Guest View: Sex Offender Registry Does No Good, Harms Many and Must Be Abolished!
All current research (including the U. S. Department of Justice) shows that when taken collectively, those people who have committed a sex crime, been caught, and served time in prison, have a reoffense rate of committing a new sex crime in the single digits.
That means over 90% never reoffend (commit a new sex crime).
There are hundreds of thousands of registrants in this country who have a one-time-only sex offense and are working hard to reintegrate back into society as law-abiding citizens, in spite of the registry’s draconian statutes and ordinances that are stumbling blocks for them.
Society is far better off if people are successful in this reintegration process. Treating any type of released inmate as a leper by making housing almost impossible, not giving them a decent paying job, and withholding community/family support is a recipe for failure, forcing some into a life of crime.
This is NOT what we want.
Research shows the following: single-digit recidivism rate for a new sex crime, approximately 90% of FUTURE sex crimes will be by people NOT on the registry, and over 90% of victims KNOW their perpetrator.
Research has debunked the myths that have been out there for years. People who make their decisions based on evidence-based facts know all of this. Unfortunately, the media only shows the reoffenders as they bring in higher ratings. You never see the hundreds of thousands of registrants who are leading law-abiding lives.
The registry started out in 1992 with around 30 sex offenses. Now it is over 100.
Patty Wetterling, who helped jumpstart Congress into starting the registry, has said that the registry has been hijacked. She only intended it to be for people like the man who kidnapped, raped, and killed her son.
Very few people on the registry today include people like that man. Some are on the registry today for “mooning” friends in high school, public urination, having consensual sex with a 16-year-old girlfriend while they were 21, juveniles with autism, people with schizophrenia, grandfathers who developed dementia, a 10-year-old boy who pulled down a girl’s pants on the playground after being dared by his buddies to do so, and the list goes on and on. Very few registrants are the type of rapist that Ms. Wetterling and Congress were after in 1992.
And, yes, the collateral damage for the family (particularly the children) is often worse that the crime.
I have had several people tell me that what happened to them for years after the crime was far worse than the actual crime itself. They all say if agencies had just come into the home and helped in the situation, they felt their family could have been saved.
But with the barbaric statutes in place, the offender is often the breadwinner, meaning that the family income dries up. This often forces the children into poverty or foster care. Many of the parents can be helped through restorative justice, thereby helping the children even more.
For those commentators who want to see all of this backed up, start following the Florida Action Committee along with any other group you can find that bases its recommendation on data-driven facts.
I apologize for the inaccurate statement that the registry started off with 30 offenses and now has over 100. I read that statement somewhere and have since learned that it is grossly inaccurate.
Media – do you have the correct numbers, or close to.
Sex offending does no good. Must be stopped!
THE TROLL IS BACK
Here is an area where we and Val Parkworst all can agree.
So how do we stop it from happening?
The registry doesn’t exist to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of sex crimes. It’s original intent may have been for administrative purposes, but it was quickly subverted into a never-ending punishment for those on it and their families. The human species cannot advance by perpetuating systemic ostracization of another human being. No one one should be legislated into poverty, unemployment, or homelessness.
Val, I couldn’t agree more. We need much more investment in people, both potential victims and potential offenders before criminal actions take place. A significant percentage of offenders were victims themselves. This tells us that we are failing victims in helping them through their trauma.
We obviously need to better educate people on how offending typically happens and how to take steps to protect the vulnerable from falling into abusive situations in the first place.
We also need to help troubled families. That alone could have a huge impact on the incidence of potential sexual offending, but it takes more than just expecting a government agency to step in. Often they can make situations worse. Relatives need to get involved with care and concern and accountability. Churches and other community groups should be willing to bring help and hope to families in their lowest moments.
Relying solely on the legal system and the registry to fix this has gotten us to where we are today, and I hope we are smart enough to realize the answers lie elsewhere.
Ignorance does no good, must be stopped by educating. Go get you some.
Well hey Tim. I’m just up here in VA and yes its my 67th birthday. While I feel for many down in Florida and many more that got entangled up in this registry in many ways this it is basically authorities trying the spirit of a person.
While Florida is a nice place Governments can be just as guilty in many ways as leading the wittiness in much of this registry folly.
Much of this registry is and was not thought up but is a carnal error of justice and it stain on many governments on justice in much of this pursuit and in many ways out of character in blinding ways.
The whole idea behind the registry is not to set anyone up for success but to set them up for failure by design. That way lawmakers supporting these laws can say that it wasn’t them that put registrants in prison it was the registrants who did it to themselves by not following the rules. The second reason is money. Whether just on the registry or in prison either way the State wins. Politicians can use it to get elected and the state collects federal dollars for everyone on the registry and everyone in prison. So the current system, such as it is, is a win-win for the state and a lose-lose for anyone on the registry. In the end, it comes down to one thing and one thing only: money. It’s always about money.
All the STATE REGISTRY is doing is putting bulls-eyes on the person ACCUSED of the crime. They are being threatened to have their life cut short or other things. I know for a true fact that not all guys/gals on this list actually did the crime they were accused of. It is so wrong to have the information out there to have others threaten them and their families. Whether they did this crime or not it is a proven fact that not all people will re-offend….and the ones who didnt do what they were accused of by angry ex spouses as a means of getting out of their marriage or relationship they are the ones paying double time. They just want to live their lives in peace and try to have some sense of normal life. Leave them alone or stand up for them….this is wrong. They are told where they can live or not live, they are told what they can watch and not watch like hulu or disney plus or netflix, what next….They cant go grocery shopping to buy food , or to the laundry mat to wash clothes…cant go bowling with family or friends cant go to movie theater next your going to tell them when they can breathe or not….when to take a shower or not…..
Even Mrs. Wetterling doesn’t agree with how the registry is being used, that is powerful!!