Sex Offenders Will Tough, New Laws Do More Harm Than Good?

Researcher Published by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. CQ www.cqresearcher.com Sex Offenders Will tough, new laws do more harm than good?

n response to horrific sex crimes against children, Con- gress and the states have passed hundreds of new laws in recent years to crack down on offenders. In addition to much longer sentences and more rigorous tracking of Isex criminals upon release, some of the new laws place limits on where offenders can live, banning them from neighborhoods surrounding schools, parks and playgrounds. But critics warn the

laws may prove counterproductive, driving sex offenders further Registered sex offender John Evander Couey confessed last year to kidnapping and killing 9-year-old underground. They also point out that most perpetrators are Jessica Lunsford, of Homosassa, Fla. family members or other acquaintances of victims, so the new laws may shift resources away from treatment programs that I could help more. Moreover, experts note sex offenders’ low N THIS REPORT S recidivism rates and a dramatic drop in child sexual-abuse cases. THE ISSUES ...... 723 I But with the media giving heavy coverage to the worst cases of BACKGROUND ...... 730 D abduction and abuse, it’s no wonder that lawmakers are willing CHRONOLOGY ...... 731 E to approve any punishment or tracking technique that promises CURRENT SITUATION ...... 735 to prevent crimes against children. AT ISSUE ...... 737 OUTLOOK ...... 740

CQ Researcher • Sept. 8, 2006 • www.cqresearcher.com BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 742 Volume 16, Number 31 • Pages 721-744 THE NEXT STEP ...... 743 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE ◆ AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD SEX OFFENDERS CQ Researcher

Sept. 8, 2006 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 16, Number 31

• Should sex offenders Child Sexual Abuse MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin 723 be allowed to live near 724 Dropped Significantly ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch children? Rate fell by 50 percent. • Should sex offenders re- ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost ceive harsher punishments? Few Sex Offenders STAFF WRITERS: Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel • Can sex offenders be 725 Rearrested for Sex Crimes rehabilitated? Less than 4 percent were CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rachel S. Cox, reconvicted. Sarah Glazer, Alan Greenblatt, Barbara Mantel, Patrick Marshall, BACKGROUND Tom Price, Jennifer Weeks 726 Sex Abuse Still Haunts Cycles of Concern Catholic Church DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis 730 The response to sex of- Settlements have forced ASSISTANT EDITOR: Melissa J. Hipolit several dioceses into bank- fenders has ranged from ruptcy. harsh punishment to faith in rehabilitation. Most Victims Know Their 728 Attacker No Constitutional Basis 733 More than 85 percent are A Division of Sexual-psychopath laws attacked by family members Congressional Quarterly Inc. have been criticized for or acquaintances. violating rules of due SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER: process. 731 Chronology John A. Jenkins Key events since 1949. DIRECTOR, LIBRARY PUBLISHING: Kathryn C. Suárez Mandatory Reporting 734 Online Predators Worry DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL OPERATIONS: Legislation passed in 1974 Ann Davies mandated the reporting of 732 Experts abuse allegations. Justice Department steps up CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY INC. probe of “enticement” cases. CHAIRMAN: Paul C. Tash CURRENT SITUATION 735 Average Molester Serves VICE CHAIRMAN: Andrew P. Corty Three Years PRESIDENT/EDITOR IN CHIEF: Robert W. Merry New Legislation Rapists serve slightly more. 735 Last year 45 states passed Copyright © 2006 CQ Press, a division of Congres- more than 150 sex-offender At Issue sional Quarterly Inc. (CQ). CQ reserves all copyright 737 Should California voters and other rights herein, unless previously specified laws. approve “Jessica’s Law?” in writing. No part of this publication may be re- produced electronically or otherwise, without prior Where to Put 738 written permission. Unauthorized reproduction or Ex-Offenders? FOR FURTHER RESEARCH transmission of CQ copyrighted material is a violation Some states are using civil- of federal law carrying civil fines of up to $100,000. commitment laws to hold For More Information sex offenders after their 741 Organizations to contact. CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- release from prison. free paper. Published weekly, except March 24, July Bibliography 7, July 14, Aug. 4, Aug. 11, Nov. 24, Dec. 22 and 742 Selected sources used. Dec. 29, by CQ Press, a division of Congressional OUTLOOK Quarterly Inc. Annual full-service subscriptions for The Next Step institutions start at $667. For pricing, call 1-800-834- 743 9020, ext. 1906. To purchase a CQ Researcher re- Tougher Laws? Additional articles. 740 port in print or electronic format (PDF), visit Fear of sex crimes may Citing CQ Researcher www.cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. Single reports intensify the push for 743 Sample bibliography formats. start at $15. Bulk purchase discounts and electronic- stricter laws. rights licensing are also available. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CQ Researcher, 1255 22nd St., N.W., Suite 400, Washing- ton, DC 20037. Cover photograph: Getty Images/Citrus County Sheriff’s Department

722 CQ Researcher Sex Offenders BY ALAN GREENBLATT

and brought back to the United States. However, po- THE ISSUES lice said his DNA didn’t match erry Skora thinks that found in her underwear, there are worse and he was not charged. K things than being But there have been nu- known as a murderer. merous other high-profile Sex offenders still face penal- cases that have shocked the ties after they serve their sen- public and prompted in- tences — including some that creased legislative action. Last don’t even apply to murder- year, 9-year-old Jessica ers. That’s why Skora didn’t Marie Lunsford was abduct- want to be labeled as a sex ed from her Florida home offender when he was released by a convicted sex offend- from an Illinois prison this year er, sexually assaulted and after serving 15 years for a buried alive. Since then, two- murder he committed at age dozen states have enacted 19. But because his victim was versions of “Jessica’s Law,” 16, that’s how state law cate- which requires more thor- gorized him, even though his ough tracking of released sex crime did not involve sex. offenders through means And in Illinois sex offend- such as DNA samples, ankle ers have to register their where- bracelets and GPS (global abouts with police and are not Getty Images/Citrus County Sheriff’s Department positioning system). Jessica Lunsford’s death last year led some two-dozen allowed to live within 500 feet states to enact versions of “Jessica’s Law,” which requires California voters are ex- of schools or other public more thorough tracking of sex offenders and stricter pected to approve a particu- places where children gather sentences. Congress also enacted a law this year that will larly strict version of the law — making it hard to find a prod states to track sex offenders more closely. Contrary in November. Congress also place to live. Miami Beach, to popular belief, sex offenders have relatively low enacted a law this year that recidivism rates, and family members, not strangers, are Iowa City and many other cities responsible for most reported sex crimes against children. will prod states to track sex and states have similar laws. offenders more closely. “It’s more like banishment than a It’s not hard to figure out their mo- “When you have someone taking a zoning restriction,” says Roxanne Lieb, tivation. Sex crimes against children are 9-year-old child and burying her alive, executive director of the Washington among the most heinous imaginable. it just calls out for a legislative re- State Institute for Public Policy. “There “Surely there can be no crime that in- sponse,” says Lieb. isn’t any other group in society where spires greater anguish among the gen- What is particularly troubling about we banish them. You could commit a eral public than sexual crimes, espe- a case such as Jessica’s, say those call- double murder and come back and cially violent sexual offenders,” writes ing for stricter laws, is that her alleged live somewhere, or be a three-time Karen J. Terry, an associate professor at assailant had a long criminal record, in- drug dealer, but not a sex offender.” the City University of New York’s John cluding sexual offenses. (The trial of The Illinois legislature agreed with Jay College of Criminal Justice. 1 John Evander Couey has not been able Skora’s complaint that it was unfair to The media have made several es- to proceed because it was impossible tar him as a sex offender just because pecially terrifying crimes into contin- to seat an impartial jury in the county his victim was a minor. The state cre- uing national nightmares, vividly and in which the crime occurred.) ated a new registry for non-sexual vi- repeatedly portraying both the victim “Whatever it takes to track these olent criminals. The fact that sex of- and the crime. A case in point is the sex offenders must be done, because fenders are subject to even more intense rape and murder of 6-year-old Col- rehabilitation tends not to happen,” scrutiny than murderers demonstrates orado beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey says Stacie D. Rumenap, executive di- just how seriously lawmakers are tak- a decade ago. After an Atlanta, Ga., rector of Stop Child Predators, which ing the problem of sex crimes against man, John Mark Karr, said he killed lobbies for passage of Jessica’s Law in children. the child, he was arrested in Thailand every state.

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this myth that if we just know who Child Sexual Abuse Dropped Significantly the identified sex offenders are, you The rate of identified sexual abuse of children in the United States can keep your children safe.” Some of the layers of sex-offender fell by 50 percent from 1991 to 2004. David Finkelhor, director of laws passed over the past decade do the Crimes Against Children Research Center, thinks the declines seem to conflict with each other. For may be linked to greater awareness about child maltreatment, instance, the recent rigid zoning re- improved parenting and more effective treatment for family and strictions are leading some sex offend- mental health problems, including psychiatric medications. ers to lie about their whereabouts or to drop off law enforcement’s radar en- Child Sexual-Abuse Rates in the United States tirely, undercutting the effectiveness of (based on substantiated reports) registration and community-notification (per 10,000 children, ages 0-18) requirements. 25 But once anti-sex-offender legislation comes to a vote following an 20 emotionally charged crime, the voic- es of skeptics are barely heard. “Every- one knew some parts of the bill were 15 flawed,” says Republican Georgia state Rep. John Lunsford, referring to the 10 state’s new zoning restrictions passed 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 in April, parts of which have already been found to be unconstitutional. Note: The data come from state child-protection agencies and cover offenses against children committed primarily by parents and other caretakers; they do not typically “Once it reached the floor, you were cover sex crimes against children committed by strangers. either voting for the perverts or voting for your constituency.” Source: Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, 2006 Tough, new sex-offender laws tend to pass unanimously, or nearly so. If But Terry and other experts on de- children have actually dropped signif- there are flaws in some of the ap- viancy dispute the frequently heard icantly since the early 1990s. 3 What’s proaches, advocates for the get-tough claim that sex offenders have a par- more, such crimes are far more like- approach say, that is only more reason ticularly high rate of recidividism. ly to be committed by a family mem- to keep working to strengthen them. If Tracking every sex offender — or ber or someone else previously many sex offenders are slipping be- even, as in Skora’s case, many non- known to the victim than by a tween the cracks, for instance, that makes sexual offenders — is a distraction, stranger. (See chart, p. 728.) it all the more necessary to ensure com- they argue, from concentrating at- In fact, strangers are responsible for pliance through GPS or other methods. tention on those who are most dan- only 7 percent of reported cases of The new federal law makes failure gerous and most likely to commit juvenile sex crimes, according to the to register a felony and offers states more crimes. Justice Department. Thirty-four per- money to buy GPS systems. “We track “We have 41,000 names on our cent are victimized by their own fam- library books better than we do sex [sex offenders] registry,” said Allison ilies, and 59 percent of cases occur offenders,” complained Republican Taylor, executive director of the among friends. 4 According to the Na- Florida Rep. Mark Foley, one of the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treat- tional Center for Missing and Exploit- bill’s sponsors. 6 ment. “If we could take our money ed Children, only about 115 out of And if most sex offenders are fam- and focus it on the 10 percent or so 260,000 children kidnapped each year ily members or other close acquain- who are most likely to re-offend, we are snatched by strangers. 5 tances of children, that’s still no rea- could make great progress.” 2 “We’re doing a disservice, essential- son not to try to protect children against Although a Gallup Poll last year ly, with most of the legislation we’re violent and predatory criminals, such found that more Americans are “very seeing right now around sex offend- as the one who killed Jessica Lunsford. concerned” about child molesters than ers,” says Alisa Klein, public-policy con- “It’s not about the overall rate, it’s violent crime in general or even ter- sultant with the Association for the Treat- about wanting to make sure that rorism, the rates of sex crimes against ment of Sex Offenders. “We’re creating events like this don’t occur,” says Lieb.

724 CQ Researcher As the debate about the best way to prevent child molestation rages on, Few Sex Offenders Rearrested for Sex Crimes here are some of the questions people Less than 4 percent of the sex offenders released from prison in the are debating: U.S. in 1994 were reconvicted of a new sex crime within three years Should sex offenders be allowed of their release. Sexual assault is considered an underreported to live near children? crime, however, and actual recidivism rates may be higher than In May, Jim L’Etoile lost his job as indicated below. Studies of released sex offenders over longer director of California’s Parole and Com- periods of time show greater recidivism rates. munity Services Division because of his Percentage of Released Sex Offenders handling of sex offenders. It’s not that he lost track of too many of them, or Recidivism Measure Child Rapists Statutory that they committed new crimes under molesters Rapists his supervision. His mistake was plac- Within 3 years following release: ing 23 “high-risk” sex offenders — those considered most likely to commit re- Rearrested for any new sex crime 5.1% 5.0% 5.0% peat crimes — in hotels and motels Reconvicted for any new sex crime 3.5% 3.2% 3.6% within a few miles of Disneyland. Total Released 4,295 3,115 443 That placement showed “a total lack of common sense,” says Democratic state Source: “Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released From Prison in 1994,” Bureau of Rep. Rudy Bermudez, a former parole Justice Statistics, November 2003 officer. “When you place high-risk sex offenders where children are, you’re al- “The whole city is basically covered by Most sex crimes, after all, are perpe- most violating the laws by putting chil- this,” Dermer says. “As far as I’m con- trated by someone known to the vic- dren in harm’s way.” cerned, it worked well.” tim. (See chart, p. 728.) Communities around the country don’t Others worry that so-called proxim- But offenders’ ability to establish want sex offenders living anywhere ity restrictions amount to an unfair extra such relationships has nothing to do near children. They may not have at- dose of punishment brought against of- with where they live, critics of the re- tractions as glamorous as Disneyland, fenders who already have served their strictions say. Criminals don’t have to but 17 states and dozens, if not hun- sentences. A federal judge has blocked live near arcades or playgrounds to dreds, of local governments have banned a portion of Georgia’s law, finding it visit them. “Schools, parks and play- registered sex offenders from living near unconstitutional to force sex offenders grounds aren’t a factor in most sex- public places where children can be to move — even if the crimes they abuse cases,” says Jill S. Levenson, a expected to gather, such as schools. committed occurred many years earli- human-services professor and researcher “I’ve had folks say, ‘I don’t want er — when school bus stops are rerout- at Lynn University, in Fort Lauderdale, them anywhere in my town,’ ” says ed close to their homes. Fla., who has coauthored studies of Charles Olney, a researcher at the U.S. Because of such concerns, 11 of the sex-offender residency restrictions. Department of Justice’s Center for Sex 17 states with proximity laws offer ex- “It sounds good in theory,” Leven- Offender Management. “Everyone emptions to those who lived within the son continues, “but the big problem with wants these folks somewhere else.” buffer zones before the new laws were residency restrictions, aside from the fact As Democratic Miami Beach Mayor passed, according to Wayne A. Logan, that there’s no evidence that they work, David Dermer puts it, “If you have a a law professor at the College of William is that they push sex offenders from child, do you want a registered sex and Mary. cities into rural areas so they’re more offender living next to you? Do you Even critics of the residency re- difficult to track and monitor and are feel comfortable with that?” strictions agree that convicted sex of- farther from social services and psychi- His city passed an ordinance last year fenders should not be allowed to atric services.” Those are factors associ- to block sex offenders from living with- work in jobs, such as teaching, that ated with increased recidivism, not lower in 2,500 feet of any school, public bus would bring them into close proxim- recidivism, Levenson says. stop, day-care center, park “or other ity with children. It’s dangerous when “When you ostracize these individ- place where children regularly congre- predators are able to establish rela- uals, they’re taken away from social- gate.” For all practical purposes, no sex tionships with children and build a network support, job opportunities and criminals can live anywhere in the city. level of trust that they can exploit. family,” says Logan, who is preparing

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Sex Abuse Still Haunts Catholic Church

he Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, a Catholic priest in training in spotting and preventing sexual abuse of children. Santa Rosa, Calif., confessed to local church officials on The program includes educational videos, workshops and the T April 28 that he had kissed a 12-year-old boy and of- development of a common language and policy for con- fered him $100 to do a striptease. Ochoa also admitted to other fronting people whose behavior is questionable, such as say- incidents with boys elsewhere in earlier years. But in defiance ing, “It’s parish policy not to give long, lingering hugs to of California law, church authorities failed to report Ochoa im- small children.” mediately to the police, instead waiting until May 1. In the These efforts are subject to regular audits, and “the church meantime, Ochoa fled to Mexico. urges that anyone who has been abused by a priest or dea- “I made an error in judgment by waiting to report Rev. con or person of authority report the abuse immediately and Ochoa’s admissions,” Bishop Daniel Walsh wrote in an August that the person be removed from their position,” says Sister letter to parishioners. “I should have acted immediately and Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the bishops’ conference. not delayed.” “The church has addressed the problem very aggressively,” The bishop’s apology didn’t satisfy the Sonoma County Sher- she said. “We’re horrified by it.” iff’s Department, which recommended on Aug. 25 that crimi- But critics of the church complain that Catholic leaders, nal charges be filed against Walsh. It would be the first time while paying lip service to the problem, have failed to live up a U.S. Catholic Church official faces criminal prosecution for to their own promises. “The gap between what the bishops failing to report sexual abuse. 1 say publicly and what they do privately has never been greater,” The Catholic Church has arguably been damaged more by says David Clohessy, national director of the Survivor Network child sex-abuse scandals than any other institution in American of Those Abused by Priests. “The reforms they’ve adopted since life. The scandal appeared to peak in 2002, when the U.S. Con- 2002 are essentially like speed limits, but no cops.” ference of Catholic Bishops announced a sweeping set of re- Several recent incidents suggest the church has not learned form measures intended to curb abuse and protect children. 2 from the earlier round of scandals, in which its leadership al- Since that time, legal settlements with victims of priestly lowed known molesters to continue working with children. In abuse have forced dioceses in Tucson, Spokane and Portland, Chicago, the Rev. Daniel McCormack was allowed to continue in Ore., to declare bankruptcy, while many other dioceses have his ministry for four months after allegations surfaced that he had sold property to pay the bills. Abuse-related church expenses abused three boys. After a stinging audit, Cardinal Francis George peaked last year at $467 million. 3 said in March that he was “most truly sorry . . . for the tragedy The 2002 reforms call for priests and other parish offi- of allowing children to be in the presence of a priest against cials, as well as the laity and children, to undergo regular whom a current accusation of sexual abuse has been made.” 4 a book on offender-registration laws. The foundation for residency restric- also may erode the effectiveness of the In one instance, 21 sex offenders wound tions on sex offenders was laid more registry and community-notification re- up grouped together in a cheap motel than a decade ago, in 1994, when Con- quirements. If it becomes too difficult outside of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, because gress required states to compel con- for sex offenders to find an affordable they had been, in effect, banished from victed sex offenders to register their ad- place to live, they may change resi- within the city limits. 7 The fact that dresses with local police. The requirement dences without notifying authorities, some sex offenders are being forced helped parole and probation officers su- register false addresses or simply dis- either into homelessness or into living pervise and monitor their charges. Two appear, making it harder for law en- arrangements with their ostracized peers years later, “Megan’s Law” required com- forcement to do its job. may make them less likely to stay on munities to provide citizens with infor- In Chicago, for example, more than the straight-and-narrow. mation on sex offenders in their midst. 75 percent of the addresses given by “Yes, it’s an inconvenience — some The law was named in honor of Megan 81 sex offenders were found to be folks will have to move,” said Re- Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey child bogus. 9 In Iowa, the number of sex publican state Rep. Jerry Keen, ma- raped and murdered in 1994 by a con- offenders who are unaccounted for on jority leader of the Georgia House and victed sex offender who lived across the state’s list of 6,000 offenders has sponsor of the state’s proximity law. the street, Jesse Timmendequas. doubled since a statewide residence “But if you weigh that argument against But some critics of the proximity law took effect last September. 10 “The the overall impact, which is the safe- laws — including some prosecutors and truth is that we’re starting to lose peo- ty of children, most folks would agree law-enforcement officials — are now ple,” said Don Vrotsos, chief deputy of this is a good thing.” 8 worried that the buffer-zone approach the Dubuque County sheriff’s office. 11

726 CQ Researcher That same week, New Hamp- church’s education efforts for chil- shire’s attorney general released an dren. “As far as sexual abuse, no one audit saying the church had failed has reported anything to us.” to make sure all those who work Meanwhile, critics charge that the with children pass criminal back- bishops remain impervious to outside ground checks. To get the state to oversight, relying too heavily on self- agree to drop a criminal investiga- audits by dioceses to ensure compli- tion, the church had to agree to ance with the church’s own rules and conduct the background checks. And legal settlements, such as the one in the church has lobbied hard against New Hampshire that required thor- legislation in several states to ex- ough background checks. tend the statute of limitations for “As long as there is that structure, bringing sex-abuse complaints. 5 with no checks and balances,” says Even the National Review Clohessy, “with no oversight and no Board, a lay committee created in consequences for wrongdoing, there 2002 to investigate sex abuse, has will continue to be sex crimes and sharply criticized church leaders. cover-ups.” The board’s chairman, a former governor, compared bishops to 1 John Cote, “Catholic Bishop May Face Jail,” the mafia, while a former leader San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 26, 2006, p. B1. said the bishops had “manipulat- 2 For background, see Kenneth Jost, “Sexual AP Photo/Nick Ut Abuse and the Clergy,” CQ Researcher, May ed” the group and had been far Former Los Angeles Catholic priest Michael 6 3, 2002, pp. 393-416. from forthcoming. Wempe, right, was sentenced in May to 3 Rachel Zoll, “Costs Soar as Clergy Sex Abuse At the local level, church of- three years in prison for child abuse. Cases Rise,” Associated Press, March 31, 2006. ficials say that the new policies 4 T.R. Reid, “Catholic Leaders Fight Legisla- and education programs are starting to take root. “I don’t tend tion on Suits,” The Washington Post, April 1, 2006, p. A10. 5 to use superlatives very often, but I think this is a program Ibid. 6 Joe Feuerhard, “Review Board Head Charges Bishops ‘Manipulated’ Sex that is going to change lives,” says Helen Osman, communi- Abuse Panel and Withheld Information,” National Catholic Reporter Online, cations director for the diocese of Austin, describing the May 11, 2004.

The Iowa County Attorneys Associa- being sent to the institution, Jenkins through use of GPS (global position has called for a repeal of the ban- castrated himself with a razor. “Cas- tioning system) technology. ishment law. tration has done precisely what I want- “You see the continual need for “You have to be very careful with ed it to do,” Jenkins said. “I have not more pieces of the pie — tougher law those sorts of laws because we don’t had any sexual urges or desires in enforcement and greater community know if they’re going to help, and over two years. My mind is finally free awareness,” says Rumenap, of Stop they may hurt,” says Carlos Cuevas, of the deviant sexual fantasies I used Child Predators. “We need to keep our an assistant professor at Northeastern to have about young girls.” 12 children safe.” University’s College of Criminal Justice. Eight states allow either for chem- Anti-sex-offender laws rarely en- ical or surgical castration. It’s one sign counter much political resistance. Both Should sex offenders receive among many that over the past decade houses of the Washington state legis- harsher punishments? states and local communities have de- lature, for instance, earlier this year James Jenkins says he’s “all for cas- cided they need to toughen their laws passed mandatory 25-year prison sen- tration for certain sex offenders. It would against sex offenders. tences for some sex offenders with- do a lot to prevent recidivism and [re- In the wake of the community- out a dissenting vote. duce] the amount of money we have notification requirements passed a “In Oklahoma, we have no sympa- to spend on treatment centers.” decade ago, nearly half the states thy for those who would harm our chil- Jenkins should know. He was sent now have passed versions of Jessi- dren. We’ve increased penalties across to a sex-offender treatment center after ca’s Law, which requires more ag- the board for all forms of sex abuse he molested three young girls. Before gressive tracking of sex offenders against children,” says Democratic Gov.

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says. “Many victims of sexual assault Most Victims Know Their Attacker don’t necessarily want a big punishment — they just want it to stop. The vast majority of sexual-assault victims are attacked by family Sometimes they’re afraid to disclose members or acquaintances, not strangers. the crime because it’s their uncle who Offenders (by percentage) will have to go away forever.” Becky Rogers Martin, a Republican Victim Age Family member Acquaintance Stranger state representative in South Carolina, also has concerns that police and pros- All victims 26.7% 59.6% 13.8% ecutors may not enforce laws that they Juveniles 34.2 58.7 7.0 don’t believe fit the crime. “Lots of times 0-5 years old 48.6 48.3 3.1 we’ll put in real strict penalties so that 6-11 42.4 52.9 4.7 even if they’re cut down they’ll still 12-17 24.3 66.0 9.8 serve real time,” she says. “But our concern was that if we made it so strict, Adults they wouldn’t take it seriously.” 18-24 9.8 66.5 23.7 Others warn that longer sentences 24 + 12.8 57.1 30.1 or even the death penalty won’t act as a successful deterrent to crime. “Peo- Source: “Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, ple think it’s effective because they Incident, and Offender Characteristics,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. confuse deterrence with retribution,” Department of Justice, July 2000 says Murray A. Straus, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire. “That Brad Henry, who signed a law in June But Lieb questions laws that raise doesn’t mean that punishment never imposing the death penalty on certain the level of punishment for sex of- works as a deterrent. It does — but repeat offenders who have abused fenses above those for murder, as in it has a very high failure rate.” children. Washington. “There’s been research “Offenders are going to become Oklahoma became the fifth state to that shows if you set mandatory sen- more aware that society doesn’t want impose the death penalty for sex crimes tences too high, then prosecutors won’t to deal with them on the street,” says against children. (South Carolina had file those charges, and judges and ju- Christopher J. Murphy, deputy chief enacted its law one day earlier.) ries won’t convict,” she says. of the adult probation and parole de- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1977 It’s not only a question of whether partment in Montgomery County, Pa. that the death penalty was dispropor- the legal system will apply the most rig- “But the majority of sex offenders that tionate in cases involving the rape of orous penalties, says R. Karl Hanson, a I’ve dealt with didn’t think they were adults, and thus amounted to “cruel and psychologist and a corrections researcher going to be caught to begin with.” unusual punishment,” which is banned with Public Safety and Emergency Pre- Many criminologists also are con- by the Eighth Amendment. The court paredness Canada, that country’s main cerned that contemporary laws dealing has not ruled on a death-penalty case public safety agency. Victims invariably with sex offenders often lump them involving an offense against a child. 13 find the court process a challenge, he together broadly as a group. In some Lieb, of the Washington State In- says, and they are sometimes especial- cases, men who were teenagers when stitute for Public Policy, says the new ly reluctant to press charges when the found guilty of statutory rape may be laws serve an important purpose — perpetrator is a relative or someone subjected to the same kinds of living not just by imposing harsher sentences known to them, as is the case more restrictions and community-notification but in raising public awareness about often than not. Studies from the 1990s requirements as older men who re- sex crimes. “Personally, I think it’s a showed that 73 percent of molestation peatedly molested young children. Even very valuable change in our society. victims don’t report the crime if the per- putting aside the question of fairness, It’s recognition of the harm,” she says. petrator is a relative or step-parent, they say, this amounts to a wasteful “There’s no doubt, looking at sex of- while 70 percent don’t report an ac- dilution of effort. Keeping track of hun- fenders who have committed horrific quaintance. 14 Children sometimes fear dreds of sex offenders is hard. crimes and gotten out, the thing you further harm as a result of reporting. “We tend to put all sex offenders would most wish for is that they got “The consequences may be harsh- under one umbrella, and these laws are a longer sentence.” er than the victim wants,” Hanson applied to them equally,” says Terry, of

728 CQ Researcher the John Jay College up again on charges of Criminal Justice. doesn’t mean they “We often apply the haven’t perpetrated more resources to the pun- crimes, he argues. ishment rather than to “Recidivism research the treatment,” she measures crimes report- continues. “Personal- ed to law enforcement ly, I think that there that result in arrest and should be more of a conviction,” Allen writes. focus on treatment.” “But according to the Jus- tice Department, crimes Can sex offenders against children are the be rehabilitated? most underreported of all Many of the most crimes. Researchers esti- disturbing violations mate that one-in-five girls of children in recent AFP/Getty Images/Tim Sloan and one-in-10 boys will times have been President George W. Bush shakes hands with John Walsh after signing be sexually victimized in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act on July 27; Mrs. Walsh perpetrated by repeat is at left. Six-year-old Adam was murdered in 1981 after being abducted some way before they offenders. The sus- from a suburban shopping mall in Florida. John Walsh later became host reach adulthood. Yet only pect in the case of of “America’s Most Wanted” and a leader in the push for victims’ rights. one-in-three will tell Jessica Lunsford, the anybody about it.” 17 Florida girl whose kidnap, rape and A study by the Justice Department’s Even those who believe that most murder has prompted half the states Bureau of Justice Statistics found that sex offenders are unlikely to strike to pass stricter tracking requirements, only 5.3 percent of sex offenders (de- again concede that such criminals will is a previously convicted sex offender fined as men who had committed rape never entirely shed their destructive im- who had failed to register with police. or sexual assault) were rearrested for pulses. But they say that the behavior The idea that someone could mo- another sex crime within three years of many sex offenders can be man- lest children and then be set free to after their release from prison in 15 aged, just as incurable diseases such as commit the same crime again — or states. That was far below the 68 per- diabetes can be managed. an even more violent crime — is a cent rearrest rate for non-sex offend- “We don’t talk about it in terms of central motivation behind the current ers, 25 percent of whom were resen- a cure,” says Levenson, of the Center push toward more stringent punish- tenced to prison for new crimes. 15 for Offender Rehabilitation and Educa- ments and tracking. A broader and widely cited Canadi- tion. “Some may always be attracted to “The problem with this type of an study found that within five years of children, but they can certainly learn crime is that the rate of recidivism is release 14 percent of sex offenders were to control that and not act on it.” high,” contends Rumenap, of Stop brought up on new charges for a sex- Hanson says crunching the data from Child Predators. ual offense. After 20 years of release, 73 17 different studies about sex-offender Referring to “To Catch a Predator,” percent of sex offenders had not been management shows a five-year recidi- the NBC “Dateline” series that investi- charged with another sexual offense. 16 vism rate of 10 percent for those who gates men who use the Internet to troll “It’s hard to argue that all sex of- had undergone some form of treatment, for minors, Rumenap says, “That show fenders will inevitably re-offend,” says compared with a 17 percent rate for has been on five or six times, and psychologist Hanson, coauthor of the those who hadn’t. “The evidence sug- they’re getting some of the same sex Canadian study. “On average, the over- gests that those offenders who go to offenders showing up time and again.” all recidivism rate is lower than for gen- treatment are less likely to re-offend than Determining the true rate of recidi- eral offenders, but they are more at risk those who don’t,” he says. “That may vism among sex offenders, though, is for committing new sex offenses.” be partly because the more cooperative one of the most contentious points with- Ernie Allen, president of the Na- offenders are more likely to go.” in the policy debate surrounding the issue. tional Center for Missing and Exploit- Trying to sort out which criminals Some studies indicate that rates of re- ed Children, disputes the idea that re- are going to be more compliant is just cidivism among sex offenders are actu- cidivism studies prove that sex one of the tricks involved in successful ally lower than for people who commit offenders are relatively unlikely to strike sex-offender management. Criminolo- other violent crimes or property crimes. again. Just because they aren’t brought gists say that sex offenders are more

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sex offenders that imposed open-ended Many Victims Are Under Age 6 sentences. By 1921, New York state One of every seven victims of sexual assault (14 percent) reported to permitted offenders considered mentally defective to be imprisoned for life law-enforcement agencies was under age 6, and more than a third (overseen by a doctor rather than a of all victims were under 12. warden), regardless of whether they Ages of Sexual-Assault Victims had been convicted of a crime. (1991-1996) “Failure to require actual conviction on a specific charge reflected the thera- Victim All sexual Forcible Forcible Sexual assault Forcible peutic assumption that no real harm could Age assault rape sodomy with object fondling come from merely being diagnosed and 0-5 14.0% 4.3% 24.0% 26.5% 20.2% treated medically, and the social assumption that merely being charged 6-11 20.1 8.0 30.8 23.2 29.3 demonstrated that a person was a trou- 12-17 32.8 33.5 24.0 25.5 34.3 blemaker of some kind,” writes Philip 18-24 14.2 22.6 8.7 9.7 7.7 Jenkins, a historian and religious-studies 25-34 11.5 19.6 7.5 8.3 5.0 professor at Pennsylvania State Universi- ty, in his 1998 book Moral Panic. 19 34+ 7.4 12.0 5.1 6.8 3.5 The twin mixing of civil and crim- Source: “Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, inal penalties and penology with Incident, and Offender Characteristics,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. treatment would remain the legal Department of Justice, July 2000 model for decades. The social and political climate shifted during the heterogeneous than other types of vio- of cycles. At certain junctures, horrific 1920s, however, and by the end of lent criminals, with a wider range of crimes have sparked stepped-up efforts the decade charges of offenses against age and education. to combat the problem. Over time, morality and chastity had plummet- They also vary widely in terms of however, as tensions ease, more liber- ed. Police and the media turned their their tendencies toward violence. For al approaches come into fashion, such attention to Prohibition and the cul- that reason, management programs need as a greater focus on rehabilitation. But ture of gangsters, while a National to be tailored to take into account par- then some new and shocking event Commission on Law Observance and ticular offending patterns and proclivi- shakes society’s complacency, and Enforcement barely mentioned sex ties. A program that works for a mid- tougher laws again sweep the land. crimes in its 1931 report on pressing dle-aged offender, for instance, won’t A series of “Jack the Ripper” serial- criminal-justice issues. work for a teenager. murder cases in several states drew pub- The period’s relative quiet was dis- “If you have sex offender-specific lic attention during the early 1900s, turbed by the 1934 apprehension of Al- treatment, it can work, for those of- some of which involved child molesta- bert Fish, who was charged with the fenders who want to take advantage tion. The killings led to a widespread murder, mutilation and cannibalism of of it,” says Murphy, the Pennsylvania belief that sex crimes were perpetrated Grace Budd, a 12-year-old from White probation official. “Unfortunately, you by a deviant person from outside the Plains, N.Y. Fish had experimented with don’t know which ones are which.” community. “It is always the crime of numerous perverse activities, which he a mentally unbalanced, feeble-minded recorded in his diaries. His shocking trial person,” editorialized The New York Times exposed the public to the outer reach- in 1915. “Moral degenerates are easily es of sexual deviancy, engendering the BACKGROUND discoverable without waiting until acts sense that dangerous perverts were on of violence put them in the category of the loose and waiting to strike. Fish’s harming children.” 18 execution preceded by three months Reflecting such concerns, police that of Bruno Hauptmann, who had kid- Cycles of Concern began to investigate men with suspi- napped and killed the infant son of avi- cious collections of photographs of chil- ation pioneer Charles Lindbergh. Their hroughout the 20th century, the dren, believing they might mark a po- stories often jostled for space on the T legal and political response to sex tential “ripper.” And most states between front pages of the nation’s newspapers offenders has evolved through a series 1905 and 1915 passed new laws for Continued on p. 733

730 CQ Researcher Chronology

1990 1940s-1970s Washington state passes a law that 2000s Congress and Ineffective civil-commitment becomes a model for other states, the states crack down further statutes lead to a backlash requiring dangerous sex offenders to on sex offenders, despite declin- against tough sex-offender laws. register with police and reopening ing rates of such crimes. the possibility of civil commitment 1949 following prison sentences. . . . After 2002 During “horror week” in November, six years of criminal trials in Califor- Bringing a year of scandal to a three young girls across the coun- nia, there are no convictions in the close, the U.S. Conference of try are raped and murdered or left McMartin preschool case, in which a Catholic Bishops adopts sweeping to die. In response, 15 states es- teacher and administrator had been new sex-abuse prevention poli- tablish commissions to study the accused of ritual sex abuse involving cies that mandate education in sex-offender problem. hundreds of children despite a lack each diocese and call for tougher of physical evidence. action against priests accused of 1955 pedophilia or other sex offenses After nearly 20 states pass laws 1992 involving children. allowing sexual-psychopaths to be The number of reported child held indeinitely, the population of sex-abuse cases peaks at about 2005 state mental hospitals reaches 150,000. Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old 550,000, more than double the Florida girl, is abducted, sexually total 25 years earlier. 1993 assaulted and buried alive. In re- Polly Klaas and Jacob Wetterling, sponse, two-dozen states enact 1974 pre-teens who were abducted and “Jessica’s Law,” requiring stricter Congress passes the Child Abuse either killed or presumed dead, tracking of convicted sex offend- Prevention and Treatment Act, spark massive public interest, leaders. . . . In all, states pass more mandating the reporting and in- ing to the pictures of missing chil- than 100 new sex-offender laws, vestigation of abuse allegations. dren appearing on milk cartons the most ever in a given year. and further legislation against sex 1975 offenders. 2006 U.S. Supreme Court rules there is U.S. marshals lead a 27-state no constitutional basis for confining 1994 dragnet from April 17-23 that mental patients unless they present As part of a larger crime bill, Con- nabs 1,102 wanted sex offenders. an immediate danger to themselves gress passes the Jacob Wetterling Act, . . . On June 9 Oklahoma be- or their communities. requiring sex offenders to register comes the fifth state to approve their whereabouts with police. . . . the death penalty for sex offenders. • New Jersey becomes the first state . . . A U.S. district judge rules on to pass “Megan’s Law,” requiring June 29 that portions of Georgia’s community notification when a sex residence-restriction law, passed 1980s-1990s offender lives in the area; it honors in April, are unconstitutional. . . . Sex crimes, particularly those murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka. President Bush on Aug. 27 signs against children, re-emerge as the Adam Walsh Act, requiring a major legislative concern. 1996 sex offenders to provide DNA Congress passes a federal version samples and states to maintain 1981 of Megan’s Law requiring all states offender registries on the Inter- Two members of Congress are ac- to enact sex-offender registries or net and impose criminal penalties cused of having sex with teenage forfeit law-enforcement grants. . . . for offenders who fail to register. congressional pages. California requires chemical castra- . . . On Nov. 7 California voters tion of offenders twice convicted are expected to approve a strict 1982 of child molestation. . . . JonBenet version of Jessica’s Law, imposing Wayne B. Williams is convicted for Ramsey, a 6-year-old beauty mandatory minimum sentences on two out of a string of 23 murders queen, is found murdered and convicted sex offenders. of children that shocked Atlanta sexually assaulted in her home in from 1979 to 1981. Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26.

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Online Predators Worry Experts

ids who spent this past summer camping at Island with law-enforcement agencies, citing privacy concerns. But Lake in Starrucca, Pa., were encouraged to write about five leading Internet service providers, including AOL, Yahoo K their experiences online but not to say exactly where and Microsoft, announced in June that they will jointly build they were. Camp officials were worried about Internet sex a database of child-pornography images and develop tools to predators. help law enforcement prevent their distribution. 5 Many camps have banned the use of their names or logos A large percentage of those who possess illicit images of from Web pages and blogs set up by campers. Some even ban children, says the Justice official, who asked not to be named, digital cameras from their grounds. “The information that kids may actually be offenders or contact children. “The Internet is share today often is personal and private information that al- a wonderful connector,” he says, “but it brings dark alleys and lows predators to track them down,” said Peg Smith, chief ex- dangerous places into your home, putting deviants together with ecutive officer of the American Camp Association. 1 their prospective victims.” Of course, children and youth don’t have to go away to As part of its Project Safe Childhood initiative, the Justice camp to make their presence known on the Internet. Social- Department has stepped up its investigation and coordination networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have loads of “enticement cases” in which predators contact children through of information about millions of children and youths — their the Internet and arrange to meet with them in person. NBC names, their photographs, their diaries and pet peeves and fa- has broadcast an occasional series called “To Catch a Preda- vorite songs — even their eating habits and relative tendency tor” that has resulted in nearly 100 arrests. 6 to motion sickness. 2 According to a study released last month by the Univer- All of that is rich material for sex predators, who typically sity of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research try to “groom” potential victims by getting to know them and Center, about 13 percent of children ages 10 to 17 have building up trusting relationships. “The social-networking sites been solicited online for sexual activity or conversations. have become, in a sense, a happy hunting ground for child That was down from a total of 19 percent five years earli- predators,” says Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. er. Researchers attributed the drop to warnings and educa- Fitzpatrick’s Deleting Online Predators Act passed the House, tion campaigns. 410-15, on July 26. 3 The bill would ban access to chat rooms But “the most serious kinds of sexual solicitations, those in and a variety of online forums in public schools and libraries. which solicitors make offline contact with young children, did Some groups, such as the American Library Association, say not decline.” 7 that it could have the effect of blocking students from find- Larry D. Rosen, a psychologist at California State University- ing information on legitimate sites, such as Yahoo, that host Dominquez Hills and an expert on Internet socializing, says that legitimate social forums. sites such as MySpace are not “inherently scary or dangerous,” Congress has tried for years to fashion laws that would pro- but can, in fact, be healthy ways for teens to develop a sense tect children from the perils of the Internet. The Communica- of community and their own identity. tions Decency Act of 1996 made it a crime to transmit “patent- The major issue he found in a recent study is that “parents ly offensive” material over the Internet in a way that would be simply ignore their children’s activities on MySpace. This is par- accessible to minors. The Supreme Court struck the law down ticularly striking, given that through the media parents are con- the next year on free-speech grounds, however. vinced that MySpace is ripe with sexual predators.” 8 But the court in 2003 upheld the Children’s Internet Pro- tection Act of 2000, which requires libraries that accept fed- 1 Pam Belluck, “Young People’s Web Postings Worry Summer Camp Di- eral funds to install anti-pornography filtering software. “The rectors,” The New York Times, June 22, 2006, p. A16. 2 For background, see Marcia Clemmitt, “Cyber Socializing,” CQ Researcher, interest in protecting young library users from material inap- July 28, 2006, pp. 625-648. propriate for minors is legitimate,” Justice Anthony Kennedy 3 Kathryn A. Wolfe, “Minors’ Use of Social Web Sites at Schools and Libraries wrote. 4 Targeted,” CQ Weekly, July 31, 2006, p. 2125. Justice Department officials have grown particularly con- 4 Jan Crawford Greenburg, “Justices Back Porn Filters at Libraries,” Chicago cerned about Internet pornography because, says a senior coun- Tribune, June 24, 2003, p. 1. 5 The Associated Press, “Internet Firms to Step Up Child-Porn Fight,” Los sel at the Department of Justice, “the price of admission” for Angeles Times, June 27, 2006, p. C7. access to some pornography sites may be images of child sex 6 Julia Rawe, “How Safe is MySpace?” Time, July 3, 2006, p. 34. abuse that in many cases may be homemade — suggesting 7 “Youth Online Exposed to More Porn But Fewer Sexual Solicitations, Ac- that “mere possession of child porn may indicate a dangerous cording to New Study,” University of New Hampshire press release, Aug. 9, 2006. person.” 8 Larry D. Rosen, “Adolescents in MySpace: Identity Formation, Friendship and Internet companies had resisted calls from the Bush ad- Sexual Predators,” June 2006; www.csudh.edu/psych/Adolescents%20in%20My- ministration that they share more information about their users Space%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf.

732 CQ Researcher Continued from p. 730 them. (Only about 200 of- and “may have encour- fenders a year were com- aged readers to see the mitted annually by the end generalized danger to chil- of the 1950s. 27) Sociologist dren in sexually explicit Edwin H. Sutherland wrote terms,” Jenkins writes. 20 in 1950, “The concept of The Fish case and sev- the ‘sexual psychopath’ is eral other notorious so vague that . . . the states crimes over the next which have enacted such decade put sex offend- laws make little or no use ers squarely back on the of them.” 28 radar of both media and In a backlash against the law enforcement. In the earlier panic, judges and leg- years following World islators during the 1960s and War II, 15 states estab- early ’70s sharply curtailed lished commissions to forced civil commitments study the problem. In a and indeterminate sentenc- widely quoted article — ing for several psychopaths. “How Safe Is Your Many media accounts of sex Daughter?” — FBI Di- crimes turned their focus to rector J. Edgar Hoover miscarriages of justice or asserted, “The most rapid- racial bias. ly increasing type of This shift in attitudes was crime is perpetrated by exemplified by sociologists degenerate sex offend- who began to claim that ers,” and his agency dis- rape was an overreported tributed posters urging phenomenon and that children to be wary of women seldom resisted strangers and not to ac- AP Photo their assailants, instead fil- cept rides from them. 21 Twelve-year-old Polly Klass was murdered after being kidnapped at ing complaints only after knife-point from her home in Petaluma, Calif., by Richard Allen A third of Americans sur- Davis, who is now awaiting execution at San Quentin Prison. they’d been jilted or aban- veyed agreed with the doned. And the profes- proposition that “prison is too good for Negro”; and “a non-aggressive homo- sional literature of the era also down- sex criminals. They should be publicly sexual convicted of passing bad played the damaging effects of whipped or worse.” 22 checks.” 25 molestation on children. “In every way,” More than half the states passed so- Jenkins writes, “scholarship of this era called sexual-psychopath statutes allow- presented the plight of the abuse vic- ing dangerous offenders to be held for No Constitutional Basis tim in language that seems stunning- treatment for indeterminate periods (the ly callous to modern ears.” 29 Pennsylvania statute authorized a sen- lthough sexual-psychopath laws The courts began to afford more tence of “one day to life”). 23 “The sex- A continued to be passed into the protection to defendants. In the famous ual psychopath gets locked up, and that’s 1960s, they drew increasing criticism for Miranda case, which involved a sex the end of it,” said a Wisconsin ad- being overly broad and for violating or- offender, the Supreme Court found in ministrator. 24 The statutes assumed that dinary rules of due process. A consul- 1966 that police had to respect the due- psychopaths were compulsive and would tant for New Jersey’s sex-offender com- process rights of defendants or forfeit progress naturally from one type of crime mission said that prosecutors came to evidence they’d acquired. In subse- to something worse, so they were view them “merely as a useful tool to quent years, courts rejected indetermi- broadly defined. Swept into the drag- be employed or avoided in accordance nate sentencing, the confinement of net were not just rapists and molesters with their own convenience.” 26 mental patients who posed no imme- but also those charged with “public mas- Sexual-psychopath laws soon became diate danger to themselves or others turbation (without indecent exposure)”; completely ineffective or were nullified and sexual-psychopath statutes that set “the following of a white female by a in most of the states that had passed an impossibly high bar for release.

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cated that upwards of 20 percent of fantasies and behavior that could not Mandatory Reporting Americans had been sexually abused be cured,” writes Terry, of the John as children. Jay College of Criminal Justice. 32 In ut even as the courts were re- States throughout the 1980s made it the 1990s, the use of polygraphs also B flecting the notion that child mo- easier for children to testify in abuse strengthened sex-offender manage- lestation was not a significant problem, cases, lifting the obligation that victims ment, offering insights into offenders’ the broader societal honesty (or lack there- pendulum was once of) about their behavior again swinging back between sessions. toward fear about the However, shocking issue. The feminist cases garnered much movement joined more public attention with conservatives to than rehabilitation meth- draw attention to ods. In the infamous Mc- problems of rape, in- Martin preschool case in cest and child abuse, Manhattan Beach, Calif., generating renewed sensational allegations of media interest and satanic sex rituals at the prompting legislative school ultimately proved action. In 1974, Con- false. As the case dragged gress passed the Child on throughout the 1980s, Abuse Prevention and it became clear that the Treatment Act, which allegations had been the mandated the report- result of inappropriate ing and investigation coaching of testimony by of abuse allegations police and social work- AP Photo/Nick Ut and provided match- Peggy McMartin Buckey was cleared in the infamous McMartin ers after initial complaints ing funds to states that preschool case in 1990 after testimony indicated false allegations of an had been brought by a identified abused chil- abusive sex ring at the Los Angeles school had been the result of delusional woman. Fear dren and prosecuted inappropriate coaching of witnesses by police and social workers. of satanic and ritual sex abusers. This led to rings led to other in- the creation of an infrastructure of agen- — or survivors, as they were becom- stances in which children who had cies, both public and private, devoted ing known — had to face defendants been coached began, as with the to investigating mistreatment. against whom they were testifying. In Salem witch trials of the 17th centu- The advent of mandated reporting a series of rulings in the early 1990s, ry, to direct charges against investiga- swelled abuse statistics. States began the Supreme Court made clear that it tors once they ran out of other adults to ease physical-evidence requirements, would favor child protection over es- they could plausibly accuse. 33 (The and the number of reported rapes — tablished constitutional assumptions validity of repressed or “recovered” which had been 22,467 in 1965 — about the rights of defendants. In 1992, memories of abuse that emerged quadrupled to more than 100,000 by the court ruled that hearsay testimony under therapeutic intervention also 1990. 30 The media also began to re- offered by doctors, police or family came into question. 34) port that huge numbers of children — could be offered in lieu of forcing a “Part of the problem is that you had as many as 100,000 — were caught child to testify. 31 really little kids — 3, 4 and 5 years up in pornography rings. Although the Studies of treatment programs con- old — and people interviewing them figures were largely uncorroborated, in- ducted in the 1970s and ’80s found who had almost no awareness of chil- creased attention to child pornography no evidence of reduced recidivism. But dren’s suggestibility,” says John E.B. and abuse meant that actual incidents therapists and others dealing with sex Myers, director of the criminal-justice were more likely to be reported, which offenders made important strides dur- program at the University of the Pa- in turn stimulated further investigation ing the 1980s, developing cognitive- cific’s McGeorge School of Law. and legislation. Sex-abuse claims in- behavioral therapy programs and re- But other cases were real enough creased by a factor of 18 between 1976 lapse training. “Offenders were finally and again focused attention on and 1985, while various surveys indi- trained to recognize and manage their “stranger danger.” In 1989, Earl K. Shriner

734 CQ Researcher assaulted and mutilated a 7-year-old boy in Washington state. Shriner had a Average Molester Serves Three Years long criminal record and, while in prison, Convicted child molesters who were released from prison in 1994 had designed a van he intended to use for abducting, torturing and killing chil- were sentenced to about seven years in prison, on average, but served dren. After it became clear that au- an average of about three years. Rapists and sexual assaulters served thorities had released an offender who slightly longer before release. clearly meant to do more harm, the Years legislature, under enormous pressure 8 to act, in 1990 required dangerous sex 7 8 years Sentence offenders to register with police. The 6 7 years Time Served 5 law also allowed the state to detain an 4 offender past his release date pending 3 3.5 years a hearing on civil commitment. (As a 2 3 years 1 New York Times headline explained, 0 “Strategy on Sex Crimes Is Prison, Then Rapists/ Child Molesters/ Prison.” 35) Sexual Assaulters Statutory Rapists The Washington law drew questions about its constitutionality but Note; The data are based on 9,691 rapists and 4,295 molesters released in 1994 in nonetheless became a model for at 15 states (Ariz., Calif., Del., Fla., Ill., Md., Mich., Minn., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Ore., least 16 other state laws, as well as Texas, Va.) federal legislation enacted in 1994. Be- Source: “Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released From Prison in 1994,” Bureau of fore 1994, only five states required sex Justice Statistics, November 2003 offenders to register their addresses. That year, 7-year-old Megan Kanka ever passed in a single year and twice rights advocate and host of the TV show was raped and strangled. Within weeks, the amount of legislation in 2004. “America’s Most Wanted.” “This may be the New Jersey legislature had passed States have kept up the pace, joined the toughest piece of child-protection a statute modeled on Washington state’s, by federal lawmakers. Congress this legislation in 25 years,” Walsh said. with the added requirement that po- summer passed the Adam Walsh Child The U.S. Department of Justice has lice notify neighbors and schools Protection and Safety Act, requiring states also made fighting sex offenders a top about high-risk offenders in their com- to maintain publicly accessible offend- priority. The Adam Walsh Act autho- munity. “Megan’s Law” had been passed er registries on the Internet, in effect rized the department’s Project Safe Child- in 35 other states by the time Con- creating a national registry. The new hood program, launched earlier this year, gress enacted its version in 1996. law also requires that sex offenders pro- which seeks to combat Internet preda- vide DNA samples and be subject to tors by providing grants to states and more frequent in-person verification of coordinating federal, state and local law their homes and workplaces. Offend- enforcement agencies. “This is an area CURRENT ers who don’t register or update their where effective government is not an information are subject to 10-year option — we must be effective,” says prison terms, and those who commit a DOJ senior counsel. SITUATION violent crimes while registered face five- As part of an annual dragnet in April, year minimum sentences. The law also the U.S. Marshals Service rounded up imposes a 30-year minimum sentence 1,102 people wanted for violent sex New Legislation for those who have sex with a child crimes or for failing to register as a sex younger than 12. 36 offender. The operation “targeted the President Bush signed the bill into worst of the worst,” said U.S. Attorney he pace of sex-offender legisla- law on July 27, the 25th anniversary of General Alberto R. Gonzales. 37 T tion has never been quicker than the murder of the 6-year-old boy, who At the state level, the signature sex- it is today. In 2005, 45 states passed was abducted while shopping with his offender law of the last two years is more than 150 sex-offender laws, ac- mother in Hollywood, Fla. His killer has Jessica’s Law, after Jessica Lunsford, a cording to the National Conference of never been found. Adam was the son 9-year-old Florida girl who was ab- State Legislatures. That was the most of John Walsh, who became a victims’- ducted, raped and buried alive in 2005.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com Sept. 8, 2006 735 SEX OFFENDERS

Two-dozen states have passed versions of Jessica’s Law, which generally imposes mandatory minimum sentences of 25 years on some categories of offenders and requires those who have committed specific sex crimes to wear satellite-tracking devices for life. California voters are expected to overwhelmingly pass a strict version of Jessica’s Law in November. In addition to a minimum-sentencing requirement (25 years for child rapists) and satellite tracking, the measure would bar offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and increase prison terms for a variety of crimes, including possession of child pornography and Internet luring. A Florida State University study released this year of more than 75,000

AFP/Getty Images/Patrick Davison offenders placed on home confinement found that those who were tracked by GPS were 90 percent less likely to abscond or re-offend, compared with those who were not electronically monitored. 38 “We will not mess around with those who mess with our children,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., said in June. “We will find them. We will put them in jail. And we will keep them there.” 39 Schwarzenegger’s op- ponent for re-election, Democratic state Treasurer Phil Angelides, has also endorsed the initiative. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that Jessica’s Law could cost the state $200 million annually after 10 years because of the cost of electronic monitoring and extra parole officers. “It costs an awful lot of money, and it’s going to have vir- Getty Images/Paula Bronstein tually no effect,” said Ron Kokish, a False Confession in Ramsey Case spokesman for the California Coalition on Sexual Offending, a group of treat- The sensational sexual assault and murder of 6-year-old beauty queen ment providers, public defenders and JonBenet Ramsey, of Boulder, Colo., in December 1996 focused probation officers. 40 suspicion on her parents, John and Patricia, holding a reward poster. Such groups have had a hard time John Mark Karr, a teacher from Atlanta, Ga., confessed to the crime getting heard in most legislative debates. after his recent arrest in Thailand, but DNA testing indicated he was In Prince George’s County, Md., the not the killer, and he was not charged. public-defender’s office lobbied against Continued on p. 738

736 CQ Researcher At Issue:

ShouldYes California voters approve Jessica’s Law?

STACIE D. RUMENAP CARLEEN R. ARLIDGE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STOP CHILD PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEYS FOR PREDATORS CRIMINAL JUSTICE

WRITTEN FOR CQ RESEARCHER, SEPTEMBER 2006 EXCERPTED FROM CALIFORNIA VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE, AUG. 14, 2006 ith more than 560,000 registered sex offenders in the United States (over 100,000 of them living in roposition 83 would cost taxpayers an estimated w California) it should come as no surprise that one- $500 million but will not increase our children’s in-five girls and one-in-10 boys are sexually exploited. p safety. Instead, by diluting law-enforcement In Florida last year a registered sex offender with arrests resources, the initiative would actually reduce most chil- for sexual assault and fondling a minor was accused of ab- dren’s security while increasing the danger for those most at risk. ducting, molesting and burying alive 9-year-old Jessica The initiative proposes to monitor every registered sex offender Lunsford. In Idaho, a twice-convicted registered sex offender on the misguided theory that each is likely to re-offend against was charged with kidnapping and molesting 8-year-old Sasha strangers. But law-enforcement experience shows that when sex Groene, molesting and murdering her brother and killing the registrants re-offend, their targets are usually members of their rest of the family. And these are just a couple of examples of own household. This proposition would do nothing to safeguard the horrific crimes committed against our nation’s children. children in their own homes, even though they are most at risk. As these examples make clear, sex offenders are often re- Second, the proposition would not focus on the real problem leased back into society too soon. According to the Justice De- — dangerous sex offenders — but would instead waste limited partment’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average sentence im- resources tracking persons who pose no risk. The new law posed on ayes child molester released in 1994 was seven years, would create an noexpensive tracking system for thousands of regis- although the average offender was released after serving only trants who were convicted of minor, non-violent offenses, perhaps three — despite the fact that sex offenders are four times more years or decades ago. Law-enforcement’s resources should be di- likely than other criminals to commit a sexual offense. rected toward high-risk individuals living in our neighborhoods. Fortunately for the voters of California, they have the op- Proposition 83 would have other dangerous, unintended portunity to protect their children by voting “yes” this Novem- consequences. The proposition’s monitoring provisions would ber on Proposition 83, “Jessica’s Law.” Proposition 83 increases be least effective against those posing the greatest danger. Ob- penalties for violent sex offenders to 25 years to life in prison viously, dangerous offenders would be the least likely to com- and requires lifelong tracking of sex offenders upon release ply, so the proposed law would push the more serious of- — with costs of the monitoring system paid by the offender. fenders underground, where they would be less effectively Proposition 83 also bans sex offenders from living within monitored by police. In addition, by prohibiting sex offenders 2,000 feet of any school or park and allows prosecutors to from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school, the initiative classify possession of child pornography as a felony. would force many offenders from urban to rural areas with Some critics may argue that mandatory sentencing takes smaller police forces. A high concentration of sex offenders in away judicial discretion. As recent court cases demonstrate, rural neighborhoods will not serve public safety. however, such discretion is not always in the public’s best Prosecutors in the state of Iowa know from sad experience interest. that this type of residency restriction does not work. In 2001, In Vermont this past January, Judge Edward Cashman came Iowa adopted a similar law, but now the association of county under fire for handing out a light sentence to a man who con- prosecutors says that it does not provide the protection that was fessed to repeatedly raping a young girl over a four-year peri- originally intended and that the cost of enforcing the require- od. More recently, Judge Kristine Cecava of Nebraska placed a ment and unintended effects on families of offenders warrant re- five-foot-one-inch man convicted of sexually assaulting a 12- placing the restriction with more effective protective measures. year-old girl on probation rather than giving him prison time Residency restrictions do not reduce sex offenses against chil- because she was afraid of what might happen to him in jail. dren or improve children’s safety. Residency restrictions will not At the very least, mandatory sentencing ensures that judicial be effective against 80 to 90 percent of the sex crimes against indiscretion will not put predatory criminals immediately back children because those crimes are committed by a relative or on the streets. acquaintance of the child. Residency restrictions cause sex regis- We cannot afford another Jessica Lunsford tragedy. It is trants to disappear from the registration system. time for California to join the 24 states that have already The laws also cause unwarranted disruption to the innocent

passedNo Jessica’s Law by voting “yes” on Proposition 83. families of ex-offenders.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com Sept. 8, 2006 737 SEX OFFENDERS

Continued from p. 736 registered sex offenders in state legislation requiring their Maine homes after GPS tracking and bans tracking them down via the on rapists and child mo- state’s sex-offender registry lesters from school Web site. One had been grounds. The office had convicted as a sexual preda- no success with its ar- tor. The other was 17 when guments that the GPS he was arrested for being technology is uncertain in a relationship with a 15- and that it may not be year-old girl. The state tem- practical to notify church- porarily took down its reg- es and schools every time istry after the shootings. 43 an offender moves. “The problem I’m having is that this is such an emo- tional issue,” said Public Where to Put Defender Brian C. Den- Ex-Offenders? ton. “I mean, no one’s for sex offenders.” 41 ith sex offenders fac- Another popular type W ing either legal ban- of legislation, however, ishment or, in many cases, appears to be attracting community ostracism and increasingly louder criti- protests, it’s become tough cism. Seventeen states and to know where to put them numerous localities have once they get out of prison. passed such laws, which In Colorado, there has been prohibit sex offenders talk of creating a separate from living near schools, town for sex offenders. In parks, playgrounds and Solano County, east of the other places where chil- San Francisco Bay area,

dren congregate. Getty Images/Jeff Topping California corrections offi- For supporters, it only A newly installed facial-recognition camera linked to a Sheriff’s cials have resorted to let- makes sense to try to Department database of registered sex offenders monitors Royal ting a few sex offenders Palms Middle School, near Phoenix, Ariz., in December 2003. protect children from The school removed its two cameras last year after no suspects sleep on cots in a parole sexually violent preda- were spotted entering the school after two years. office due to a lack of other tors. ‘This is something options. 44 that is taking root all over the coun- In addition to the problem of of- Perhaps the most controversial ap- try,” said state Rep. Keen, sponsor of fenders who abscond, critics say, of- proach has been the revival in some a Georgia proximity law enacted in fenders who comply but are forced to states of permanent or semi-perma- April. “People are putting a premium move because their homes are locat- nent civil commitment — holding of- on the safety of kids.” 42 ed too near to schools or other facili- fenders involuntarily in mental institu- But critics say residency-restriction ties that serve children often must go tions and similar facilities. In an echo laws are counterproductive. In states to rural areas with fewer support ser- of the sexual-psychopath laws of the where they have taken effect, such as vices. “We know that for people who 1930s, 17 states now allow prisoners Iowa, there is already evidence that sex have a tendency to violence, if they to be held for evaluation and treat- offenders are no longer registering. have no support or basic comforts, that ment after serving their sentences. At (Groups that follow the issue generally really creates an incredibly heightened the end of 2004, nearly 3,500 prison- estimate that approximately 100,000 of risk for re-offense,” says Klein of the ers nationwide were being held, ac- the 550,000 known sex offenders na- Association for the Treatment of Sex cording to the Washington State Insti- tionwide have absconded, or gone miss- Offenders. tute for Public Policy. ing.) The Iowa County Attorneys Asso- Vigilantism also has been a problem. Civil commitment is expensive, cost- ciation favors repeal of the law. Last Easter, a Canadian man shot two ing in the neighborhood of $100,000

738 CQ Researcher per year per inmate. articles, in some ways it’s In January, Gov. Tim disturbing,” she says. “You Pawlenty, R-Minn., see the same thing going proposed borrowing on. It’s taught me a certain $44.6 million to build amount of patience.” a 400-bed locked res- Opponents of the con- idential building. 45 Re- temporary crackdown, how- publican New York ever, are happy that the Gov. George E. Pataki Adam Walsh Act calls for has proposed turning the attorney general to study an upstate, rural prison different containment and into a civil-commitment treatment methods. They facility, with a $130 mil- hope that a thorough look lion price tag. 46 at modern treatment tech- In addition to cost niques will reveal the value concerns, civil-commit- of providing programs to ment laws have drawn offenders who can benefit frequent legal challenge. from them. For instance, ju- The U.S. Supreme Court venile offenders have lower upheld a Kansas law in recidivism rates than adult 1997, saying the state can offenders if they undergo commit individuals who treatment, but they tend in- are likely to engage in creasingly to be lumped in predatory acts of violence with the adults under many due to mental abnor- of the new laws. mality or personality dis- Treatment programs order. But the court nar- tend to be underfunded, rowed states’ latitude in particularly in prison set- 2002, saying they must tings. Many officials are prove offenders have AP Photo/Jeff Roberson skeptical of them, recall- Kerry Skora served 15 years for murder but was labeled as a sex “serious difficulty” con- offender after his release because his victim had been a minor. ing their poor record in trolling their behavior be- Skora’s complaint about the policy led the Illinois legislature to early studies and noting fore they can be com- create a new registry for non-sexually violent criminals. that some of the most no- mitted. 47 torious offenders were Several other recent sex-offender the law’s passage — such as requiring treatment failures. In the current en- laws have drawn legal scrutiny. A U.S. men who committed sex crimes years vironment, though, treatment and re- district judge found a portion of the earlier to wear satellite-tracking ankle habilitation are bound to be greeted Georgia residency-restriction law un- bracelets. Others would seem to vio- with more skepticism than stricter constitutional in June. Iowa’s proxim- late the double-jeopardy rule — mean- punishment. ity law also was struck down by a ing the state can’t punish an offender Approximately 60 to 70 percent of district judge in 2004, but an appeals twice for the same crime — such as sex offenders are given either proba- court subsequently ruled that sex-of- subjecting an offender to a sanity hear- tion or a combination of jail and pro- fenders’ rights were superseded by the ing and civil commitment after his prison bation, with nearly 90 percent of those state’s compelling interest in protect- term. In general, the courts have held required to participate in treatment. ing its citizens. that such laws are regulatory, rather But there aren’t enough programs to In general, concern about citizens’ than punitive, and within the state’s go around and even fewer available safety has led courts to be tolerant of charge of maintaining public safety. in prisons, reports John Jay College recent crackdown laws. Some of the The return to indefinite civil com- criminologist Terry. “The politicians, laws would seem to violate the Con- mitment troubles Lieb, of the Wash- community and media alike tend to stitution’s ex post facto clause — which ington State Institute for Public Poli- focus only on the risk-management prohibits laws that impose new pun- cy, who has favored other tough, new failures of this group of offenders, ishments for crimes committed prior to punishments. “When I read historical thereby presenting the supervision

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com Sept. 8, 2006 739 SEX OFFENDERS agencies as largely ineffective,” she adults are stable. The attention paid “Teaching our children about stranger writes. 48 to sex crimes in the wake of high- danger sends them the wrong message New York Assembly Speaker Shel- profile cases has made communities if that’s the only message we give,” don Silver, for instance, proposed leg- more aware and perhaps more vigi- said Robert Schilling, lead detective in islation this year to require at least lant in keeping children safe. the Seattle Police Department’s Sex and two years of treatment for all pris- For some, that’s not entirely a good Kidnapping Offender unit. “Parents get oners incarcerated for a felony sex thing. Aside from the incidents of vig- the idea that Internet predators and offense and continued treatment upon ilante violence — like Connecticut strangers in the bushes are who sex release. That measure failed. But the man charged with stabbing his 2-year- offenders are. They don’t realize that legislature expanded the categories of old daughter’s alleged molester on Aug. is one out of thousands. The message offenders whose registration infor- 29 — some observers worry that peo- has to change.” 49 mation had to be made available to ple are not equipped to deal with the But fear of sex crimes is likely to the public while greatly extending the amount of information now available extend the push for increasingly strict length of time offenders would have about sex offenders in their midst. The laws. In California, for instance, the to remain on registries. Lawmakers number of Internet searches looking number of forcible rapes dropped by also increased penalties for sexual as- for neighboring sex offenders, for in- nearly 23 percent from 1999 to 2004 saults against children and length- stance, spikes every year around Hal- while other sex felonies remained ened the statute of limitations on sex loween (several states have made it flat, according to the state attorney crimes. illegal for registered offenders to hand general’s office. Nevertheless, Cali- out candy). fornia voters are expected to over- “If I read [online] there’s a sex of- whelming approve one of the tough- fender in the community, give me some est sex-offender laws in the nation OUTLOOK guidance on what I ought to be doing come November. about it,” says Fred Berlin, an associ- “The benefit of having laws like ate professor of psychiatry at Johns these in all 50 states is that there’s no Hopkins University who has been treat- place for sex offenders to hide,” says Tougher Laws? ing sex offenders for 25 years. “That’s Rumenap, of Stop Child Predators. not happening in a universal way.” The current cycle of anti-sex-offender Others worry that since sex crimes lawmaking, which extends back for he rate of reported sex crimes are overwhelmingly perpetrated by more than 20 years, is already longer T against children continues to be people previously known to the than any other such cycle during the low compared to the levels reached child, all of these laws that try to in- 20th century and shows no signs of 15 years ago. Experts say the tougher sulate children from strangers will abating. “There’s certainly a movement laws could be starting to have an ef- have the unwarranted effect of mak- for longer sentences, often life sen- fect — either through deterrence or ing parents feel falsely secure. More- tences,” says John Jay College crimi- by simply keeping more offenders be- over, most sex crimes perpetrated by nologist Terry. “Instead of cognitive- hind bars or under surveillance. In ad- strangers are the work of first-time behavioral treatment, we’re moving dition, there has been a 400 percent offenders, against whom background toward more chemical castration. increase in sex-offender convictions checks, registries and residence re- There’s a move in many states toward over the past decade. Sex crimes against strictions offer no protection. civil-commitment laws where they don’t already have them.” Beyond the debate about the wis- About the Author dom and effectiveness of sex-offender Alan Greenblatt is a staff writer at Governing magazine. legislation, which will certainly be He previously covered elections, agriculture and military gauged carefully in the coming spending for CQ Weekly, where he won the National years, it’s clearly one issue that will Press Club’s Sandy Hume Award for political journalism. not go away. “It’s not likely state He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1986 policymakers are going to come up and received a master’s degree in English literature from with a solution that will eliminate the University of Virginia in 1988. His recent CQ Researcher these problems,” says Lieb, of the reports include “The Partisan Divide” and “Media Bias.” Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

740 CQ Researcher Notes FOR MORE INFORMATION 1 Karen J. Terry, Sexual Offenses and Offenders (2006), p. xv. Association for the Treatment of Sex Offenders, 4900 S.W. Griffith Dr., Suite 274, Beaverton, OR 97005; (503) 643-1023; www.atsa.com. A nonprofit, interdiscipli- 2 Mark Memmott, “Girl’s Death Raises Question nary organization that fosters research, develops practice guidelines and promotes About Tracking of Sex Offenders,” USA Today, professional education in the field of sex-offender evaluation and treatment. March 25, 2005, p. 4A. 3 “The Greatest Fear,” The Economist, Aug. 26, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 810 Seventh St., N.W., 2005, p. 24. Washington, DC 20531; (202) 307-0765; www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/welcome.html. A 4 Howard N. Snyder, “Sexual Assault of Young primary source for crime statistics; collects, analyzes and publishes information on Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Vic- crime and criminal offenders. tim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics,” Bu- reau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Center for Sex Offender Management, 8403 Colesville Rd., Suite 720, Silver Justice, July 2000, p. 10; available at Spring, MD 20910; (301) 589-9383; www.csom.org. A group supported by the www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/saycrle.pdf. U.S. Department of Justice that works to improve means of managing adult and 5 Tara Bahrampour, “Discovering a World Be- juvenile sex offenders who are not incarcerated. yond the Front Yard,” The Washington Post, Aug. 27, 2006, p. C1. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 699 Prince St., Alexandria, 6 Wendy Koch, “States Get Tougher With Sex VA 22314; (202) 274-3900; www.missingkids.org. A nonprofit group that works to Offenders,” USA Today, May 24, 2006, p. 1A. prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation. 7 Lee Rood, “Residency Law Creates Clus- ters of Sex Offenders,” Des Moines Register, Stop Child Predators, 601 Thirteenth St., N.W., Suite 930 South, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 234-0090; www.stopchildpredators.org. An advocacy group promoting January 29, 2006, p. 1A. more diligent tracking of sex offenders and greater protection of victims’ rights. 8 Jenny Jarvie, “Suit Targets Sex Offender Law,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2006, p. A24. 9 Charles Sheehan, “Sex Offenders Slip Away,” 19 Ibid., p. 37. ers Rounded up in 27-State Dragnet,” The Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2006, p. 1. 20 Ibid., p. 50. Washington Post, April 28, 2006, p. A2. 10 Ellen Perlman, “Where Will Sex Offenders 21 J. Edgar Hoover, “How Safe Is Your Daugh- 38 Wendy Koch, “More Sex Offenders Tracked Live?” Governing, June 2006, p. 54. ter?” American Magazine, July 1947, p. 32. by Satellite,” USA Today, June 7, 2006, p. 3A. 11 Monica Davey, “Iowa’s Residency Rules 22 Elizabeth H. Pleck, Domestic Tyranny (1987), 39 John Maurelius, “Governor Pushes Anti- Drive Sex Offenders Underground,” The New p. 121. Crime Agenda,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, York Times, March 15, 2006, p. A1. 23 Terry, op. cit., p. 28. June 30, 2006, p. B1. 12 Candade Rondeaux, “Can Castration Be a 24 Quoted in Gladys Schultz, How Many More 40 Jordan Rau, “A Bid to Toughen Stance on Solution for Sex Offenders?” The Washington Victims? (1965), p. 210. Sex Offenses,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 19, 2006. Post, July 5, 2006, p. B1. 25 Jenkins, op. it., p. 86. 41 Matthew Mosk, “A Lone Voice Against Sex 13 Adam Liptak, “Death Penalty in Some 26 Paul Tappan, The Habitual Sex Offender Offender Bill,” The Washington Post, March 25, Cases of Child Sex Is Widening,” The New (1950), p. 15. 2006, p. B1. York Times, June 10, 2006, p. 9. The case is 27 Jenkins, op. cit., p. 86 42 Jarvie, op. cit. Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584 (1977). 28 Edwin H. Sutherland, “The Diffusion of 43 Judy Harrison, “2 men slain in Milo, Corinth; 14 Terry, op. cit., p. 17. Sexual Psychopath Laws,” American Journal Suspect from Canada kills himself in Boston,” 15 Patrick A. Langan, Erica L. Schmitt and of Sociology 56, 1950, p. 142. Bangor Daily News, April 17, 2006, p. A1. Matthew R. Durose, “Recidivism of Sex Of- 29 Jenkins, op. cit., p. 103. 44 Jenifer Warren, “Sex Offender Housing Scarce,” fenders Released From Prison in 1994,” Bu- 30 Ibid., p. 127. Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2006, p. A1. reau of Justice Statistics, November 2003; 31 David G. Savage, “Justices Shield Child 45 John Q. La Fond and Bruce J. Winick, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf. Victims in Abuse Cases,” Los Angeles Times, “Doing More Than Their Time,” The New 16 Andrew J.R. Harris and R. Karl Hanson, Jan. 16, 1992, p. A3. York Times, May 21, 2006, p. 14:23. “Sex Offender Recidivism: A Simple Question,” 32 Terry, op. cit., p. 142. 46 “A Place for Sex Offenders,” The New York Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness 33 Jenkins, op. cit., p. 166. Times, Jan. 22, 2006, p. 14:11. Canada User Report 2004-03; available at 34 Terry, op. cit., p. 33. 47 Jan Crawford Greenburg, “Justices Set http://ww2.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/publications/cor- 35 Robb London, “Strategy on Sex Crimes Is Higher Bar for Detention,” Chicago Tribune, rections/pdf/200403-2_e.pdf. Prison, Then Prison,” The New York Times, Jan. 23, 2002, p. 8. The cases are Kansas v. 17 Ernie Allen, “We Need Stronger Tools for Feb. 8, 1991, p. B16. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346 (1997) and Kansas Tracking Sex Offenders,” The Washington Post, 36 Seth Stern, “Law Enacted to Strengthen v. Crane, 534 U.S. 407 (2002). Sept. 14, 2005, p. A30. Penalties Against Child Molesters,” CQ Week- 48 Terry, op. cit., p. 142. 18 Quoted in Philip Jenkins, Moral Panic ly, July 29, 2006, p. 2116. 49 Natalie Singer, “‘Stranger Danger’ Emphasis (1998), p. 37. 37 The Associated Press, “1,102 Sex Offend- Misguided,” Seattle Times, May 23, 2006, p. B1.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com Sept. 8, 2006 741 Bibliography Selected Sources

Books Rondeaux, Candace, “Can Castration Be a Solution for Sex Offenders?” The Washington Post, July 5, 2006, p. B1. Jenkins, Philip, Moral Panic: Changing Concepts of the A sex criminal who castrated himself argues that the method Child Molester in America, Yale University Press, 1998. eliminates unhealthy sexual desires, but others wonder whether A Pennsylvania State University historian shows how peri- it’s effective or constitutional. ods of concern have been followed by periods of neglect throughout the 20th century. Stern, Seth, “Law Enacted to Strengthen Penalties Against Child Predators,” CQ Weekly, July 29, 2006, p. 2116. La Fond, John Q., Preventing Sexual Violence: How Society President Bush signs a law that creates a national sex- Should Cope With Sex Offenders, American Psychological offender registry and toughens penalties for sex crimes Association, 2005. against children. A University of Missouri law professor says laws enacted since 1990 are based on false assumptions and present data Turner, Joseph, “Bill Ups Required Sex Felon Sentence,” in an effort to persuade professionals in the field to focus The [Tacoma] News Tribune, March 5, 2006, p. B1. on risk-management programs. The Washington state legislature unanimously approves longer sentences for sex offenders. Terry, Karen J., Sexual Offenses and Offenders: Theory, Practice, and Policy, Wadsworth, 2006. Reports and Studies A John Jay College criminologist offers a comprehensive survey of current data and policy regarding sex offenders. Finkelhor, David, and Lisa M. Jones, “Explanations for the Decline in Child Sexual Abuse Cases,” Juvenile Justice Bul- Articles letin, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, January 2004. “The Greatest Fear,” The Economist, Aug. 26, 2006, p. 24. The authors, from the Crimes Against Children Research The British magazine concludes that American fear of sex Center at the University of New Hampshire, say multiple fac- crimes is disproportionate. tors are involved in a 40 percent reduction in child sex- abuse cases between 1992 and 2000, including a particular Koch, Wendy, “States Get Tougher With Sex Offenders,” focus on preventing this form of child maltreatment. USA Today, May 24, 2006, p. 1A. Both Congress and the states are working on stricter penalties Harris, Andrew J.R., and R. Karl Hanson, “Sex Offender for sex offenders. Recidivism: A Simple Question,” Public Safety and Emer- gency Preparedness Canada User Report 2004-03. Jarvie, Jenny, “Suit Targets Sex Offender Law,” Los Angeles Data from 10 follow-up studies of adult, male sex offend- Times, July 2, 2006, p. A24. ers indicate that most do not reoffend sexually and that first- A U.S. district judge rules that part of a Georgia law restricting time offenders are much less likely to sexually re-offend than where sex offenders can live is unconstitutional. those with previous sex crime convictions.

Liptak, Adam, “Death Penalty in Some Cases of Child Sex Langan, Patrick A., Erica L. Schmitt and Matthew R. Durose, Is Widening,” The New York Times, June 10, 2006, p. 9. “Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released From Prison in 1994,” Oklahoma and South Carolina join three other states in Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2003. imposing the death penalty on repeat sex offenders. A study of 9,691 prisoners released from prisons in 15 states in 1994 finds that 5.3 percent of them were rearrested Perlman, Ellen, “Where Will Sex Offenders Live?” Gov- for another sex crime within three years of release. erning, June 2006, p. 54. State and local laws are making it harder for sex criminals Snyder, Howard N., “Sexual Assault of Young Children to find places to live, which in turn hampers law enforce- as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and ment’s ability to do its job effectively. Offender Characteristics,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, July 2000. Rau, Jordan, “A Bid to Toughen Stance on Sex Offenses,” Crimes against juveniles represent a large majority of sex- Los Angeles Times, Feb. 19, 2006, p. B1. abuse cases handled by law enforcement. One-in-seven vic- California voters will decide whether to stiffen penalties tims is under age 7, and more than a third of cases involved against sex offenders, but the experience of other states with a victim under 12. similar laws cautions against certain success.

742 CQ Researcher The Next Step: Additional Articles from Current Periodicals

Catholic Church Jenkins, Chris L., “Sex-Predator Laws Widen State Powers,” The Washington Post, April 25, 2006, p. B5. Dooley, Tara, “Fewer Church Abuse Claims Found,” The Virginia Gov. Timothy Kain signed several bills that will tough- Houston Chronicle, March 31, 2006, p. B3. en the punishment and monitoring of sex offenders. Allegations of sexual abuse of minors by U.S. Catholic Church clergy in 2005 decreased by more than 300 claims. Luscombe, Richard, “Florida’s Tough Stand Against Child Molesters,” The Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 2005, Fisher, Ian, and Laurie Goodstein, “Vatican Disciplines p. 2. Founder of Order Over Abuse Charges,” The New York Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed “Jessica’s Law” to provide for Times, May 20, 2006, p. A6. satellite tracking of sex offenders in the state. The Vatican forced the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, 86, one of the most prominent priests to be accused of sexual Thomas, Ralph, “Father Calls For Stricter Laws,” The abuse, to give up his public ministry. Seattle Times, Jan. 13, 2006, p. B1. Mark Lunsford, whose daughter Jessica was raped and killed O’Reilly, David, “Bishops: We’re Not Blocking Legislation,” last year, is urging states to pass tough anti-sex-crime laws. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 14, 2006, p. A1. Pennsylvania’s Catholic bishops say their passive approach Waddell, Lynn, “Iris Scans: Keeping an Eye on Sex Of- toward sex-abuse bills does not mean they oppose the laws. fenders,” Newsweek, July 24, 2006, p. 8. Law enforcement can now keep track of sex offenders with Internet Predators the Sex Offender Registry and Identification System (SORIS).

Dardick, Hal, “Bills Seek Crackdown on Internet Predators,” Zoning Restrictions Chicago Tribune, July 29, 2006, p. 15. A bill in the Illinois House would make it a felony for any- Warren, Jennifer, “State Is Ordered to Screen Sex Offend- one 17 or older to discuss sex acts on the Internet with a minor. ers Before Parole,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2006, p. B9. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered California’s corrections Eichenwald, Kurt, “From Their Own Online World, Pedophiles department to ensure released sex offenders are not housed Extend Their Reach,” The New York Times, Aug. 21, 2006, near schools. p. A1. Pedophiles connect with other pedophiles on the Internet Jarvie, Jenny, “Georgia Sex-Offender Rules Create Stir,” to seek tips for getting near children. The Seattle Times, July 3, 2006, p. A5. U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper temporarily blocked a Tougher Sentences Georgia law signed in April that prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school-bus stop. Brundrett, Rick, “Child-Sex Clause Draws Criticism,” Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), July 9, 2006, p. Y7. CITING CQ RESEARCHER Critics of South Carolina’s version of Florida’s Jessica’s Law Sample formats for citing these reports in a bibliography say it would allow suspects in consensual relationships to claim they didn’t know their victims were underage. include the ones listed below. Preferred styles and formats vary, so please check with your instructor or professor. Clark, Lesley, “Bush Signs Law to Track Child Predators,” The Miami Herald, July 28, 2006, p. A3. MLA STYLE President Bush signed a new law that requires convicted Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher sex offenders to be listed on a national registry. 16 Nov. 2001: 945-68.

Doan, Lynn, “Twenty-Five Suspected Molesters May Face APA STYLE Deportation,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 25, 2006, p. B5. Jost, K. (2001, November 16). Rethinking the death penalty. Federal agents are cracking down on foreign nationals who prey on children. CQ Researcher, 11, 945-968. HICAGO TYLE Franck, Matthew, “Offender Bill Requires No Warrant,” C S St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 23, 2006, p. D1. Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher, A Missouri bill would permit police seeking a missing child November 16, 2001, 945-968. to search a sex offender’s home without a warrant.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com Sept. 8, 2006 743 In-depth Reports on Issues in the News

Are you writing a paper? Need backup for a debate? Want to become an expert on an issue? For 80 years, students have turned to CQ Researcher? for in-depth reporting on issues in the news. Reports on a full range of political and social issues are now available. Following is a selection of recent reports:

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