And they knew all along ...

I had a plan for today’s blog. I was going to provide a history of Virginia sex offender legislation ... but then I came across this in a 1999 article in the Washington Post. Senator Howell introduced the original bill to make the Virginia Sex Offender Registry public. She is also the patron for SB590 in the 2008 session – a bill that would extend the duration of registration for thousands of low level offenders.

I [the reporter] also raised the question of effectiveness with Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston), the state legislator who sponsored the bill that created the Virginia site. She told me: "This is the easy, feel-good, politically popular approach, but it's only one little piece of what could be done. I don't think it does much to protect the public, and I fear it will give the public a false sense of security. Most sex offenders are never caught, much less convicted. Most children are in danger from people they know rather than from a stranger, and many offenders listed on the Internet are no longer a danger."

So, I’m trying to get this straight. The bill patron admitted up front that a public registry was just “politically popular” and wouldn’t “protect the public.” Further, she admitted that “many offenders” on the registry pose no danger.

If the registry isn’t effective in preventing sexual abuse or assault, then why implement it in the first place? Once implemented, why expand it? The constitutionality of the registry has been held up only because it is "regulatory" and not "punitive". However, if is serves no purpose, then it becomes clearly punitive.

Senator Howell seems interested only in the “politically popular” piece – not any actual efforts to combat the problem of sexual abuse.

Can somebody explain why this is acceptable?

Her current bill, SB590, reclassifies “carnal knowledge of a minor 13-15” to a “sexually violent offense.” This is Virginia’s “statutory rape” or “consensual sex” statute. Although the Senate approved a provision to allow young offenders under 21 and less than 5 years older than their “victim” to petition the court to have the “violent” designation removed, the House Criminal Law sub-committee removed this provision, citing concerns about votes and bloggers.

We are fast on a path to put young consensual sex offenders on the registry for life as “violent sexual offenders”. Does anybody have a problem with that?

This bill arbitrarily extends registration periods for low level offenders from 10 years to 15 or 25 years. Interestingly, we already have a statute that prevents noncompliant offenders from getting off the registry.

Section 9.1-910 of the Code of Virginia (that section related to removal from the registry) was previously amended to remove the automatic removal of lower level offenders from the registry after 10 years. It currently requires a petition that cannot be filed less than 10 years from the date of original conviction OR any subsequent conviction for any felony or FTR. A FTR could be as simple as neglecting to provide state police with information regarding a new email or IM within 30 minutes (despite their being no mechanism in the state police departments to handle this requirement). The court also considers total criminal history and may hear witnesses for both sides. This seems to be an adequate procedural safeguard to prevent people who are not compliant from getting off the registry. Extending registration periods for all lower level offenders simply punishes those who are doing what they’re supposed to do!

The registry doesn’t do anything helpful for anybody and has been repeatedly shown to do more harm than good. Senator Howell has admitted that it is useless for community safety. Even if it were useful, we already have procedures in place to prevent people from getting off the registry if they aren’t following the rules. Yet, this bill to retroactively punish people is zipping through the General Assembly.

I have operated for so long under the premise that many legislators BELIEVE that what they are doing is right. It is incredibly disturbing to discover that Senator Howell knew all along that this was the wrong thing to do and now is working to make a bad situation worse.

Save Our Sons: The Problem

“If it saves just one child.”

That mantra is repeated by every legislator and misinformed child advocate in the country. It is spouted by frightened parents and by vigilantes. The folks over at Perverted Justice have it tattooed on their foreheads.

Yet, there is no evidence that our sex offender laws protect any children and ample evidence that they do more harm than good. Our current laws are devastating to the children of former offenders whose lives and constantly disrupted by ever-changing restrictions and the harassment by neighbors and their peers. Those children who are the victims of intra-familial offenses have their addresses plastered on the Sex Offender Registry and are revictimized by an unforgiving public on a daily basis. Children are denied the presence of a parent at school functions and the swimming pool and their soccer games. They suffer in poverty because their father can’t get a job once a potential employer realizes he committed a sex offense 20 years ago. Juvenile offenders (even pre-teens) are increasingly being placed on state registries for both minor and serious sex offenses throwing away years of specialized strategies for dealing with kids in juvenile court.

Another group getting lost in the attack on sex offenders includes those convicted of consensual sex crimes – commonly referred to as statutory rape and termed "carnal knowledge of a minor 13-15" in Virginia law. I’m not talking about the 50 year old man who has “consensual” sex with a 14 year old. I’m talking about the KIDS who have consensual sex (intercourse or oral sex) with a younger teen. In Virginia, an 18-19 year old engages in consensual sex with a willing (often QUITE willing and experienced) girl of 13 or 14, is subsequently deemed a sex offender and must register for a period of 10 years. While not advocating for teenage sex, we need to acknowledge that kids of these ages are in school together – sexual encounters can and do happen. Is it really worthy of the sex offender label?

Some would think that it is. I read a post on a forum recently where someone asserted that sex between an 18 year old and a 14 year old was “rape, plain and simple.” Hmm. I would guess that those people are rare.

The sex offender label is one thing – 10 years and off, right? Just deal with it. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time, right?

Well, it’s not that simple. Virginia continues to enact new legislation every year imposing new restrictions and penalties for all sex offenders that impact those offenders for life. Current and proposed legislation includes residency restrictions and bans from schools, churches and recreation/community centers – FOREVER. In addition, there is a bill in the 2008 session to reclassify “carnal knowledge of a minor” to a “violent sexual offense” with lifetime registration and other ancillary restrictions. These kinds of consequences seem far beyond the scope of the offense.

We can't treat these young offenders as if they were serial rapists. A lifetime as a social outcast doesn't benefit the offender or society.

Interestingly, when you start to study this issue, you find that these laws aren't just bad for this group of offenders, they are just ridiculous in general. The myths surrounding sex offenders drive our legislation and public fear to the point that people can't even listen to the facts.

Sex offenders do not have high rates of recidivism, yet the public insists on believing that they do. In the past five years, studies by the Bureau of Justice (2003), the Virginia Sex Offender Task Force (2006), Ohio Dept. of Corrections, and a New York State Sex Offender Registry (2005) examined from 2,000 to 20,000 offenders in periods from 3 years to 10 years post-release. Sex offense recidivism ranged from 3% to 8%. This is not opinion – it is government-sponsored research. Pedophiles who molest boys and men who rape women have the highest likelihood of reoffending at 52% and 39% respectively in longitudinal studies. Rates for serial offenders are much higher in all studies and skew the results – a few offenders committing a higher percentage of all offenses as is the case with any type of offense.

Sex offenders are not the creepy guy in the alley - only 7% of all sex offenses are committed by strangers. The danger is closer to home. Yet, legislation focuses on the "stranger danger" theory.

Research has shown that 92% of all new sex offenses are committed by people not on the Sex Offender Registry - yet we continue to expand the registry and use "site visits" as the measure of effectiveness.

The bogus myths impact all reformed offenders unfairly. When this knee-jerk legislation starts to play out with young consensual offenders, it should start to get people's attention. Unfortunately, many people simply do not believe that kids are on the registry for this. They believe that the Sex Offender Registry is for the worst of the worst.

Yes, we need to do what we can to protect children from sex offenders, drug dealers, gang members, drunk drivers, and general lunatics. However, we need to accept that what we're doing is just wrong. When we make a decision to "protect" and "save" children, those policies shouldn't hurt more kids than they help.

This blog is dedicated to informing the public about the impact of laws in Virginia and across the country that devastate the lives of these boys. Stay tuned for more specific information about Virginia legislation and what you can do to help!

SAVE OUR SONS!

Save Our Sons

"If it saves just one child."