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Arrests up, monitoring down
Number of freed sex offenders overwhelming agencies that supervise them
Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.
The August rescue of Jaycee Dugard from the California property of a registered sex offender is among a number of recent cases nationwide that are demonstrating the difficulties faced by parole and probation officers. Included in the recent cases is the arrest of a registered sex offender in Cleveland after a woman accused him of rape. Police found the bodies of 11 women at his home.
The Washington Post reported that both Phillip Garrido, the alleged kidnapper of Dugard, and Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland man now accused of homicide, were supervised by parole officers. Nevertheless, both suspects went years before raising suspicions. Garrido allegedly kidnapped Dugard in 1991, 18 years before being arrested.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says there are more than 716,000 registered sex offenders in the country. The Post reported this week that the number represents a 78 percent increase since 2001, when the Bush administration began a crackdown on child pornography and sex offenses — a crackdown that is continuing under the Obama administration.
We fully support this initiative, but we believe it should accompany an equivalent increase in parole and probation officers. Law enforcement agencies charged with tracking the increasing number of offenders who are paroled or sentenced to probation are severely understaffed.
The Post reported that the Justice Department is hiring 81 more prosecutors for sex cases, and that federal funding for task forces that bring sexual assault charges in state courts rose this year from $16 million to $75 million.
At the same time, funding for parole and probation officers is being cut by nearly every state, including Nevada, even though the monitoring of freed sex offenders is required by law. Ernie Allen, president of the missing children’s center, told the Post: “The burden on probation and parole officers is going to explode.”
Before that happens, Congress and the states should devise new funding plans so parole and probation officers are proportionate to the number of offenders they must supervise.
Discussion: 11 comments so far…
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Just shoot them all that will solve the problem real fast! We can ship them all out to kill farms and have man hunts' We also will be a safer nation for it. HEY JUST DO IT FOR THE KIDS!
Once again the real issue with this registry is being completely ignored by those passing laws in a one shoe size fits all mentality. More funds to recruit new Probation officers to monitor offenders will not solve the over all issue which IMO is the fact we have thousands of non violent and non dangerous former offenders being monitored. Example: youths having consensual sex, streakers, mooning, falsely accused, ex post facto cases with no new criminal history...The AWA requires states to register offenders by offense base and not assessment or a judicial determination by case facts which is going to make thousands more "dangerous" who are again no threat. We need to reform the registry and clean it up and as well the over crowded prison system which is costing tax payers billions a year...folks this registry is the catalyst for the end of the constitution as we know it..why? Simple: if we are going to pass laws as "civil" which are ruled not punitive then more laws will fall under this same context and more registries will come for all of us. Educate yourself, know the facs, read the reports and research and realise no law protects children we as parents must protect them and we do this by knowing facts such as 93% of victims know their offender which is usually someone in the home or knows the victim. More info visit www.sosen.org or www.rickyslife.com or www.freebrandon.org Thanks also listen to this online radio show where the sex offender issue is discussed and facts presented...www.americansrealitycheck.co...
archive this radio show and download and listen to shows discussing this issue http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tal...
Should we not be putting more funds into prevention? Educating our children? Offering counseling before crimes are committed? With the AWA we will have thousands more registered sex offenders who were children when they commited/convicted of sex crimes which could be something like playing doctor, spin the bottle, truth/dare, consensual teen relations, sexting, etc...the AWA requires juveniles to be on a public registry...it will require states who only put the most dangerous on the public registry (smart thinking) to put all non violent and non dangerous on a public registry which will then overload the officers who monitor. They will have less time to monitor and assess those truly dangerous because the AWA mandates a one shoe size fits all policy. Ricky from www.rickyslife.com was subjected to the AWA and determined high risk not because of case facts but due to the law mandating by offense. How many more cases are similar? Could your child be next? Are you in situations where you could be falsely accused by a spiteful spouse, gf or family member? How many citizens could be on a DUI registry as they are coming...Hawaii is publishing DUI drivers photos ...TX looked at a DUI registry...Colorado has a Domestic violence registry, Pennsylvania looking at a arson registry...what from your past will put you in a registry since the AG ruled it does not violate ex post facto since its ruled civil? Do you know? Education is the key folks read up and learn your facts...email me at my website if you want more info Rickysmom
powerplay -- you are a complete dunce on this issue.
What about the 13 yo boys being forced to register for slapping girls' butts in school? Or the many forced to register for consensual sex with their SLIGHTLY younger girlfriends? Or the guy who legally married in one state then moved to another that prosecuted him for having underage sex with his own wife because its laws were different? Or the many wrongfully convicted?
Think it through before condemning your fellow citizens. The state is a predator on the hunt for us all.
Law enforcement will never, before the fact, be able to provide saftey from molestation for the majority of children who are molested due to the fact that their attackers are individuals who have never been arrested and are not on a registry, individuals who most likely live with the child they are molesting. However, to do what they are able, to protect children and women from the Garridos and the Dugards, the registries need serious, serious overhauling. The registries were created for men such as they, and only for them, and they must return to their created purpose; otherwise, there will not be enough parole or probation officers in the country to keep up with the teenagers "sexting" and having sex and the countless other categories of non-violent, victimless acts which today classify one as a "sex offender."
"The Post reported that the Justice Department is hiring 81 more prosecutors for sex cases, and that federal funding for task forces that bring sexual assault charges in state courts rose this year from $16 million to $75 million."
All because TWO (2) freaks out of 716,000 registered sex offenders re-offended.
Police state, here we come...
Hey KillerB: Knowbody ever said that the law was fair to begin with' It is always tilted in favor of woman and all those special people with those unconstitutional hate crime laws that legally favor one group over another thats not what i meant' Any jury that would convict a 13 boy for an a-slap on a girls butt' Or a 18 year old man having sex with his 16-17 year old girlfriend or a legally married couple should have there a-kick. Also people who comment perjury in a court of law should be charge with a civil rights violation (felony) I should have been more clear on all of that and for that im sorry.
Don't worry people, they'll get you soon too. GUARANTEED!
"Hey KillerB: Knowbody ever said that the law was fair to begin with'..."
powerplay -- then you know nothing about the law. Have another look at the Bill of Rights -- equal treatment under the law is a fundamental guarantee of due process. The rest of your post is just childish.
Hey KillerB: In a perfect world yea your right: But you left out the part about politics and the sins of man.
powerplay -- politics is the key part of the problem why the Rule of Law is dead. Anything about sin is just irrelevant.