WI - Sturtevant Considering Sex Offender Ordinance

Original Article

04/26/2013

By Heather Asiyanbi

Neighboring communities like Racine and Caledonia have ordinances governing where sex offenders can live. Sturtevant trustees are looking into having one as well.

Sturtevant trustees are looking into whether or not they should adopt an ordinance governing where sex offenders can live.

Trustee Chris Larsen said Tuesday during the Continual Committee meeting that he got the idea after learning about a similar ordinance in Caledonia and reading in The Journal Times about the efforts to pass one in the City of Racine.

"I just want to make sure that Sturtevant doesn't become the dumping ground for sex offenders in eastern Racine County," he said. "I'd like feedback on whether or not I should continue researching."

The ordinance Larsen is proposing would only apply to offenders determined by a court to be sexually violent who are released under the state's 980 commitment petition. That statute allows the state at the end of a convicted offender's prison sentence to petition the court to commit the offender to the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston, WI.

Sturtevant Chief Sean Marschke cautioned trustees to be sure the state would have to comply with local ordinance.

"If the state doesn't have to comply with our ordianances with these cases, then it's not worth pursuing," he said.

Patch contacted the Department of Human Services to find out if the state does have to comply with local ordinances.

"Yes, the state does," wrote Claire Smith in an email response to our note.

In Caledonia, the following rules apply for violent offenders released under the state's 980 petition:

• At least 1,000 feet from a school, church, park, athletic field, trail, playground, conservation district, or H.F. Johnson Park (which is managed by the city); and
• At least six blocks away from other sex offenders.

For those not under supervised release but required to register with the Department of Corrections' sex offender registry, they must live:

• At least 2,500 feet away from schools, churches, parks, athletic fields, trails, playgrounds, conservation districts, or H.F. Johnson Park; and
• At least six blocks away from other sex offenders.

- So does that make any sense? Those deemed dangerous (980's), must stay 1,000 feet away, while those less dangerous have to stay 2,500 feet away?  It seems that should be the other way around, unless we are reading something wrong?

Village President Steve Jansen agreed Larsen should continue his research.

"I'd like to see some more research into whether or not this makes sense for us," he said.

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CA - Sexual offenses not a life sentence

Original Article

04/16/2013

By AMANDA ZIVE

Laws are always being made and revised when it comes to sexually-charged crimes. It’s a very difficult situation that many feel is preventable. The goal is an understandable one: protect the children.

The methods, on the other hand, are not.

Lumping together all felons, with sexually-charged crimes against them, is the first atrocity. Though classified as differing risk levels, the long term punishment for these crimes are the same. Sexual offenses range from child pornography, sexual battery and assault all the way to molestation and sexual annoyances.

The age of the offender, context of the offense, and even the severity of the action doesn’t deter the judicial system from giving these people lifetime punishments. Those who do properly register, even those with minor offenses, are barred from living in almost any busy city due to restrictions based on school, church and park locations for the rest of their lives.

But If the real aim is to protect children, than the studies done on offenders need to be taken into account.

According to the government-run Megan’s Law website, 90 percent of juvenile victims had known their assailant, while shockingly almost half the time it’s a family member doing the crime.

Barring all labeled a sexual deviants from living near schools is less helpful than banning family reunions for these people.

The reality is there is needed action. While a point can be made that sexually-charged crimes generally carry a lesser sentence than traditional violent crime, a gross stereotyping and lifelong damnation of all offenders isn’t going to help.

The attempt at crime prevention is valiant, but preventing criminals from moving on from their crimes hinders progression. If some of the efforts were shifted from punishment to rehabilitation, some convicts could successfully rejoin society as active members.

Unfortunately these people are rarely seen as mentally ill (which they often are) so they aren’t treated. Instead of identifying and treating the problem, we’ve resorted simply to removing it, seemingly forgetting that these felons are actually human beings.

A distasteful joke, or an inappropriate smack between coworkers could mean a lifetime of registering as a sex offender.

Clearly, something must be done to protect victims of this system: Those wrongfully accused, convicted of single offenses, or minor offenses must be offered forgiveness and a chance to rejoin a community.

In California, one is only awarded a life sentence in custody for murder or attempting it, or kidnapping with special circumstances like ransom. Yet, it is seen as just and fair to essentially imprison sex offenders for life by barring them from living near city buildings.

Sex offenders need to be treated the same as other criminals; a set amount of detention, a set amount of probation and the guarantee that with good behavior they can be forgiven.

Another flaw with these laws is how hard they are to enforce. With life terms, the registry of offenders is only ever going to grow.

Yet as of now, there is a constant increase of sex offenders not properly registering or reporting. When these members stop reporting, or remove GPS tracking anklets, they simply fall off of the grid entirely. With so many cases and such a heavy workload, officers often focus on the offenders they can locate.

Reasons for not reporting could include laziness, but it is a sign that the person is not willing to conform to what society demands of them for retribution. The punishment, if the assailant is located and detained, is generally a six-month sentence that is often reduced due to overcrowding; an empty threat and an unfit punishment.

Finally, these laws give a false sense of security to people with children who live near schools, parks or churches. Many are aware of these laws and feel safer knowing their neighbor isn’t a sexual deviant.

The truth is some offenders don’t report and statistics show offenders rarely abduct random children they don’t know.

These laws and restrictions, though they may be intended as prevention turn out to be nothing more than on-going punishments.

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WI - Proposal would leave few places for some sex offenders

Original Article

04/15/2013

By CARA SPOTO

RACINE - An ordinance proposal that would prevent violent or child sex offenders placed in Racine from residing within 1,000 feet of locations where children spend time would make most areas of the city off-limits to such offenders.

A review by The Journal Times of a map drafted for the City Council’s Public Safety and Licensing Committee reveals only small pockets where such offenders could live.

Under the current version of the proposed ordinance, violent or child sex offenders locating to Racine would be banned from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center, library, park, playground, swimming pool or house of worship.

If those restrictions were to be approved, the entire Downtown area would be off-limits to such offenders, as would many residential areas close to Downtown, save a small section of blocks south of Washington Avenue and 14th Street.

Most of the near north side would also be off-limits under the proposed ordinance, excluding a few small patches, like a small spot north of Shoreland Drive and east of Douglas Avenue. Much of the near south side also would be off-limits.

More areas would be available farther north and south, but not many. The map shows a few blocks available north of Romayne Avenue and a small area just south of the airport around Goold Avenue and Rapids Drive.

There also would be a handful of small areas available on the city’s far south and far west sides.

The City Council is slated to take up final consideration of the measure tonight at its 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall, 730 Washington Ave.

See Also:

• City Council approves sex offender zones

Read the rest of the article

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WI - Sex offender buffer zone proposal heads to council

Original Article

04/09/2013

By CARA SPOTO

RACINE - An ordinance proposal that would prevent violent or child sex offenders placed in Racine from residing within 1,000 feet of locations where children spend time is on its way to the City Council, but not before an item regarding appeals gets another look.

Meeting Monday night at City Hall, 730 Washington Ave., the Public Safety and Licensing Committee voted 3-0 to recommend that the council approve the ordinance with the understanding that the current draft would receive some adjustments before being considered by the council.

Committee members said they were comfortable with the key elements of the measure, which proposes that sex offenders located to Racine be banned from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center, library, park, playground, swimming pool or house of worship. However, members had lingering questions about certain definitions and the measure’s proposed appeals process.

In its current form, the proposed ordinance states that a sex offender looking to be exempted from the 1,000-foot residence requirements could make an appeal to the Public Safety and Licensing Committee.

Alderman Sandy Weidner, who is not a member of the committee, said aldermen should consider establishing a separate body to hear appeals.

“I don’t know that all the members that would be appointed to the (Public Safety and Licensing Committee) would even want to have that onus on their shoulders,” she said. “I think that’s a lot to ask.”

Some of the questions the committee members had were, in part, raised by Robert Peterson, an attorney for convicted sex offender [name withheld], who was recently released to Racine.

Peterson, who spoke during the public hearing before the meeting, presented data that he said shows restrictions on where convicted sex offenders can live have almost no effect on recidivism.

“Residence requirements of 1,000 feet, 2,000 feet, statistically will do nothing to increase the safety of the community,” Peterson said.

[name withheld]’s former victim also spoke during the sparsely attended hearing. The victim, whose name The Journal Times is not releasing, implored the committee to support the measure. Committee member and outgoing alderman Molly Hall began working on the proposal earlier this year after [name withheld] was nearly relocated within blocks of the victim’s West Racine residence.

“This ordinance should have been in effect a long time ago,” the victim said. “I am strongly asking you to take this ordinance into consideration so other people don’t have to go through what I have been through in the last three and a half months.”

Read the rest of the story here

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FL - Sex offender village grows out of residency restrictions

Original Article

03/21/2013

By Ben Wolford

PAHOKEE - Miracle Village is so remote, the residents compare themselves to lepers.

Two miles of sugar cane separate 100 men from nearby Pahokee, itself a flyspeck on the shores of Lake Okeechobee. They fill the skeleton shacks of an abandoned sugar-company town.

This is among the only places to live comfortably as a sex offender in South Florida. For many of these men, pushed to the fringe by residency restrictions, Miracle Village was the last net before homelessness.

"In the beginning, no one wanted us around," said Pat Powers, director of Matthew 25 Ministries, the Christian ministry that oversees about a dozen of the 65 dwellings on 24 acres. "But it's totally changed, now we're a part of the community."

Some of them had sex with their underage girlfriends. Some viewed child pornography. One resident, a leader in the ministry, was a teacher at a Palm Beach County school who confessed to molesting students.

Palm Beach County has established a task force to suggest ways to house and regulate the county's roughly 1,000 sex offenders. It has asked Powers, a sex offender himself, to share ideas at its meeting Friday.

Groups from as far as Texas and Alaska have sought Powers for advice. He said network film crews, drawn by the lurid possibility of a sex-offender colony, have descended on this outpost. Some, he said, left disappointed.

"We can't run it," he said they told him. "There's nothing controversial."

That was not true in 2009, when an aging evangelical pastor established Miracle Village, evicting families who lived there with children, and inviting more than 30 just-released sex offenders in the opening months.

It was halfway between two hostile places: prison and the public. It seemed perfect. But even two miles out Muck City Road, it seemed, was not far enough.

The Pahokee mayor at the time, Wayne Whitaker, told the Associated Press, "There's just too many in one place. It's very, very risky." Parents in the town complained of unease.

In Palm Beach and Broward counties, sex offenders are not allowed to reside near schools or parks, and many are further restricted by the terms of their probation.

"Municipalities and counties are in a race," said Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County State Attorney. The race is "to push sex offenders into the neighboring communities."

"It becomes a competition."

But something changed in Pahokee. In three years, feelings shifted.

The controversial pastor died last year, and Powers, who had served 12 years on a lewd and lascivious conviction, assumed leadership. The sex offenders patronized local shops. Local officials made visits. Some of the tenants have built relationships with the local Methodist church.

"One of them plays the piano in the choir, one of them bakes the cakes," said Rose Herron, an 86-year-old churchgoer with white hair and a cross on her necklace.

The Rev. Patti Aupperlee, pastor of First United Methodist Church, said she takes certain precautions, including leaving the drapes of her office open, and said she has a close relationship with law enforcement. She said there was a recent incident, but declined to describe it.

She believes in forgiveness and human imperfection and second chances.

"When you see a pack of dogs, automatically you think 'attack' without knowing any of the individuals," Aupperlee said.

Pahokee Mayor J.P. Sasser said he knows several of the men personally through the church. He said they "are actually making a positive contribution to the community."

Powers said the recidivism rate among his tenants is nonexistent. This could not be confirmed; the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for crime rates among Miracle Village residents. In general, recidivism among sex offenders is between 5 percent and 10 percent over time, according to a recent Justice Department study.

Residents often talk about Miracle Village as though it was a person who saved their lives.

At 19, [name withheld] had a 14-year-old girlfriend. He served six months in a Brevard County jail then came here. Now 22, [name withheld]  who plays the drums and Guitar Hero in his duplex, says Miracle Village is a place where his label — sex offender — does not interfere with his relationships.

"It was a blessing," he said.

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WI - De Pere City Council Votes to Repeal Sex Offender Residency Ordinance

Original Article

03/20/2013

By Jeff Alexander

De Pere - De Pere becomes the first community in Northeast Wisconsin to repeal its sex offender residency ordinance.

In a 5-to-3 vote last night, the city council moved to no longer limit where convicted sex offenders can live.

For the last three years, registered sex offenders in De Pere, unless approved by a city residency board, could not live within 500 feet of where children gather, like schools, parks and churches.

Now, that city ordinance is no more.

"Well I'm very happy, I think ultimately repealing our sex offender residency ordinance makes our community safer," says De Pere Alderman Scott Crevier, who led the charge to repeal the ordinance.

He says it all came down to listening to the experts.

"Our own police chief doesn't like the ordinance, if you talk to any of the local D-A's from Green Bay and Brown County, the folks from the Department of Corrections, they all say that having a sex offender residency ordinance makes it more difficult for them to do their job," says Crevier.

Alderman Mike Donovan says he's heard the argument that an ordinance can lead to sex offenders giving false addresses in order to live where they want.

But he's now concerned De Pere will attract convicted sex offenders, because surrounding communities still have their ordinances in place, which is why he voted against repealing De Pere's.

"If you rationale it out, you would think well people are going to move to De Pere because it's just an easier place to get a place to live," says Donovan.

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OK - House panel eyes sex offender penalties

Original Article

03/19/2013

By SEAN MURPHY

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Convicted sex offenders who fail to register with law enforcement would face a minimum of five years in prison under a bill (SB-933) approved by a House committee on Tuesday over the objections of opponents who say it will only make state prison overcrowding worse.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 10-3 for the bill, which already passed the Senate and now heads to the full House for consideration.

"Most people who have to register should realize that's pretty serious," said Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, the House sponsor of the bill. "It's not like forgetting to pick up milk on your way home."

Judges currently can sentence offenders to a maximum of five years in prison for failing to register, but Osborn said most receive 90 days and are released with electronic monitoring.

The bill initially would have required a minimum of 10 to 15 years in prison for failing to register, but was amended to include a minimum of five years.

Still, opponents argued the bill takes away the discretion of a judge to be more lenient with low-level sex offenders who have essentially committed a technical infraction.

"What we're doing is wholly unnecessary," said Rep. Cory Williams, D-Stillwater. "We're basically re-prosecuting them for the heinous crime that they were convicted of committing before. Let's not forget they were already punished for that crime."
- Of course it is, but she sees a way to help herself look "tough" on crime, so as usual, she jumps at the opportunity.

An analysis of the bill by House researchers indicates 257 people were convicted of failure to register as a sex offender last fiscal year. Of those, 219 were sentenced to an average of 3.6 years in prison. Based on the 10-year minimum, the projected fiscal impact to the state's prison system was about $3.6 million annually. According to the Department of Corrections, there currently are more than 1,100 delinquent sex offenders who have failed to register with authorities.

Oklahoma had the nation's fifth highest incarceration in 2011, the most recent for which data was available, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

David Nichols, the founder and president of Hand Up Ministries that helps convicted sex offenders transition back into society, said the group is relentlessly targeted by lawmakers looking to score political points and tout their "tough-on-crime" credentials. He said convicted sex offenders already are prohibited from living in most urban areas because of restrictions that include churches, daycares, schools, parks and playgrounds.

"They're more than piling on them," said Nichols, who has about 135 sex offenders living at a mobile home park in south Oklahoma City. "They don't want them to have a chance of staying out of prison."

"I'll be honest with you, I trust the politicians a lot less than these guys here."

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TX - Sex-offender status imposes harsh limits on paroled woman

Original Article

03/03/2013

By Michelle Mondo

Since she was paroled in November after more than 12 years in prison for a crime she maintains never happened, Anna Vasquez has learned that being a registered sex offender means never truly being free.

No doubt, Vasquez said, she's happy to be out of a cell, waking up in her own bed, sitting on the porch, watching fireworks on New Year's Eve.

But the stringent parole restrictions, even tougher for sex offenders, she must adhere to have gnawed at her optimism.

She said she has lost out on job offers, is constrained in where she can drive, can't visit certain family members and is blocked from going to a church, some of what would help her readjust from prison life.

On Saturday, Vasquez wasn't allowed to attend the screening of a partly completed documentary and a panel discussion about her case and the ongoing efforts to win exoneration for her and her three co-defendants, who always have professed their innocence.

The event, part of CineFestival at the Guadalupe Theater, was within 500 feet of a school, making it off limits to a sex offender.

“I'm not a child molester,” said Vasquez, 37. “I do understand the restrictions; it just sucks that I'm under that blanket. There are some sick people out there, and it's upsetting to me that I'm looked at like that, too.”

Last year, one of the four women's two accusers publicly recanted, saying the bizarre sexual assault never happened. Her testimony had helped convict Vasquez and three friends: Cassandra Rivera, 38, Kristie Mayhugh, 40, and Elizabeth Ramirez, 38. They were accused in 1994 by Ramirez's two nieces, then 7 and 9. The younger niece, now 25, has changed her story; the older sister has not commented. San Antonio Express-News stories in 2010 delved into the conflicting testimony and questionable evidence presented at the trials.

Ramirez, who was tried separately and sentenced to 37½ years in prison, isn't eligible for parole for another two years. Vasquez, Rivera and Mayhugh entered prison in 2000 to serve 15-year sentences.

As the only one out of prison on parole so far, Vasquez has taken on the mantle of spokeswoman for the efforts, led by The Innocence Project of Texas, to clear all four women.

On the good days since her release, Vasquez doesn't dwell on what she's lost since 1994.

“It's sitting down with my family, sitting on the porch, cutting the grass, going to H-E-B even and shopping. Yesterday, I was cleaning out this little storage room. That was a good day,” she said.

She tries to focus on the three goals she hopes to achieve in her first six months out of prison: get a driver's license, find a job and buy her own car. So far, she's reached the first one, but the other two are more difficult than she realized.

On the bad days, when she's turned down for a job or told she won't get to CineFestival, Vasquez is reminded that she still can't live the life she wants.

“This conviction defines her,” said her attorney, Mike Ware. “She can never be free until this wrong is made right, and despite her being on parole, she's not free of that.”

Read the rest of the article here

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WV - Justices rule sex offender cannot choose where to worship

Original Article
Read the court document

02/25/2013

By Andrea Lannom

A convicted sex offender will not be able to choose where he worships, West Virginia Supreme Court justices recently ruled, saying an offender does not have an automatic right to attend religious services.

Instead, it is up to the trial court's discretion, the Feb. 22 opinion states.

[name withheld] of Bridgeport entered guilty pleas in Harrison County Circuit Court to charges of sexual abuse by a person in position of trust and to third degree sexual assault.

The state alleged in a court brief that [name withheld] "perpetrated hundreds, if not thousands of sexual assaults against his stepdaughters while they were minors and that after one of the stepdaughters was impregnated by the petitioner, the petitioner himself performed a crude abortion on the victim."

The Harrison County prosecuting attorney's office offered [name withheld] a plea agreement, and in February 2009 the court sentenced [name withheld] to not less than 10 nor more than 20 years for the first charge and not less than one nor more than five years for the third degree sexual assault charge.

[name withheld] would serve these sentences by electronically monitored home confinement, with the sentences running concurrently.

The reason for this sentence is because of [name withheld]'s diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, post traumatic stress disorder and depression.

However, concerns arose and [name withheld] wanted the trial court to address six areas: the failure of counsel to take an appeal, "erroneous information in the pre-sentence report, ineffective assistance of counsel regarding sentencing/post sentencing appeal and motion to reconsider, a more severe sentence than expected, excessive sentence and mistaken advice of counsel as to parole eligibility."

Newcomer Justice Allen Loughry delivered the opinion of the court, affirming the lower court's decision.

"We find no basis for habeas corpus relief or for further modification of the terms of petitioner's sentencing," the opinion states.

Until this case, the opinion notes, the court hasn't addressed whether home incarceration constitutes "the qualifying level of incarceration for purposes of seeking post-conviction relief in habeas corpus."

Justices ruled that federal law "leaves no doubt" that this remedy is available to those on home incarceration, noting the U.S. Supreme Court has "broadly interpreted" the phrase "in custody" to extend to "any situation where there are significant restraints on an individual's liberty."

"The fact that petitioner is serving his sentence in an alternate fashion subject to the terms of the Home Incarceration Act does not mean that he has the freedom to come and go as he pleases; his daily activities are subject to both the supervision and control of the Home Incarceration Office," the opinion states.

[name withheld] questioned whether habeas corpus should be granted because he paid for services to provide a motion to reconsider and an appeal but he "received neither," court briefs state.

[name withheld]'s attorney, Steven T. Cook from the Stapleton Law Office, filed a petition for post-conviction writ of habeas corpus in March 2010, but the court denied the writ regarding allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Read the rest of the article here

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PA - Law change means some will be registered sex offenders for life

Original Article

02/18/2013

Late in 2002, [name withheld] of Hazleton pleaded guilty to molesting a 7-year-old girl and was sentenced to serve one year in prison and register as a sex offender for 10 years.
- And anything beyond this is an unconstitutional ex post facto law.

His 10 years on the registry would have expired on May 15, but a little more than a year ago the law changed.

Now [name withheld] must register as a sex offender for life.
- And that is unconstitutional additional punishment!  Imagine, if they can do this, then they can change any law and re-punish you for something you did years ago.

"What I can't understand is how can they do this? If you are already under Megan's Law, how can they add to that? That's very upsetting," [name withheld] said.
- Because they claim it's regulatory and not punishment, which we all know is a load of BS!

The U.S. Constitution bans ex post facto laws - those that take effect after the fact.
- And so does the states constitution (section 17).

However, in challenges to the sex offender registry under Megan's Law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that the registry is a regulatory law, not a criminal law, so the ex post facto rule doesn't apply.

An update to Megan's Law in Pennsylvania that Gov. Tom Corbett signed on Dec. 20, 2011, changes the registration requirement from 10 years to life for some crimes, including indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, to which [name withheld] pleaded guilty. The law now requires offenders to register for 15 years, 25 years or life depending on how their crime is categorized.

Some offenders who completed their time on the registry before the law changed must re-register.

Others who never had to register when their cases were adjudicated must go on the registry. An Altoona attorney told his local newspaper, the Mirror, in December 2012 that at least three people who accepted pleas keeping them off the register want to negotiate new deals or challenge the new law that requires them to register.

The attorney, Thomas M. Dickey, did not return a telephone call asking for an update on those cases.

"I'm looking for a sexual offender to challenge this as ex post facto," Shelly Clevenger, assistant professor at Illinois State University, said.

Clevenger is studying the retroactive law in Illinois, where sexual offenders face additional restrictions.

"We have some strange laws. Sexual offenders can't go to a public park, be on a walking trail, operate a food vehicle. The state is starting to legislate what offenders can and cannot do," she said.

Does the law work?

In her dissertation for a doctorate in criminology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in May 2012, Clevenger studied the effectiveness of Megan's Law in Pennsylvania. The law takes its name from Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl who was sexually abused and murdered in New Jersey in 1994.

"Overall, the results of the current study, coupled with results from previous studies which have examined the effectiveness of Megan's Law, indicate that the legislation has not been effective in reducing and/or preventing rape, sex offenses and/or the murder of children," Clevenger wrote in her dissertation.

Since Megan's Law took effect in 1996 in Pennsylvania, the incidences of rape, other sex crimes and murder of a person younger than 13 decreased in urban areas, Clevenger's study found. But in suburban and rural areas, rape and sexual offenses increased, according to her study.

Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law in Stony Brook, N.Y., said case statistics alone don't measure the effectiveness of the law. Creating a registry for sex offenders made people more aware of sex crimes. That might have caused people to report abuse instead of keeping secrets, Ahearn said.

Instances where the registry prevented a crime don't show up on statistics, but parents who consulted the registry have prevented children from playing where an offender lived, she said.

"There's plenty of anecdotal evidence," Ahearn said.

When Clevenger conducted research for her doctorate, she wasn't expecting crime rates to move in different directions in urban and rural areas. When thinking about the results, she noticed that the drop in urban crimes coincided with a national trend. She reasoned that Megan's Law might have enticed offenders to move from urban areas to suburbs and rural areas.

"That was the best theory I could come up with," Clevenger said.

Assorted laws in municipalities around the nation set distances from schools, playgrounds or other public places where sex offenders may not live.

Clevenger said residence rules and competition for rental housing in cities might have led some sex offenders to move from urban areas to suburban or rural areas.

Life on the registry

In Hazleton, [name withheld] said he cannot go to events at the Wiltsie Center at the Historic Castle, such as the George Thorogood concert on March 10 that he would like to attend.

"We can't even go to church," he said, citing a city law.

[name withheld] hasn't had a job since his release from prison, and he said that's common for people on the registry.

"Very few of us are able to work. Employers won't hire. They don't want their businesses on the registry," [name withheld] said.

He receives disability payments.

"I've been trying to get off disability and find a job. I'm never going to be able to. Nobody's going to hire me," [name withheld] said.

His criminal record includes a conviction for arson in 1999. Two years ago, workers at the office of state Rep. Tarah Toohil said [name withheld] harassed them. In 2005, [name withheld] was charged with failing to report a change of address to the registry.

Megan's Law requires offenders to report address changes within 48 hours. Under current law, if [name withheld] misses that deadline, he can be charged with a felony and sentenced to prison for up to 10 years.
- So if it's regulatory and not punishment, then why would he be sentenced to 10 years in prison, more than what his actual crime received (1 year)?  Sounds like additional punishment to us.

Four times a year, he must report to a police station to update his information on the registry. Police take a new photo of him, note his address, emails, workplace and whether he is enrolled in a school or college or owns a vehicle or boat.

"If I go on vacation, I have to register in that state and tell Pennsylvania police that I'm going there. So I don't go nowhere," [name withheld] said.

No one has ever harmed him because he is on the registry. A note on the website for the registry says anyone who intimidates or harasses a person on the registry can be prosecuted or be liable in a civil lawsuit.
- Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, it does, all the time, as seen here.

Still, [name withheld] remains fearful.

"You don't know what vigilante is out there. I don't trust nobody. All my trust is gone," he said.

Proactive parents

Parents have different fears when trying to protect their children.

The registry provides a starting point by listing people who are potential threats because of their past actions.
- It only lists some people, ex-sex offenders, not all criminals who have or may harm children, like murderers, gang members, drug dealers, DUI offenders, kidnappers, etc.

"There are pedophiles on the registry and people on the registry that you should look out for," Clevenger said.

But she said the registry can breed a false sense of security. Parents should realize that not every offender is on the registry, nor are offenders likely to be strangers, Clevenger said.

The case of Jerry Sandusky underscores that sexual offenders can avoid detection for years while remaining off the registry. Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State University, is serving a prison sentence of 30 to 60 years for abusing at least 10 boys during a 20-year span.

The registry started to prevent strangers from abducting children, as happened to Megan Kanka. Her death outraged the nation, but the circumstances of her case are relatively rare.

Most children are abused by someone whom they know, Clevenger and Ahearn said.

"The fact that most crime(s) of this nature (are) not committed by a stranger, but by an intimate, who likely does not appear on the registry, suggests that this legislation was passed without any attention to the facts and realities of sex offenses," Clevenger wrote in her dissertation.
- Of course they ignored the facts.  If you go back and review the history, and the many recidivism studies, you will see the law doesn't jive with the facts.

Ahearn said Parents for Megan's Law recommends several strategies to reduce child sexual abuse. Her group staffs a 24-hour hotline. Members lead education programs for parents and children from preschool to high school. The group counsels victims.
- And now, in New York, they are also being contracted to MONITOR ex-sex offenders!

"When the victim is provided services, they are more likely to participate in the criminal justice system and less likely to be revictimized," Ahearn, the director, said.
- Do you have facts to back this statement up?  Or you just assume we will believe you?  Like domestically abused men/women who move from bad relationship to another, We're sure your statement is not exactly true, it's just an assumption on your part.

She said the group also supports police. Through a new program with Suffolk County, Long Island, N.Y., the group will hire retired police to verify addresses of people on the registry.

Ahearn favors having offenders stay on the registry for life and believes they also should have individual monitoring plans. People who comply with the registry requirements have a lower rate of repeating crimes, she said.
- Ex-sex offenders in general have low recidivism rates, and there is no study or evidence to back up her assumption.

Local laws that keep offenders from living in sight of children reduce temptation to commit further crimes, Ahearn said. The local laws, she said, will vary among communities because of population densities, but shouldn't be so restrictive that courts will overturn them.
- Again, her opinion doesn't make it a fact.  Show us a study to prove that Ms. Ahearn!  She's also making the usual blanket statement making it appear as if all ex-sex offenders are out drooling over children, which is false.  Many have not touched a child in any way, yet she makes it appear as if all are child molesters.

"You want to avoid a registered sex offender having his backyard against the backyard of a day care or a school," Ahearn said.
- What if the ex-sex offenders crime didn't involve a child?

She referred to sex offenders as pied pipers who befriend children and parents while setting the stage to abuse a child.
- You see, she thinks all ex-sex offenders are child molesters.  That would be like saying all humans are murderers because a couple are.  It's the same logic!

"Most child sexual abuse happens with somebody in an existing, trusted relationship," Ahearn said. "That doesn't mean the relationship is known by parents."
- What about the ex-sex offenders who had nothing to do with children but their crime was against an adult? Stop assuming all ex-sex offenders are child molesting, pedophile, predators who are lurking behind every corner just waiting to jump on your child, that is absurd!

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PA - Church leaders learn about taking sex offenders into congregations

Original Article

11/12/2012

By MARY KLAUS

When sexual offenders seek church, synagogue, mosque or temple membership, faith communities need to balance protecting victims and members in the congregation with providing the offender a chance to worship, an Atlanta minister and attorney said Monday in Camp Hill.

When clergy use pornography, congregation members and leaders need to report it to denomination officials and police.

When faith communities don’t have “safe sanctuary” policies, they need to get them now, the Rev. Joy Melton told about 125 people Monday at a “Faithful Response to Burning Issues in the Church” seminar.

“I don’t say if the situation of sexual offenders wanting to be in your congregation will happen,” Melton, a nationally recognized leader in development of ministry protection and abuse prevention policies, said at the Camp Hill United Methodist Church. “I say when.”

Sponsored by the Ecumenical Task Force for Training on Sexuality Issues, the seminar attracted clergy and church leaders from several denominations. Melton, a recognized national leader in development of ministry protection and abuse prevention policies, said that up to 20,000 convicted sex offenders are released from jail annually.

Although some tell pastors that “they found Jesus Christ in jail” or “I served my sentence,” that’s not reason enough to incorporate them into the congregation, she said.

“You need to plan ahead for these situations,” she said. “It costs a lot more for your congregation to settle a lawsuit than it does to learn how to have safe sanctuary policies and procedures.”

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OR - Church and meeting place for ex-sex offenders in place for over three years, but the witch hunt continues!

Original Article

And the witch hunt continues! What is the problem? This place has been there for over three years without any incident, so this is fear over nothing, and I hope the church stands it's ground. We've sent them an email thanking them for their service, and others should do the same.

11/15/2012

By Thom Jensen

HILLSBORO – Parents have been fighting for years without success to get a church near a public grade school to move its meetings for sex offenders.

They say they've run into roadblocks trying to get this sex offender meeting to move. They say they've been trying for at least three years to convince Sonrise Church, where these registered offenders meet, to move the meeting far away from any schools.

Additionally, some of these sex offenders will actually start living at the church within the next month, KATU News has learned.

The motto at the church is "A safe place to hear a life changing message." But parents who have children right next door at Quatama Elementary School question that message.

The church holds a service every week and as many as 120 registered sex offenders attend.

"This like having an AA meeting in a bar," said parent Shannon Jones.

It's about 60 steps from the church to the school, a distance that can be walked in just over a half-minute.

Parents want the Hillsboro School District to notify everyone about what's going on and "help us communicate to families right in this area that might not know," said Marcy Tell.

But they say the district refuses.

A district spokesperson says the district takes no position on the issue and that it has a good relationship with the church.

Employees at the church were resistant to speak to KATU News Thursday. But a pastor said he won't move the services. The church was there first, and he said security guards are at the church to protect kids.

Parents question his truthfulness because of something that happened at another church seven years ago.

Pastor Jerry Mettee filed a false police report in 2005 saying he was stabbed by a burglar when, in fact, he stabbed himself. But the church and district said there hasn't been one incident involving offenders and kids.

"You can't undo something after it's already happened and make it all better," Jones said.

Jones, also a survivor of childhood sex abuse, says she doesn't want that first incident to occur, and that's why she's going public with her concerns.

Parents also question the relationship between the district and Sonrise because the church donates up to $5,000 a year to the schools.

They also want state laws to change to outlaw these types of offender meetings and treatment centers near schools.

See Also:

• Pastor says he'll consider moving sex offender service away from school

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OR - That's not why I'm here - Offenders who come to worship are treated as if they had come to prey, rather than pray!

Original Article

06/24/2012

By Sanne Specht

Officials of a local church are battling their insurance company over demands that sex offenders who come to worship be treated as if they had come to prey, rather than pray.

Chad McComas, pastor at Set Free Christian Fellowship in Medford, said his church disclosed to its insurance company that there were known sex offenders within its congregation. That honesty may spell the end of Set Free, a church he started in 1997.

On May 1, the insurance company, Church Mutual, sent a letter requiring McComas to disclose to his congregation the identity of any and all sex offenders, allow those offenders to attend only one predetermined service each week where they must report in and be assigned an escort who will accompany them at all times, and bar them from participating in any child or youth programs.

"Please respond by June 15, 2012. We will review your procedures. If you have not met all the requirements, we may no longer be able to continue your coverage," the letter states.

McComas is challenging the insurance company rules, which he said will have a chilling effect on disclosure, encourage abusers to go underground, and are the same for an 18-year-old boy who is convicted of sex abuse for having sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend.

"Where does that line go? They're throwing everyone in the same boat," McComas said.

[name withheld], a 66-year-old convicted sex offender who attends Set Free, said he is a devout Christian who attends services to worship God, not to prey on youths.

"Certainly there are people who have not accepted the Lord who come to church (with evil intent)," [name withheld] said. "That's not why I'm here."

Patrick Moreland, vice president of marketing for Church Mutual, declined to discuss the specifics of his company's interaction with Set Free. Church Mutual insures more than 100,000 religious organizations. It has covered close to 5,000 sex-related claims since 1984.

The rules, developed by outside legal counsel, are designed not only to protect the organization from the "legal hot water" of sexual misconduct and molestation claims but also to protect potential victims, Moreland said.

"Our No. 1 goal is to protect our churches and our children," Moreland said.

[name withheld] abused drugs and alcohol and had a long history of sexually abusing children prior to becoming a Christian, he said, adding he pleaded guilty to first-degree sex abuse and sodomy in 1993 after he succumbed "to temptation" one last time.

Two days after [name withheld] was arrested on those charges, he was released on his own recognizance and confessed his crimes to McComas, who was then an assistant pastor at another church.

[name withheld] said he tendered his guilty plea in Jackson County Circuit Court to spare the child victim from having to testify. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 10 years of probation and treatment, he said.

"I didn't put the blame on anyone but me," [name withheld] said. "I didn't want the minor to have to testify."

McComas is loathe to have his church, which has about 100 members, identified as "the sex-offender church." But this issue is a matter of principle and practicality, he said.

"We deal with a lot of members who have addiction backgrounds. That's part of who we serve. But that's not all of who we serve," McComas said. "We know who our members are. We are being careful and diligent. But how often are we going to have to tell the congregation that someone is a sex offender? The congregation changes all the time."

Sex-based claims and crimes occur in cities big and small, in rural areas and in any denomination, Moreland said. Set Free received the same letter that Church Mutual would send to any church, camp or school that disclosed it had a sex offender in attendance, he said.

"What if you have a known offender who offends again? What's a jury going to say?" Moreland said.

Ashland resident Randy Ellison, board president of Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service, is an adult survivor of child sexual abuse. Ellison was 15 when a charismatic youth minister at a popular Portland church began sexually abusing him.

For more than 40 years, Ellison remained silent about the devastation wrought by the trusted leader in his community. Now he is a vocal advocate in the fight to end child sex abuse.

The church and the community at large have a responsibility to protect children, Ellison said. Disclosure to the congregation and restricting offenders from being alone with a child are realistic and necessary provisions, he said.

"If there is a sex offender in my church with my children, I want to know about it," Ellison said.

But the insurance company overreached by requiring Set Free to assign an offender a constant escort and limiting his attendance at worship, Ellison added.

"As a man of faith, I have to say, wouldn't you rather have this person in church?" Ellison said.

Offenders must take responsibility and be accountable for their acts. Church services, addiction recovery meetings and other cognitive and behavioral programs are vital to "rewiring brains," he said.

"We're better off as a society having him go to church with an agreement about what can and cannot happen," Ellison said. "We want them there safely. But we want them there as often as we can get them to go."

As heinous as their crimes are, sex offenders are a part of the community's collective family. In fact, 40 percent of perpetrators are within the victim's immediate family, he said.

"Perpetrators aren't devils in trench coats," Ellison said. "Look at any family photo. Perpetrators look like your father, uncle or grandpa. And that, in fact, is who they are."

If society isolates and excludes perpetrators once they are out of prison, it becomes impossible for them to be a part of a community in a positive way. And the odds of recidivism increase dramatically, Ellison said.

"Humans need to be in relationships," Ellison said. "But we're going to watch and make sure it's a safe and positive relationship."

[name withheld] gave up the right to be alone with a child when he molested his first one, Ellison said.

"His past behavior has burned that bridge," Ellison said. "But that doesn't mean that we don't worship with him."

There is no safety in numbers when it comes to these kinds of dangers, McComas said. If offenders have ill intent, they are much more likely to go to a church with a large congregation.

"That's where they want to go, because they can hide and groom these kids," McComas said.

Ellison's minister is the Rev. Pam Shepherd of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Ashland. Shepherd agrees with Ellison that churches have a responsibility to keep children and youth safe. UCC is insured and performs background checks on all Bible school teachers, youth ministers and others who are in positions to deal with minors.

But Shepherd said she has never seen a letter like the one McComas received from Church Mutual. And no one in their membership has disclosed any sex crimes, she said.

"There are no known sex offenders coming to our church," Shepherd said. "But if all sex offenders glowed orange, people might be surprised to see who they are sitting next to."

[name withheld] said he has been labeled as a "predatory" child sex abuser. He served additional time in prison during his 10-year probationary period for failing two of six polygraph tests and refusing to participate in therapies he deemed counter to his religious beliefs, he said.

"I was convicted of one offense with one minor," [name withheld] said. "But I was open and I disclosed my history of molestation with minors."

[name withheld] doesn't believe in "self help," he said. Prayer helps him stay focused on God and not on sin. In addition to attending worship services, [name withheld] works in food pantries at Set Free and at his old church, he said.

"We're here to love one another. Not lust after one another, and I was guilty of that," [name withheld] said.

[name withheld] must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He is used to being watched. Just last week, Oregon State Police were at his door, where he lives with three other men who have been convicted of sex crimes, after a young developmentally challenged man went missing.

"They searched the house, didn't find anything and thanked me for cooperating," [name withheld] said.

[name withheld] said if he gets driven out of Set Free by Church Mutual's policies, he will simply go to another church, then another. One week at a time, if necessary, he said.

[name withheld] was one of seven known sex offenders at a larger church in Medford. [name withheld] said policies were put in place and an elder was assigned to watch him. The man sat a few rows behind [name withheld] at services. One day he didn't realize [name withheld] had gone to the restroom. When the man realized [name withheld] was not in his seat, "he got up and he had a look of panic on his face," [name withheld] said.

[name withheld] was later asked to sign a contract promising not to molest anyone. He opted to leave that church and began attending Set Free, he said.

"You know who I am. If you want to watch me, watch me. But don't ask me to participate in it," [name withheld] said. "There are murderers coming into churches. You don't ask them to sign a contract not to kill anyone."

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CA - What ever happened to the Eighth amendment?

Original Article

06/14/2012

By RLitchfield1

[name withheld] is hurt, anxious, and angry.

He might actually be dangerous.

If he wasn’t dangerous before our legal system got hold of him, our legal system may have made him that way.

[name withheld] is 39 years old. He has been homeless, on and off, for five or six years.

When he wasn’t homeless during the past few years, he was in and out of jail for parole violations.

[name withheld] claims that some of those parole violations were not fair, and that the Corrections Department and the police have constantly looked for some way to put him back in jail.

[name withheld] is a registered sex offender.

[name withheld] says that he is completely up front with people about his being a Registered Sex Offender. He doesn’t try to hide it. In fact, he is one of the only homeless registered sex offenders who will wear shorts in the Summer. (Most homeless registered sex offenders and other parolees on ankle monitors will wear long pants even in the heat of the summer, to cover up the ankle monitors.)

Back in 2003, [name withheld] was convicted of sexual battery by restraint. That’s a pretty serious charge...even though [name withheld] claims that what he did with the woman wasn’t really that bad.

I have no idea what really happened. I wasn’t there.

My more cynical friends tell me that every convict will tell you that he is innocent.

So, go ahead and be cynical about [name withheld]’s claims if you want.

All I can tell you is that there is something about [name withheld] that makes me feel uneasy.

But I don’t think that it’s really his status as a Sex Offender.

I think it may be something else.

The poor man has a way of speaking that might be deemed a form of speaking disability. This speaking disability would make it difficult for [name withheld] to convince anybody that he was innocent, if he was accused of a crime.

It’s difficult to describe what it is about [name withheld]’s way of speaking that is out of alignment. He has no trouble forming words or sentences. And his pronunciation is excellent. Even his grammar is good. So, he doesn’t really have a speech impairment, in the classical sense.

It’s more like an impairment of his tone of speech.

[name withheld] says that he has been diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder.

He has had this anxiety disorder every since he was a child.

When he was sixteen years old, he tried to kill himself.

I’m no expert, but [name withheld]’s anxiety disorder appears to me to be the real thing.

When he speaks to you, he is so nervous that it makes you feel uncomfortable. And you get the uneasy feeling that he’s hiding something... or that something just isn’t right.

But that tone may just be anxiety, rather than concealed dishonesty.

It was a warm June day when I was interviewing [name withheld]. We were standing outside, and most of us were perspiring a little.

But [name withheld] was just dripping with sweat.

It looked to me like this sweating was another symptom of his anxiety.

It’s difficult for me to imagine [name withheld] talking to a law enforcement officer in the same nervous manner that he spoke to me, and being dripping with sweat, and convincing any police officer that he wasn’t guilty of something.

The nature of [name withheld]’s communication disability just naturally makes him look guilty.

[name withheld] says that the earliest that he might be able to get off of parole is in the year 2015.

That means that a man who might be sexually dangerous, and who has been rendered artificially homeless and unemployable by the Registered Sex Offender List, will be electronically chained to the Auburn area for the next three years.

[name withheld] grew up in Marysville, and was living in Lincoln at the time of his criminal offense. But for the next three years, he will be homeless and unemployed here in Auburn.

It’s almost as if the geniuses in our Legislature got together and said, “Hey! Let’s take the City of Auburn... one of the last really decent places left to live left in the State of California, and let’s fill it full of homeless, unemployed, Registered Sex Offenders. That’ll promote good will and tourism.”

[name withheld] says that he has worked in construction in the past, and he would like to be working in construction again. But because of his status as a Registered Sex Offender, no one will hire him.

“You go to a construction company to ask for a job. But, as soon as you tell them that you are a Registered Sex Offender, you’re out!"

“I can’t really blame them,” [name withheld] says. “What construction company, if it knows that you are a registered sex offender, would want you to represent them?”

[name withheld] says that the hardest part for him about being homeless is being able to get showers to stay clean. He sweats profusely almost all the time during the Summer. And since he can’t get access to a shower very often, he worries that most of the time, he doesn’t smell very good.

So, here is [name withheld]... a man who already served his debt to society in prison. But now, he is forced to serve years and years and years of additional time as an unemployable homeless person, wearing the Scarlet Letter/GPS ankle monitor of a Registered Sex Offender, doomed to the Registered Sex Offender List for the rest of his life, freezing in the winter, and burning up in the Summer... not admissible to any church homeless shelter because of his registrant status, and forced to scrounge for bits and scraps of charity food and clothing where ever he is lucky enough to get them.

The Eighth Amendment to our Constitution states that there shall be no cruel and unusual punishments imposed by our government.

Would somebody please explain to me... perhaps some brilliant legal scholar, State Legislator, or some Judge who has been elevated to the bench from among the ranks of the geniuses at District Attorneys Offices... please explain to me why what is happening to [name withheld], and to all of the other homeless, unemployed Registered Sex Offenders in this State, is not a clear violation of the Eighth Amendment to our Constitution?

I would really like to know.

I’d especially like to know, in light of the two recent vigilante murders of Registered Sex Offenders that occurred elsewhere.

What would [name withheld] do if he had a magic wand that would allow him to do anything?

He would go back to the year 2003, and he wouldn’t have anything to do with the woman who accused him of a sex crime.

If he couldn’t do that, then, he would go back to the earliest time that he was on parole, and he would avoid drinking, and hanging out with other parolees, so that he wouldn’t have been hauled back into jail for parole violations.

My best guess is that local law enforcement officers are made to feel just as uneasy as I was made to feel by [name withheld]’s anxiety disorder. Feeling that uneasy about [name withheld], law enforcement officers might have looked for ways to keep the community safe by finding reasons to put [name withheld] back into jail.

If that is what happened with [name withheld], I do not fault them for that. Putting [name withheld] back into jail is probably the only method the police have to keep him separated from the rest of the community.

But most likely, what [name withheld] really needs is some form of medical or psychiatric treatment.

[name withheld] says that when he first got out of prison, he was in a convict re-entry program for awhile.

But he says that the re-entry program was a scam.

He says that the place where they lived during the re-entry program had no heat in the winter, and no air conditioning in the summer. So, it was always either freezing cold, or hotter than hell.

He claims that the re-entry house would get his rent money in advance, and then, as soon as they got the rent money, they would violate his parole, and throw him back in jail again.

This is what [name withheld] says about the convict re-entry program.

It is not what I say. I know nothing about the re-entry program that [name withheld] participated in.

But I did promise these homeless people that I was going to try to give them a voice.

So...there is [name withheld]’s opinion of the convict re-entry program that was available for him.

Does [name withheld] have a message for the world?

“You need to quit persecuting us Registered Sex Offenders."

“We have become the new blacks and Hispanics. The police are treating us like dirt."

“They keep moving us from one place to another. Telling us first that it is all right for us to camp in one place, and then, changing their minds, and telling us that we have to move all our stuff somewhere else."

- California has been playing the shuffle for a very long time, as seen in the following video.

Video Link

“They don’t know what they’re doing. And they’re leaving us with no safe place to go.”

I asked [name withheld] what it is about him that makes him special and unique in the world.

“I recognize faces,” he said. “I see a person’s face, and I will remember that face for years to come. I might not remember your name, but I will remember your face.”

The most ironic thing about [name withheld], the Registered Sex Offender, is this:

Lately, [name withheld] has been hanging out with a small group of homeless people made up of one other man, and two women.

One of those women told me that she actually feels safer having [name withheld] around.

She says that [name withheld] has a bit of a temper, and that he won’t take any guff off of anyone.

So, she feels safer having [name withheld] around, in spite of knowing that he is a Registered Sex Offender, because there is one other homeless man about to be released from jail after beating one of the other homeless women almost to death.

A woman who has a Registered Sex Offender as her best hope of protection. Such is the life of a homeless woman.

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WI - Church offers service especially for convicted sex offenders

Original Article

03/18/2012

By DOUG ERICKSON

On the website for First Congregational United Church of Christ in Madison, photos glide by of parishioners holding sentence fragments that together read, “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”

A glib statement? No, this church really seems to mean it.

In late February, First Congregational’s long-standing prison ministry project began biweekly, Thursday night worship services for adults only. No children are present at the service or in the church building.

The services could appeal to anyone seeking an unusually quiet worship experience, but they are designed especially for convicted sex offenders who cannot be where children are present, said the Rev. Jerry Hancock, director of the prison ministry project.

Although many churches have elaborate and appropriate protocols to ensure child safety, such as installing windows on all classroom doors and making sure a child is never alone with an adult, these measures often aren’t enough to satisfy strict probation and parole restrictions, Hancock said.

“That raises a number of issues for these men — and they are almost always men — but also for the churches,” Hancock said.

The idea for the service came from a call he got about a year ago from a probation officer asking if there were any worship services that didn’t include children.

Jim Gerndt, a Madison psychologist, said the adults-only aspect eliminates an environment that could be problematic for the recovering sex offender.

“For someone who is actively provoked by sexual stimuli, such as being around male or female minors, part of their rehabilitation is to alter their sexual arousal patterns and to completely avoid stimuli or to limit exposure to it,” he said.

Even if these offenders aren’t high risks for re-offending, eliminating potential triggers “means they don’t have to go through the conflict inside themselves or with their parole supervisors,” Gerndt said.

First Congregational initially didn’t widely publicize the services because of concerns the idea could draw protesters. Instead, it spread the word through other churches and organizations such as Madison Area Urban Ministry.

At the first service Feb. 23, no one in the target audience showed up, although other people attended to be supportive. The church is expanding its outreach efforts.

Hancock stresses it isn’t a “sex-offender service.” Its intent is broader.

“It’s not designed to be therapeutic,” he said. “It’s not a support group. We are using the same text, the same order of worship and the same sermon topic that was used the previous Sunday.”

The church is committed to the idea on a trial basis through May. The services are every other Thursday at 7 p.m. at the church, 1609 University Ave. The next one is Thursday.

“We truly want to be a church where everyone is welcome,” said Susan Heneman, a parishioner involved in the project. “We have to live this out, not just say it on paper.”

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AR - Is the house of God open to everyone?

Original Article

02/23/2012

By Josh Harvison

LAWRENCE COUNTY (KAIT) – It's a question that delivers quite a bit of controversy in the church setting. Should sex offenders be allowed in the church? If so, what capacity can they serve?

According to most Christian leaders, the answer is that these offenders should be allowed in the church; however, they should be closely monitored. According to Christianity Today, 80% of 3,000 church leaders surveyed stated sex offenders should be allowed in church. However, some disagree on how sex offenders should serve. Click here to read about the study.

"People make bad decisions and do some very bad things. They are involved in wickedness and immorality and evilness because they don't know Christ or they're not followers of Christ. He died on the cross so that people could have forgiveness," said Dr. Archie Mason, senior pastor at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro.

Mason is among the majority of pastors who believe sex offenders should be allowed in church to worship.

"As believers, the bible teaches us to be as wise as a serpent, but as gentle as a dove. We are to have wisdom. We're not to be naive about things," said Mason. "This is probably a volatile issue where people have different opinions about what should take place. All I can always say is let's go to scripture. Let's see what Christ says. Let's see how he would respond."

"I say go to the gospel, and the message of the gospel is that God has forgiven us and the result of that is we ought to forgive others," said Jason Noel, senior pastor at East Side Baptist Church in Paragould. "We start with that basic point of the gospel. You have been forgiven of that entire debt of your sin. As a result, you should be willing to forgive those who sin against you."

Noel said he's worked with sex offenders at other churches. In his 15 years of ministering, he's only worked with three registered sex offenders. He said he's never worked personally with a sex offender in Paragould.

"What is forgiveness? When we define forgiveness as I'm going to act like that what you did didn't really happen? That's not forgiveness. That's denial," said Noel. "Forgiveness is saying, I'm not going to hold you hostage to this anymore, and I'm going to process through this. I'm going to go on and as far as possible, we'll continue in relationship, but sometimes that's not possible."

Noel said while most Christians understand forgiveness, it's difficult for them to practice it. He said some crimes and sins are so egregious; a person can't forgive the offender.

"If we're talking about someone who does something that's relatively minor, most of us are good at forgiving, but the more personal it gets and egregious it gets, the more difficult it gets to forgive," said Noel.

Region 8 News found a registered level three sex offender living in Lawrence County, who agreed to talk to us only if we hid his identity. For the sake of this story, we'll call him "Bill." Bill did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation against his church.

Bill was arrested in 1990 on charges of sexual assault against a 40-year old woman. He was sentenced to spend seven years in prison for the crime, which he claims he didn't do.

"As far as anything that happened, nothing happened. I have no problem with her. I have no hard feelings against her. I've prayed for her all the time," said Bill. "She has told the people that nothing happened, which God has blessed me through this whole ordeal."

Read the rest of the article here


Video Link

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Registered Sex Offenders in Your Church?

Video Link

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UT - With open arms and open eyes, churches minister to sex offenders

Original Article

10/08/2010

By Laura Bauer

Within days of attending a Sunday service at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, a Johnson County, Kan., man received an unexpected e-mail.

Security officials at the Leawood megachurch wanted to see him immediately. They told him this summer that some rules needed to be set if he wished to come back to worship.

He must go straight to the sanctuary before service and leave immediately after it ended — no dawdling. There would be no direct contact with church staff.

Only a single-stool restroom on the church campus could be used.

And under no circumstances could he enter the children's wing of the church.

The man is a registered sex offender, convicted seven years ago of possessing child pornography. He's also one of a special class of worshippers whom most churches across the country want to welcome — but very carefully.

"While we're a very inclusive church family, at the same time, we feel we have a responsibility to have a safe environment for our members and visitors," said Peter Metz, communications director for the Church of the Resurrection. "It's a practical solution, much better than denying them access to the church."

Sex offenders across the country face laws and regulations that keep them from living near schools, parks, bus stops and pools. Some neighborhoods created association rules banning offenders from residing there.

Now, churches are in the mix, trying to welcome parishioners while draping a protective cloak over the children and others in the next pew.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church added wording to its manual last month that sex offenders can restore their memberships but never hold a post involving unsupervised contact with children.

Earlier this summer, a Georgia law took effect allowing sex offenders to volunteer in church only if they're not around children.

In New Hampshire, a man has sued for the right to attend a Jehovah's Witnesses church with a chaperone. [name withheld], who served about eight years in prison for 61 counts of child pornography, has been welcomed by the congregation. A church elder volunteered to chaperone.

But being around anyone under the age of 18 is a violation of his probation, and a judge denied his request. Attorney Barbara Keshen of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union argued his case last month before the state Supreme Court.

"On the one hand, every citizen has the freedom to exercise their religion," Keshen said. "On the other hand, churches want to make sure no member of their congregation is in danger."

Sara Totonchi, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said: "I think churches are struggling to find that middle ground."

By nature, and God's word, churches welcome all people. Hate the sin, love the sinner, the belief goes.

But many churches say open arms have to come with open eyes. In the past several years, churches have done everything from requiring limited access agreements to prohibiting some from coming inside the church at all.

"We believe they have spiritual needs that could help them on their path to recovery. We want to be part of their rehabilitation," said Jim Bradford at the Assemblies of God national headquarters in Springfield, Mo. "But we have to be proactive. The stakes are too high."

His church leadership recommends that its 12,000 churches adopt some restrictions but doesn't mandate them. In the past, Bradford was lead pastor at Central Assembly of God in Springfield, where several sex offenders had attended.

First, Bradford said, he and other leaders would find out what the circumstances of the offenses were. Then, they would tailor the restrictions.

Sometimes, offenders would get offended, but the church stood firm. In one case, a man was told not to come back because leaders felt he wouldn't obey the restrictions.

"By ministering to them, it's not necessarily saying, 'We trust you,' " Bradford said. "It does say that 'within Christ, we have hope for you.' "

Janet Taylor, a minister at Kansas City's Unity Temple on the Plaza, agrees. Her church makes sure children and other members are safe by monitoring security cameras set up throughout the church.

Anyone working with children goes through a background check. But the front door is open for offenders wanting to turn their lives around.

"From my perspective, it's important to have someone attend church if they were in that situation," Taylor said. "Even though they acted inappropriately in the past, we would still strive to see the Christ-like essence within them."

Churches are most cautious with volunteers. Some routinely check sex offender registries.

At Lenexa Christian, church leaders make sure volunteers working with young people have no convictions of a sexual nature. If they do, that doesn't preclude them from being involved in other areas of the church.

"We're trying to reach out to them in love, also," said pastor Kirk Ruchotzke, who oversees Christian education at the church. "Just because there's something in their background doesn't mean God can't use them in some type of ministry."

For the last several years, the Johnson County man attended a weekly group for adults, sponsored by the Church of the Resurrection.

Some members knew his status. He wasn't hiding.

That's why he expressed surprise at the e-mail and the requirement to sign the agreement to be allowed to return. He felt his rights were violated, but he has declined to discuss the episode further.

Metz, a church spokesman, said the man remained under the radar until recently.

"Our safety and security folks were not aware of him," Metz said. "Every offender we become aware of, we ask them to sign our agreement."

Restrictions are a good security tool for churches — as long as they're accompanied by support, said Steve Vann, who helps run Keeping Kids Safe Ministries, based in Tennessee.

The group helps churches make proactive decisions regarding sex offenders in their congregations. What worries Vann are the churches that don't address the issue at all.

"When you ignore it, abandon or shut off these people, it makes it more likely for them to reoffend," Vann said.

As a prison minister in central Kansas for 20 years, Lynn McBride has offered his services to criminals and offenders for years. To him, the importance of religion in rehabilitation is clear. He offered the example of one sex offender who remade his life once out of prison. He is now remarried, has a good job and is active in his church.

"He turned to God in prison," McBride said. "He's just a wonderful young man. He's doing great."

Through another offender, McBride knows what can happen when the support and counseling aren't there.

The prison minister didn't meet one inmate until he was imprisoned after a second offense. Between prison terms, the child molester went to a church, volunteered in the nursery and abused a child there. The man is no longer behind bars and, through ministry and support, appears to be obeying the law.

"There are good stories. There are tragedies," McBride said. "It's important for them to be able to call someone, to have a church, a pastor who understands."

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