Essay about Adam Walsh Act

* To keep tabs on sex offenders, a web-based application has been developed that includes a database of registered sex offenders accessible to local police agencies

These bills are serving the purpose of expanding the definition of child abuse, and also require that there be increase in the reporting of any suspected abuse. The child abuse laws are laws providing rules that are meant to hold any individuals that brings harm to a child accountable of the actions against said child. In the bills passed, child abuse is not only limited to physical harm to the child, but now include emotional harm, sexual exploitation and actions or failure to take actions that could lead to the child facing risk and danger (Hg.org, 2017). With such bills in place, potential predators who are still out there will be scared and they shall not dream of trying to abuse any

California enacted the first sex offender register law in 1944. However, sex offender registers in the United States did not become widespread until the 1990s. The Jacob Wetterling Act 1994 was named after 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling who was abducted and to this day has never been found. The Jacob Wetterling Act implemented the first nation-wide sex offender register. Originally, the concept of a sex offender register was intended to for use solely by law enforcement; it was not an intention for the sex offender register to be public. However in 1996, Megan’s Law was added to the Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act 1994 and made it a requirement for the information on sex offender registers to be accessible by the public. Megan’s Law was enacted as a result of a heinous crime where 7-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbour, who had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting young girls. In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. This Act required states to enact stricter registration requirements, including an increase in the penalty for not registering and more frequent verification of sex offenders’ locations. Since 2006 public access to sex offender registers has been accessible on the Internet in most states. On these websites you can search for an offender by name or location, and find information such as their photo, convictions, address,

Each state also has its own sex offender registration, which requires any individual convicted of sex offense to be officially registered as a sex offender in the state in which they live, this registration includes the documentation of the perpetrator 's name, address, and information regarding the crime. The opinion of the judge greatly affects how the sex offender is punished, which is the main issue concerning the punishment of these offenders because the judge could have a strong opinion about sexual assault in favor of either the victim or the criminal.

In comparison with other statutes, states such as Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, Arizona and many others have statutes that authorize the confinement and treatment of sex offenders upon their release from prison (Lieb, 1996). For instance, Illinois Sexually Violent Predator Law defines a sexually dangerous person as “someome suffering from a mental disorder continually for at least one year, coupled with criminal propensities to the commisition of sex offenses, and who has demostrated propensities toward acts of sexual assault or acts of sexual molestation of children.” (Lieb, 1996, p. 16). Unlike Washington State, Illinois requires the individual to have at least one year of displaying a mental disorder. Illinois also has the option of either sentencing the individual for the crime committed, or offer treatment under the Civil Commitment Statute (Lieb, 1996). Unlike Illinois, Washington punishes the individual first and upon release he/she is evaluated to see if the individual fits under the category of a sexually violent predator. The state of Illinois appoints two qualified psychiatrists to determine whether the individual meets the criteria to be placed under civil commitment (Libel, 1996).

Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their

The internet has become so helpful and useful about keeping the public alerted and informed on their surrounding as well as their children’s surrounding. The internet is now the primary source for finding for finding information on any registered sex offender no matter where they might be. The sex offender registry was created the public about sexually predators that might live in any area. The registries increase the

The last thing proposition 35 would do is broaden the requirements of registration for convicted sex offenders. The bill requires that convicted offenders to provide the names of their internet providers, e-mail addresses, user names, screen names, or other personal identifiers for Internet communication

" On July 29, 1994, seven year old Megan Kanka, from Hamilton Township, New Jersey, was walking home after playing at a friends house. She had almost reached her front door when Jesse Timmendequas, 33, a landscaper who had lived across the street for a year invited her over to pet his new puppy ( Richard 1 )." " When Megan followed him inside, he led her to an upstairs bedroom, strangled her unconscious with his belt, raped her and then asphyxiated her to death with a plastic bag. Timmendequas then placed Megan’s body in a tool box, drove it in his pick-up truck to a near-by soccer field and dumped her body in some bushes ( Jerome 1 )." This, and the tragic murder of Amanda Wengert, was how the name was developed. But in my paper I did not discuss the murder and raping of Amanda Wengert.

As stated in Bringing Adam Home “Walsh considered the new bill that was about to go before Congress the capstone of a life’s work removing impediments to the recovery of the nearly 800,000 children who are reported missing in the U.S each year”.

      Still, federal law mandates that every state keep a sex offender register. They do not need to publish them. I think that the register should be in the hands of the police, and, in the case of child molesters, the board of education as well. The publishing of these registers would, most likely, cause a detrimental effect within the community. Once a community knows that a sex offender lives in the midst of them, a dark cloud will descend on the neighborhood. This could lead to threatening phone calls and vigilantism against the offender and

Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the

When working with this specific population mental health professionals are often called on to evaluate and manage sex offender’s behavior. There are also times when individuals may be asked to give an opinion as to if the offender will repeat the behavior. Often times people that work with this population are referred to as (SOSs) Sex Offender Specialists. They have a specific group of diverse training and background. Some of these trainings incIude but are not limited to cognitive-behavioral, psychopharmacological, and therapeutic orientations.

The Sex Offender Registry Board, determines the risk of the offender and his/her likeliness to reoffend. They’re classified into 3 levels of offender.

Earlier this month the State Department stated that registered sex offenders are now required to carry passports that identify them as child sex offenders. The State Department, responsible for distributing passports, will revoke the passports of registered child sex offenders and they will need to apply for new passports that identify them as an offender. If a registered child sex offender is for the first time applying for a passport, then that individual will be given one with an identifier. The identifier will be printed on the interior of the passport notifying other countries of the individual’s offense. However, the State Department will have to obtain the list of registered child sex offenders from the Department of Homeland Security, who is responsible of identifying sex offenders, to notify those who will be affected. Those affected by the change should not encounter difficulties leaving the United States. Nonetheless, registered child sex offenders could be denied entry into other countries due in part to the laws that are in place. The changes are a response to the International