March 8, 2010
Innocence
We would would like to express our appreciation to Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center and Executive Director, Laura A. Ahearn for the following article on residency restrictions for sexual predators.
We have no greater charge than to protect the children.
Mrs. Figgins
Drawing the Line on Residency Restriction
“Common sense dictates that convicted sex offenders should not reside directly across the street or in close proximity to schools, parks and playgrounds, but it is time to draw the line on Long Island.
Current residency restriction laws in Nassau and Suffolk County were enacted in direct response to multiple incidences where convicted sex offenders took up residence in locations with an unobstructed view of schoolchildren playing at recess and at public playgrounds.
Long Island’s first residency restriction law was enacted when a Level 3 sex offender convicted of Rape in the first degree, who completed parole, took up residence directly across the street from North Coleman Elementary School in Centereach.
Sex offender residency restriction laws will not eliminate sexual victimization. They do however reduce the potential for offender escalation and their ability to observe and pattern children.
Daily exposure and access to a vulnerable victim pool facilitates the potential for sex offender fantasy to become a heinous reality. In fact, sexual interest in children and access to victims are factors associated with recidivism (Hanson & Harris 1998, 2001; Hanson & Morton-Burgon 2004).
Additionally, it is well established that sex offenders have many more victims (and variety of victims) than those for which they have been arrested (Abel et al., 1987; Abel, Becker, Cunningham-Rathner, Mittleman, & Rouleou, 1988; Ahlmeyer et al., 2000; Heil, Ahlmeyer, & Simons, 2003) and may therefore pose risks not readily apparent by relying on their documented offense history (Heil, Ahlmeyer & Simmons 2003) – research suggests that up to 50% of rapists have committed undetected sex crimes against child victims (Ahlmeyer, Heil, McKee & English, 2000).
Individualized sex offender management based on risk assessment is playing Russian roulette with our children’s safety as we will never have all the data necessary to predict human behavior and make informed decisions.
Reasonable residency restriction laws are the best alternative and when enacted, after performing due diligence, as were the existing Nassau and Suffolk County laws, offer the additional benefit of reducing the potential for community unrest and vigilantism by providing statutory guidance clarifying what the rules are for residents and for registrants.
Attempting to expand existing stringent and effective residency restriction laws is a popular platform during election season and may appear on the surface to be a good idea, but in fact, may be counterproductive to enhancing sexual abuse prevention.
Expansion initiatives lull a community into having a false sense of security and can never take the place of parents who take the time to learn how to protect themselves and their children through prevention education.
Nine out of ten children who are sexually abused know and have an established relationship with their abuser. We as a society cannot consciously disregard the one in ten who do not.
Enacting ill conceived politically correct in the moment laws may lead to a constitutional challenge, bringing invited attention to the lawmaker but seriously compromising existing laws. More importantly, it will lead to a greater number of homeless and non-compliant sex offenders – exacerbating their tracking, monitoring and supervision – ultimately placing our children at greater risk for victimization.
Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center does not support recent residency restriction expansion proposals introduced by the Town of Brookhaven.
An enhancement of existing laws that we do support, but is not included in the Town’s proposal, is victim specific and will protect victims from the continuing traumatization which would result from their attacker moving in close proximity to where they live or work – a measure passed in both the Nassau and Suffolk County Legislatures.
The Town can make a real impact by re-directing community focus and providing any number of Parents for Megan’s Law’s (PFML) child or adult sexual abuse prevention education programs to residents on a monthly basis, and initiating community mailings that inform residents how to access the sex offender registry and how to register for PFML email alerts to be informed of registered offenders.
Although attempts by the Town of Brookhaven to protect our most vulnerable are laudable, they must also provide resources to monitor and enforce their existing, and one of the State’s strongest, residency restriction and anti-clustering laws.
The 2008 Town’s passage of the State’s first anti-clustering law gave hope to communities such as Gordon Heights where over 20 sex offenders resided on one block – the law prevents more than two sex offenders from residing in a single family dwelling.
A recent PFML review of the number of registrants on that same block, a year later and accounting for those grandfathered, indicates that there are currently a number of offenders in violation of that law – we need the Town to dedicate more resources to effectively enforce the laws that already exist, not more laws.
A recent report by the Town of Babylon Quality of Life Task Force Report on the tracking of Sex Offenders in the Town of Babylon raises more questions than it provides answers.
A careful reading of the report reveals the following: The Town reports findings from “four separate investigations that occurred over the course of the program” yet only documents the notification to and response from the Suffolk County Police Special Victims Unit from their most recent September 24, 2009 “investigation”.
The Suffolk County Police were notified of 17 sex offenders who were not allegedly residing at their registered locations. As of October 13, 2009 there were 6 sex offenders who were not accounted for in the Town of Babylon. Approximately 90% of the registered sex offenders in the Town of Babylon are accounted for.
Within the Police District the Suffolk County Police report that 95-97% of the registered sex offenders are accounted for. The question as to why compliance in the Town of Babylon is lower is not addressed.
The report also infers that residency restriction laws may be producing the unintended consequence of forcing Suffolk County registered sex offenders underground.
This assertion is not supported by fact. Suffolk County has one of the strongest residency restriction laws in the nation and an award winning sex offender management program.
Nationwide, in a study conducted and published by Parents for Megan’s Law, it was found that approximately 24% of registered sex offenders were out of compliance with the reporting requirements of Megan’s Law.
In Suffolk County that number is less than 5%, almost 5 times better than the national average. Even accepting the numbers provided by the Town of Babylon, their compliance rate is over 2 times better than the national average.
It is not residency restriction that motivates a sex offender to violate the law, it is their perception that law enforcement is not dedicated to insuring compliance. In Suffolk County that is clearly not the case.
Research and experience indicate that victim and community safety is best achieved when those supervising sex offenders work collaboratively with law enforcement, therapeutic providers, community organizations and the public.
Proposals and passage of more restrictive laws while ignoring the need to provide resources for collaborative enforcement of existing laws serves only to strain already limited resources and renders those laws ineffective.
Further, valuable time spent responding to community members misled by misinformation can instead be used to educate the public about existing resources they can utilize to keep themselves and their children safe from sexual predators.
The Town of Babylon recommended more standardized and stronger notification laws, noting that the frequency and quality of notification varies widely from community to community.
The report fails to document that Parents for Megan’s Law already provides a standardized community level sex offender email alert program which is funded by the U.S. Justice Department and is based right here in Suffolk County.
The collaboration between Parents for Megan’s Law and all police departments in Suffolk and Nassau Counties takes the discretion to notify out of the hands of school districts and only gives them the discretion to participate in the email alert program by simply informing their residents of its existence.
Residents themselves can sign-up for the program and do not need to go through their school districts.
Most school districts in Suffolk and an increasing number of districts in Nassau participate in the email alert program by sending residents a copy of our email alert registration form, putting information in the school calendars and bulletins and linking us on their website.
Knowledge and access to the PFML sex offender email alert program requires that local governments have knowledge of its existence and collaborate with PFML and school districts to educate the community and encourage participation.
There are over 600,000 registered sex offenders in our nation and keeping track of them requires strong collaborations between law enforcement, the community and organizations such as Parents for Megan’s Law.
Police utilize information technology resources and in-person verifications and sweeps to check addresses and call upon the US Marshals to hunt down non-compliant registrants crossing state lines.
Because Megan’s Law is an unfunded mandate, these initiatives require ongoing funding.
Megan’s Law provides the public a unique opportunity to be the eyes and ears for law enforcement by reporting registrants that may be in violation of local, state and federal laws.
Through the Parents for Megan’s Law Sex Offender Registration Tips (SORT) Program the public can anonymously report registrants who may be in violation of registration, employment and residency restriction laws or who may be violating conditions of probation or parole.
SORT reports are researched and forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency for follow-up action. This collaboration has led to multiple arrests for non-compliance and increased accuracy of registry information.
The over arching problem is that sex offender registration is done on an honor system. If we were serious about ensuring sex offender compliance with registration, residency and employment restriction laws then funding should be provided to supervise sex offenders for the same term they are required to register – and that supervision can be tailored to the individual registrant.
State-wide life-time supervision for sex offender laws would prevent local governments from proposing and passing laws in response to real-life situations we are all confronted with on local levels – twenty-six states across the nation have some form of life-time supervision for registered sex offenders
Preventing our most vulnerable from sexual victimization requires that we take a comprehensive approach which includes stricter sentencing, civil confinement, strong registration and notification laws, realistic residency and employment restriction laws, individualized life-time supervision plans which include treatment and the use of GPS and computer monitoring software, resources for enforcement of sex offender management laws, resources and support for victims and sexual abuse prevention education for children and adults – laws alone cannot protect them.”
Laura A. Ahearn, L.M.S.W.
Executive Director
Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center (PFML/CVC)
www.askdrromance.com Advice On Relationships & Everyday Topics by Mrs. Figgins
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