Know your local sex criminals.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

http://www12.familywatchdog.us/

This is a truly frightening site. Enter your address, and it will pop up a map of all of the sex offenders in your area. Click on a sex offender's location, and it will give you the offender's mug shot and the crime.

I suggest that you click "closer"-- at least in my area, the amount was so dense that I couldn't designate which one I was clicking. Once I got it down to the direct neighborhood, it became clear that there aren't any in my direct vicinity, or on my walk to work. But I'll be damn sure not to walk down Normandie, like, ever.

The scariest ones are the "there are more than one sex offender at this address" boxes. Well it's all scary. I looked up my family's homes to, in suburban America, and there are all kinds of offenders near them, too.

Also, I suppose this is a good time to ask-- what do you think of the availability of sex offenders? Is this unconstitutional? Unfair? Or possibly good for helping families identify whom not to trust?

[Stan4dSteph]

I believe the link is missing.

It's not unconstitutional. In NY state, sex offenders must register their place of residence, and this information is available for anyone who wishes to find it out.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I have such mixed feelings about the ability of the public to locate where sex offenders live. I understand that any parent would want to know if a sex offender is living next door. I just wonder if making this knowledge public really helps matters.

If we as a society deem that sex offenders are such a danger to society that there is a need for lists like these, why are the offenders released in the first place? Isn't it in our best interest to keep them locked up forever? We don't release mass murderers, why repeat sex offenders?

On the other hand, if we believe that they can actually be rehabilitated to a point that they are not a danger to society, then shouldn't they have a chance to, after serving their sentence, have the ability to move on and live their life without fear of a lynch mob?

Recently studies have shown that the recidivism rate for sex offenders is far lower than earlier thought. While it used to be commonly believed that 90% were re-offenders, recent studies put the number far lower at about 14%. Now some may say that 14% is still way too high to take a chance but studies also show that many other offenses actually have much higher recidivism rates than sex offenders. Should we have lists of addresses for people who have committed robberies?

Another factor is the all encompassing term "sex offender", which can include offenses such as indecent exposure. This means that someone who is caught urinating in public can be deemed a sex offender and put on the list. A 19 yr. old having sex with a 17 yr. old can also find their name on this list. While illegal, I'm not sure it is the moral equivelant of molesting a child and yet, they can find their way onto this list as well.

Perhaps there are no easy answers. I do think, however, that we as society need to make a decision as to whether it is safe to return sex offenders to society or not. If it is not, give them life without the possibility of parole. But if we are going to say that they have paid their debt to society, then they should at least be given a chance to prove that they are rehabilitated. I think that providing the whole world with information on where they live ensures that things aren't going to go well for these people. They will be forced to move many times and never get a real chance to start over and move on with their lives. The stress may even push them to re-offend. That doesn't really fix anything.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Now some may say that 14% is still way too high to take a chance but studies also show that many other offenses actually have much higher recidivism rates than sex offenders. Should we have lists of addresses for people who have committed robberies? Not too far from the truth. I just heard about at least one jurisdiction (can't remember where) that has enacted a similar registry of people convicted of making meth.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

According to the department of justice site, the recidivism rate for sex offenders is 5%, for those convicted of robbery...70%

[Jazzman]

According to the department of justice site, the recidivism rate for sex offenders is 5%, for those convicted of robbery...70%
That’s certainly a huge gap, and at first glance it’s eye catching, but I’m not sure that these two crimes are comparable in such a way as for that statistic to hold any real meaning.

Having your TV, stereo or car stolen is certainly stressful, but it doesn't haunt you and shape your life forever the way that rape and molestation do. If someone gets out of jail after snatching some electronics it's certainly a risk that they’ll hit up Best Buy for DVD players again, but if they re-offend it's only a material loss and life will go on. If a rapist goes free and re-offends, then somebody else's life has now irreparably been altered in a horrible way, and it’s only worse that it could have been avoided.

I believe in rehabilitation and forgiveness as much as anyone, but in certain instances I solely advocate responsibility and accountability. Once a person chooses to commit rape, I believe that they are voluntarily forfeiting their right to ever live a normal life again (as a “normal life” is what they are engaging in forever removing from their victim) and therefore rapists and molesters should be locked away forever, regardless of whether or not they are able to be rehabilitated. Their victims have no ability to turn back time and erase what happened, so neither should the attackers. This is only my own belief, but percentages of recidivism, likelihood of offending again, etc. are all irrelevant. Rape is a crime which has a lifelong term, so too should its punishment.

[Prudence]

I think the bigger concern for me is the proportion of rapes and molestation -- and particularly against children -- that are committed by attackers who are known to their victims.

It's been in the news this week in my area because one group of people is in favor of stricter mandatory sentences and another is concerned that action would lead to families pressuring victims to not report such crimes, because so-and-so beloved family member can't help it and you don't want them to go to jail for life, do you? I can relate to that, because my rape was by someone I knew, and because my "friends" sided with the more popular of us (it wasn't me) it would have been a he said-she said and I never reported it. I can only imagine how a child feels when their family sides with the rapist or molester.

I don't have a good solution. I'm personally more afraid of the extremely violent level 3 stranger rapist who lives not too far from me and whose victims range from children to elderly women. Little Timmy's Uncle John or Aunt Jane isn't a threat to me -- but is a huge threat to Little Timmy.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

That’s certainly a huge gap, and at first glance it’s eye catching, but I’m not sure that these two crimes are comparable in such a way as for that statistic to hold any real meaning.

I'm not trying to suggest that rape and robbery are comparable. But remember that we aren't necessarily just talking about rape and molestation here. We are also talking about someone who might have been caught urinating outdoors being on a list for the rest of their lives. I think the all encompassing "sex offender" term brands a lot of people as rapists when their offenses might not be as black and white.

To be clear, I consider rape and molestation to be of a destructive enough nature that I lean towards life imprisonment or possibly chemical castration for those convicted. But that's not what we currently do. We release them with the idea that if they no longer commit any crimes, they can have a chance at being a part of society again. If we are going to do so, I'm not sure encouraging vigilanteism (sp?) is the way to go or in anyway helpful to the situation.

[wendybeth]

Prudence, don't worry- King County sends all their sex-offenders over here. (The newspaper did a story on that not too long ago; seems the PO's over there tell the parolees that Spokane County is just so much less expensive...:rolleyes: ).

I don't see where there is a problem with publishing the information. The persons have been convicted of a crime- it's better than branding their foreheads with a V, or cutting off their ears and such. Even so, a determined offender will not let any registry get in his or her way- just look at that Duncan creep in Idaho.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I don't see where there is a problem with publishing the information.

Here are the problems as I see them...

In 2002, the department of justice did a study of the sex offender list in California (which has over 100,000 people on it). They found that almost 50% of the information on the list was inaccurate, a common error being publishing the wrong address of the offender. There have also been numerous instances of vigilantism since the release of these lists became popular. What happens when a wrong address is published and an innocent person is a victim of a vigilante? What about the innocent family members who may live with the offender? They are affected by this as well.

And these lists just don't act as a detterent as I see it. A molester will simply travel to an area where they aren't recognized if they are going to re-offend. If they aren't going to re-offend, there isn't a need for the list.

The other problem is that many of the people that are on the sex offender registry are there for crimes that aren't molestation or rape. Some are, in fact, victimless crimes such as solicitation of prostitution. That can put you on a sex offender list for life in California, where your neighbors can all see. I really don't think that someone who solicits a prostitute should be subjected to having their private information posted on a web site for all to see, for life. I don't see how it makes society safer and I see plenty of ways that this information can be abused.

I'm all for stricter sentencing. I'm even for life imprisonment in many cases. What I'm not for is feel good measures that create more problems than they fix. I'm not for information like this being made public when there is only a 50% chance that it is even correct in the first place. Not when it encourages people to take the law into their own hands.

I actually used to think that these lists were a good idea until I read through a couple of (pretty heated) debates on another board. Since then, I've come to realize that they don't really do anything but give a false sense of security, rather than actually solve any problem.

[Kevy Baby]

MBC just saved me a lot of time by providing thoughtful and well researched (at least they appear well researched) posts. Kudos to him for posting about reality and not buying into the mob rules!

[katiesue]

I actually used to think that these lists were a good idea until I read through a couple of (pretty heated) debates on another board. Since then, I've come to realize that they don't really do anything but give a false sense of security, rather than actually solve any problem.


This is how I feel. I'm not sure they solve anything. I am a parent and I worry about my daughter. But I'm not sure this information is useful to me. If an offender moves into my apartment complex do I move?

I live about 2 miles from where Danielle Van Dam was taken. That guy wasn't on any list. And no one thought of him as the weird creepy neighbor till after he was caught.

Plus how many of these guys move around? How often are the lists updated? What about the people who wrongly get labeled because the list is inaccurate?

I'm just not sure as a parent how this helps me.