Sex Offender Issues

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Ask yourself this question. Out of all the states who have passed Jessica's law, has it prevents anymore children from being sexually abused or killed?

07/20/2008

By SUSAN ALLEN Times Argus Editor

Jessica Marie Lunsford died in 2005 at age 9. She had been kidnapped from her home in Homosassa, Fla., raped by repeat sexual offender John Couey, then buried alive.
- And John Couey begged and begged and begged for treatment. He did not get it. Why? If he would have, Jessica would still be here today!

The case horrified the nation and prompted Florida lawmakers to immediately pass what is now known as Jessica's Law, sparking a movement to toughen laws against sex offenders that in the three years since her death has led 33 states to pass some form of the statute.

Even states like Vermont that have balked at passing sweeping changes, such as Jessica's Law, have tightened their sex offender statutes in some form since the Lunsford case.

Recently, in the wake of the disappearance and murder of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett of Braintree, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (Contact) launched a public discussion of the issue here by calling for a special session of the Legislature to pass Jessica's Law for Vermont, among other tougher restrictions.

Bennett's body was found July 2 by members of the Vermont State Police in a shallow grave on the Randolph Center property of her uncle, convicted sex offender Michael Jacques. Jacques has been arrested on federal kidnapping charges and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Dubie, who is pushing a comprehensive review of Vermont's criminal justice system, said on Friday: "My main thrust is giving states attorneys additional tools and also sending a message to society that if you sexually assault a child, it's a severe crime and you should pay a price for that severe crime."

A look at Jessica's Law

Under Jessica's Law, those convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 12 would serve a minimum sentence of 25 years in jail and wear global positioning devices upon release to allow corrections officials to monitor their whereabouts at all times.

In addition, Florida, which enacted Jessica's Law in 2005, elevated the rape of a child under 12 to a capital felony, ensuring it was punishable by death or life in prison without the chance of parole. Recently the Supreme Court ruled in a Louisiana case that sentencing someone to death for child rape is unconstitutional if the victim was not killed.

Variations of Jessica's Law have been passed in 33 states, according to the Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation, a nonprofit organization started by Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, to expand the implementation of the statute nationwide. Those laws include community notification acts (Alabama), child protection acts (West Virginia), and 25-year minimums reflective of the Florida statute.

On Thursday, the North Carolina Legislature passed Jessica's Law on a vote of 49-0 in the Senate and 109-1 in the House, sending the bill to Gov. Mike Easley (Contact) for his signature. Jessica Lunsford had been a resident of North Carolina before moving to Florida a year before her murder.

Lawmakers, politicians, advocates, parents and even conservative talk show hosts have publicly argued about the need and appropriateness of implementing Jessica's Law in Vermont.

Controversial Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly has made passage of Jessica's Law a personal crusade, launching a national campaign to pressure governors in states without such a statute – including Vermont – to approve the measure.

"There is simply no question that Jessica's Law will save lives, and similar laws need to be instituted in every state," O'Reilly tells viewers on his Web page. He continues, "This is literally a life-and-death battle to save our youngest and most vulnerable citizens from abuse, torture, and murder."
- Well, that shows how ignorant "The Spin Doctor" is. These laws will not prevent another sexual abuse or another child from being killed. 90% or more of sex crimes are committed by someone NOT on a registry, so therefore, it will not prevent anything. It's common sense!

Many victims' advocates disagree, worrying that passage of lengthy mandatory minimums will reduce the number of cases that are plea-bargained into a jail term, discourage victims from facing traumatizing jury trials and ultimately backfire, leading to fewer convictions of sex offenders.
- Yeah, what kid would want to tell on mommy, daddy or uncle Joe if they know they will be sentencing him to life in prison or death? Plea bargains are a joke, and are used all the time. The usually use them when they do not have evidence, so they try to persuade you to take a deal so that can convict you. Never take a plea deal, IMO, it's not a deal, and they use it to scare the hell out of people so they do take the deals. Then they can move on to their next victim.

"My main concern is that it offers us a false sense of security where sexual offenders are concerned," said Karen Tronsgard-Scott, director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Jessica's Law is aimed at incarcerating the "worst of the worst" offenders, Tronsgard-Scott said, when in fact most child predators are known by the victim and might even be a family member.
- And this is a problem. They are now starting to put offenders into tier levels (I, II or III), and they do not judge a person based on their history or likelihood they will reoffend, but they base it solely on the crime committed, so therefore, it is diluting the registry. Many who are now a tier I are being moved into tier III simply due to the crime, when they are not a threat to anybody. So it makes it look worse than it is, and doesn't properly help people determine who is actually a threat on the registry. But, FEAR IS A GREAT MOTIVATOR, AND SELLS PRODUCTS!!!

Robert Hofmann, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, said it's impossible to accurately estimate the impact Jessica's Law or other mandatory minimum sentences would have on the prison system – or the cost to taxpayers. He said his department will begin studying the issue, however, in preparation for expected debate over the proposal.

Hofmann said about 450 inmates out of the state's 2,060 total prison population are in for sex offenses, everything from flashing to more severe and violent crimes.
- Out of those 450, how many of these, being fairly evaluated, are truly a risk to society? Probably less than 50 or so.

"Most of our attention and anguish and concern has been with the offenders that go to prison, are unrepentant, deny it outright, or say, 'There's nothing wrong with me raping that person,'" Hofmann said. "They don't take treatment and then have a much more substantial risk of re-offense. Those are the ones we anguish over the most."
- Not from what the news has been saying. The media and politicians, who are NOT listening to the experts, are heightening the fear factor, so now everyone is a threat, regardless of what they did.

While it would appear that imposing Jessica's Law would automatically cost the state money — after all, it's designed to keep more offenders in jail for longer periods of time — Hofmann said it's not that simple. Various factors – including whether fewer victims press charges, or the mandatory minimums act as a deterrent – will impact the outcome. Those are the factors his department will consider in trying to determine the cost and impact of mandatory minimum sentencing.

Any changes to the system would be incremental because sex offenders are already serving longer terms under newly passed changes to Vermont's sex offender laws.

"There's been an increase in people who are convicted getting jail time," he said. "That's part of what the strategy for policymakers has been, using prison beds for most violent offenders."
- And that is how it should be. The truly violent should be in prison, but someone of some small drug charge or some other small crime should not be. The prisons are over-flowing... Why do you think prison violence is so high? When you have tons of people in the same living quarters, there will be issues. The gangs run the prisons, and when the gang members come out, they are more of a threat. People do not get the treatment they need in prison, so they just sit there for years, dwelling on things, anger building... When they get out, watch out!

Changes follow horrific crimes

It's not unusual for significant statutory change to follow harrowing crimes. Although variations of the law had been implemented by individual states earlier, Megan's Law was officially created in 1994 in the wake of the kidnap, rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Nicole Kanka of New Jersey. The measure requires public notification of the whereabouts of certain sex offenders.

Charles Onley, a research associate with the Maryland-based Center for Sex Offender Management, said the Lunsford killing, along with several other high-profile child murders around the same time, sparked an explosion of changes to state laws and local ordinances across the country.
- And they are treating all sex offenders as if they murdered these children, that is a major problem. How would you like to be compared to Charles Manson or some other person simply because you have a criminal record for a similar crime?

"I've been here 10 years," Onley said. He said he would typically get about 15 inquiries a week from states eyeing changes in sex offender laws. The week after Jessica Lunsford's death, he got about 300.

"Florida already had tough legislation. They already had 1,000-foot residency restrictions, which many states didn't have at the time. They had sex offenders already fully on the Web sites, and at that time not every state had a Web site," he noted. "So, when this happened, their Legislature met and they put money into the GPS (to monitor) all child sex offenders, they toughened their laws to give more time to sex offenders for child abuse cases, and then many of their cities began to increase their distance for residency restrictions."

Since that time, Onley said other states have scrambled to match Florida's tough statutes or even outdo the Sunshine State.
- And this is another problem. Everyone is trying to outdo each other, thus turning this into a shuffle game at the sex offenders expense. They are legal one day, then the next, they have to move because the buffer zone has increased. Nobody wants them in their neighborhood, so they make huge buffers to push them into someone elses jurisdiction. Then the cycle repeats.

"Some of the governors are proposing tougher reactions to sex offenders and novel ways to get the one-up on everybody," he added. "Then the towns are trying to outdo each other."
- So everyone is competing against each other. States against states, and counties against counties. Total madness!

If one town has a ban on convicted sex offenders living within 1,000 feet of a school or playground (a proposal being considered in Barre and Rutland), another town will pass a 2,500-foot residency restriction, he said. Some towns have passed loitering ordinances against convicted sex offenders. Alabama holds sex offenders in jail past their release date unless a suitable housing situation is found for that person, Onley said.

Unfortunately, he said, "The tougher you get, then more of these individuals tend to go underground."
- And like Abraham Lincoln once said: "The best way to get a bad law repealed, is to enforce it strictly!"

Other ideas under discussion

Onley said Megan's Law and other sex registry ordinances have been helpful in enabling communities and law enforcement to keep track of offenders living in an area. Too many additional restrictions, such as residential bans, drive those offenders into hiding and make supervision that much more difficult, he said.
- And that is exactly what is occurring. People are vanishing, which puts more people in potential danger. When you push someone so much, eventually they will not take it anymore, thus what you see is occurring now. Remember the old Civil Rights movements? Well, this is becoming the same!

Restrictions, including mandatory minimum sentences, also make the job tougher for state corrections officials.

"The tougher laws make it hard for correctional folks to implement a strategy to successfully reintegrate the sex offenders into communities," said Onley, who disagrees with those arguing these offenders cannot be safely reintegrated.

"For 26 years I was in corrections, and I would have said there's no hope for these guys. I've seen these guys con and do all sorts of things," he noted. "But many of these offenders don't want to offend again. They want accountability, opportunities and support in the community. And many worry that without supports, they might re-offend."
- When you treat people like animals, they will act like animals, eventually. The more laws you pass, the more stress it puts on their lives, eventually people will snap, and who knows what will occur then. It's kind of like the school kids who are bullied all the time, they eventually get sick and tired of it, then snap, and go on a shooting spree. And I am not suggesting anybody do this, but showing what could occur.

He said sex offenders are living in our communities; that's an inescapable reality. Driving them into hiding would be a bad outcome of legal changes.

"Do you want to know where they are? I feel safer knowing where he is if I've got a choice. I would do things to keep my family safe in the first place," Onley said. "I'm a conservative guy, but I just think communities are at greater risk with these harsher penalties."

Tronsgard-Scott was also leery of significantly tougher sentencing, and said the focus should instead by on educating adults about the dangers facing children.

"Laws are designed to go into play after an act has been committed," she said. "But what I would love our conversation in Vermont to be about as a result of this horrendous act is how do we prevent this first act from happening?"

She said that as a child, it was not uncommon for kids to be aware of the "funny guy in the neighborhood" and for parents to say, "Don't go near him or her."

"But there were no consequences, nobody would ever consider having that person arrested, there was no place to report them. So this is kind of new in our society," she said.

That means educating ourselves as adults about issues such as who sex offenders typically are (90 percent of the time the child knows the offender) and how we can keep our children safer from predators.

"We have got to educate ourselves about what sex offenders look like, confront them in a way that will help them get into treatment," said Tronsgard-Scott. "Everyone in society has an important role to play in preventing sexual abuse."