Share your comments on Patch’s “Sex Offender Maps”
News on Sex Offender Registry
As we mentioned in our weekly update, every year, patch.com publishes city maps, highlighting the addresses of registered sex offenders, claiming they are “Halloween Safety Maps”.
Well they are not. As NARSOL points out in a letter to Patch, this type of fear mongering is counter-productive and creates hysteria where none exists.
Please see their op-ed at the following link and we strongly encourage you to share your comments below their article.
https://patch.com/us/across-america/sex-offender-advocates-object-mapping-registered-sex-criminals
When the judge in the Northern District finally decides the “Identifier” case in our favor, we will have a lot more people able to make comments like what is needed here.
Let me go on record by saying “My First Amendment Rights are being violated” because of the requirement of registering my user name just because I want to comment on a website like Patch dot com. I have the RIGHT be make my comments anonymously.
Remember when people with AIDS were ostracized and talk of quarantine was prevalent. The scientific community sped up the research and it wasn’t long before fears were quelled and life went on. The patch article mentioned a henious crime committed many years ago to justify their continuous practice of printing information about people who are not dangerous and never will be. The research proves it. Its really pathetic because from what I have seen over the years parents are out with their children and many don’t even access or read that information. It becomes a real sick joke as I’ve said before and when sex crimes don’t occur year after year at Halloween who becomes the real fool?
Donna you read my mind the problem is the media only reports the sensational rape murder and scandal sells and gets ratings and advertisers. Unfotunatly “We are sorry registrants are not as dangerous as we said they are and we knew it sorry for wasting your time and tax dollars and ruining millions of lives in the process” doesn’t sell.
Yes, very very true Iservedmytyme, but I am still confident that soon we will hear those words publicly. Nothing remains constant, our world is always changing and as momentum shifts in our favor it is only a matter of time. As hard as they try, people against us can only go so long in their direction. Thanks for your reply!!
Nothing suprises me anymore. If a ex offender that is not on probation wants to hand out candy in Florida he or she can. But, it is a shame that greedy people want to capitaize on the misery of a fellow citizen.
And what is sad is the fact this type of nonsense does not make a community any safer.
Wow! Patch.com either is listening or they have been so bombarded with research-based facts, they are now sharing at least some of the truth. Only after stating how important it is to know where every registrant lives, do they acknowledge that the registry only plays a LIMITED role in preventing child sexual abuse. The research they share comes at the end of the article, though — almost as a tag-along, but I will take it. Maybe they see the end is near for them.
Here is what they had to say:
Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the child.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the National Sex Offender Public Website, estimates that only about 10 percent of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are strangers to the child.
The Justice Department estimates 30 percent of child victims are abused by family members, while 60 percent of perpetrators are known to the child and are not family members but rather family friends, babysitters, child care providers and others. Nearly a quarter of abusers are under the age of 18 themselves, the department estimates.