.JPG "semi-rural trailer")
A few weeks ago, I posted an argument for sex offender laws that make sense. Last week we saw a disturbing result of current sex offender laws that ostracize and isolate sex offenders from society.
Effects of Isolation
Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, was able to imprison and abuse Jaycee Lee Dugard for 18 years, partially because sex offender laws pushed him to a semi-rural area where he was able to hide his actions for so long. In fact, the city of Antioch, Calif., where Garrido made his home, is also home to over 100 other registered sex offenders simply because sex offender residency laws have quarantined them away from society in this run-down, semi-rural area.
Such areas are rarely patrolled by police, have minimal street lighting and large spaces between houses, and are overgrown with vegetation—a perfect haven for criminals who don’t want anyone knowing what they are doing. Garrido’s home is so secluded that neighbors didn’t even know he had a shed in his back yard. Instead of punishment, residency laws gave Garrido the perfect place to operate undetected.
What We Can Learn
Of course, I am not arguing in favor of moving sex offenders to the middle of family-housing subdivisions next to schools, but Garrido’s case highlight the fact that pushing sex offenders to the fringes may actually create MORE opportunity for them to re-offend rather than act as a barrier between them and the rest of society.
The lesson that we need to take away from this tragedy is that knee-jerk sex offender laws that exile sex offenders from society, rather than keeping them under the watchful eye of society and law enforcement, need to be re-examined. More studies need to be done to determine the best way to deal with sex offenders, how to monitor them, rehabilitate them, and where to house them so that they are at a decreased risk to us and our children.
Source: http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/2009/08/ca-sex-offenders-move-to-antioch-area.html
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Thank you thank you thank you!! I have felt this way ever since a Level 3 sex offender moved into our old neighborhood. I would FAR rather know where they are, so my children and I can protect ourselves, than not know. And no, by “protect ourselves” I don’t mean freaky paranoid behavior bordering on (or crossing over into) criminal harassment, etc. Generations ago, parents knew which houses and people to tell their kids to avoid….
Pushing a problem away so we don’t have to deal with it is never the solution. That focuses on the symptoms of a disease, not its underlying foundation. Focus on what the problem IS, not what it does.
I wish you’d examine and report on exactly what is meant by “violent offender.”
Is this an offender who used violence? Or is this some legaleez to enhance either the sentence or the publics perception that this person is to be feared and therefore hated/allowed to be punished more so than a non-violent offender.
How do they residencey laws protect society? They don’t. If a sex offender wants to go to a park or church all they have to do is go to one 20 miles away where no one knows them. It’s that simple. Wouldn’t it be better if they went to a park or church where they live, where people know who they are and will keep a close eye on them?
You would think our government would have better thought out these laws and not acted so foolishly, Theys laws put our kids in even more danger from true preditors then they would be in if we didn’t have these laws. Think about it……….
My state (NC) just passed a law on Friday that bans all registered sex offenders from college campuses. As you can imagine, there are numerous sex offenders who have served their time and are trying to better themselves and become productive members of society. What are these people to do? This ban will push them further away from mainstream society and in a lot of cases, with residency restrictions to contend with, crime and a return to prison will be the only way they can survive.
There is a difference in sex offenders and the registry is a good thing…in some cases. Each case should be looked at individually and the truly violent, predatory sex offenders need to be monitored and restricted. But the guy who has sex with his teen girlfriend? The kid who recieves a text message of a nude classmate? I heard about a kid a few months ago who was set to go to college on a scholarship when someone sent him a text message of a nude, underage classmate. He didn’t ask for it, he didn’t send it on to anyone, but he was arrested, convicted of possession of child pornography, lost his scholarship and has to register. How is he the same as the 50 year old who preys on little girls? He isn’t, and the rubber stamp that these people fall under is unfair.
There is no other crime in this country that packs such a punch and continues to punish after the sentence is served. No other crime has laws that become retroactive and can be changed at any time. Murderers have committed the ultimate sin, yet they are not required to register. Why is that? I’d rather know if my neighbor beheaded his baby sister then if he had sex with a 15 year old when he was 17. Sex offenders are the witch hunt of the 21st century and the laws need to change. Continuing to pass new legislation regarding sex offenders is going to leave them no other option but to live under bridges, like in Florida.
A lot of these people have families, and once their time is served, they are not allowed to take their kids to the park, go to their school for events or conferences, or go back to school themselves to make a better life for their family. All these new laws punish not only the offender but their family as well.
I am a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2002 for a misdemeanor charge of sexual misconduct in New York. I was only 21yro at the time and the girl was 16yro about to turn 17yro in 3 weeks when we had consentual sex. I was unaware of her being 16yro because she told me she was 18yro. However, I was still arrested and there were no consequences for her in lying to me about her age, yet my whole life has been destroyed because of her deception. Lawmakers know that these situations happen everyday but nothing is done about it. Underage girls lie about their ages everyday in America and have fake id’s to get into bars and clubs as well as allowing them to buy alcohol. Despite all of this I am still labeled as a “sex offender” which the public views as someone who has molested a child or committed some type of violent act against someone, which I did neither. I am now 28yro and have a wife and two children of my own and have had no arrest record sinnce my conviction but am still required to register and will have to for my entire life. This is a total injustice and serves no purpose. I am no threat to society, but i am held back from being able to get good jobs and it’s very hard to find a landlord that will rent to me because of the stigma placed on sex offenders. The sex offender registry was intended to protect children but just about any sex offense requires a person to be registered even when it doesn’t even involve a child. the entire world can look me up on the internet. What about convicted murders or armed robbers that are released from prison. Why aren’t they posted on some national database when they move into a neighborhood? shouldn’t the public be aware of the ex-murderer next door as well? I served only 11 days in jail for my misdemeanor offense but I am being punished for the rest of my life by being put on the sex offender registry for being only 5 years older than a female and having sex with her after she lied about her age. Where is the justice in that? Someone needs to make a change on the circumstances in who should actually be considered a “sex offender” based on all the facts and circumstances rather than labeling everyone.
I’m looking for a site that’s discussing “totally isolating” these monsters; not in prisons, but on islands, where they have water & fresh fruits.
It has to be in the middle of the ocean so if they try to escape our friends, the sharks, will do to them what I think should be done in the first place.
These “animals” have NO RIGHTS when they continue to kill, kill, kill. Prisons are not the answer, and why should we be protecting ourselves because they’re everywhere. So it’s O.K. for them to take “our” rights away to live in more normal life, but it’s not O.K. to get rid of them permanently??
It’s only getting worse. Is there someone who knows where people are getting together to create this kind of change?
That’s a good question. Usually, when we talk about “violent” sex offenders, we’re talking about sex offenders with a violent past or a history of pedophilia, i.e., rapists, child molesters, and those who have committed other types of sexual assault. These offenders have a higher rate of recidivism and pose a greater threat to society than the college kid who was cited for public lewdness for peeing in a bush.
However, “violent offender” is still a blanket term. What legislators need to understand is that each offender poses specific and individual levels of treat to society, and current sex offender laws treat them all the same. That is, out of sight, out of society, out of mind. Which is probably the wrong approach.
Carole, who exactly are you speaking about isolating on a desert island? People like Philip Garrido or people like the man above who had consentual sex with a girl 5 years younger? They’re both registered sex offenders, but even you have to agree that their crimes are worlds apart. No one here is saying that the registry is not a good thing and that offenders need to be tracked. What we are saying is that the laws need to change in terms of WHO has to register. If you are going to force everyone convicted of a sex crime to register, you need to require other criminals to register as well. Registration needs to be done on a case by case basis, not the current lazy way of doing things which is to rubber stamp all people guilty of a sex crime and make them all register. If you look online and see 2 sex offenders in your neighborhood and they were both convicted of indecent liberties with a minor, you would freak out and automatically assume that they are both child molesters who raped a 6 year old. You don’t know the facts of their cases, and you wouldn’t care to find out. If you did your homework though, before assuming something, you could find out that one actually did rape a child while the other felt up his 15 year old girlfriend when he was 18. Is there a distinction in their crimes? Absolutely. In the eye of the public though, they are both registered sex offenders and the one who was 18 will be forever ruined and barred from becoming productive. Is this fair? Absolutely not. The child rapist does need to be isolated, but not every sex offender is a child rapist. There are “sex offenders” whose only crime was pissing behind a dumpster at 2 am. One “sex offender” I recently heard about was pleasuring himself in his car as he drove down the road. Not the wisest thing to do, but a woman saw him and called the cops because her child might have seen him. No, he should not have been jacking off in his car, but neither should that woman have been looking into someone else’s vehicle while she was supposed to be driving. Now he is facing 20 years in prison and lifetime registration. For what? The only person he touched was himself. Fair? I think not.