Is Juvenile Sex Offenders?

Jesse was a convicted child molester who lived with two other registered sex offenders and lived near the young girl and her family at the time. After the rape and death of young Megan, a law was passed, known as “Megan’s Law” (Meloy). This law provides the general public with the location and images of registered sex offenders so people may protect themselves and their children (Harris). The problem with the law is that it states, “so people may protect themselves and their children”. If the law feels that families should have to protect themselves and their children from these types of “people”, why do they let them out of jail in the first place? (See Fig.

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,

There have been many federal acts passed in correspondence with sex offenses that illicit feat with the public. There are many different types of ways in which Levenson & colleagues’ (2007) describes the perceptions that the public has based on certain factors. For instance, in relation to the perception about the sex offender notification system, a survey produced results of around 80 percent in favor of these registries, because these individuals felt safer in their communities knowing who was in their neighborhood. Further, due to this fear that resonated in the early 1990’s communities do have tools such as residential restrictions, civil commitment, notification procedures, etc. that aid in the protection. However, there are myths associated with sex offenders, for example legislation often states that the reasoning for new laws and regulations is due to the high recidivism rates. However, sex offenders have significantly lower recidivism rates than believed. Also, there are countless people who do not believe that sex offenders can be assisted with techniques from a psychological standpoint. Most people think that these offenders cannot be treated, however, there is research being conducted that is promising. Finally, there is a common misconception that sex offenders kill their victims, especially children more often than other killers, however this is not true.

In 1996, Megan’s Law was created to help police during their investigation of sex crimes and to let the public know about the identities and location of the offender. Along with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and the Safety Act of 2006, sex offenders must fill a list of information about themselves in a database; this includes their names, finger prints, a recent photo, etc. this database has three risk tiers in order to know how dangerous the offender is, with tier one is the lowest risk and tier three being the highest. With the community being a big part in dealing with sex offenders, notification statutes were made for people who want information about them. With community notification laws in place, parents must take extra precaution

I have an uncle named Michael and he’s 29; he’ll be 31 in October. In 2006 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, he was convicted of rape. A young woman lied and said he raped her, and now he will forever be scarred. In many rape cases, the defense will say that the victim was fantasizing the rape or is lying, but sometimes she really is lying (Siegel, 1995, p. 304). Virginia has a two tier system for sex offenders, violent and non-violent. Even though Michaels charge was for the rape of an adult, he is still considered a violent sexual predator, forever. This means he can’t go to McDonalds, he can’t go to see his nieces and nephews, and he couldn’t even go to my high school graduation two

Notification: Public Attention, Political Emphasis, and Fear”, by Richard G. Wright, makes the following statement that goes along with issue involving the allocation of funds, “For the millions of direct and indirect expenditures spent on compliance and implementation with registration and notification laws, there is very little funding spent on sexual assault prevention, victim support, and offender treatment” (Wright 102). It is extremely important to put money towards rehabilitation, and the support of the victims of sexual assault, not just the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

In the year of 1994, the New Jersey Legislature passed a law known as Megan’s Law. The law was named after Megan Kanka, a seven year old girl who was raped and killed in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family. Megan’s Law, in short, created a registration and notification procedure to alert law enforcement, schools, community organizations and neighbors to the presence of a sex offender who authorities believe may pose a risk to the community (Morris County Office of the Prosecutor, 2015, p. 1). States must provide relevant information about these sex offenders to their communities in order to enhance public safety

States control how long they must register for, what types of crimes make them a sex-offender, and what all information must be made public. Juveniles can also be considered sex-offenders, these records are often expunged, but according to the state they can be registered until they are eighteen or even longer (2011). A law with so many layers is bound to cause controversy among the public; although enacting Megan’s Law was done with good intentions it has caused a negative social stigma towards sex offenders with low risk of

In the article “Sex Offender Registries (SOR’s): TIME-FOR-A-CHANGE”, the topic of changing the se offender registries was discussed and elaborated upon. It began by giving a summary of the history of the sex offender registries. There was a case where a young child was murdered by a sex offender that no one knew lived in the area. To fix this problem, every person convicted of a sex crime had to register as a sex offender. The author of this article, Phil Locke, explained the effects of the sex offender registry on those convicted of sex crimes. Not only are the years served in prison for the crime uncommonly longer than for those who have committed murder, but the offender is then required to go to “treatment” programs and meetings after serving

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 number of registered sex offenders have increasingly grew over the years. Every day you see a man or women added to the registry for crimes against women and mostly children. The sex offender registries biggest and main focus is to keep the people in the community in each city and state informed and protected. ”Sex offenders and sex crimes provoke a great deal of anxiety in our society.” Baker, J, Brannon, Y, N., Fortney. , Levenson, J.S. (“Public Perceptions about Sex Offenders and Community Protection”). The sex offender registry is based solely on protecting the public from being a victim

Megan’s Law created a registration and notification procedure to alert law enforcement, schools, community organizations and neighbors to the presence of a sex offender who authorities believe may pose a risk to the community ( Verniero 1) .When sex crime offenders are released from prison according to this new law, they must register themselves with the police. If they are thought to be dangerous and will possibly strike again, they must also register with the

We understand the need for and are prepared for members of the public who want to know more about sexual assault, sex offenders, and the role that citizens can play in keeping their communities safe. It is unfortunate that sex crimes are not uncommon in the United States. It is estimated that one in every five girls and one in every seven boys are sexually abused by the time they reach adulthood (CSOM, 2006). One in six adult women and one in 33 adult men experience an attempted or completed sexual assault (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006). Sex offenses represent under 1% of all arrests, with adults accounting for about 80% of arrests and juveniles 20% (FBI, 2005). Males account for approximately 95% of arrests (FBI, 2005).

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

Any adolescent having to be listed on the sex offender’s registry will obviously cause irreversible damage to their health. Nevertheless, the pressures that our children already face today is harsh enough to withstand. Do not get me wrong, I am in support of the Megan’s Law and for those who commit these types of offenses to be ridiculed for their actions. However, I am reluctant that a teen be condone for experimenting or having consensual sex with someone within his or her age range. The impact that they would endure is irremediable to them not to mention their entire family. Imagine, severe psychological and detrimental impact not only the youth but the family will face. For instance, families of youth offenders confront enormous obstacles