat is even greater if a child has access to email or instant messaging programs and/or visits chat rooms (see Using Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms Safely for more information).

What can you do?
Be involved — Consider activities you can work on together, whether it be playing a game, researching a topic you had been talking about (e.g., family vacation spots, a particular hobby, a historical figure), or putting together a family newsletter. This will allow you to supervise your child's online activities while teaching her good computer habits.
Keep your computer in an open area — If your computer is in a high-traffic area, you will be able to easily monitor the computer activity. Not only does this accessibility deter a child from doing something she knows she's not allowed to do, it also gives you the opportunity to intervene if you notice a behavior that could have negative consequences.
Set rules and warn about dangers — Make sure your child knows the boundaries of what she is allowed to do on the computer. These boundaries should be appropriate for the child's age, knowledge, and maturity, but they may include rules about how long she is allowed to be on the computer, what sites she is allowed to visit, what software programs she can use, and what tasks or activities she is allowed to do. You should also talk to children about the dangers of the internet so that they recognize suspicious behavior or activity. The goal isn't to scare them, it's to make them more aware.
Monitor computer activity — Be aware of what your child is doing on the computer, including which web sites she is visiting. If she is using email, instant messaging, or chat rooms, try to get a sense of who she is corresponding with and whether she actually knows them.
Keep lines of communication open — Let your child know that she can approach you with any questions or concerns about behaviors or problems she may have encountered on the computer.
Consider partitioning your computer into separate accounts — Most operating systems (including Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Linux) give you the option of creating a different user account for each user. If you're worried that your child may accidentally access, modify, and/or delete your files, you can give her a separate account and decrease the amount of access and number of privileges she has.

If you don't have separate accounts, you need to be especially careful about your security settings. In addition to limiting functionality within your browser (see Evaluating Your Web Browser's Security Settings for more information), avoid letting your browser remember passwords and other personal information (see Browsing Safely: Understanding Active Content and Cookies). Also, it is always important to keep your virus definitions up to date (see Understanding Anti-Virus Software).
Consider implementing parental controls — You may be able to set some parental controls within your browser. For example, Internet Explorer allows you to restrict or allow certain web sites to be viewed on your computer, and you can protect these settings with a password. To find those options, click Tools on your menu bar, select Internet Options..., choose the Content tab, and click the Enable... button under Content Advisor.

There are other resources you can use to control and/or monitor your child's online activity. Some ISPs offer services designed to protect children online. Contact your ISP to see if any of these services are available. There are also special software programs you can install on your computer. Different programs offer different features and capabilities, so you can find one that best suits your needs. The following web sites offer lists of software, as well as other useful information about protecting children online:
GetNetWise — http://kids.getnetwise.org/ — Click Tools for Families to reach a page that allows you to search for software based on characteristics like what the tool does and what operating system you have on your computer.
Yahooligans! Parents' Guide — http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/parents/ — Click Blocking and Filtering under Related Websites on the left sidebar to reach a list of software.
Authors: Mindi McDowell, Allen Householder

Produced 2005 by US-CERT, a government organization. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute the US-CERT Tips in whole or in part, without changing the text you use, provided that you include the copyright statement or "produced by" statement and use the document for noncommercial or internal purposes. For commercial use or translations, send your email request to webmaster@us-cert.gov.

Vermont asked to take down sex offender registry

Vermont asked to take down sex offender registry
April 18, 2006

MONTPELIER, Vt. --The weekend shooting deaths of two men on Maine's sex offender registry are prompting calls for Vermont's online system to be taken down.

The American Civil Liberties Union's state chapter argues that the online registry could lead to a similar situation.

"This is a stark reminder that there's no evidence that online sex offender registries increase public safety," said Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont ACLU. "In fact, they might just do the opposite."

Maine's online registry was taken down after two people listed on it -- Joseph L. Gray, 57, and William Elliott, 24 -- were shot and killed over the weekend. The suspect, Stephen Marshall of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, died Sunday on a bus entering Boston after shooting himself.

Maine officials say Marshall looked up the victims on the state's online sex offender registry. With that in mind, Gilbert said the incident should make Vermont policy-makers slow down a plan to expand their list.

"They should not be making any changes to the online registry unless they can determine that, indeed, the registry increases public safety," Gilbert said. "We think they never should have created it. They should just pull it immediately."

State officials said they were not prepared to discontinue the list, especially with so many issues still to be resolved in Maine.

"Our view is that this is an isolated incident and the value of the registry to parents and communities outweighs the impact of one isolated incident," said Jason Gibbs, Gov. Jim Douglas' spokesman.

The Senate has approved a bill that proposes to expand what offenses would qualify for inclusion on the list and that would make it easier to put information about offenders on the registry.

The list currently includes information about those convicted of sex crimes who are judged to be likely to commit a crime again.

Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in the wake of the Maine shootings that he might reconsider a provision of the Senate bill that would allow law enforcement to hand out offenders' street addresses.

"You never anticipate anything that tragic happening," Sears said of the Maine killings. "We discussed our concern over vigilantism, and that's part of the reason we don't put addresses on our online registry. Something like this really gives me pause about even allowing police agencies to release specific addresses."

A conference committee is expected to begin meeting this week to negotiate differences between the Senate's crime bill and one passed this winter by the House.

Community Watch comments:

Although tragic, let's not start taking down sex offender registry sites and changing policy based on rare events - let the investigation continue...there is more to this story.

Oregon Sex Offender Registry will be online July 1

Sex offender Web site will be online July 1
Friday, April 14, 2006
The Hillsboro Argus

During the Oregon legislative session of 2005, a bill was passed requiring the Oregon State Police to post all predatory sex offenders on a Web site.

Funding for the mandate wasn't available until now, police say. Oregon has been criticized in the news for not cooperating with a national registry of sex offenders.

But the OSP actually began a public access Web site in 1999. However, an injunction was filed by groups of sex offenders challenging their right to privacy was being violated. After that injunction was resolved, another suit was filed in 2002. In 2003, the latest injunction was resolved and the state was given a green light to move forward.

Unfortunately in 2003, the project was delayed further when the OSP suffered budget cuts that resulted in a loss of 129 troopers and 125 professional staff.

Funding has finally been obtained to identify computer systems, software, programming and vendors to create a whole new system that will allow public access to the information. The system will be available to the public by July 1.

Until the online sex offender registration system is up and running, information concerning sex offenders living in your area can be found by calling 503-378-3725, ext. 4429.

Community Watch comments:

Once Oregon's sex offender registry is up and running this summer, that leaves only one state which still does not have a public sex offender registry to help protect it's community - South Dakota.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware.

Judge Strikes Law Requiring Registration for New York Sex Offenders Convicted Before 1996

Judge Strikes Law Requiring Registration for New York Sex Offenders Convicted Before '96

By JULIA PRESTON
Published: April 13, 2006

Thousands of New York sex offenders convicted of their crimes before 1996 should no longer be required to register with state authorities, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

The decision shot down a measure the State Legislature passed hastily in January, with the support of Gov. George E. Pataki, to prevent the registration period from expiring for thousands of offenders for at least a decade.

The ruling, by Judge Denny Chin of Federal District Court in Manhattan, is the latest turn in 10 years of legal battles, charged with emotion and politics, over the New York version of Megan's Law. The law requires sex offenders to register the addresses where they settle after leaving prison, and authorizes law enforcement authorities in many cases to alert local communities.

A spokeswoman for the governor, Mollie Fullington, said Mr. Pataki disagreed with the judge's decision and had ordered the attorney general to appeal.

After the sexual offender registration law first took effect in January 1996, it was quickly challenged by the Legal Aid Society on behalf of about 4,400 offenders who had been convicted of sex crimes before that date. After years of negotiations in Judge Chin's court, the state reached a settlement with those offenders in June 2004. Under the agreement, pre-1996 offenders who had committed less serious sex crimes were required to register for 10 years.

Convicts who had committed the gravest offenses, including rape and sexual abuse of children, were required to register for life, even if their crimes occurred before 1996.

In January, with the registration period due to expire for 3,000 sex offenders, the Legislature rushed to adopt an amendment extending the period. People convicted of sex crimes that state authorities deemed they were least likely to repeat were required to register for another 10 years. And a significant number of the offenders, based on the gravity of their crimes, were required for the first time to register for life.

Judge Chin's decision canceled those extensions. He ruled that the state could not walk away from the court-ordered agreement it reached with the pre-1996 offenders, even though the Legislature had revised the law.

"In simplest terms, a contract is a contract," the judge wrote. The state, he found, "cannot be permitted to unilaterally rewrite the contract and ignore a judgment of the court merely because the contract was with individuals convicted of serious crimes."

He warned that the law could encourage state authorities to try to get around other court orders. "The state could enter into a supposedly binding consent decree with fingers crossed behind its back," the judge warned, confident that the Legislature could later rescue it from commitments that became uncomfortable.

Community Watch comments:

"The state, he found, "cannot be permitted to unilaterally rewrite the contract and ignore a judgment of the court merely because the contract was with individuals convicted of serious crimes.""

The judgment of the court was ignorant and not well thought out - and, by ignoring it we make our communites safer from sex offenders and predators. Get the laws updated so these offenders are required to register for life and lengthen prison sentences for all sex offenses.

Number of Registered Sex Offenders in Maryland Continues to Swell

Number Registered Sex Offenders in Maryland Continues to Swell

BALTIMORE (AP)- The number of people on Maryland's sex offender registry has grown by more than 1,500 in three years- and it is expected to keep growing indefinitely.

There were 2,792 registered sex offenders in Maryland in December 2002, the earliest figure available. In December 2005, there were 4,354, according to the Criminal Justice Information System, which maintains the list for the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Dave Wolinski, assistant director of the CJIS, said most people on the registry stay on it for life, resulting in consistent annual growth. "The only way you lose people is if they go back to jail," he said.

Others are only required to be listed on the registry for 10 years. Those include people convicted of fourth-degree sex offenses and misdemeanors such as possession of child pornography.

Community Watch comments:

click for a List of registrants that are Maryland residents, grouped by their residence zip code, and alphabetized by name within each grouping

Elizabeth Smart lobbies D.C. senators on national sex offender registry bill

Elizabeth Smart lobbies D.C. senators
Sex offender registry: The measure has already passed in the House
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune

WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Smart, whose kidnapping in 2002 drew national attention, encouraged senators to approve a national sex offender registry bill that was passed by the House on Wednesday.

“I don't want to see others go through what I had to go through,” said Smart.

The legislation makes it a crime for sex offenders not to register with their state and requires states to share information when an offender moves to a new state.

It passed the House on a voice vote and has broad support, but has been delayed because Democratic members insist that it include hate crimes legislation opposed by Republican leaders. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates there are about 550,000 sex offenders in the United States, and about 150,000 have failed to register. “I think this is a great bill and it needs to be passed,” Smart said. “I think it will affect a lot of people for good and can make our country a safer place.”

Smart was abducted from her bedroom June 5, 2002, launching a sweeping search and drawing attention from around the world. She was missing for nine months, but was found with her alleged kidnappers on March 12, 2003.

The man prosecutors say kidnapped Smart, Brian David Mitchell, did not have a prior record as a sex offender, and would not have been affected by the legislation.   Smart, now 18, said she is doing “great.” She graduated from high school in January and will be starting college at Brigham Young University in the fall.  Her father, Ed Smart, said having a victim advocating for the bill “puts a face on the subject and the impact is stronger.” 

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has sponsored the Senate version of the bill, which was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last October.

Under the bill:
   - Sex offenders would have to register in person instead of by mail;
   - States would get money to outfit sex offenders with tracking devices;
   - Funds would be provided to create a national database of sex offenders.

Additionally, the legislation would provide enhanced penalties in certain sex crimes, expand the scope of the federal DNA index, add to gang crime penalties, and incorporate child porn measures backed by Hatch.

"There is no greater evil than stealing the innocence of a child,” said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah.  “We must take a stand, and today we have,” said Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, saying the legislation “will protect children from perpetrators of brutal crimes against the most defenseless members of our society.”
   
Community Watch comments:

Go Elizabeth Smart - great job!

Sex offenders deserve second chance? Not with our kids...

Sex offenders deserve second chance

By Lara Loewenstein
DAILY BRUIN COLUMNIST
lloewenstein@media.ucla.edu

You know you're in the Silicon Valley when you've met your neighbors – once. You know you're in Los Angeles when calling your neighbors requires knowing their area codes. You know you're in Cuero, Texas when your neighbor's front yard has a two-by-two foot sign announcing: "A registered sex offender lives here."

I must admit, sex offender registries sound useful, and signs sound even better. If I were going to move into a new neighborhood with my (fictional) 5-year-old daughter, I would want to know whether the creepy guy living across the street was a convicted sex offender. And a two-by-two foot sign would save me the trouble of checking the online registry or making a special trip to the police department.

This has become reality for people in Cuero. According to the Herald Democrat, the city unanimously passed an ordinance requiring high-risk sex offenders to announce their presence with a sign.

I'd also love to know whether the girl next door is a heroin addict and whether anyone in the near vicinity watches porn.

Watching porn is not exactly the same as committing a sexual offense (it's rather far from it), but it's similar in that it's unnecessary information. In one case, you're assuming someone's future actions based on their past actions, and in the other you are aware of a person's sexual fantasies, which could lead you to draw conclusions about what they do in "reality." No one's sexual fantasies are "normal."

The idea behind a sex offender registry is that if everyone knows the creepy guy across the street is a violent sexual predator, then everyone can keep an eye on him. You can set up a system through which someone can bring him flowers or cookies once a week to make sure he's still living there.

While it is strictly illegal to use this information to harass someone, it's impossible to know someone is, say, a convicted child molester and not treat them differently. Once people have served their time, they should be able to continue on with their lives without this extra stress.
   
I understand the desire to have sex offender registries, but they don't accomplish what they are intended to and are therefore unnecessary.

The argument in favor of registries assumes (a) most sex offenders are of the violent predator variety (they're not), and (b) sex offenders' recidivism rates, or the rates of relapsing into criminal activity, are high, according to PrisonerLife.com.

The truth? According to the Mercury News, the recidivism rates of sex offenders have been quoted from anywhere as low as 6 percent to as high as 13 percent (there wasn't a huge change between the time before the registries were implemented and after, so we can't attribute this low percentage to them). And something that has remained relatively consistent is that the recidivism rate of sex offenders is much lower than those of other crimes, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, titled "Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released in 1994." The study also noted that the only crime with a lower recidivism rate is murder.

Just compare the recidivism rates of sex offenders to the overall recidivism rates of criminals in the United States, a number well over 60 percent, according to Wikipedia.org. Those who are no longer in prison aren't likely to repeat their crime and don't need to be put on a registry.

And realistically the man or woman who's most likely to harass your son or daughter is not that creepy guy next door or that convicted sex offender around the corner. It's most likely going to be someone your child knows, such as a family member or a friend.

Once offenders are out of prison, they have served their sentence – their punishment is completed. If we really believe all convicted sex offenders are dangerous enough to repeat their crimes, then they shouldn't be back on the street. And why don't we have a convicted murderer registry? I know I wouldn't want my daughter raped, but I don't exactly want her killed either.

In California we have an online database of all registered sex offenders. With a quick search of my current address I was able to locate all registered sex offenders within a two-mile radius of my apartment. The Web site provides their names, convicted offenses, physical descriptions and known aliases, and even a picture. Whew.

The idea behind these laws is mainly to protect children. State laws requiring the registration of sex offenders, restrictions on where they live, and so on are called Megan's laws. A federal version of these laws was first passed in 1994 as an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Act, which requires all states to have systems of notifying the community when a high risk sex offender is released into the area.

The laws are named after a 7-year-old girl in New Jersey who was raped and killed in 1994 by a convicted sex offender who lived across the street from her. While this is a gruesome story and I can certainly understand the family's pain, it is one story. Most convicted sex offenders are not going to commit another crime, and they shouldn't be punished because a minority of their population hasn't learned its lesson. Yes, any form of sexual violence is a heinous crime and perpetrators need to be punished, but we can't take it over the top. If someone is deemed safe for society we need to treat him as such.

The United States is built on a system of giving people second chances (our president did get Cs at Yale). And while I'll probably be the first to say I do not tolerate sexual offense of any form, people need to be given the chance to change.

Community Watch comments:

Regarding this story and these quotes from Ms. Loewenstein:

"Once people have served their time, they should be able to continue on with their lives without this extra stress...And why don't we have a convicted murderer registry?  I know I wouldn't want my daughter raped, but I don't exactly want her killed either. "

Regarding why there is not a convicted murderer registry - it's simple: the victim is dead, the evidence that a crime existed is clear (the victim is dead), and the murderer is tried and receives a sentence that fits the crime - a large amount of time in prison.

This does not happen in most sex crimes - Attorneys plea these cases out so victims do not have to testify and most sex offenders serve a small amount of time in prison. 

Most sex offenders are placed on probation and then placed on a sex offender registry because attorney generals and state police realize the community is at risk when these offenders are released into the community. 

These sex offenders have not served their time and they certainly do not deserve a second chance - they were participants in an "efficient" justice process which places the community at risk by releasing these sexual predators into our communities. 

Ms. Loewenstein, most families do not have "fictional children" as you do - their children are alive and vulnerable.  If a neighbor has committed sex crimes against children, parents need to be aware of that and would certainly not give that sex offender a "second chance" with their children.

And finally, comparing getting C's in college to committing a sex offense is irresponsible as the average age of victims in most states is 9 years old.

Let's help keep each other safe and aware.