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I’ve been picking up on a lot of recent chatter about sex offender laws. Glance through some of these stories:

* Chambers: Treatment, supervision often missing with sex offenders

* Are ‘get tough’ on sex offender laws getting too tough?

* Police face limited resources in tracking sex offenders

* If sex offender laws don’t work, what does?

Question: What do you think? Are things too strict? Too lenient? Just right?

posted by Paul Richardson
Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 7:26 am

Comments

I think that many, but not all, sex offenders actually suffer from a sex addiction. Twelve-Step programs, based on Alcoholics Anonymous, are completely ineffective. I do believe that consequences are necessary; however, one of the problems with addictions is the brain simply ignoring potential consequences, no matter what they may be, so the focus needs to be on scientifically proven, evidence based treatment–training addicts’ brains with the motivation to abstain (partially by forcing the brain to actively consider and visualize consequences), cope with urges, etc. Simply putting people in prison may provide people with the satisfaction of retribution; however, it does little to address the root cause of the problem, and keeping an ever increasing number of people in jail is expensive.

Comment by Squideshi Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 7:42 am
The drum beat gets louder and the fear continues to build. The problem with the sex offender registry is that they are lumped into one pot. Many are simply young people who were having sex with an even younger person. They were caught, in many cases served time, and are carried indefinitely on a sex offender list. This needs to be addressed so parents can know who is a real child predator and who was having early teen sex. I suspect that would reduce the number of “sex offenders” as parents would want to know about in their neighborhoods and improve the ability of law enforcement to track. Lumping them all into one pot confuses the numbers and creates unnecessary fear. Go after the child molesters and pedophiles. As to treatment, I have no clue, but I think hanging worked pretty well.

Comment by Justice Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 7:52 am
Justice the person you describe is less then 1% of those on the sex offender registry. It is the very argument of fear that your proffer. If you pull up the registry you will see large numbers are on there for sex or touching of kids under 9 years of age.

The laws are fine, but there needs to be more enfrocement and treatment options.

Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 8:08 am
There are numerous laws and more signed into law everyday. The Gov just signed another one that the Labor Department will be enforcing on carnival workers and I believe he signed another law a few weeks ago. More laws do not seem to work as the numbers keep climbing. I’m all for protecting children but why have more laws if the ones you have are not working. One federal law (one stike your out)and strict enforcement seems the answer to me. However, since our prisions are overcrowned we also need a way to reduce prision costs to house them. How about feeding them bologna, no medical, no TV, no legal fees, etc. and make them earn their keep.

Comment by Pondering Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 8:24 am
Ghost, thanks for the correction. I wasn’t aware that most were offenders of children under the age of nine. I do think that there needs to be a level assigned to the offender or a “class” if you will. Lumping everyone into the same pot seems wrong, and misleading, even if it is 1%. As to treatment, the experts haven’t gotten it right yet. For certain, prison doesn’t seem to be the answer. It simply supports a huge corrections industry without doing much good toward solving the problem. At best it is a temporary feel good action. For now, I keep an eye on people keeping an eye on our children around schools, playgrounds, and special restaurants with children’s facilities, whenever I occasion the place with grandchildren. Teaching our children the facts that not everyone is kind is helpful but must be tempered with the fact too that not everyone is bad. Tough problem with precious few answers. As magnificent as this world is, it requires constant vigilance against child predators.

Comment by Justice Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 8:59 am
Jessica’s Law has not been passed in Illinois still. So Illinois is still soft of sex offenders.

Comment by Crimefighter Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 9:00 am
As in any offense which is hurtful to society, the first thing that laws are intended to do is to protect the innocent. i.e. no more victims.

I agree with C-fighter that Illinois needs to pass Jessica’s law ASAP

Any thoughts and plans for treatment and rehabilitation can move forward mindful of making sure the offenders never again harm another child. Too many cases of compassion leading to recidivism.

Comment by plutocrat03 Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 9:16 am
When was the last time you sat down with a small child? Played with a little one? Gets hugs and kisses from a toddler? Look into their faces as they ran towards you? Rocked a child to sleep in your arms? When was the last time you comforted a child whose world crashed when they fell down? Ever have a conversation with a four year old? Until you start experiencing life with children, realize how important you are to their entire world, I don’t believe you are really living life as an adult.

Those who see children as sex toys should never be allowed to live among us. Instead of nurturing our future, they seek to rape it.

When you are a child, you cannot imagine why anyone would ever hurt you. You know that every morning is the best day of your life, ice cream is the best food ever invented and everyone you meet will shelter and protect you when things go wrong.

Empathy allows us to be human. It allows us the ability to imagine the feelings of another. Instead of showing empathy to sexual predators, start showing empathy to the children who were stripped, humiliated, abused, and defiled by grown men.

Instead of debating what legal rights sexual predators have, start debating how best to heal their victims, robbed of childhood.

I am very concerned about a society that views children as burdens, views them as problems other people have. As our birthrate declines, we have fewer adults that have experienced parentage, and have been shortchanged in understanding the value of children. With fewer parents, our society will stop protecting and making children our number one priority. We have already diverted too many societal resources towards those of us just coasting along until the Grim Reaper shows up, instead of pouring our resources into our future.

Demons who prey on children for personal sexual satisfaction should never be allowed freedom. Our society dies everytime one of them touches a child.

NO MERCY.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 9:27 am
C-fighter, legislature passed Jessica’s Law this year. Sponsored by Sen. Brady et al, it’s sitting on governor’s desk.

Comment by Under the Statehouse Dome Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 9:48 am
Obviously, I have absolutely no sympathy for pedophiles or other sex offenders. But I want to second Justice’s suggestion that there shouuld be different classes of sex offenders with different degrees of punishment and restrictions.

There are some fairly young people - late teens/very early 20’s - who have been convicted of having sex with a consenting minor, possibly not even knowing they were a minor(statutory rape). They can end up doing hard time and they are branded as a sex offender,forever, even though they are not a threat to society. It seems like overkill to me.

There may be other practical examples of classes of sex offenders who might deserve less onerous punishment than others.

Although I have not paid a great deal of attention to the story,there has been a highly publicized case in Los Angeles, where a guy has been arrested for simply expressing his attationn and interest in pedophilia, without even have committed a criminal act. Although there is obviously something seriously wrong with this guy, I have considerable reservations about his arrest. It reminds me of that Tom Cruise movie, where they arrest you before you commit a crime.

Generally, I think our prison systems are not geared to really treat and rehabilitate because of limited resources. Many sex offenders deserve harsh punishment and severe restrictions on their personal freedom after they are released.

Comment by Captain America Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 9:50 am
Vanilla Man

I appreciate your post. I see those things every day in my 2 year old son.
If a predator attacked him, they wouldn’t have to worry about prison, only retreiving the body bag. I say this in all seriousness too!!!

train111

Comment by train111 Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 9:57 am
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this series of stories turning up in GateHouse papers seems to be focusing mostly on problems in other states that don’t distinguish between different types of sex offenses.

From what I see on the Illinois sex offender registry, it does seem to focus on more serious “aggravated” or “predatory” offenses that involve children under 13, threats of force or violence, etc. Teens who have been caught with underage girlfriends, grabbing a girl’s breast or buttocks once, etc. don’t seem to be on there. Those cases, in Illinois, would be labeled as criminal sexual assault or abuse but not necessarily “aggravated”. I have not seen any of those (at least not any in the area where I live). So is there really a huge problem in Illinois with people who aren’t a danger to children or the public at large ending up on sex offender registries?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 10:21 am
“Statehouse Dome” what’s the bill number so I can look it up and see what’s going on with it? If it’s sitting on the Gov’s desk I want to see how long it’s been sitting there.

Comment by Crimefighter Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 10:43 am
I agree with many sentiments of V-Man, but disagree that you have not lived until you have spent time with a child. SOme people don’t like/click with kids and that is fine.

Comment by Wumpus Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 10:53 am
First, we should rewrite laws for kids who are 18, 19 or 20 and have consensual sex with teens under the age of 18 so that they are not put in prison or placed on a sexual predator/neighborhood watch list. That is a silly law, and many of my contemporaries in high school could have been in big trouble - and I’m referring to classmates who were all good students and productive members of the school.

I truly believe rapists and child molestors need to be behind bars for life. These criminals essentially ruin lives and “rehabilitation” is but a pipe dream. Do we really need to spend taxpayers money rehabbing the mind of a man who has molested children? And why not build special prisons for these offenders - prisons which do not have cable or exercise equipment or libraries or vocational facilities or much of anything else.

I am Christian and believe in forgiveness. BUT when a life is ruined, punishment must be meted out and justice must be served. We are not talking about an accident or victimless crime; we are talking about sexual assault.

Have we really forgotten about the rights of victims in this country and in Illinois? From my eyes, it seems as though we have. Our prisons are filled with drug offenders, many of whom committed a victimless crime, and yet we are debating issues such as this. Protection for our children is tantamount and, since every legislator and candidate uses the “I care about kids” mantra, they need to step up to the plate and pass Jessica’s Law and other stringent measures.

I know I will probably catch some flack for the “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” attitude, but maybe it’s time to look back at what we did correctly around the time WWII or the Cold War and revamp our ideology on prisons and inmates.

Comment by Team Sleep Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 10:53 am
Anonymous: It is only a huge problem if you are one of those on the list, live by one of those on the list, or one of those on the list lives near a school and is singled out. We do need to distinguish between who is potentially harmful and who isn’t based upon their offense. I believe in no tolerance what so ever but want to direct it at those deserving of no tolerance.

Comment by Justice Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 10:56 am
Justice & Vanilla Man. You both make good points. Thank you Vanilla Man for the empathy. A registered COMPLIANT “sexual preditor” offender molested my grandchildren. All were under the age of 4 at the time. This child destroying pervert had been convicted once (4 yr. old) and he had been questioned other times, and released. When I brought in the heat, he was questioned and released! I was warned by police about this mans RIGHTS! I was told he was COMPLIANT!

My grandchildren were not protected by laws AND DEFINATELY NOT BY THE CURRENT SYSTEM. These precious children no longer trust adults, other than immediate core family members, and in general fear all males now. The nightmares and screaming tantums (sometimes lasting hours) would frighten and rattle the most hardened human being. Our family is living a true nightmare. I see people in stores, and wonder if they have ever damaged a child. This has changed all of our lives - not for the better. Innocence has died in our family. Without innocence, children CANNOT and WILL NOT be children.

The current system is broken. Child molesters, especially sexual preditors SHOULD not be allowed to live amongst the population. I think we should throw them into prison with a tatoo that tells the prison population what they did to a child. Hanging also works for me.

We spend our time going to counselling, while the pervert is out there trolling for more victims. BUT HE HAS RIGHTS I AM TOLD!!! As for going after him myself, I’m busy helping my grandchildren and their Mommy get through each day to do much else. How could I help them from a jail cell?

What about a hunting season for offenders? Just load them into a game area and let Vanilla Man and a bunch of others get their quota? I bet there would be more hunters lined up than offenders - Hey! A REVENUE STREAM!

I hear Hell is just the right temperature for sex offenders.

Comment by Anon. for obvious reasons Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 11:02 am
Anon…my fear is that when sexual orientation was granted the level of a race status, that someone would push for pedophilia to be legalized under that basis. In some quarters, all these light sentences from judges seems to provide evidence to that end.

Comment by Crimefighter Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 11:06 am
It doesn’t take a parent to know that people who sexually prey on children should be locked up and stay locked up until they are no longer a threat. That may mean a 60 year sentence or a life sentence or whatever, but it means that we must protect children from predators and given there seem to be no effective treatments I don’t see why they can’t stay in jail. Let out a drug dealer or two instead, at least most of their victims are adults who have made their own decisions. I don’t believe the child sexual predator class is so large that we can’t afford to keep them locked up and if we intend to keep them locked up for life then vocational training is a waste of money for them.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 11:33 am
The vitriol is definitely understandable on this emotional topic. Redirecting the energies a little, though, I would recommend the article that Paul posted from the Register-Star. Two prevention efforts that seem very reasonable are advocated in the article:

(1) Investing in improved and increased education for children about listening to their gut, watching for warning signs, and telling an adult if they think something is wrong.

(2) Ensuring that there is treatment (counseling, etc.) available to victims. If your concern is really justice for victims, this seems like it should be a high priority. (What a horror for a child to endure. The grandparent’s post, above, is absolutely gut-wrenching, and I wish hard for those children to be comforted.)

Further, while certainly not all victims become abusers, many abusers were once victimized. In addition to the fact that the victim clearly deserves this help, it may also help to prevent a victim from becoming an abuser in the future.

Comment by Recommendation Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 1:00 pm
I would like to add another recommendation to those made by “Recommendation.” There are excellent programs available that train ADULTS to minimize potential predator access to children.
The focus is on setting clear rules for youth activities that have the effect of keeping potential predators away, as well as minimizing the risk that an innocent adult could be falsely accused.
For example, an adult can meet with a child or youth in private only if he or she lets another person in authority know exactly where they are and allows for some kind of random checking up on them (e.g. leaving a door open). Volunteers are also not allowed to give gifts or privileges to children without the parent’s prior permission — this prevents the common practice among pedophiles of “grooming” a potential victim behind the parent’s back.

I learned these tips and many others through a program known as “Protecting God’s Children” which is required in many Catholic dioceses for youth volunteers, school teachers and others having regular contact with youth. The same principles are taught in other organizations (e.g. Scouts) and can be easily adapted to any environment.

Comment by Lainer Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 1:27 pm
I support detention of sex offenders who still pose a significant threat to society; however, I am surprised that so many people here seem only to want to seek revenge. Obviously, all sex crimes are horrible offenses; however, the primary purpose of punishment is to serve as a deterrent, and if a person is suffering from a disorder which simultaneously compels them to act while blinding them to any potential consequences, the deterrent isn’t very effective at all. Sure, it may provide some measure of revenge against an individual who may be, in many ways, a victim themselves; however, it does not serve the greater good, which is to prevent sex crimes from happening in the first place.

Comment by Squideshi Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 1:31 pm
Punishment is also to protect the general public from certain people…

Comment by Crimefighter Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 1:45 pm
Squid, prison serves more then the single goal of deterence. Socially prsion serves 3 functions 1: Deterence/protection; 2) rehabilitation; and 3) social revenge. Prison is socially designed in part to create closure and satisfy the social impulse for revenge.

Of note, under rehabiliatation, we do not focus on that very much in Illinois. Also, psychologists seem to be in agreement that child sexual predators are not cureable. Some of the worst offenders have actually completed their sentence, but remain in prison to protect society. They can not be released until they are beleivied to be safe. Thus the debate about chemical castration etc.

It seems logicial to grade offesne, but keep in mind the degree of the offense can oftebn times be hindered or limited by the age of the victim. Lesser charges are sometimes used based upon what the SA can prove beyound reasonable doubt when dealing with children. Crimes against kids are horrible because of the innocence of the child, and the unfriendless of the court setting. The accused rights often allow them to make what was a horror for a child even worse as a defendant tries to break the child. Often times parents pull back from cases afraid of what the suit will do to their kid. We need more laws to make it easier to present evidence from children and to sheild them from scorched earth defenses.

The media loves to focus on the extremely rare case of consensual sex. setting aside that most States Attorneys can elect not to prosecute these cases, the teenagers who fall into the fearmongering over such cases are following the propoganda of the real child molestors who seek to soften the laws and societal perception. Go pull up the list for Sangamon county and browse through the registered offenders to get a real taste for who is attacking our kids. Also, sex offender registry is for 10 years for non-predators. (the list shows the very few listed as predators and the heinous acts you must engage in to obtain the title.) It is not for life. The branded for life is part of the molestor propoganda campaign.

Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 1:49 pm
Ghost, as I indicated, I have no problem with people being detained so long as they continue to pose a significant threat to the public; however, the deterrence issue is moot if the person is blind to consequences. I agree with rehabilitation and feel that we need to do a better job at this because (1) some sex offenders are eventually released and (2) it is a drain on state resources to keep sex addicts in prison when, though rehabilitation, they could be rendered no longer a significant threat. As far as social revenge is concerned, someone who is suffering from a disorder, in less control of their own decision making and compelled to act, would seem to be less responsible for their actions. Seeking revenge against such a person seems somewhat akin to Xerxes sentencing the sea to 300 lashes of the whip for having destroyed his bridges.

Comment by Squideshi Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 2:28 pm
Squideshi,

Putting a child sexual predator in jail for life serves not just as social revenge–I would argue a necessary role–but also as a protective against that individual predator preying on further victims. I seriously doubt that many child sexual predators are deterred by the law, after all, they are already not deterred by the fact that their crime is one of the few considered absolutely heinous by every layer of society. The goal of putting them in prison is to keep further victims out of their grasp. The only way to keep children safe from first-time or not yet convicted predators is to rely on education of the children and other adults as mentioned in earlier postings and perhaps counseling for abuse victims so that they don’t become predators themselves. But awful experiences do not and cannot justify perpetrating abuse on others.

The reason I say that social revenge is important is that without it, you will have private revenge which is usually conducted without such conventions as trials and rules of evidence.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 2:32 pm
There is alot of emphasis placed on punishing sex offenders and far too little placed on prevention.

The problem with sex offender registries is that the create the ILLUSION that we are keeping kids safe. We had the same debate years ago regarding HIV/AIDS. Some countries instituted mandatory registries for people who were HIV positive. This left everybody else in the population feeling like they could have unprotected sex without consequences. Guess what? It didn’t work. That’s because you can’t really tell who is HIV positive by looking at them or from some registry.

Employers make the same mistake. They think if they perform criminal background checks on all of their employees, don’t hire anyone with a record, that magically employee theft will stop. Ha. Tell that to any retailer or restaurant.

I’m not making excuses for sex offenders. But how many of their victims’ parents ever talked with their children about sex, or about inappropriate touching? How many left their kids alone with an adult whom they new very little about? How many school districts, churches, doctor’s offices, youth programs have failed to put systems in place that protect kids?

VERY few sex offenders kidnap kids off the streets. Most offenders have regular contact with their victims with the consent of parents, schools, etc. Most sex abuse could be prevented if parents, schools, etc. exercised a little more common sense and a little more due diligence.

Registries might have some minimum efficacy (mainly because they remind the offender that he is an offender), but they offer much bigger FALSE sense of security, which is why — despite the proliferation of these programs across the country — we haven’t seen a decline in sex crimes against children.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:12 pm
Sorry to get off track, but has anyone seen the South Park episode “Child Abduction Is Not Funny”? It’s hysterical and not hysterical in a sick way. It’s just funny seeing how Matt and Trey spoof parents and neighborhood organizations.

Comment by Team Sleep Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:16 pm