The Sex Offender Registry Failed Them: 135 Chicago-area coaches sexually abused students over past decade.
According to an analysis by NBC 5 Investigates, 135 Chicago-area coaches have been sanctioned, suspended, disciplined or convicted of sexual abuse or misconduct since 2010, and the search is still ongoing! Experts cited in the article said coaching presents a “special opportunity” for grooming.
The state’s legislature enacted the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act. It’s purpose was “to create an additional method of protection for children from the increasing incidence of sexual assault and sexual abuse.” People v. Fuller, 324 Ill. App. 3d 728, 756 N.E.2d 255 (Ill. App. Ct. 2001). But if the registry was a “method of protection”, how is it possible that despite this “method of protection”, potentially thousands of students were sexually assaulted by these coaches? How effective is this protection?!?!?
According to the Justice Policy Institute, the cost of implementing federal sex offender registration standards (SORNA) cost the state of Illinois more than twenty million dollars in 2009. That’s just the cost to taxpayers of implementation, not the cost to maintain. So this “method of protection” better work amazingly if it’s such an expensive tool, right? Wrong!
Almost all new sexual crimes are committed by someone who was not on the registry, accordingly, the “method of protection” completely fails 95% of victims. Any “method of protection” that works less than 5% of the time is hardly effective, let alone worth tens of millions of dollars. Would you use birth control that was only five percent effective? Would police use bullet-proof-vests that would fail ninety-five percent of the time? I think you’d find more effective forms of contraception or different vests, knowing they exist.
The Illinois State Police could be spending its money on measures that are effective instead of wasting it on the registry! Instead of properly supervising athletic events (safety and monitoring), implementing policies to ensure coaches don’t have unsupervised access to students (applying preventative workplace policies), educating students to detect the signs of grooming and inappropriate relationships (teaching boundaries), training teachers to recognize inappropriate relationships between their colleagues and students (bystander education), or encouraging victims to speak out so that others are not harmed (empowerment-based training), they are wasting millions on a registry that continues to fail our children!
Taxpayers and Parents in Illinois should be suing the Illinois State Police. Abolish the useless registry in favor of effective methods of protection. Perhaps someone should share that tip with NBC 5 Investigates? (NOTE: if you want to share that tip, you can do so by commenting here: https://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/submit-tip/)
Here’s what our country should consider doing. Abolish the registry, since it is more punitive than beneficial. Those who want to commit sex crimes should be imprisoned longer than usual. Make the penalties more strict and harsh for incarceration for those individuals.
Philip, please define “longer than usual” since there are many people on the registries who didn’t commit any sex crimes but were ordered by the courts to register.
Philip, longer sentences doesn’t act as a deterrent. Research it. Also, research mandatory minimums. And, SO’s already spend longer in prison due to lower rates of receiving parole and conditional release.
Harsher treatment in prison, or anywhere, never makes anything better. It’s abuse. That’s why criminal justice reform experts suggest more treatments for rehabilitation, not more abuse.
Are you kidding me Philip? Longer sentences? Really Philip? 20/30/40/50 years is not long enough? Add this link to your favorites and take a look once or twice a week.
https://www.justice.gov/psc
Nice to see that the registry has proven to be such a wonderful “tool” to groomers in the educational system.
I am sure they appreciate the cover it affords them while giving parents (and the communities at large) a nice secure feeling knowing that all they have to do is check a list of the “perverts” and stay away from the red dots! Sounds so easy!
What a lie and proven as such time and again and again and again…
Kids killed in a mass shooting? Tragic, but there’s nothing we can really do (meaningless platitudes offered).
Someone abuses kids for years in a position of trust? Why wasn’t the police keeping “tabs” on this guy? How did this guy operate for so long undetected! Let’s put him on the registry so nothing like this ever happens again! (public high-fives and feigns outrage to get Twitter re-tweets).
America has been brainwashed with a painfully stupid idea that the registry is a deterrent that prevents “future” victims. This is the delusional, magical thinking and framing that has been normalized. We can’t keep living like this
I’ve seen the future, and it smalls like a wet cemetery.
I appreciate FAC posting these articles. I’m saving links to the articles to use as anti-registry evidence when my legislature meets beginning in January.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
You hit the nail right on the head.