Misleading headlines lead to misinformed public.
The headline in West Virginia’s Metro News reads, “Sex offender registry operation ends with at least seven arrests in WV” Pretty scary stuff, right?
The operation was named “April Showers” and concluded with a press conference from West Virginia State Police Lieutenant James Stout, who said; “There are those out there that try to bend the rules and get around the system–skirt around the system–so they can still do whatever it is they want to do illegally,”
But wait… “at least seven arrests”… what were they arrested for and out of how many people?
Turns out the West Virginia State Police, in conjunction with the US Marshall’s Service (who generously provided $23,000 in police overtime funding) conducted compliance checks on 919 registrants. Yes. You read that correctly. Nine hundred nineteen! That’s not even ONE PERCENT!!!
So understood differently; ninety nine percent of the people checked on were compliant!
What a different message this would have sent if the headline were “More than 99% of Registered Sex Offenders are Compliant”. What a different outcome would have come if the police time and financial resources were spent on prevention!
This is why our fight is so difficult; because of the “freedom of the press” to report in such a way to lead to fear and excitement. The bending in this article is not the SO’s and their rules as stated by cop, but the media and their misleading reporting.
So much for the media! The truth for them is very difficult.
Fake News…..it’s what brings in readers!
Why dont the legislators, realize, especially after at least 11 years, that i have been on the registry, and after all of the seriousness from the advocates who have been following all this time, something needs to change, years ago! The longer they keep putting it off, the worse its going to be. Change needs to happen soon, for more reasons not.
Correction: for more reasons, than not!
Do they care about how registry affects, the s. o. lives. Of course not the mistakes they made. What about the potential good that is wasting away. Good hard workers, that would work harder than normal, because they want to prove something. That they can live a good life, and without reoffending. I say this because i for one am a good example of that. I made employment of the month in 1989 right after my offense. I was lucky i got the job right away, and because the temp. service i worked out of didnt do background checks, but they did know i was on probation. I worked with 109 employees. That company went out of buisness, i continued to work all through my probation period, because i worked hard to prove i can get through this. I hate what i did and i want to fix it. I completed all of my expectations to satisfy the court, including S.O. therapy. I graduated that in 2004. I was told i could get off probation early but that didn’t happen for another year. 4/ ? / 06. I was so happy i almost felt normal, and happy. Here comes the registry, retro actively. I couldn,t find a job, I couldn,t move out of my moms house where i took refuge, to help me stay away from people that could have led to a violation of probation. My mom was nice enough to let me stay with her all that time. I was looking forward to moving out, finding me a nice lady and maybe get married. I am crippled just like everybody else on the registry. It is difficult to find a relationship, that i can move in with. It is difficult to find one that wants to move in with my mother. What about all the homelessness, what are they doing for a relationship? Its important for most to have a relationship, to help them with there unmet needs. They need to work, they need shelter. Doesn;t anyone realize all of this. We don’t have a dictator in the White House, or in all of the Government, city’s and state. Come on stop this foolishness.. Please!!!!!!….Give peace a chance!.