Thursday, 05 February 2009
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Jail Time for Sex Offenders is Not Long Enough!
Children sex abusers are not put away long enough. I was informed by Family Watchdog that a new offender moved in the area. So I went and checked out the map again: there are four convicted child sex offenders within five minutes of our house (there are other types of sexual offenders in the area, too).
That I can live with- I watch my children closely and am very protective. What makes me steam is the conviction dates of these offenders:
Offender #1 was convicted in 1997. For argument sake, we will skip that one. Also, he was convicted for being incestual with a minor... so that one probably is no risk to my children.
Offender #2 was convicted in 2002. If he was just let out, which he wasn't (he's lived in the area for a while) that would mean he only served 6-7 years for his crime.
Offender #3 was convicted in 2004. He has also lived in the area for awhile. That means he served less then five years for sexual abuse of a minor.
Offender #4 was convicted in 2006. He just moved into the area. I don't know if he just got out of jail and moved here, or if he lived elsewhere first. If he did just get out, that is still less than three years for sexually abusing a child, scarring them for life!
Where is the justice? Do you think that child sex abusers serve a long enough sentence? Have you ever used the Family Watchdog site?
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Comments (27)
I think the punishment should fit the crime. Sex offense crimes can range from utterly heinous to fairly innocent. Some teachers have been wrongly accused of sex crimes simply for spending undue time with a student, for instance. Maybe the teacher was honestly trying to help academically but parents or the board found it creepy or slightly off and somehow the person god convicted of sexual offense without ever touching the kid. Other cases that seem a bit rediculous to me: a seventeen year old girl is dating her 18 or 19 year old boyfriend and the parents catch them having sex or fooling around. The girls parents freak out and charge the guy as a sex offender, despite the girl's protests that it was her fault too (or maybe she doesn't protest because she doesn't want to get into worse trouble). He is convicted because technically she was underaged even though they were only about a year apart in age. A teacher from a local gradeschool once got in deep trouble and fired and convicted under sex offense for dating a just-under 18 girl. I believe he was 25. They didn't even have sex, just went out for a movie, held hands, kissed, etc. and a local mom saw them and freaked out because her daughter used to be his student and her daughter was friends with this girl (although a few years younger). So really, I think sex offenders go case by case. Some are legitimate child molestors/predators while others just find themselves in sticky or misunderstood situations that probably wont' repeat themselves.
@jesusmoshes2@xanga - You took all the words right out of my mouth.
Ditto what she said!
I trust the judges to be able to look at each individual case and determine what is appropriate on a case-by-case basis. I have not used that website, but at one time I did look up a previous address that I lived at to see registered offenders in our area using a different site. I don't bother anymore...they don't tell you all the details of the case(s). If a 20-something was in a relationship with a 16 year-old, whom may have misrepresented her age to him, and her parents pressed charges (it happened to a friend of an ex-BF's a handful of years ago), he probably doesn't pose any threat to me or mine, but those web sites don't tell you that...just that he was involved with a minor...that could mean 6 or 16. And there's a BIG difference IMO. Plus, those websites are only going to tell you about the people whom have been caught. Often we don't find out about things like this until years later...after the victims are grown and no longer feel threatened by the offender. It just seems like a false sense of security to even bother.
Family Watchdog is an interesting site. It is by no means thorough.
Here are some interesting sex offender facts -
Most sex offenses in many states are pled down. What you see as the conviction doesn't begin to touch the crime. This is because many times the DA's office doesn't want to put minors on the stand for various reasons, so it is easier to plea it down and the offender takes a lesser sentence.
Someone convicted of incest may have or have not committed other offenses. However, it's not someone you want your little ones around, even if he or she is only 'convicted' with their own kids. Sexual predation is, like 'common' rape, a power and control device, not a sexual attraction for children. Your child, who visits regularly to an incestuous house, may just as likely be included in that bizarre family dynamic.
Sexual predators are often let out 'early' on parole because of good behavior in prison. Because our prisons are overcrowded, and very rarely does the child molester have reason to be bad in prison (in many cases they won't leave their cells without a guard in general population for fear of their lives), they are released early.
Where do I get my info? I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, my father went to a short stint in the pen for it, and I am a child protection worker now.
Check out your state laws and penalties for various sex offenses. You'll be shocked at the sentences.
The only bad thing about our sex offense registry is that if the offense occurred before your state started participating, and the person has been in prison that long, they are grandfathered in and do not have to register. And trust me, jail does not cure sexual offenders.
I can't for the life of figure out why there isn't real justice for children. It really disgusts me. People found guilty of abusing developmentally disabled citizens serve even less time and usually get off with probation.
Part of me thinks it is because most judges are old men who have no idea what kind of long term damage sex offenders put upon their victims/survivors. Children may be resiliant, but things like this stick with you for life whether you were 2 or 80, genius or mentally handicapped.
My abuser did one year in a work camp for over 10 years of repeated abuse. When released, he received an exemption for his parole and mandatory counseling because he was moving to a very rural area out of state. I have learned to live with what happened and I am functional in society. That said, it has been 20 years since I was abused but I still have problems I must work through on a daily basis and it does affect my marriage.
I think all heinous sex offenders should be separated from the rest of society or executed.
@jesusmoshes2@xanga - I completely agree.
There are many varying degrees of sexual "assault" and "molestation". It should be done on a case by case basis. Some of these "sexual" offenders didn't really do anything and some of them have done very bad things. And yes I think the ones that have committed a real sexual assault or molestation of a child should be kept away from society. A child molester is never really rehabilitated. They are urges that drive them becasue they are wired wrong.
I think there are a lot of areas where the law does not have just enough punishments. Child abuse, sexual crimes against adults and children and domestic violence are pretty light handed.
Yes, each case should be taken case by case, but there are many ways for an offender to plea to a lesser charge, work out a deal and avoid maximum punishments. Its unfortunate. In my own experience, my ex cut a deal every time he went to court- first for domestic violence, which, had I been a stranger, he would have gotten a harsher punishment, and the 4 or 5 violations of protection orders. He spent, oh, I don't know, 2 days in jail.
Each time he cut a deal and the D.A. would tell me it was as good as we were gonna get.
While its not sexual abuse, its pretty much how the operation works. Take a deal or plead no contest or whatever the term is to neither admit or deny guilt, but get punished anyway and get off easy.
Yes, it is case by case and it should be looked at that way. Lots of times, the sex offender registeries use ambigious terms that lump minor offenders (those who made a bad choice with a consenting teenager or those who suffered from overzealous rules of protection) with major predators.
You certainly are free access court records, which are public, and form your own opinion of just how lenient or not the courts were.
Basically, its sad that a lot of child molesters and rapist get away with such light sentences... To me, its not much different than murder and should be treated as such. Those crimes may not kill the body, but they sure do kill the soul...
It sounds like you don't know much about your neighbors with shameful pasts other than the fact that they do have a criminal record. Perhaps you should get to know them so you can know about their journey.
Jail/Prison changes people. The purpose of jail or prison is not simply exile. It's to change people so they can come back into society. It's like putting a kid in the corner and saying "what did you do? why was it wrong? will you do it again? why?"
As a parent, i'm sure it homes a lot more because you care for the safety of your kids but if one really cares about the danger of sexual predators or felons, they'd get involved in that felons life so they know what who that person is better. That does more healing than putting someone in prison for two decades.
I used to know a 11 year old girl who got put in foster care in 2003 because her dad touched her. She's still in foster care and he never got put in prision. He got 3 years of probation.
I haven't used the Family Watchdog site, but I will now. Thanks for the tip!
I think the REAL crimes should warrant real punishment. But there are a lot of "sex offenders" out there who really shouldn't be on the list in the first place. For instance, my future brother-in-law is on there because when he was 17, he mooned another car... and a cop saw. The driver got pulled over and he was arrested... for a sex crime. He had to register and everything, and sorry, but I wouldn't consider him a "sex offender". I know another couple where the girl was 17 and the guy was 18 and he was arrested for statutory rape.... well, you know how that goes.
I think the real crimes should be punished severely, but the not-so-severe should be little more than a slap on the wrist for a first time infraction (like the examples mentioned above).
@TheSpaceBass@xanga - I agree.
@jesusmoshes2@xanga - Thank you. I was a little worried to read the comments. I think we need a complete overhaul on how we label sex offenders If it was a crime that was truly violating someone else then absolutely we need to be notified they are in our neighborhoods and they should not be allowed near schools.
However, if it is because he was 19 and she was 17 and it was consentual...I think there needs to be a time limit as to when that label drops off.@Morningstarrising@xanga - Your brother-in-law is a perfect example of this. He was being a dumb kid and now he'll have to pay for it for the rest of his life. That's wrong.
Thank you everyone for your opinions. It makes me feel better that there are others out there who have similar opinions as I do.
I am glad to see that there are other posts on here that point out how broad the label of "sex offender" is. I work at a law office and have seen several cases where the person ended up having to register on the list for something that was a "stupid" moment or someone else took advantage of them and that person was under age. The definition needs to be split into several categories as to the seriousness of the crime.
"Megan’s Law: Millions for nothing" That is basically the bottom line of a newly released government study. Even I could have told them that.
Megan’s Law: Millions for nothing
OOps, I forgot to add the link.
"Megan’s Law: Millions for nothing" That is
basically the bottom line of a newly released government study. Even I
could have told them that.
Megan’s Law: Millions for nothing
http://cfcoklahoma.org/New_Site/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=0&func=view&catid=85&id=810#810
Biblically speaking, they should be put to death.
After all, how long is "long enough" for stealing a child's innocence which can never again be retrieved? In most cases, the children are abused regularly before anything is done about it.
Jail time is basically a vacation pass. What do they do? They sit around, watch the Superbowl, and then return to society again. But the problem is that we pay for it. Stoning them is so much cheaper, and brings justice to the situation. Anything else, to be honest, is completely infuriating.
Death is not the actual penalty for their actions -- hell is. We don't really deliver a just punishment - we deliver the offender to Him who punishes justly. We only expedite the process, and in the meantime protect our children.
As for false accusations, I wonder from time to time if that is an even worse crime - to steal a man's life from him because you feel like hurting him, or going on a power trip. The Book of Proverbs says that a lying tongue will be cut out.
@TheSpaceBass@xanga - I second the motion.
all in favor?
Let me just start out by saying that I am by no means suggesting short(er) sentences for sex offenders. That being said, one rational for the sentencing guidelines (at least in some instances) is that if we started having similar sentences for those crimes as for things such as manslaughter (which a murder sentence can easily be pleaded down to), there is less of a reason for the offender to leave the victim alive. Maybe that means we need higher sentences for some other situations, but with our system the way it is now, it does serve at least a little purpose.
I cant belive how many of you are defending sex offenders, you must be survivors of abuse yourselves. A sex offender is a sex offender...execute them!
There are many more than you think. In my circle of moms dealing with sex offenders that were family members, none of the sex offenders were ever arrested, or even brought to trial at all. Unfortunately the legal system is abounding with people that do not want to admit the reality of sex offenders that commit incest. So, you have a ton of authority, not taking any action to protect your children anyway. The offenders you're finding in your area are the few that were brought to trial because they (most likely) committed the crime(s) with strangers, not family members. And yes, those that commit incest will sometimes move along to strangers, although not the majority. Dont' depend solely on a website or list of offenders for information. Don't think that finding their names in a list of convicted criminals is your key to knowledge. You'd be very surprised to find the true number of offenders that are not on that list. Family watchdog is helpful, but should not be relied on for information. Use your best judgement and teach your children (and teenagers) how to spot an offender and run the other way to safety.
These laws are a double edged sword. Â The more people realize that a family member will go to jail and be on the sex offender registry perhaps for life, they fear that their life will be changed and don't want to turn them in. Â A sex offender will most likely never be able to find a good job and support the family, or even pay adequite child support if divorced. Â Family member abuse is least likely, at least statistically, to repeat their offense. Â As far as sex offenders not changing, I have worked with sex offenders and have seen that most do not reoffend as sex offenders. Â Many offend in other things, mostly for parole or probation violations. Â The sex offenders that are dangerous are usually rapists and molesters that victimize boys. Â Many stop after they were caught the first time, but that does not mean that did were not involved in only one molestation. Â
The real problem with the current laws is that they prevent sex offenders from becoming a part of society and when they are not able to work then they will resort to crime. Â The harder the laws go against sex offenders society risks a backlash where they will take it out on society. Â As a society we need to find a way to allow low risk offenders to get their life back and become productive members of society. Â However, I am of the belief that if they screw up the chance society gives them and reoffend sexually, they then go to prison for life.Â
I speak as a father of two daughters that were molested by their grandfather. Â He got off really easy, especially because he had molested my wife when she was a child. Â However, I know he never reoffended sexually until the day he died. Â I would have liked to have seen him face more and it was tough of the family.
A friend of mine's molester got 1 year. He's now served more time for failure to register as a sex offender than he did for the actual offense! (a class B Felony)
It's ridiculous.
PS by "friend of mine" I mean me. Cheers!