UK - Even sex offenders need friends

Original Article

05/29/2013

Most of us have a network of family and friends that we can depend on – they’re the ones we call on in times of need.

We turn to them for advice, but they’re also there to point us in the right direction when we’re heading down the wrong path.

So what happens if you commit a repulsive crime such as child abuse and your friends and family turn their backs on you?

It might not seem to matter so much when you’re serving time behind bars – but what about when you’re released back into the real world?

Statistics show that a sex offender is much more likely to re-offend if he or she feels isolated, lonely and not part of the community.

That’s where Circles of Support and Accountability comes in.

It’s a project run by Herts Probation, first set up in 2009, which sees volunteers give their time to become a ‘friend’ to a paedophile.
- Just because someone is accused or convicted of a child sexual crime doesn't mean they are a pedophile!

But this isn’t a tea and sympathy kind of scheme, the focus is helping the offender – or ‘core member’ as they’re referred to in the programme – to become a useful member of society.

Project manager Annabel Francis said: “It is comparable to a friendship group in that they are there to support.”

“That could be emotional support, practical support like form filling and practising for interviews, and logistical support.”

“It’s not tea and sympathy but it is supportive.”

“But that’s in the context of if anything changes with your risk, or you have broken any of your terms, then we will be reporting it to probation and there will be consequences.”

People are all too quick to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to these types of offences, but unless those released from prison are managed in some way, they are almost certain to re-offend. That means another child’s life could be ripped apart.
- Almost certain to re-offend?  Where is the facts to back that up?  From the many studies we've read, this is simply not true.  Some may fit this stereotype, but many do not.

And that’s why Annabel is so passionate about the scheme. “I think child sex abuse is one of the most horrific crimes to commit. The fallout from it for the victim is so extensive.”

“I don’t want to see it happen any more and the only way I can think of doing that is to work with people who are likely to perpetrate that behaviour.”

She manages a team of more than 100 volunteers across the Eastern region – covering six counties including Herts – who, in groups of up to six, meet once a week for a few hours with an offender.

These are mostly people who have been released from prison but sometimes it involves those who have been given community orders as their punishment rather than jail time.

Meetings take various forms, ranging from a formal sit down talk to meeting up for coffee or having a kickabout.

And like our ‘normal’ friends, the volunteers are there to find out how the person’s week is going, how they’re feeling, but also to flag up to Annabel any potential worries of risks.

Volunteers never meet a core member on a one-to-one basis.

“Predominantly this is because of how manipulative this particular group of clients can be,” said Annabel.

“Sometimes they don’t even mean to do it, it becomes part of their character that needs to be chipped away at.”

Every meeting is minuted and Annabel holds regular get-togethers with the volunteers, including a compulsory one-to-one at least every three months.

In some cases where volunteers have had concerns it has led to the offender being re-arrested or recalled to prison.

Of the 100 helpers, there are just eight men and Annabel says more are desperately needed.

She said: “Across the board volunteering is a very female activity – that is just a trend for all volunteering. When volunteering is seen as a caring role it becomes more female.”

“There is a temptation for everybody to ignore sex offenders, to think ‘If I have something to do with a sex offender, then somehow I’m doing something wrong’.”

“I think people see it as the worst of the worst and I don’t think people want to be associated with that, which I can understand.”

“But I think people need to look at it in reverse. To think ‘If sex abuse is so bad. then what can I do about it to reduce the likelihood that someone is going to get hurt?’”

“They’re not locked up for life, they don’t get castrated, they don’t get hanged.”

“You can either campaign the government to bring back the death penalty or you can be volunteering for circles.”

In the Eastern region 16 circle groups – which each run for 12 months – have opened and closed and another eight are under way. To date none of the core members has re-offended.

The scheme is based on a project that was started in Canada back in 1995 when a group of Quakers befriended a sex offender.

Today, there are projects running across the UK.

The stages of applying to become a volunteer:

• Fill out an application form.
• Get two character references.
• Attend a two-day training course and assessment.
• Undergo one-to-one interviews.
• An advanced CRB check will be carried out.
• To find out more visit www.circles-uk.org.uk or call Annabel on 07775 010443.

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UK - Would you befriend a child abuser?

Original Article

NOTE: Article has a video, but it's not playing right now. If it ever starts working, then we will embed it below. See the link above for the video.

04/16/2013

As part of This Morning's Crime Week, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have been discussing whether anyone would befriend a child abuser if they thought it could prevent them from re-offending?

Joining the presenters in the studio was Stephen Hanvey, who is the Chief Executive of Circles UK - a charity organisation which aims to rehabilitate child abusers and Chloe Stirk, who is a volunteer.

Speaking about the organisation, Stephen said: "It's a small group of very carefully selected, trained, supervised volunteers who will dedicate time to spend with somebody who has committed these offences."

"(They are) keeping an eye on them, monitoring what they do, work very closely with probation officers and police. But also to counteract that isolation and alienation they experience."

"And the evidence is that if you provide them with a level of attention and some social and practical support you can help keep them on the straight and narrow."

"It's about the community taking responsibility."

Stephen Hanvey, Chief Executive of Circles UK

Initiatives such as Circles UK first came to prominence in Canada in 1995, after a Quaker community befriended a known sex offender to help him rehabilitate.

Circles UK volunteer Chloe Stirk told Phillip and Holly her work was very rewarding, but she was aware of the dangers of working with a notoriously manipulative group of offenders.

"We go through a lot of training....and really the rule of thumb is just to always err on the side of caution," she said.

"So if I come out of a meeting thinking everything is great then I know that I need to pick myself up again."

"Once you're aware of that, you learn to be a bit more confident about spotting when you are being manipulated."

"You don't sign up to it to go in and be judgmental."

Chloe Stirk, Circles UK volunteer

Statistics suggested that in medium to high risk sex offenders around 30% have reoffended in the past five years.
- We assume that when they say "reoffended" it means a new sex crime, but that is only a guess since they didn't specify that or not, but, ex-sex offenders already have one of the lowest reoffense rates of any other ex-felon, yet they are not on an online shaming hit-list nor punished as much as those less likely to reoffend.

Stephen said that of the 160 offenders his organisation have worked with, only eight have reoffended,

He admited that while the concept of Circles UK may be controversial to many, people should recognise the importance of the work they are doing.

"There is no cure (for pedophilia), but what you can do is to help these people recognise the triggers and the dangers of falling back into dangerous and distorted thing," he said.
- And not all ex-sex offenders are pedophiles either.

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CANADA - Sex Offender Support Circles Having Positive Impact in Alberta

Original Article

01/15/2013

By Justina Reichel

Majority of those supported by CoSA groups have not re-offended

Although it has been operating in Edmonton for less than two years, a program to help stop released sex offenders from re-offending in their communities is experiencing remarkable success.

Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) is composed of community volunteers who provide a “circle” of support for sex offenders released from jail to help integrate them back into the community while holding them accountable.

The main goal of CoSA, whose mantra is “No More Victims,” is to reduce the risk of future sex crimes by assisting and supporting released offenders who are often shunned by their friends, families, and communities out of fear.

Susan Logan, executive director of the Edmonton-based Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre, was the main driving force in bringing the program back to Edmonton, where it had previously failed due to a critical lack of funding.

“CoSA has clearly demonstrated through its history that, given support, people can live without re-offending, not only sexually but in other crime areas,” Logan told The Epoch Times.

“By creating that pseudo-community, providing those supports to the person, it gives them that opportunity. Otherwise, if they’re just stigmatized and isolated it’s very difficult for them to make the changes they need to make to be able to live crime-free in communities.”

Logan says she has seen a fundamental change in the individuals who have been involved with various CoSAs in Alberta.

“In the majority of groups that CoSA has done, people have not re-offended sexually. They may have done other things, but they have not re-offended sexually,” she says.

CoSA has clearly demonstrated through its history that, given support, people can live without re-offending.
— Susan Logan, Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre

“But even when [re-offending] happens, these are people who develop caring relationships to try to support the person as best they can, no matter what’s happening.”

The program returned to Edmonton in 2011 and has been operating in Calgary since 2002. Logan estimates at any given time there are between 10-15 circles working with offenders in Alberta.

Logan notes the Alberta program is particularly crucial because of central Alberta’s Bowden Institution. Bowden is a main prison centre for sex offenders on the Prairies, who are regularly released from the institution after serving their terms.

Read the entire article here

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Come on, join the SOSEN forums!

If you are a person who wears the sex offender label, or are the family member of someone who is, then visit SOSEN and join their forums.

http://sosen.org/

In the upper right is a FORUMS link, move your mouse over that then a MEMBER FORUM link will appear, click that and sign up.

Hope to see you there.

NOTE: It may take awhile before someone approves you.

Sincerely,

Sex Offender Issues

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TX - Woman works to help sex offenders

Original Article

11/15/2012

By Noelle Newton

A San Antonio woman has taken on a controversial role. She helps sex offenders--the guilty and the proclaimed innocent--without judgment.

"I'm lost. My life is in a shamble. I just don't know what to do."

Those are the words of a convicted sex offender. When everyone else shuts the door--Mary Sue Molnar extends a hand.

"You are my only hope. Please say that you can help me," Molnar reads from a letter. "Those are tough."

Molnar is with Texas Voices for Reason and Justice.

She and several other families started the group in 2008 after her son was convicted of sex assault.

"He was 22 and the girl was 16," she said.

Molnar's son is serving an 11 year sentence for the crime. He will be on the sex offender registry for life.

Her initial goal was to fight for a fairer registry.

"We all have children. We have grandchildren we want to keep the public safe. There needs to be differentiation between these offenses. They need to look at these cases differently than grouping everyone under the sex offender registry for life," Molnar said.

Molnar says the response has been overwhelming. She now has 500 members. She quit her part time job and converted a bedroom in her home to an office so that she can sit in front of the computer all day.

She got four phone calls during our 30 minute interview. When she's not on the phone, she is responding to letters. Sex offenders mostly ask for help with housing and finding employment. Molnar also offers counseling to family members of offenders. Every once in a while she gets a jaw-dropping case of innocence.

"She allowed me to speak and tell my story without interrupting me. At the end she said. I'm so sorry. That's a horrible story," said [wife name withheld], wife of an exonerated sex offender,

[wife name withheld] looked to Molnar for support several years ago. For two decades, she fought to get the truth out about her husband [name withheld].

"Every year that he had to register it was like someone sticking a knife in my gut," [wife name withheld] said.

Read the entire article here

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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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Bridges to Hope - Web Site

Web Site | Facebook

Our Mission:
Bridges to Hope seeks to accompany former offenders while they are moving out of the correctional institutions and into the community.

Our Vision:
We envision our Partners, the formerly incarcerated, having lives of personal responsibility, accountability, productivity, purpose and hope in building a new life while on the bridge of re-entry.

How We Do This:
Bridges to Hope provides access to clothing and furniture necessary for setting up an independent household after incarceration. Job readiness, mentoring and coaching are an important part of the re-entry process and also a part of our programming.

To download a PDF of our brochure, click here.

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PA - Sex offender support group hires director

Deirdre Foley Citro

Original Article

11/10/2011

By CINDY STAUFFER

A local group that wants to help sex offenders return to society is taking a major step.

It has hired its first director.

Community Renewal for Sex Offenders has hired Deirdre Foley Citro to lead the nonprofit group, which works to ease the transition of sex offenders into the community after prison sentences.

"They come back no matter what," Citro said. "What can we do to make their transition work so they won't re-offend? How can we provide support and keep our community safe?"

"We will provide some support so when they re-enter the community — the phrase is 'returning citizens' — they can cope better."

Citro, 61, of Manheim Township, left her position as the executive director of Mom's House, which offers resources to help single parents complete their education and find a job, to come to the Community Renewal organization, also known as CR-SO.

Citro said the transition from Mom's House to CR-SO was a bit unexpected.

While at Mom's House, Citro began volunteering at Domestic Violence Services and for the sexual assault hot line.

"As a child, I was sexually abused, and then in college I was sexually assaulted," she said. "I come at it from a survivor's standpoint."

In what she calls her "third act in life," she wanted to do something that helps survivors.

"But I didn't think I would be helping sexual offenders," she said.

A member of Lancaster Friends Meeting, Citro said she had heard about CR-SO through another Friend, Jim Kalish, who has been instrumental in getting the group started. She also heard the group was looking for a director.

She was sitting in a Friends meeting one week — members sit in silence and "wait on the Lord," she said — and afterward decided to find out if the position was still open. It was, she applied and she was hired.

CR-SO hopes to help sex offenders find housing, employment and treatment after they leave prison, to lessen the chances that they will reoffend.

The group also will provide education about sex offenders and promote its belief that most sex offenders can live in the community without doing harm if they are given the chance, access to support and a means to ensure accountability.

Citro knows that can be a tough sell.

"It's an ugly topic," Citro said. "Because it's an ugly topic, it grabs at your gut. I'm the first one who knows that."

"When we are making serious decisions about people's lives, we have to do it in a way that we can look at it with a clear mind and heart about what's best for everyone involved."

"The victim is first, then the community and the offender."

Her position is being funded by a grant from the local Friends group and donations, Kalish said. Citro will work out of her home, as the group does not have a formal office. Its website is www.cr-so.org.

CR-SO recently started a support group for friends and family members of sexual offenders, called F&F. Its next meeting will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Friends Meeting House, 110 Tulane Terrace.

At Mom's House, Citro is being replaced by Maryanne O'Neill.

O'Neill, 31, of Lancaster Township, comes to Mom's House from Luthercare, where she works as a mentor at Grace Place.

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Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) - Dr. Robin Wilson Interview on KPFA

Video Link | COSA Web Site

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DC - Support groups?

Sent in via the "Contact" form, and posted with the users permission.

From GS:
Are there face-to-face support groups for parents of sex offenders anywhere? I am looking specifically for something for a mother in the Washington DC area.

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Families of Sex Offenders Support Group

Click the image to visit the group

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KY - Second House For Sex Offenders Shut Down

View the article here

The government need to stop this vigilantism. This is what you get when the media and politicians spread lies and myths about someone. And you will notice, when stuff like this occurs, it almost NEVER makes the news. This is also MORE PROOF the public cannot handle the online registry and the demonization of sex offenders by the media and politicians, is why this occurs, and they, along with the police, do nothing about it, and that is why it continues. Check out this page. How many sex offenders, or innocent people must die before the hate stops and something is done to lock up these vigilantes? This place should fight back, have security cameras, video tape the vigilantes, and press charges against all of them, put them in prison where they apparently belong!

06/03/2009

By Andy Cunningham

For the second time since January, the Catholic Action Center in Lexington has been forced to shut down a house they were providing for registered sex offenders.

The home was in the Woodhill Neighborhood.

Four men, three of them sex offenders, were living there with their program monitor.

"They were harassed, rocks thrown at them, windows broken in," said Ginny Ramsey.

Ramsey is the Co-Director of the Catholic Action Center. She says they were forced to move the men on Sunday.

"They were fearing for their lives. People were threatening them over and over," Ramsey said.
- And what did the local police do about it?  Did anyone report this to the police?

This was no surprise to Ramsey. In January, the Catholic Action Center purchased a home on Detroit Avenue to house registered sex offenders, but before they could move in, the residents there petitioned.

"These are people who have no where else to go, our job as a service organization is to help these people, because no one else will," Ramsey said, when asked why the CAC continues to serve these individuals while receiving so much resistance from the community.

"We are trying to provide these people an atmosphere where they can become productive members of society, but also a place where they can be under constant monitoring and be held accountable for their actions," she went on to say.

Once released from jail, the law requires sex offenders to provide an address at all times. But because of strict limitations as to where they can live, many cannot establish one, so they are re-arrested, costing tax payers a large amount of money.

"It costs Fayette County about a $1,000,000 a year to house sex offenders in jail, not because they have re-offended, but because they cannot find affordable or practical housing," said Ramsey.

It's not just the Catholic Action Center that is trying to solve this problem. Other community leaders are working on it.

"We don't have an island here where we can just dump them," said Lexington attorney Rebecca DiLoreto.

DiLoreto says the current law clearly states where sex offenders can't live but it doesn't clearly state where they can live.

"We can't ignore the fact these individuals are living among us, so rather than not knowing where they live, we need to work with them and make sure they are doing things they aren't supposed to," said DiLoreto.

She's urging lawmakers to look at the current law and see if revisions need to be made or include programs to help offenders find a place to live.

One of the sex offenders moved from the Woodhill Drive home is staying in a local hotel.

Another was moved to West Wirginia.

The third was able to find another place to live within the legal requirements.

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ID - Treasure Valley teen creates local support group

View the article here

Now this is a great idea, instead of starting a group for vigilantes. I hope this group works out, and grows. I thought there were survivor groups all over the place, guess I was wrong.

05/30/2009

By KATY MOELLER

_____ is a survivor, but she knows she needs help to get her life back on track.

The 17-year-old, who was sexually assaulted earlier this year, has been seeing a licensed professional counselor and a specialist in mental health rehabilitation. Now she's going public to create a support group for herself and others who've experienced similar trauma.

The decision to start her own group happened only after she, her counselor and her family failed to find one in the Boise area after a couple of months of searching. Her family has mixed emotions about her going public.

"I feel protective, and I feel proud," said Sharon Wander, the grandmother _____ has lived with over the past year. "I have some trepidation about it - the public part of it - but I'm really proud of her. I want to be supportive in her efforts to get this going."

_____ said she found the Web site www.AfterSilence.org helpful - to a point.

"I would recommend it to any survivors. There's so much support there," she said. "But online support only goes so far. It's some words on a page."

_____ filed a report with the police on her assault, which she said was committed by an acquaintance. Payette County Deputy Prosecutor Anne-Marie Kelso said the case has been reviewed, and no charges will be filed.
- No charges?  I wonder why?

Wander said she tried to help her granddaughter find a support group. She made calls and visited agencies that provide services to those who have suffered sexual assault.

"We started our search back in February, soon after she told us what happened," Wander said.

There are many programs and services for sexual assault survivors in the Treasure Valley, but finding a support group isn't easy. The Idaho Statesman called about a dozen agencies and was unable to find one that's currently meeting.

In the past, support groups have formed at the Women's & Children's Alliance in Boise.

"They tend to come and go. ... The groups tend to form and peter out, based on the needs of the people," said Rebecca Taguma, a spokeswoman for the agency.

The WCA does currently have a support group for domestic violence survivors, and some in the group have suffered sexual assault. But that's not the focus of the group, Taguma said.

Heidi Hart, behavioral health director for Terry Reilly Health Services, said the agency's SANE Solutions program has five groups for adult survivors of sexual abuse age 19 and older that meet in Nampa. But there aren't any in Boise because there hasn't been demand (groups are usually six to eight people).

There are no groups for adolescents for the same reason, Hart said. But the agency would start one if there's enough interest.

Wander said she was frustrated by the hunt for a support group. "We kind of gave up. Several people said, 'Why don't you start your own?' " she said.

_____ began talking with Ben Remer, a psycho-social rehabilitationist she sees twice a week at Aspen Mental Health, about the possibility of starting her own group.

"She took it and ran with it," Remer said.

_____ put an ad on Craigslist and put fliers up in the Treasure Valley.

"I do have concerns," said Lori _____, _____'s mom, who gave her consent for her daughter to speak to the Statesman. "I think she's very brave."

The Statesman, like most newspapers, generally declines to publish the names of rape victims. In this case, _____ made the decision to go public with her story.

Dawn Toth, _____'s counselor, said she sees no problem with _____ telling her story publicly. "For her, it's actually very liberating. It's kind of a way for her to heal herself," Toth said.

Remer, the rehabilitation specialist, said he went through the pros and cons with _____ about talking publicly about starting the group. He raised many concerns, including her privacy and ability to juggle management of the group with taking classes at the College of Western Idaho.

She is determined, he said.

"I think her logic is that she's helping herself by helping other people. She's being more proactive, rather than, 'Woe is me, I'm the victim.' "

_____ had an unstable home life and childhood, living at different times with her mother, step-father and grandmother. She attended several high schools and eventually dropped out.

In January, she got her GED. In February, she began taking two classes at CWI. She says she got A's in her first two college classes, and she's excited about a trip to Europe she's taking this summer with other Treasure Valley teens.

She's got big dreams and goals for her life.

"I'm going to get an AA in nursing because I love helping people," she said.

"Then I'm going to become a veterinarian," said the teen, who has two dogs, two cats and a guinea pig.

And, at some point, she'd like to write a book or two - a horror novel and a memoir.

But right now, she's focused on creating the support group for sexual assault survivors. She said it is for girls and women only - primarily teens and young adults, but women of any age are welcome. She's also hoping, at some point, to start a separate group for men, if enough contact her.

Tentative plans are to have the meetings in a room at Aspen Mental Health.

Toth, the counselor, said she plans to be in the room next door when the meetings are happening, so she can provide any support that may be needed. She said she's provided _____ with some books on facilitating groups.

"Anybody can start a support group," said Toth, who noted she understands that _____ doesn't want it to be facilitated by a therapist. "She doesn't want it to be a therapy group."

_____ is hoping to find at least 10 girls and women to join the first group and says she has one friend who plans to participate.

"This support group is a slap in the face to anyone and everyone who thinks they can treat someone like that," _____ said.

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Sex-Offender Registry is Cruel Punishment

Visit ChangingTheLaw.com

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Sample Letter - Also available in Word format at the site

MM/DD/YYYY

From: YOUR NAME
      YOUR ADDRESS
      YOUR PHONE OR EMAIL (if desired)

Dear Senator/Representative __________,

As a concerned citizen, I appreciate your efforts to serve and protect the citizens of Louisiana. Knowing that your desire is to represent all Louisianans’ in a fair and appropriate manner, I pray that you will research the current sex offender laws. Although many sentences are based on the severity of the offense, public registration for non-violent, consensual offenses is in itself neither fair nor appropriate. A young man, like Eric at www.ChangingTheLaw.com, will face a lifetime of restrictions, ridicule, and instability. The broad definition of the term “sex offender” has devastated many individuals, and their families, who are guilty of no more than a one time lapse of good judgment. Contrary to popular belief, many so called “sex offenders” are of no risk to children or society in general. Precious resources are wasted prosecuting, monitoring, and incarcerating those who have committed minor offenses. Current laws offer no differentiation between a young man who has participated in online chat with his teen aged girlfriend and a dangerous pedophile or rapist.

Law enforcement officials are not able to monitor those who are truly dangerous as the registry is overblown. As of August 2008, the registry has 8,150 individuals listed. Sex offender laws, as structured, are not keeping anyone safe. Rather, they are grouping thousands of individuals under the same big, evil umbrella. I pray that your commitment to fairness and public service will help to create a more balanced and educated Louisiana concerning the sex offender laws. How can online chat be more punished than actual physical contact? I find this particular law to be incredibly ridiculous. Young people who chat compared to older gentlemen looking for a victim must be distinguished. One should be a misdemeanor and the other a felony. Please, remove the people who are of no danger to our children or adults and put the Wetterling Act back in place per its original intent. It kept us much safer than we are today. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

__________________

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CANADA - Group offers support for sex offenders

View the article here

12/08/2008

Volunteers who support high-risk sex offenders in the community often hate the crime but are willing to help the criminal.

Chris Penner-Mayoh, the co-ordinator of Circles of Support and Accountability for southern Saskatchewan (CoSA), plans to provide support for convicted rapist and child murderer Harold David Smeltzer.

Penner-Mayoh admits that some people find it repugnant to assist someone who's committed heinous crimes.

"But there are people in the community, though, who maybe because of their faith, background or their philosophy in life are able to say, 'I detest what he's done but I can see that he's still a human being. He's still a person and he needs friendship and relationships just like the rest of us,' " Penner-Mayoh said. "They see that the alternative to him not having it might be that someone else in the community gets hurt and they don't want that to happen so they're able to get past their initial disgust over what he's done to offer that support to him."

A couple of months ago, Smeltzer indicated that he wanted the organization's support after he was released on day parole in Regina. But first he had to convince members that he's taken responsibility for his offences, is willing to work with the circle and won't hurt anyone else.

Penner-Mayoh's involvement with CoSA began three years ago as a volunteer.

Volunteers are community members who are trained to lend support and ensure the accountability of high-risk sexual offenders. To recruit volunteers, Penner-Mayoh gives presentations to community and church groups.

He said it's natural that people feel fear and anger when they learn a sex offender is moving into their community and their first reaction is to push the person out of the community.

"On occasion someone will say, 'Lock him up forever,' or, 'Maybe we should bring in the death penalty,' because they're very angry about this topic," Penner-Mayoh said. "Most people I talk to about this have the reaction of saying, 'I'm glad somebody is doing it but I couldn't do it! Then some people are saying, 'That's a great idea. I could see how that would work and I want to get involved.' "

Penner-Mayoh worked with convicted sex offender Brian Solberg when he lived in the community. Solberg was sent back to jail in March after pleading guilty to a breach of his one-year recognizance for being in the building that housed the Regina Mental Health Clinic without getting permission from his probation officer to attend other services in that building.

Although Solberg is behind bars again, Penner-Mayoh said the circle didn't fail.

"It was better for him to make a mistake like that and go back to prison for 14 months than it is for him to not be in a circle, not have anyone in his life to see when he does something stupid and then things escalate," he said.

The circle includes the sex offender and four or five community volunteers. One volunteer sits on the CoSA steering committee, which includes representatives from faith denominations, police, parole, probation and Saskatchewan Justice.

"The circle doesn't act like a police officer -- they don't take the role of a counsellor or police, they don't take the role of a community watchdog," Penner-Mayoh said. "The main role of the circle is to offer friendship and support for the person but also to hold him accountable for his actions and for his attitudes, values, beliefs -- that sort of thing. So if he's saying or doing things that are inappropriate then you've got a group of people who can call him on it."

Often inmates like Smeltzer lack support and face a lot of hostility alone. Penner-Mayoh said several studies show that individuals with support are 70 to 80 per cent less likely to reoffend.

"The guys who have reoffended in these studies have reoffended less seriously than they had in the past and they were caught faster because there's people in their lives to see that things are going wrong," Penner-Mayoh said.

Volunteers act as friends and support people for the sex offender.

"In that capacity, if for example something were to go wrong and they saw that there were problems, then they do have a responsibility to tell me and to inform the police," said Penner-Mayoh. "And if he's got a parole or probation officer, (volunteers) have a responsibility to tell those authorities about what they see happening."

Usually volunteers meet with the sex offender weekly. In Smeltzer's case it will depend on his need.

"We don't know exactly what the public reaction is going to be," Penner-Mayoh said.

Anglican priest John Gardner took part in Solberg's circle and continues to visit him in jail every week. When Solberg is released in January and the circle resumes, Gardner will take part.

"The accountability means that when the offender is out in the community he probably committed his offences following on some kind of triggers that set him off," Gardner said. "These can be a variety of things. Alcohol and drugs are very common. Usually the offender is subject to an 810 order by the judge on his release. That says there are certain things that he's not allowed to do. He may not be allowed to be near schools or be allowed near the strolls in Regina where the prostitutes are. He may not be permitted to use drugs or alcohol."

The CoSA is aware of the triggers and draws up a contract with the offender.

"Everything that we do with him is done with the knowledge of the whole CoSA group," Gardner said. "We're all volunteers and are usually Christian inspired. When we're looking for volunteers, we go to local congregations in the various churches and ask people if they're interested in doing this work."

He said offenders who don't have support will likely commit similar offences again.

"He'll go back to his old ways of living, his old friends and associates, his old drug patterns and things like that. We can't guarantee that it will never happen but we do know that CoSA groups minimize the number of offences, minimize the number of repeat offenders," Gardner said.

He said when offenders are released from prison they don't know how to do simple daily living tasks such as taking a transit bus and often they're fearful.

"They think that everybody is looking at them. They think the police are watching them like mad, people are putting up posters with their face on it all over the place and they're quite scared," Gardner said. "They need someplace where they can talk about their feelings, talk about their hopes for the future."

If CoSA members are seriously concerned that an offender will reoffend they'll involve the police, Gardner said.

"We do that as a friend," he said. "This person may wind up in jail again and that may be the best solution for them at this time. It's not that we want to be soft on the person. We don't want repeat offences."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

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