Lets not forget that Bill O'Reilly had his own sexual harassment law suit in which he paid off the accuser (Court Documents). I wonder what he would say if he wasn't able to do that and he wound up on the sex offender registry, loses his job, and is seen as a monster?
Mark Lunsford mentions in the video that he was able to hear his daughter calling for someone to help her? How is that possible? Oh, and he's good at crying on queue!
And lets also not forget that when Jessica Lunsford went missing, it was mentioned that child porn was found on Mark Lunsfords computer, but nothing was done about it because they say "he had been through enough!"
And his own son (Joshua) was charged with molesting an underage child (Video Below) and got a slap on the wrist of 10 days in jail and doesn't have to register. Wow, money sure helps you get out of bad situations!
Showing posts with label MarkLunsford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MarkLunsford. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
CO - ‘Jessica’s Law’ Shot Down In Colorado Once Again
Labels: Colorado , JessicasLaw , MarkLunsford , Video
Mark, what about you and your son (Video)?
You said "Why are your repeat offenders repeating their crimes?" Well, if you look at the facts, and not your personal opinions, you will see that Colorado did a study (PDF) on recidivism, and as expected, they are low!
02/13/2013
DENVER (CBS4) – Some Colorado lawmakers say there’s no need to increase penalties for people who attack young children. What’s known as “Jessica’s Law,” named after a Florida girl sexually assaulted and killed, won’t become law in the state.
The same bill has failed four times now in Colorado. Democrats oppose it so much so this year they sent it to the so-called “kill committee.” Still, Jessica’s father, Mark Lunsford, traveled to Colorado from Florida and begged lawmakers to pass the bill.
“I kneeled down and I hugged her and I kissed her and told her I’d see her later,” Lunsford said.
Lunsford sat before Colorado lawmakers and cried as he recounted his darkest hour.
- Yeah, he's good at that now, he can cry on command.
“And the lump just starts to grow and your heart just kind of stops beating,” he said.
Eight years ago in February his 9-year-old daughter Jessica was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and buried alive by a man who had been arrested twice for sexually assaulting children; and yet had been released from parole.
“For those three days my little girl was tied with speaker wire and put into a closet,” Lunsford said.
“I want to send a strong message to our communities that we will not tolerate these crimes,” said Rep. Libby Szabo, R-Arvada.
Szabo is the sponsor of the bill. Jessica’s Law would require a minimum prison sentence of 25 years for anyone convicted of sexually assaulting a child under 14.
The Colorado Defense Lawyers Association opposed the bill, saying Colorado already has strong laws in place.
“The courts and prosecutors have been able to respond given the tools they already have,” an official with the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association said.
The minimum sentences under those laws range from two to 16 years. It’s at the discretion of the judges.
“We hear about all this discretion and recidivism rate. How many times do these children have to go through it before somebody does something,” Lunsford said.
But Democrats have opposed the bill time and again, and with the majority vote, killed it.
“It’s a one-size-fits-all solution and sometimes one size does not fit all,” said Rep. Mike Foote, D-Longmont.
Lunsford says he’s not giving up.
“Start an army that comes to your Capitol and kick your legislators right in the posterior,” Lunsford said.
The District Attorneys Council and Colorado Coalition against Sexual Assault took no position on the bill. However the Coalition against Sexual Assault released a statement saying that under Colorado’s Lifetime Supervision Act for Sex Offenders, there are already sufficient safeguards in place for those offenses.
Forty-five other states have passed Jessica’s Law.
See Also:
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
HI - Hawaii Lawmakers Aim to Strengthen Laws Against Sex Offenders Targeting Children
Labels: Hawaii , JessicasLaw , MarkLunsford
01/29/2013
Nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped from her home in Florida by 46-year-old John Couey after he broke into her home at 3 a.m. in 2005.
Couey, a convicted sex offender who lived nearby in a trailer, raped Jessica over three days before brutally murdering her by burying her alive in two garbage bags. After confessing to the crimes, he was sentenced to death on charges of first degree murder, kidnapping and capital sexual battery.
Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, helped get passed new legislation that makes life tougher for convicted sex offenders. The legislation was named the Jessica Lunsford Act allows law enforcement to more closely track sex offenders, can require sex offenders to wear electronic tracking devices and mandates increased prison sentences.
Other states passed "Jessica's Law" mandating a minimum sentence of 25 years and maximum life in prison for first time sex offenders who attack children. (See specifics of the legislation)
- From a biased blog site.
Hawaii is not tough enough on child predators, according to Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom, who wants to change that. The East Oahu Republican introduced Jessica’s legislation in this session and hopes Hawaii will become the next state to mandate that sex offenders who abuse children will spend at least 25 years in prison.
SB 799 (PDF) and SB 1223 (PDF) require electronic monitoring for those who sexually assault of a minor and it establishes mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years for felony sexual assault of a minor.
"It is unacceptable that Hawaii, whose lawmakers are always talking about doing things 'for the Keiki' have long neglected basic protection of our children against sexual predators," Slom said. "Some think even a 25 year minimum sentence is too lenient but it is better than Hawaii's current 2 year sentence. Nationally, several organizations have taken note of our indefensible position. Even though it is late, now must be the year we act and tell the monsters who prey on our children we will stop you."
Senators Gilbert Keith-Agaran, Michelle Kidani, Clarence Nishihara, Brian Taniguchi, Glenn Wakai and Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, signed on as co-introducers of the legislation. The Honolulu city prosecutor's office will be supporting similar legislation, according to spokesperson Dave Koga.
Political Commentator Bill O'Reilly has made a push for Jessica's Law to be enacted in every state. A map on his web site shows Hawaii is one of just 6 states that has lax laws for child sex offenders.
In a commentary on his web site, O'Reilly said: "These outrageous crimes could have been prevented, which is why I am calling on every state in the union to pass a version of 'Jessica's Law.' The legislation is named after little Jessica Lunsford, who was just 9 years old when her life was brutally ended by a sexual predator who had previously been convicted of sex crimes against a child. The crime forced Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida legislature to mandate stiff minimum sentences for child abusers, who had all too often been slapped on the wrist by lenient judges."
- Most sexual crimes are committed by those not on any registry and by people the victim knows, so this would not "prevent" anything!
"There is simply no question that Jessica's Law will save lives, and similar laws need to be instituted in every state. ... This is literally a life-and-death battle to save our youngest and most vulnerable citizens from abuse, torture, and murder."
Monday, November 28, 2011
To Cash In on a Predator
Labels: FearMongering , Florida , MarkLunsford , MassHysteria
It's about time someone started digging into this. Also, about Hank Asher, see the SEE ALSO link below. He is an ex-drug smuggler, from what articles on the web show. Also, the title of this should be "To Cash In On Sex Offenders," because that is what it's really about.
11/28/2011
By Kate Sheppard
State laws that keep a close eye on sex offenders are supposed to protect kids. Are they also meant to enrich high-tech tracking companies?
In February 2005, nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, raped, and buried alive by a twice-convicted sex offender who lived a few hundred feet from her home in Homosassa, Florida. The crime horrified Floridians, and a little more than two months later, then-Gov. Jeb Bush signed the Jessica Lunsford Act, which mandated a minimum sentence of 25 years for first-time sex offenders who target children under 12 and life sentences for recidivists. It also required some released sex offenders to wear GPS tracking devices for the rest of their lives.
Almost immediately, there were calls for similar legislation across the country. Lunsford's father, Mark, joined the campaign, appearing on Oprah and Larry King Live and winning support from high-profile figures such as Bill O'Reilly, who declared, "This is literally a life-and-death battle to save our youngest and most vulnerable citizens from abuse, torture, and murder." In addition to Florida, 44 other states have since passed what's become known as Jessica's Law (PDF). The laws vary slightly state by state, but all mandate stiff sentences; 39 permit electronic monitoring for released offenders (of those, 24 authorize GPS monitoring). "Instead of them stalking our children, let's stalk them," Lunsford said at a 2006 event promoting the law in California.
The push to implement Jessica's Law in all 50 states has been spearheaded by Stop Child Predators, a nonprofit formed in 2005. The group's determination to crack down on criminals who prey on kids is unquestionable. But there is another group with an interest in its work: GPS and tracking companies, which stand to gain as SCP's model legislation spreads. There are an estimated 736,000 registered offenders out there (PDF); satellite tracking equipment costs anywhere from $15 to $20 per person per day (an expense often paid by parolees). One of SCP's official corporate partners is Omnilink Systems, a major vendor of "offender monitoring" devices. SCP president Stacie Rumenap is a member of Omnilink's advisory board. A company brochure quotes her as saying SCP is "proud to support the use of" Omnilink's technology. The company has not said how many states it has sex offender monitoring contracts with.
In 2009, Lunsford, who serves as the chairman of SCP's advisory board, took a $100,000-a-year consulting job with Technology Investors, a Florida firm that creates databases to keep track of sex offenders. He told the St. Petersburg Times that the company's founder, data-mining maven Hank Asher (See Also), suggested that he shut down his own nonprofit, the Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation, so he could "focus on legislation."
There is a universal "desire to keep kids safe," Rumenap notes. She downplays the idea that SCP's work is intended to benefit its corporate supporters. "This is an easy issue for companies to get behind," she says. "Who wants to argue against it?" A petite and charismatic blonde who has served as the deputy director of the American Conservative Union and director of the Conservative Political Action Conference, Rumenap is also the director of corporate relations at the Mercatus Center, a think tank funded by conservative billionaire Charles Koch.
SCP also has close ties the American Legislative Exchange Council, a low-profile yet influential clearinghouse of pro-business state legislation. SCP is an ALEC member, and ALEC adopted its template for a sex offender bill in 2006. Rumenap says that the "access to" legislators that ALEC provides has been "extremely" helpful in getting Jessica's Law into wider circulation. Since April, she has been the co-chair of ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task Force, which oversees criminal legislation, including a bill that would require parolees and defendants out on bail to submit to GPS monitoring. It would also require ex-cons to "pursue specified education courses," a potential windfall for student loan companies and for-profit colleges.
Those companies, as it turns out, are also well represented in Rumenap's organization: SCP was founded by three executives from the College Loan Corporation, another of its corporate partners. Its board includes the CLC's chief marketing officer and a top lobbyist for the Apollo Group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix.
"I don't doubt that Stop Child Predators is genuinely interested in stopping child predators," says Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, which recently published a cache of more than 800 pieces (PDF) of cookie-cutter legislation promoted by ALEC. No matter how laudable a bill may be, she says, the public has a right to know whether it will financially benefit a particular company. "If people knew that there was a profit motive behind it, they might have greater skepticism about whether this is the best solution or not."
Kate Sheppard covers energy and environmental politics in Mother Jones' Washington bureau. For more of her stories, click here. She Tweets here. Get Kate Sheppard's RSS feed.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Dr. Phil - Sex Offender Recidivism - LOWER than any other criminal!
Labels: MarkLunsford , Recidivism , Study , Video
Most recidivism studies you read (See here) show a very LOW recidivism rate for sex offenders, yet most people in the news media, politics, or people like John Walsh, Mark Lunsford, etc, continually say recidivism is high for sex offenders.
Well, that is a flat out lie. And you can see it for yourself by reading the MANY studies we have on our blog below.
See Also:
Video Link
Well, that is a flat out lie. And you can see it for yourself by reading the MANY studies we have on our blog below.
See Also:
Video Link
Monday, March 21, 2011
NJ - Dad of murdered Fla. girl urges NJ to enact tougher child sex offender sentences
Labels: MarkLunsford , NewJersey , Video
03/21/2011
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI
TRENTON - The father of a Florida rape and murder victim, whose death led 44 states to enact stricter sex offender laws, was in New Jersey on Monday to encourage passage of a law imposing mandatory minimum sentences on child predators and anyone convicted of aiding them.
Mark Lunsford is pushing for enactment of the "Jessica Lunsford Act," which would impose a mandatory 25-year term without parole for anyone convicted of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13. Anyone who hinders their apprehension or prosecution would face three years behind bars.
- So, his own son molested a child who was 14, so did he lower the age to 13 so it doesn't affect his own son?
"There is no reason for anyone to put their hands on these children and to receive minimum sentences and probation — it's hard time, 25 years," Lunsford said. "These are our children, our youngest children, and we have to do more to protect them."
New Jersey's bill and similar legislation across the country is named for Lunsford's 9-year-old daughter, who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a convicted sex offender in 2005. Jessica's laws are intended to keep child sex offenders locked up longer to reduce their ability to re-offend.
The Assembly sponsor, Republican Nancy Munoz of Summit, said 54 colleagues have signed onto the bill. The legislation, first introduced in 2005, awaits a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
In the Senate, the bill is sponsored by Republican Diane Allen of Burlington. The bill has yet to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Both houses of the Legislature would have to pass the bill and it would have to be signed by Gov. Chris Christie in order to become law.
"It just is amazing to me that we haven't passed this law. Our children are not as safe as the children in most other states," Allen said. "I worry if we don't get it done this year, how many children are we going to lose? I don't know but even one is too many."
- So what about all the children lost by murderers, gang members, DUI offenders, drug dealers/users, etc? Do they not count?
Allen said those who commit sex crimes against children are far more likely than other offenders to commit a similar crime again. She said 40 percent are charged with a similar crime within a year of being released.
- That is not true, and I am tired of the lies and deceit. Many studies we have linked here, show that sex offenders have the LOWEST recidivism rates of any other criminal, except murderers. Also, where did she find this "40%" statistic? Out of thin air?
Rosemarie D'Alessandro of Hillsdale, whose 7-year-old daughter, Joan, was raped and murdered by a neighbor while delivering Girl Scout cookies in 1973, has teamed up with Lunsford to advocate for the harsher sentencing law.
"Mark and I are trying to make something good out of something so horrible that our minds can't even go there," she said. "What we're doing is keeping our children alive in every way possible — their energy goes on, their legacy goes on in helping people and helping society."
- Since the facts show that most people are abused by their own family, if you wanted to "protect" children, then you'd remove them from their own home and put them on an island somewhere, so they can be "safe!"
Lunsford's daughter was killed by twice-convicted sex offender John Evander Couey, who died of natural causes while awaiting execution. D'Alessandro's daughter was killed by former chemistry teacher Joseph McGowan, who remains in prison in part because of the compelling testimony of the victim's mother, who has been heard at each of McGowan's parole hearings.
Video Link
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
RI - Father vows to kill son's murderer
Labels: CrimeVigilante , MarkLunsford , RhodeIsland , Video
I can image the fathers hurt and anger, but this is a threat, and if anybody else said that, they'd be arrested. Also, like clock work, even though it doesn't involve sex (I don't believe), Mark Lunsford speaks out on the video, but doesn't mention that his own son molested a child and that child porn was said to be found on his machine when Jessica went missing.
Video Link
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| Click the image to view it on YouTube |
Video Link
Monday, February 28, 2011
NJ - 'Joan's Law' mom and 'Jessica's Law' dad seek harsher sex offender restrictions in New Jersey
Labels: JoshuaLunsford , MarkLunsford , NewJersey , Video
Was child porn on Marks' computer?
Joshua Lunsford - Convicted of molesting a child
Watch the video below, and remember, child porn was found on Mark's computer when Jessica went missing, yet it was dismissed because he had suffered enough, but a crime is a crime, right? Apparently not. Also, his own son, Joshua, molested a child and received only 10 days in jail and is not on the sex offender registry.
02/28/2011
By Jerry DeMarco
Nationally acclaimed childrens’ advocate Mark Lunsford is coming to Bergen County tomorrow to try and convince state officials to overcome their reluctance to adopt a version of “Jessica’s Law” -- named after his slain daughter -- which aims to keep sex offenders away from children after they’ve been released from prison.
Lunsford will be in Hillsdale, meeting with Rosemarie D‘Alessandro -- whose daughter was raped and murdered by a neighbor in 1973, eventually leading to “Joan’s Law” -- and members of the Joan Angela Foundation.
The goal of the group, created in Joan's name to help homeless, runaway and abused youngsters, is to finally get a version of “Jessica‘s Law” enacted in New Jersey, one of only six states that doesn’t have one.
“We can work together to pass this important child safety legislation in New Jersey,” said D‘Alessandro, who has not slowed her fight to protect children ever since she convinced lawmakers in Trenton 33 years ago to establish the anti-sex offender measure known as “Joan‘s Law.”
The “Jessica’s Law” bill, which has languished in Trenton more than five years, would require lower-tier sex offenders to wear GPS devices on their ankles for five years after they’re freed, and for those deemed more dangerous to wear them for life.
This, D’Alessandro said, would help law enforcement track them.
New Jersey also would be required to mail sex offender registration forms at least twice per year, at random times, to verify registrants' addresses. Any registrants who did not respond within 10 days would have to be considered non-compliant.
- So what is a person is out of town on vacation for longer than 10 days?
Those who commit sex crimes against children under 12 would receive mandatory prison sentences of 25 years to life without parole, along with lifetime monitoring, under the proposal.
What’s more, those who knowingly harbor child sex offenders from the law would face stricter penalties, and municipalities would be enabled to establish “child protection zones" where sex offenders cannot cause danger to children.
“Jessica’s Law” is named for Lunsford’s 9-year-old daughter, who was raped, tortured and then murdered by a child molester and rapist in Florida.
Lunsford, a single father, had raised Jessica since she was 1. Her February 2005 disappearance unleashed a nationwide manhunt for the youngster who became known as "the girl in the pink hat."
More than three weeks later, searchers found her remains -- 150 yards from home. She had been raped and buried alive.
Her killer, John Couey, was a registered sex offender who had flown under the radar.
Since Couey’s conviction, and subsequent death sentence, Mark Lunsford has become a nationally recognized spokesman for tougher laws governing regarding those who prey on, and harm, children. He has worked with the U.S. Marshals Service tracking down absconded sexual predators/offenders, and in 2005 won the "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award" for outstanding public service.
Rosemarie D’Alessandro has been equally active, but on more of a local level. Her daughter, a vivacious, 7-year-old Brownie Scout, was going door-to-door selling Girl Scout cookies on April 19, 1973 (Holy Thursday) when a high school chemistry teacher who lived in the neighborhood sexually assaulted and murdered her.
Her body was found on Easter in Harriman State Park.
When [name withheld] became eligible for parole 20 years later, D'Alessandro organized a letter writing, green ribbon campaign that led officials to deny [name withheld] parole. But she didn’t stop there.
The very idea that a child murderer could be released from prison created the idea of “Joan’s Law,” which the state Legislature adopted in 1997 -- denying the possibility of parole to offenders who murder while committing a sex crime.
- So, why wasn't the person sentenced to life in prison in the first place? If you murder someone, anyone, you should be in prison until the day you die.
A federal version of the law followed in 1998. New York State adopted its own in 2004.
D’Alessando also convinced New Jersey lawmakers to eliminate what had been a two-year statute of limitations on suing murderers.
[name withheld]’s sentence made him parole-eligible after serving 14 years. Because "Joan's Law" is not retroactive, he came up for parole -- and was denied -- four times.
So D’Alessandro’s group gathered 80,000 signatures, along with 7,000 letters, and held two rallies at the State House in Trenton in 2009, after which the Parole Board added 18 years before [name withheld] (now 64) will again be eligible for release.
What strikes you most about D’Alessandro -- who received the Attorney General's Special Courage Award in 2004 -- is her tireless dedication to helping others.
It’s why she’s invited Lundsford to her home tomorrow night.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
ARC Radio - Join in to discuss the AWA Reauthorization Hearings which took place in D.C. this past Tuesday, February 15th
Labels: AdamWalshAct , ARCRadio , Audio , MarkLunsford , Radio
Episode: DISCUSS WASHINGTON D.C. AWA HEARINGS (Listen)
Please join us on Monday, February 21, 2011 to discuss the AWA Reauthorization Hearings which took place in D.C. this past Tuesday, February 15th. Many advocates attended these important hearings and will join us to share their thoughts and opinions regarding testimony, the appearance of Mark Lunsford and Ed Smart and other issues.
VISIT ARC WEBSITE: http://www.arctalkradio.com/
Personal Message from the Host
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Ghandi
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Date: Mon, February 21, 2011
Time: 06:00 PM EST
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Listen to the Recording
If you missed this event or want to hear previous recorded episodes click here.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
America's Most Wanted's John Walsh Discusses The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act (2006)
Labels: AdamWalshAct , ChildPorn , CrimeInternet , DNA , JohnWalsh , MarkFoley , MarkLunsford , Punishment , Video
Original Article
08/07/2006
Recently we were on hand for a conference call when John Walsh
and his wife Reve went to the White House on July 27, 2006. On this day President Bush
signed into law The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act. The event was bittersweet for the Walsh family as it took place exactly 25 years to the day that their son Adam was abducted and murdered. The bill includes the following provisions:- It has NEVER been proven that Adam was sexually abused, nor who killed him. But they laid the blame on Ottis Toole. And it was also suspected that Jeffrey Dahmer killed Adam. So this law was originally passed on false accusations. I believe it was originally intended for child abusers, which is not necessarily sexual abuse, but could be parental abuse, emotional, physical, sexual, etc. Now it's mainly a way to punish sex offenders only, even those who had nothing to do with children. You do not see the others mentioned on the registry, why not?
- Establish a comprehensive federal DNA database of material collected from convicted molesters, and procedures for the routine DNA collection and comparison to the database when someone has been convicted of such an offense. (Whomever wrote this, you'd think this was for child molesters only, but it's not. Also, what about people who physical or emotionally harm children, or even adults?)
- Provide federal funding for states to track pedophiles using global positioning devices. (Again, this law was originally about child abuse, kidnapping, etc, but here they say pedophiles and not all sex offenders are pedophiles!)
- Allow victims of child abuse to sue their molesters. (Does this include all child abuse, or just sexual abuse?)
As the face and driving force behind the hugely popular and effective TV show America's Most Wanted, John Walsh and his family are living proof that something devastating doesn't only create victims.
- One side note, also keep in mind that John Walsh himself admitted he was a sex addict. So why isn't he on the registry? He said he got help and was "cured!" Should we know where he lives and works?
John Walsh: First let me say thank you all for your patience. I'm right here at the White House; we're actually shooting components of this Saturday night's show around the bill signing today. As I think many of you know, this is the 25th anniversary of the kidnapping of our six-year-old son, Adam, from the mall in Hollywood, Florida, so it's kind of a bittersweet day for us. My wife, Reve, will be here; and our 24-year-old daughter, Megan; and our 21-year-old son, Callahan; and our 11-year-old son, Hayden. They, of course, never met Adam, but Adam is a big part of their lives, so it's a very special day for us.
- And don't they have child neglect laws about this? If someone left their child in a hot car, they would probably be charged with some crime. Why did she leave her young child alone in the store in the first place?
We're very, very honored that Congress, so many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle deemed this an important piece of legislation and named it the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act. That's a real honor. But lots of other parents worked on this bill; Mark Lunsford from Florida; I walked the halls last week with Elizabeth Smart and her father Ed; and I know Marc Klauss, Polly Klauss' father, has worked on this; and many, many other parents, so many parents will be here today, and survivors.
- Yeah, you need a controversial bill passed? Name it after some child or person. That in of itself, should be illegal.
I really believe that this may be the most important piece of child protection legislation passed in the last 25 years. I've been here for several bill signings, but this one is a really tough piece of legislation, it has teeth in it, it has oversight, it has about $1.2 billion worth of money, which we still have to go back to Congress and get, but that's the budget. It will really change the way we deal with convicted rapists of our women and molesters of our children.
- And to this day, the money is still not there. And what about abuse of women, or non-sexual abuse of children, and also men? Why is this bill all about sex when it has never been proven sex had anything to do with Adam's killing? Ottis Toole was a sick serial killer, so was Jeffrey Dahmer.
It will mandate the creation of a national sex offender registry kept up-to-date in every one of the 50 states. Every state, whether the state has a good registry, a bad registry, or no registry, will now be mandated to have this federal template and there will be an exchange between the registries.
- And to this day, states are not implementing it, because it's unconstitutional, draconian, and cruel and unusual punishment, plus they stand to lose more money to implement it, if they do not take the 10% Bryne Grant incentive (aka bribe). To this date, only about three states have "significantly" implemented it.
In the bill there is a federal component, money to hire and train 500 new U.S. marshals, who will then be assigned to fugitive task force all over the country and they will go after these convicted sex offenders who are in non-compliance with their parole or probation. The Justice Department estimates that there are at least 100,000 convicted sex offenders who have disappeared through the cracks, who are at large right now and non-compliance with their sex offender probation, parole, or registry requirements. So these are 100,000 guys that are out there right now.
- This 100,000 "goldilock" number has never been proven either, it's an assumption. Nowadays, since he has not received the money for the law, he's changed this to "100,000 Level 3, most dangerous" offenders to SCARE people into acting. Again, not based on facts.
It also mandates the collection of DNA from every convicted sex offender, which I believe will solve thousands of old crimes, cold cases, rapes and molestations. When we passed this bill on a state level in Florida, the DNA bill, several years ago, in the first six months 88 crimes were solved and 11 people over the course of a year were freed from jail that were innocent. So the DNA component will solve lots of crimes and get innocent people out of jail.
- Hell, why not collect DNA from every human being? If it will help solve one crime, isn't it worth it? And if they actually used the DNA, it would also SET FREE many who have been falsely railroaded by DA's, prosecutors, lawyers, judges, police, etc. Really, 88 people freed. If it wasn't mandatory DNA be collected, then was the cases actually solved by this mandate, or are you just making it up?
It also mandates more federal prosecutors, particularly to prosecute Internet crimes, distribution of child pornography over the Internet, and for pedophiles who try to lure children over the Internet. It allocates 35 more FBI agents; five of those will be assigned to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help in cybercrimes and to catch these guys.
- And the laws will also create a ton of businesses who use fear to make millions.
It also, for the first time in the history of this country, mandates a national child abuse registry and background checks of people who want to become foster parents. Years ago I profiled a guy who was a foster parent and was using young boys in child pornography, so now to be a foster parent you will have to have a background check and prove you are not a convicted sex offender.
- Well, that is not true. If it was indeed a child abuse registry, then we'd have parents who abuse their children through neglect (like your wife), emotional or physical, etc. But it's not, it's mostly a registry for those who have committed a sex crime. But, more and more, new crimes are being added, which is documented on this blog. Some non-sexual crimes are being placed on the registry, and also, more and more registries are popping up as well. Hell, pretty soon, we'll have one big ALL SINNERS registry, which I am 100% for. If it's okay for one group of people, then it's good enough for everyone. And what about convicted murderers or drug users/dealers? Are they going to be able to adopt a child?
So there are lots of really powerful, good components to this legislation (most of it unconstitutional). It was a long battle. Congressman Mark Foley (Yeah, he's a good example, see here and here) from Florida wrote it about 2.5 years ago, when we were talking about sex offenders in Florida. James Sensenbrenner (He's also part of other laws eradicating rights, like the Patriot Act and Real ID Act), the Chairman of the House Judiciary, got it passed three times, the last time being yesterday. And the Senate, on the Senate side, Bill Frist (Controversies) was a champion of the bill; Senator Oren Hatch (Controversies) introduced it to the Senate, along with Senator Joe Biden from Delaware, the democratic senator who became a champion of the bill. Senator Kennedy worked on it. Senator Leahy worked on it. Arlen Specter, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary, was a very strong advocate for the bill. Diane Feinstein. There are a lot of people who worked hard to perfect and fine tune this bill to make it as tough as it is. I really think it's a true bipartisan piece of legislation. Finally, after almost 2.5 years it is passed and I really think it will impact the way that this country's criminal justice system deals with sex offenders.
- Again, proving it's all about punishing sex offenders, not child abusers.
Many small town sheriffs, many small town police agencies have said that they do not have the resources to go after sex offenders like the guy who allegedly killed the 19-year-old coed at Clemson University in South Carolina. He was a registered sex offender in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida, bragged about the fact that no one looked for him, he jumped the registry, violated his parole and probation, went to South Carolina and admitted killing that beautiful girl and said he may have killed other women, but he definitely raped women in other states because he said there was nobody looking for him (Are you just adding on crimes to fear monger?). So this will be a great resource for small agencies, the FBI, the marshals, and the ICE, the Immigration Customs Enforcement group from Homeland Security will all be part of this bill going out to hunt these guys down on a national level. Again, we are so honored that they named it after beautiful little Adam.
- I'm sure you are. But again, it was never proven Adam was sexually abused.
In the years that you've been doing the show, has there ever been a situation when you've been say out in public and thought that you saw somebody that you had just profiled on the show?
John Walsh: Thank you for the compliments, David. That has never happened to me. We shoot the show all over the world, all over the country; we've done shows from the Persian Gulf, Ground Zero, Oklahoma bombing, etc., do them on the streets, and I've never, ever run into someone who was on the show.
Although one time I was told that when I was in Baltimore profiling a murderer and I was doing stand-ups there, that some of the people in the crowd had recognized him in the back of the crowd and that he disappeared and he was caught the next day. So I guess that's the closest that any fugitives have ever really gotten to me and I've never run into one.
It's probably not good for most people to take the law into their own hands. But if you did run into somebody like that, would you call the authorities or would you feel tempted, because of your passion for the job, to try and apprehend him, do a citizen's arrest?
John Walsh: No, I'm not a vigilante (I beg to differ); I don't believe in vigilantism (I beg to differ! You are making a law to punish sex offenders, not child abusers, which is based on assumptions, not facts, and the vengeance is obvious, even from your own book
). I would certainly call law enforcement immediately. That's why America's Most Wanted has worked so well over the years. We are now up to 898 arrests of wanted fugitives, so close to 900. I believe people can make a difference and have the courage to make that call. But I always tell people don't do something stupid, don't put yourself in a very tenuous position to be hurt. Have authorities call the person. That's what I would do; I would call authorities right away. I'm not a cop and it's too dangerous to try to take down fugitives yourself.My other question is in the tragedy that happened in your life that in some ways kind of kicked off this whole thing, I guess my question is is this in some ways kind of keeping Adam alive for you, in terms? Do you ever kind of sort of feel like he's right behind your shoulder, saying, "Thanks, Dad" or anything?
John Walsh: I absolutely do. Certainly Adam is the inspiration for almost everything my wife and I have done in the last 25 years. I was a pretty successful partner in a company that built deluxe hotels; we were building a $26 million hotel on Paradise Island when Adam was kidnapped. Certainly his murder changed our lives forever.
- Yeah, and instead of going for a murderer registry, you went on assumptions of child abuse and sexual abuse, which has never been proven. Speaking of which, why don't we have a murderer registry?
My wife always puts it very succinctly, she says, "I cannot understand how anyone could hurt a child, let alone brutally and heinously murder a child like Adam was murdered." And so many of the parents there today are survivors of the murders of their children. But Reve always said we wanted to make sure Adam didn't die in vain. Many times I'll be out on the road and we're in the middle of the night in a dangerous place, seeing some very bad things and very depressing things, and Adam, I always believe that he's there as the inspiration, saying, "Dad, go get them. I'm proud of you." And I hope he is proud of me because I hope I will see him in the next life.
- So, you believe in an afterlife. What about God? Jesus? Do you think Jesus would pose disinformation to get people to do something? I don't think so. Which is basically what you did, IMO.
Another case that I'm thinking of that happened last decade that you're well familiar with was the Jimmy Ryce case as well. Those cases just really, I think, changed the way we looked at protecting our children. I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about the world in 1981 versus the world now in terms of the things that parents didn't do then because they didn't even think about doing then, the things that parents do or should do now because it's a much different world?
John Walsh: You're absolutely right; it is a very much different world. Reve and I look back at how naïve we were in 1981 (And why were you not charged with child neglect? Which would put you on the same registry? As people in congress have said, "we can always use a good tragedy for our benefit," or something like that.). Reve was right three aisles away from Adam and was a great and still is a great mother - we've had three children since Adam was murdered - and a very protective mother, and it happened in an instant. The Ryces will be here today, Don and Claudine Rice; as will be Mark Lunsford (Whose own son molested a child and received 10 days in jail and is NOT on the registry, why not?).
Look at all the terrible cases that have happened in my home state of Florida (Florida, IMO, is corrupt as hell). Look at all the support we've gotten from all the good people in Florida, but look at the cases. Most of the time it was a serious repeat offender: Carlie Bruscia, that guy had 17 convictions; John Couey that murdered Jessica Lunsford, 22 arrests. He was in violation of his sex offender probation and parole. He should have never been out on the streets. At least he should have been monitored, certainly specifically with an ankle bracelet.
So I always tell people that it isn't 1981, it's not 1950, it's not All in the Family/Father Knows Best, it's a difficult, difficult time. Now we have the Internet. We always talk about people telling their children, "Be careful when you're waiting for the school bus or walking home. Don't get near a car if it approaches." Now unfortunately the predators are in our living rooms, talking to our children over the Internet.
- Studies show that 90% or more of all sexual crimes occur in the victims own home, not some stranger. Stranger kidnappings are rare.
We've all seen the recent Datelines and we've been doing at America's Most Wanted for years; these guys are absolute experts at convincing children that they're another sympathetic 12-year-old or 13-year-old child. They try and lure that child to the mall or somewhere where they think they can get that child, and that child never knows they're talking to a 30-year-old man or a 40-year-old pedophile who's out there to hurt them.
- Come on, kids are very trusting in nature, it doesn't take an "expert" to lure a kid a way. See here or here.
So times have changed. The Internet is a great thing, but Interpol and the FBI say that child pornography over the Internet alone has become a $4 billion business. So it is a very different world than I grew up within, it's a very different world than it was in 1980, but I think people are aware and I really think this bill today is going to send a loud message. It only deals with convicted sex offenders, only the level one, the most violent ones, but it sends a message "You messed up one time, you hurt a woman, you hurt a child, but we have the right now to punish you. We have the right to know where you are. We have the right for that soccer mom to check a Web site and know if there's a convicted serious sex offender in their neighborhood." I think today's going to be a loud voice for a lot of victims that will be in the Rose Garden with my wife and I.
- So in the above highlighted statement, he proves once again, the law is about punishing sex offenders, not child abusers, and it's not just for "serious" sex offenders, it's for ALL, even non-sexual crimes! And it doesn't account for all the other "crimes" that can land you on the registry. Kidnapping, urinating in public, two teens having sex, etc.
One of the other things that has changed in 25 years is that the police and law enforcement agencies are also much more better equipped to deal with this, aren't they?
John Walsh: Absolutely, but the real problem is, and I've seen it firsthand on America's Most Wanted, this is a country of 50 little countries called states, and there are 17,000 police agencies in the United States and 27 federal agencies and they still don't exchange information, they don't have the resources. Many times you'll have a case where it's just a one-man sheriff department, maybe a local chief of police with two people in his department; they don't have the resources to go after these sex offenders. This is what this bill will do.
- What about going after all other criminals? Like murderers, gang members, drug dealers/users, thieves, DUI offenders, etc? Why not a registry for all other criminals?
There are going to be pilot programs in every state, teaching cops about cybercrime, about how to put cybercrime units together, how to track sex offenders. This bill is really a boon for law enforcement because it will give resources that teach cops who are more than willing to say, "We don't have the training. We don't have the manpower or womanpower and we really want to help catch these guys." So this is one really big component of this bill.
With the advent of DNA evidence and other things that help crack cold cases, I know what you've said before, but do you have any hope that they will ever find the person who killed Adam?
John Walsh: I never give up hope. I always talk about how my wife and I have never gotten justice. A lot of people think that Ottis Toole, who died in a Florida prison for some horrible crimes, he died of cirrhosis and AIDS in prison, was never charged. The sad thing is that they found a piece of bloody carpet in his car years ago when he was a suspect, and there was no DNA, and unfortunately the Hollywood police over the years misplaced that carpet, which is a real tragedy, because the FBI lab said to me, "Mr. Walsh, if you could give us that carpet, even now, in one day we would tell you whether Adam was in that car or not and whether that man, who is the main suspect, murdered Adam."
- You can get and analyize DNA in one day? I don't think so. If that is true, then why does DNA evidence take so long these days?
So I'm a great believer in DNA; I've often called it the fingerprint of the 21st century. This mandatory taking of the DNA of these sex offenders I think is going to get justice for thousands of victims. I can't imagine how terrible it would be to be in prison, convicted of sexual molestation or rape, and be innocent, and it will free the innocent. So this bill has a huge DNA component.
- If you believe it so much, why not submit your DNA and take the DNA of every single human being on the planet? If it's so great and will help solve crimes, why not?
I wondered what you thought of the book Lost and Found and if you had any parts of it that spoke to you, aside from the profile of yourself and Reve?
John Walsh: I think that book, Lost and Found
, it's a passionate statement about the victims, it's a photographic journey, and it's something I think all parents should probably take a look at. It bothers me when people say, "It can't happen to me," and you look in that book and say, "It's happened across all socioeconomic lines." It happens in the ghetto. It happens in Beverly Hills. It happened in the middle of a beautiful home in Salt Lake City.The Smarts are in there, and today the Smarts will be in the Rose Garden and so will so many other parents of missing and murdered children. Elizabeth, of course, is a happy ending. But there will be a lot of other parents today who helped me work on this bill. It will be kind of a bittersweet day for Reve and I, and we all say the same thing that people in the media never seem to get, we all say, "We don't want to be here. We didn't choose to be here, but we're here because we want to honor our children and fight back."
The book is a great book. Today is going to be a bittersweet day, but it's a great day I think for children out there who may not be victimized because of this bill.
- This bill doesn't prevent any crime, nor protect anybody. You need to get off Fantasy Island!
What is the best way for people to get a copy of this book? I think it might only be available through the Missing Children's.
John Walsh: They can certainly call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1-800-THE-LOST. It's a toll-free number and they have a wonderful Web site, www.missingkids.com. I would even ask for it in book stores, but you can certainly call toll-free, 1-800-THE-LOST.
Right, it does not seem to be, for some reason, available in book stores.
John Walsh: It should be.
You did bring up an internet component. The pedophiles are using it, the predators are using the Internet, and I think if parents would learn the language that their kids are using that they would have a leg up on protecting their children.
John Walsh: Absolutely. You're 100% right. I always tell parents don't let kids take that computer into their bedroom, put it in the family room or living room and monitor there. There's all kind of software. Cox Broadcasting has a wonderful Web site, www.coxtakecharge.com, that teaches parents all the lingo. I even asked my son, "You're on a Web site here, what's that POS mean?" and he says, "Dad, it means 'parent over my shoulder,' we tip each other off." You're right, they have their own lingo. You should have the right to know, even if you're not computer savvy.
- You do have the right, it's called parenting. Also, the above site is no longer there, but you can go here.
There are safeguards and there are software to block certain sites, there's software to check what chat rooms your kids are in. Tell your kids to never give out information. Use an anonymous name in that personal profile so that that person can't track you. It may be a 50-year-old pedophile that you think you're talking to a 12-year-old kid.
- And now, the President and others are trying to make everyone have online ID's, a reversal of what John says above.
John, the DNA component in the bill is very impressive. Of course, it was introduced here in Florida a year ago, I believe. What do you feel, beyond just the sex offenders and the pedophiles and predators, I think this will have a component in solving other crimes; don't you?
John Walsh: Absolutely. The DNA may solve lots of other crimes, not only sex offences and sexual molestations (But if the bill is about sex crimes, then are you saying you will also be collecting DNA from all other criminals? Or is this another mistake?). DNA has broken many other cases where DNA is a component. This isn't just targeted towards sex offenders; it's targeted toward child pornographers. Interpol says that child pornography is a $4 billion, run in many components by the Russian mob, some members of the Romanian mob, people in Amsterdam. So this bill is going to have some international implications too.
- So, are you going to go to these countries and make them all register as well?
Now, John, on the America's Most Wanted program will you be doing any profile on the latest problems we're having here in Florida on human trafficking?
John Walsh: We do; we're going to do a special show this Saturday night around the passage of this bill. We'll be profiling several wanted pedophiles (Yeah, more BS to make it look like all sex offenders are pedophiles! And people wonder where the pedophile hysteria came from?) and we have always been involved in trying to stop human trafficking. So this week will be a very special show on America's Most Wanted this Saturday night.
Thank you very much and congratulations.
John Walsh: Thank you. Unfortunately, the Secret Service is here, telling me that I have to go out to the Rose Garden. I'm sorry for those of you who couldn't ask questions. It has been an incredibly busy day, but a really wonderful, productive day. I thank all of you for your wonderful comments. We're still battling. We're still fighting. So I have to go. God bless you. Thank you.
Monday, December 27, 2010
WA - Should All Convicted Sex Offenders Be Required to Register?
Labels: ChildPorn , CivilCommitment , JoshuaLunsford , MarkLunsford , OffenderChild , Sexting , Washington
Original Article
No! If we have any registry, it should be offline and used by police only. Many in society cannot handle the information in a responsible adult manner without stooping to vigilantism (videos). If someone is so much of a threat, then they should be determined as such at the time of their court appearance by a professional not hired by the state, who deals with sex crimes, then they should be sentenced to longer times in prison. And once a person who is dangerous or not, gets out of prison, they should be able to get on with their lives, just like anybody else. If we have a registry for sex offenders, then we should just have one online registry for ALL crimes, be it DUI, domestic violence, gang member, drug dealer, thief, etc. If it's okay for one group, who are less likely to commit a similar crime than any other criminal, than those who are more likely to re-offend should be on a registry as well. Sex offenders have the lowest recidivism rate of any criminal, except murderers.
12/26/2010
By Josh Farley
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — [name withheld] and his family moved to Bainbridge Island upon hearing it was a pastoral “laid back, forgiving” kind of place.
After finding a rental, he and his wife enrolled their daughter in school. As Christians, they found a local church they liked. They made friends with neighbors and island residents.
But eventually, word got out.
[name withheld] had a criminal past. And not for burglary or drug possession, but for a sex offense.
The news traveled fast, and people who they thought they knew well acted swiftly. His daughter could no longer play with friends down the street, he said. The church pews around them were vacant on Sundays. They more or less stopped going out anywhere on the island.
- This just shows, that the entire family is affected by these draconian laws, and the "Christians" are just hypocrites pretending to be "Christians!"
“We’re treated like we’re diseased,” his wife said.
Having a daughter, [name withheld] can empathize with islanders. He would never want a pedophile around her, and he has family members who were the victims of sexual abuse.
[name withheld] didn’t go to prison for being a pedophile. In 1995, when he was in his early 30s, he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he lived with at the time.
[name withheld] pleaded guilty to his charges and did about four years in state prison. He participated in and paid more than $10,000 for sex-offender treatment. He has committed no new crimes since he got out of prison about a decade ago, according to a check of his criminal history. As sex offenders go, he is considered a “Level 1” by law enforcement, the level least likely to re-offend. He said that just to be safe, he avoids places where teens close to his victim’s age congregate.
“I admit, I was wrong,” [name withheld] said. “But I’ve changed. Why are people still looking at me for something I did 15 years ago?”
Law enforcement makes a determination of how likely a sex offender is to re-offend and rates them on a scale of 1 to 3.
- This is something law enforcement should not be doing, but a PROFESSIONAL who treats sex offenders. Law enforcement are biased, and they pretty much think all sex offenders are dangerous, just ask any police officer.
But the public often fails to see any nuance.
“People look at them in a bucket,” said Bainbridge Island Police Commander Sue Shultz. “They say ‘Any kind of sex offender is a sex offender, and always will be a sex offender.’”
- That is because of the media, politicians, and self serving companies continue to spread lies about sex crimes, and nobody listens to real experts. Nancy Grace, Jane Valez-Mitchell, Mark Lunsford, John Walsh, etc, are NOT experts.
The registration of sex offenders was one of three components of the Community Protection Act of 1990, passed in the wake of two tragic and brutal killings. It’s a popular measure with the public, and the Legislature has strengthened and spent more money on the laws surrounding sex offenses. Lawmakers have also bolstered penalties for failing to register as a sex offender.
The subject of debate is who is included in the registries, who is not and how often should they be checked on.
Shultz said that twice a year, Bainbridge officers “very discreetly” check on the island’s sex offenders to ensure they’re living at their registered address and that they haven’t made any significant changes in appearance that would necessitate a new photo being put on file. Level 3 sex offenders — though Bainbridge doesn’t currently have any — are checked on every three months.
- I don't live in this state, so I am not sure how this works, but if a police officer, like in most states, shows up in a marked car and in uniform, then it's not discreet. Neighbors are nosy, and when they see this, rumors spread.
Random attacks by sex offenders are rare. Shultz and other officials point out that more than 90 percent of sexual abuse cases occur between a victim and someone they thought they could trust.
Outside of two incidents of non-sexual criminal activity, none of the 11 Level 1 sex offenders on Bainbridge Island have been reported to police for even an allegation of sexual abuse, Shultz said. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but she encourages residents to put it into perspective.
So far, the legislative decree for the registry has been to err on the side of caution. While extremely rare, recent horrifying crimes committed by sex offenders have galvanized lawmakers to act.
Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge uses the analogy of an airplane crash.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “But when it does, it’s a tragedy.”
Hauge chaired a task force convened by Gov. Chris Gregoire in the wake of the killing of Zina Linnik, a 12-year-old girl abducted and murdered by Terapon Adhahn, a Level 1 sex offender. A result of that task force was the creation of a sex-offender policy board that reports to the governor, and the creation of a pot of grant money awarded to local law enforcement to make face-to-face contact with every sex offender in the state.
“Nobody knows how much of a safety factor it adds,” Hauge said. “But a murder of a young girl damages the community in an incalculable way.”
Victim’s advocates, who see the impacts sex offenses have on victims, have a hard time finding any sympathy for the registrants, said Lucy Berliner, a longtime advocate and head of the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress.
“The only consequence I can see of registration is the inconvenience for the sex offender,” she said.
Aside from law-enforcement monitoring costs, registration also creates an entirely new class of crime: failing to register. All sex offenders have 72 hours to register with their local sheriff’s office any time they move to a new permanent residence.
The crime carries a maximum of five years in prison, and if the offender’s failed to register twice before, up to 10 years in prison.
Not counting the state’s 37 county jails, there are more than 300 inmates serving time for failing to register in the state’s prison system, at a cost of more than $1 million a year.
The cases take up law enforcement’s time and resources. Trina Washburn, Kitsap County Detectives Support Specialist, has five file cabinets of active county sex-offender registration cases.
Registration, as one might imagine, isn’t popular with offenders. It’s often the worst part of a criminal sentence.
- I don't think that is true. If the registry was offline and used by police, and the residency restrictions were gone, then I don't think many would have much of a problem with it. The registry being online invites vigilantism, and joblessness. And the residency restrictions creates homelessness.
“I’ve had attorneys tell me, ‘My guy will do twice the amount of time in custody — as long as they don’t have to register,’” said Kevin Hull, Kitsap County deputy prosecutor and head of the office’s special assault unit. “That tells me that there is some value to it.”
Registration, however, is not negotiable, Hull said.
“If we can prove a sex crime, then we’re going to prove a sex crime,” he said.
- And even if someone is accused of a sex crime, then you don't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Just read the news. There are many in prison due to corrupt DA's, lawyers, judges, police, etc. Simply on words alone, no evidence, just allegations.
There are more than 20,000 registered sex offenders in the state, with almost 800 in Kitsap. Of those, there are 44 Level 3 offenders, 148 Level 2s and almost 600 Level 1 sex offenders.
The registration period — 10 years for lesser sex crimes, 15 years for midrange sex offenses and life for the most serious — also starts over anytime the offender commits a new crime.
- And that in itself is wrong. If it were another sex crime, then they should be put into prison for a longer period of time, and if it's not a sex crime, then their time on the registry should not change, IMO.
Registration’s effect can be two-fold: law enforcement keeps an eye on an offender for many years after a conviction, and for some cases, a lifetime. Conversely, it also has a deterrent effect on an offender, because, as David Boerner, a longtime Seattle University law professor and one of the architects of the act that created registration, points out, “’They know who I am and where I am.’”
- That is an opinion. There is no evidence that proves the registry is a deterrent.
Thomas Weaver, a Bremerton defense attorney who handles sex cases, questions the indiscriminate nature of a sex offender registry. While lower-level sex offenders might not have their pictures in the paper like Level 3 offenders do, they’re still on the list, he said.
Currently, Weaver has a case in which the 19-year-old defendant is charged with having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. The defendant is permitted to have sex with a teen if he’s no more than 48 months older than the teen — but in this case, he’s 54 months older.
A conviction would require the defendant to register for a decade.
“(The need for registration), I think, is to provide notification to the community of a potential danger,” he said. “I don’t see how, in the case of a 19-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old girl, the community needs to be notified every time he moves.”
- Every single person on this planet is a "potential" danger!
“Sexting,” where teens send lewd photos to each other over mobile phones, may seem to some just an immature teenage mistake. Under the law, however, it can be considered “Dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct” — a class B felony requiring 15 years of sex offender registration for those convicted of it.
Weaver said he also regularly gets what he calls “playing doctor” cases that involve siblings. Typically, an older brother, at least three years older than his sister, has touched her private parts. Such a conviction, if the girl is under 12, is a class A felony — which, barring an appeal from the defendant, means a lifetime of sex offender registration.
- And some times, it's an older female touching a younger male. It's not a male only thing!
“They’re still coming to understand sexuality,” Weaver said. “What we’re saying as a society is you’re supposed to have the sexual maturity of an adult when you’re pubescent or even prepubescent.”
Those convictions are adding up.
“We’re creating a whole world of juvenile sex offenders,” Weaver said.
State Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, is for harsh sentences for sex crimes and for monitoring of offenders, such as GPS anklets. But she said she’s heard from constituents that in some cases involving young adults, the rigidity of the law can interfere with an offender’s ability to move on in life.
- The same can be said for an adult!
“Things happen, they’re young,” she said. “Should they be tied with this for the rest of their lives when they become upstanding adults?”
State Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, a member of the House’s public safety and emergency preparedness committee, is crafting legislation that would help certain juveniles who are not predatory offenders opt out of registration.
- Why not do the same for adults?
“A lot of these kids get into trouble and now they’re labeled as sex offenders for life,” she said. “Then they have no life, they can’t get into the military, they can’t get a job, can’t get an apartment. We have to have a way to get them off these registries.”
- Same for adults.
Sex offenders can petition the courts to end their requirement. They’re eligible after at least 10 years of registering — two years in juvenile cases. But even if they’ve completed sex offender treatment and kept their nose clean since they were released from incarceration, the time and money to go through the process may still end with a judge hesitant to grant the request, Weaver said.
Weaver does wonder about a slippery slope in registration. For example, why not enact a burglary offender registration to notify the public when such convicts are released, he wonders.
- Exactly. If it's okay for one group, then all criminals should be on a public registry, IMO.
A kidnapping registry was created in the wake of Washington’s sex offender registry, he said. Nevada has a registry for convicts of many different crimes. And there have also been calls in some states for a registry of arson offenders, a crime that also often involves an underlying psychological component.
- Yep, eventually we will all be on a registry, and in my opinion, like I said, if it's okay for one group, then it's okay for everyone else as well.
Where to draw the line?
As a sex offender, [name withheld] can understand why people would be afraid of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders. His family’s few options of places to live are apartments and houses that accommodate sex offenders. But he doesn’t want to go to those places out of fear for his wife and daughter. Other landlords, however, won’t rent to him because of his status.
“So where can we live?” he wonders.
While in prison, he changed his name. He still feels blessed to have found a family and for the neighbors on Bainbridge Island that do accept him.
“God gave me a family, a wife and a new start,” he said. “I just wish someone would give us a chance.”
- Amen!
No! If we have any registry, it should be offline and used by police only. Many in society cannot handle the information in a responsible adult manner without stooping to vigilantism (videos). If someone is so much of a threat, then they should be determined as such at the time of their court appearance by a professional not hired by the state, who deals with sex crimes, then they should be sentenced to longer times in prison. And once a person who is dangerous or not, gets out of prison, they should be able to get on with their lives, just like anybody else. If we have a registry for sex offenders, then we should just have one online registry for ALL crimes, be it DUI, domestic violence, gang member, drug dealer, thief, etc. If it's okay for one group, who are less likely to commit a similar crime than any other criminal, than those who are more likely to re-offend should be on a registry as well. Sex offenders have the lowest recidivism rate of any criminal, except murderers.
12/26/2010
By Josh Farley
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — [name withheld] and his family moved to Bainbridge Island upon hearing it was a pastoral “laid back, forgiving” kind of place.
After finding a rental, he and his wife enrolled their daughter in school. As Christians, they found a local church they liked. They made friends with neighbors and island residents.
But eventually, word got out.
[name withheld] had a criminal past. And not for burglary or drug possession, but for a sex offense.
The news traveled fast, and people who they thought they knew well acted swiftly. His daughter could no longer play with friends down the street, he said. The church pews around them were vacant on Sundays. They more or less stopped going out anywhere on the island.
- This just shows, that the entire family is affected by these draconian laws, and the "Christians" are just hypocrites pretending to be "Christians!"
“We’re treated like we’re diseased,” his wife said.
Having a daughter, [name withheld] can empathize with islanders. He would never want a pedophile around her, and he has family members who were the victims of sexual abuse.
[name withheld] didn’t go to prison for being a pedophile. In 1995, when he was in his early 30s, he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he lived with at the time.
[name withheld] pleaded guilty to his charges and did about four years in state prison. He participated in and paid more than $10,000 for sex-offender treatment. He has committed no new crimes since he got out of prison about a decade ago, according to a check of his criminal history. As sex offenders go, he is considered a “Level 1” by law enforcement, the level least likely to re-offend. He said that just to be safe, he avoids places where teens close to his victim’s age congregate.
“I admit, I was wrong,” [name withheld] said. “But I’ve changed. Why are people still looking at me for something I did 15 years ago?”
Law enforcement makes a determination of how likely a sex offender is to re-offend and rates them on a scale of 1 to 3.
- This is something law enforcement should not be doing, but a PROFESSIONAL who treats sex offenders. Law enforcement are biased, and they pretty much think all sex offenders are dangerous, just ask any police officer.
But the public often fails to see any nuance.
“People look at them in a bucket,” said Bainbridge Island Police Commander Sue Shultz. “They say ‘Any kind of sex offender is a sex offender, and always will be a sex offender.’”
- That is because of the media, politicians, and self serving companies continue to spread lies about sex crimes, and nobody listens to real experts. Nancy Grace, Jane Valez-Mitchell, Mark Lunsford, John Walsh, etc, are NOT experts.
The registration of sex offenders was one of three components of the Community Protection Act of 1990, passed in the wake of two tragic and brutal killings. It’s a popular measure with the public, and the Legislature has strengthened and spent more money on the laws surrounding sex offenses. Lawmakers have also bolstered penalties for failing to register as a sex offender.
The subject of debate is who is included in the registries, who is not and how often should they be checked on.
Shultz said that twice a year, Bainbridge officers “very discreetly” check on the island’s sex offenders to ensure they’re living at their registered address and that they haven’t made any significant changes in appearance that would necessitate a new photo being put on file. Level 3 sex offenders — though Bainbridge doesn’t currently have any — are checked on every three months.
- I don't live in this state, so I am not sure how this works, but if a police officer, like in most states, shows up in a marked car and in uniform, then it's not discreet. Neighbors are nosy, and when they see this, rumors spread.
Random attacks by sex offenders are rare. Shultz and other officials point out that more than 90 percent of sexual abuse cases occur between a victim and someone they thought they could trust.
Outside of two incidents of non-sexual criminal activity, none of the 11 Level 1 sex offenders on Bainbridge Island have been reported to police for even an allegation of sexual abuse, Shultz said. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but she encourages residents to put it into perspective.
So far, the legislative decree for the registry has been to err on the side of caution. While extremely rare, recent horrifying crimes committed by sex offenders have galvanized lawmakers to act.
Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge uses the analogy of an airplane crash.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “But when it does, it’s a tragedy.”
Hauge chaired a task force convened by Gov. Chris Gregoire in the wake of the killing of Zina Linnik, a 12-year-old girl abducted and murdered by Terapon Adhahn, a Level 1 sex offender. A result of that task force was the creation of a sex-offender policy board that reports to the governor, and the creation of a pot of grant money awarded to local law enforcement to make face-to-face contact with every sex offender in the state.
“Nobody knows how much of a safety factor it adds,” Hauge said. “But a murder of a young girl damages the community in an incalculable way.”
Victim’s advocates, who see the impacts sex offenses have on victims, have a hard time finding any sympathy for the registrants, said Lucy Berliner, a longtime advocate and head of the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress.
“The only consequence I can see of registration is the inconvenience for the sex offender,” she said.
Aside from law-enforcement monitoring costs, registration also creates an entirely new class of crime: failing to register. All sex offenders have 72 hours to register with their local sheriff’s office any time they move to a new permanent residence.
The crime carries a maximum of five years in prison, and if the offender’s failed to register twice before, up to 10 years in prison.
Not counting the state’s 37 county jails, there are more than 300 inmates serving time for failing to register in the state’s prison system, at a cost of more than $1 million a year.
The cases take up law enforcement’s time and resources. Trina Washburn, Kitsap County Detectives Support Specialist, has five file cabinets of active county sex-offender registration cases.
Registration, as one might imagine, isn’t popular with offenders. It’s often the worst part of a criminal sentence.
- I don't think that is true. If the registry was offline and used by police, and the residency restrictions were gone, then I don't think many would have much of a problem with it. The registry being online invites vigilantism, and joblessness. And the residency restrictions creates homelessness.
“I’ve had attorneys tell me, ‘My guy will do twice the amount of time in custody — as long as they don’t have to register,’” said Kevin Hull, Kitsap County deputy prosecutor and head of the office’s special assault unit. “That tells me that there is some value to it.”
Registration, however, is not negotiable, Hull said.
“If we can prove a sex crime, then we’re going to prove a sex crime,” he said.
- And even if someone is accused of a sex crime, then you don't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Just read the news. There are many in prison due to corrupt DA's, lawyers, judges, police, etc. Simply on words alone, no evidence, just allegations.
There are more than 20,000 registered sex offenders in the state, with almost 800 in Kitsap. Of those, there are 44 Level 3 offenders, 148 Level 2s and almost 600 Level 1 sex offenders.
The registration period — 10 years for lesser sex crimes, 15 years for midrange sex offenses and life for the most serious — also starts over anytime the offender commits a new crime.
- And that in itself is wrong. If it were another sex crime, then they should be put into prison for a longer period of time, and if it's not a sex crime, then their time on the registry should not change, IMO.
Registration’s effect can be two-fold: law enforcement keeps an eye on an offender for many years after a conviction, and for some cases, a lifetime. Conversely, it also has a deterrent effect on an offender, because, as David Boerner, a longtime Seattle University law professor and one of the architects of the act that created registration, points out, “’They know who I am and where I am.’”
- That is an opinion. There is no evidence that proves the registry is a deterrent.
‘A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF JUVENILE SEX OFFENDERS’
Thomas Weaver, a Bremerton defense attorney who handles sex cases, questions the indiscriminate nature of a sex offender registry. While lower-level sex offenders might not have their pictures in the paper like Level 3 offenders do, they’re still on the list, he said.
Currently, Weaver has a case in which the 19-year-old defendant is charged with having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. The defendant is permitted to have sex with a teen if he’s no more than 48 months older than the teen — but in this case, he’s 54 months older.
A conviction would require the defendant to register for a decade.
“(The need for registration), I think, is to provide notification to the community of a potential danger,” he said. “I don’t see how, in the case of a 19-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old girl, the community needs to be notified every time he moves.”
- Every single person on this planet is a "potential" danger!
“Sexting,” where teens send lewd photos to each other over mobile phones, may seem to some just an immature teenage mistake. Under the law, however, it can be considered “Dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct” — a class B felony requiring 15 years of sex offender registration for those convicted of it.
Weaver said he also regularly gets what he calls “playing doctor” cases that involve siblings. Typically, an older brother, at least three years older than his sister, has touched her private parts. Such a conviction, if the girl is under 12, is a class A felony — which, barring an appeal from the defendant, means a lifetime of sex offender registration.
- And some times, it's an older female touching a younger male. It's not a male only thing!
“They’re still coming to understand sexuality,” Weaver said. “What we’re saying as a society is you’re supposed to have the sexual maturity of an adult when you’re pubescent or even prepubescent.”
Those convictions are adding up.
“We’re creating a whole world of juvenile sex offenders,” Weaver said.
State Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, is for harsh sentences for sex crimes and for monitoring of offenders, such as GPS anklets. But she said she’s heard from constituents that in some cases involving young adults, the rigidity of the law can interfere with an offender’s ability to move on in life.
- The same can be said for an adult!
“Things happen, they’re young,” she said. “Should they be tied with this for the rest of their lives when they become upstanding adults?”
State Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, a member of the House’s public safety and emergency preparedness committee, is crafting legislation that would help certain juveniles who are not predatory offenders opt out of registration.
- Why not do the same for adults?
“A lot of these kids get into trouble and now they’re labeled as sex offenders for life,” she said. “Then they have no life, they can’t get into the military, they can’t get a job, can’t get an apartment. We have to have a way to get them off these registries.”
- Same for adults.
Sex offenders can petition the courts to end their requirement. They’re eligible after at least 10 years of registering — two years in juvenile cases. But even if they’ve completed sex offender treatment and kept their nose clean since they were released from incarceration, the time and money to go through the process may still end with a judge hesitant to grant the request, Weaver said.
THE REGISTRY’S LIMITS
Weaver does wonder about a slippery slope in registration. For example, why not enact a burglary offender registration to notify the public when such convicts are released, he wonders.
- Exactly. If it's okay for one group, then all criminals should be on a public registry, IMO.
A kidnapping registry was created in the wake of Washington’s sex offender registry, he said. Nevada has a registry for convicts of many different crimes. And there have also been calls in some states for a registry of arson offenders, a crime that also often involves an underlying psychological component.
- Yep, eventually we will all be on a registry, and in my opinion, like I said, if it's okay for one group, then it's okay for everyone else as well.
Where to draw the line?
As a sex offender, [name withheld] can understand why people would be afraid of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders. His family’s few options of places to live are apartments and houses that accommodate sex offenders. But he doesn’t want to go to those places out of fear for his wife and daughter. Other landlords, however, won’t rent to him because of his status.
“So where can we live?” he wonders.
While in prison, he changed his name. He still feels blessed to have found a family and for the neighbors on Bainbridge Island that do accept him.
“God gave me a family, a wife and a new start,” he said. “I just wish someone would give us a chance.”
- Amen!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Red Eye: Sex Offender asks for Castration
Labels: Castration , CrimeVigilante , Death , MarkLunsford , Video
So tell Mark Lunsford that you think his son, who molested a 14 year old female, should be put to death as well, also, not to mention the fact they found child porn on Marks machine when Jessica went missing, but they never investigated further.
As well as all the other young kids labeled sex offenders. Hell, why not just put everyone to death if they break ANY law? Let's become the next Iran!
As well as all the other young kids labeled sex offenders. Hell, why not just put everyone to death if they break ANY law? Let's become the next Iran!
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