Stopping Sex Offenders

We can no longer accept what is happening to America's children! We can no longer say "I can't handle it .... it's too awful!" We no longer have to ask "But, what can I do?"

You CAN do a lot ... You CAN make it your priority today to keep our children safe!

Sentencing for Sexual Predators and Pedophiles: Laws must be amended regarding the sentences of convicted child sexual predators and pedophiles. These criminals have violated the most helpless members of our society. They steal their innocence in a violent way that leaves lifetime scars. These perpetrators must receive mandatory life sentences on ALL first offenses, as this is the same sentence they have given to their victims. Research has shown pedophiles as having an average of over 300 victims by the time they reach they age of 35. They have very poor capacity for rehabilitation and are seen as life-long, and at high risk for re-offense.

Child predators cannot be rehabilitated. When they are released from incarceration, most will be included in a registry. There are 549,038 registered sex offenders in the United States . At least 100,000 sexual offenders are not in compliance with registration. Some states mandate that sexual offenders wear ankle tracking devices once they are released from incarceration. This will not solve the problem. They are still free to destroy more innocent lives. They can and do!

While every child has the right to grow up in protected environment, many do not … because of our laws. We must seek mandatory life sentencing for child sexual predators and pedophiles after their first offense.

We urge everyone to write to their Congressmen, Senators and Governors and tell them we MUST have mandatory life sentencing for first time sexual offenders ... No exceptions!

Sex Offender Laws

History

Prior to 1994 only five states required convicted sex offenders to register their addresses with local law enforcement. As recognition of the severity of this problem grew, Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Act, 42 U.S.C. §§14071, et seq. (“Wetterling Act”). This requires state implementation of a sex-offender registration program or a 10 percent forfeiture of federal funds for state and local law enforcement under the Byrne Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Justice. Today, all fifty states have sex offender registries.

The realization registration alone was not enough came after the tragic murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a released sex offender living on her street. The public outcry created a call for programs to provide the public with information regarding released sex offenders. In 1996 Congress passed a federal law mandating state community notification programs. Megan’s Law, section (e) of the Wetterling Act, requires all states to conduct community notification but does not set out specific forms and methods, other than requiring the creation of internet sites containing state sex-offender information. Beyond that requirement, states are given broad discretion in creating their own policies.

The Challenge

There are currently 549,038 registered sex offenders in the United States . Sex offenders pose an enormous challenge for policy makers: they evoke unparalleled fear among constituents; their offenses are associated with a great risk of psychological harm; and most of their victims are children and youth. As policy makers address the issue of sex offenders, they are confronted with some basic realities

• Most sex offenders are not in prison, and those who are tend to serve limited sentences
• Most sex offenders are largely unknown to people in the community
• Sex offenders have a high risk of re-offending
• While community supervision and oversight is widely recognized as essential, the system for providing such supervision is overwhelmed

Loopholes in Current State Programs

The increased mobility of our society has led to “lost” sex offenders, those who fail to comply with registration duties yet remain undetected due to law enforcement’s inability to track their whereabouts. A conservative estimate of the number of “lost” sex offenders is at least 100,000 nationwide. The wide disparity among the state programs in both registration and notification procedures permits sex offenders to “forum-shop,” research which states have the least stringent laws, in order to live in communities with relative anonymity.

 National Sex Offender Public Registry: http://www.nsopr.gov/  

State By State Regstered Sex Offender Registry

See Stopping Child Pornographers and Sex Traffickers