How To Be Registered Sex Offenders Essay

A sex offender is anyone who is convicted of a sex crime. The crimes that qualify as sex crimes vary by state, but most states include rape (forced and statutory), sexual assault or battery, child molestation or any sexual conduct with a minor, production or possession of child pornography, and attempts to commit any of these crimes. The history of sex offenders has been active since the 1800’s according to author Philip Jenkins. Jerkins explains that in the Middle Ages, children were constantly coming up missing and he also explains that sex crime laws have existed as far back as biblical times with a number of penalties ranging from fines to death for various sexual acts considered deviant at one time or another in society. (Jenkins, 1998)

We want our youth to be strong and loving, not scared and traumatized. These sex offenders should never forget the crime that they committed. They should not only do the time in jail, but they should also do the time out of jail. They should feel like victims for the rest of their lives, and if the community feels like having these people exposed, then so be it! Megan’s mother stated, "If the family had been told that Jesse Timmendequas was their neighbor, the girl would never have been allowed anywhere near the neighbors." {Ahearn, pg. 1}

“One in five women are sexually assaulted while in college” (Not Alone, 2014). In our class of twenty women that means that possibly five women have been sexually assaulted. Out of the five women that I stated could have been sexually assaulted they may have known the perpetrator and often will not report what has happened. According to the spring count of students completed by West Chester University, 9,211 of those students were females (“Headcount Enrollment”, 2014). If I go by the statistic mentioned earlier that one in five women is assaulted that would mean that 1,842 women have been sexually assaulted while enrolled at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Out of 1,842 possible assaults only four were reported last year. Two of which the victims knew prior to the assault. Rankin and Associates consulting conducted a Climate Assessment on West Chester University in September of 2010, a section of the results focused on sexual assault on students. According to the report seven people who reported a sexual assault to the university described their reactions to the universities response. Two students shared the way they felt the response was inappropriate or poor. One described that they felt the suspension for one semester was not an appropriate response to an admitted rape, that public safety lost the victims statement, judicial affairs painted the victim offender as innocent, and that the registrar protected the offender putting the victim in harm’s way and everyone

Sexual assault and rape among college campuses has been an ongoing issue across the nation for decades. In the state of Utah, this complex issue will not have a simple solution, but measures can be taken to prevent sexual assault and rape occurring on campuses. Utah Valley University is a campus that is taking considerably impressive measures to combat sexual assault, which will be a basis of this paper. Through university sex education, stricter laws and enforcement, and providing on-campus services to students, cases of sexual assault and rape in the higher level education setting will decrease, and students will be more likely to report these crimes.

When we hear the phrase, sex offender, we normally feel repulsed. We think of dirty old creepy men. I for one used to do this, I won’t lie. This is because people like to rush to judgment. But my opinions changed when I came to the realization that it’s not just creepy old men who are sex offenders. I want to talk about them, but not those who are serial rapists or child molesters; they don’t deserve to be talked about. I’m talking about people who are convicted, whether it’s falsely, or unjustly, and have to wear a stamp on their forehead for the rest of their lives saying they are a sex offender.

Problems arise when colleges do not supply their students with adequate support, and allowing repeat offenders to remain in the college. The college can prevent possible obstacles by creating an environment to encourage reporting and discourage sexual assault. Also, the elimination of repeat offenders will prevent future sexual assault on campus. Interactive workshops and early education provide essential knowledge about sexual assault and general safety to students entering college. A single prevention effort will not end sexual assault, but through collaboration with education and preventative actions could lead to a safer environment for college

Summary: The article “Rhode Island Schools Report 18% Increase in Sexual Assaults” Arditi explains to us of the unfortunate rise in sexual assault at universities in the Rhode Island area. She gives us statistical evidence of reports by journals and newspapers. These statistics showed an increase of 65 sexual assaults by 11 schools near Providence and a 40 percent increase for 29 New England schools (Arditi). These sexual assaults are due to many conditions of the college, such as, its size, location, culture, and how well it deals with reports of the abuse. Colleges have a rising problem of victims failing to report crimes that were committed upon them. Along with problems with reports, sharing information between law enforcement and college student affairs was an increasing issue. Universities and colleges were not required to share data until a White House task force recommended that these institutions sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Sexual offenders are the most vilified type of offenders within public opinion and the criminal justice system. The American precedent cases of Jacob Wetterling, Pam Lyncher, Megan Kanka, and other notorious crimes perpetrated by sexual offenders with a prior history of conviction have demanded a response from the criminal justice system to increase public safety. In 1994, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program was passed (Scholle, 2000), the first piece of legislation to advocate for the development of state-maintained registries of convicted sexual offenders. The legislation has been amended numerous times since then; in its present state, the law requires all states to maintain a registry, the mandatory registration of convicted sex offenders after release, community notification laws in place, and public access to the registry (Burchfield and Mingus, 2012; Lees and Tewksbury, 2006; Petrunik, Murphy, and Fedoroff, 2008; Scholle, 2000; Tewksbury and Lees, 2006; Wagner, 2011).

Additionaly, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is seen as a positive as well by law enforcement, “…believing it leads to improved community surveillance of sex offenders and deters them from reoffending” (Lasher & McGrath 9). The downside to this concept is the cost of implementing the notifications. It is a concern for law enforcement that the public could overreact, which would result in the need to allocate funds due to harassment (Lasher & McGrath 9). It has an impact on the economic system because people believe it needs to be implemented to keep everyone safe, and do not take into consideration the large amounts of money needed to put this act in place. An article tiled, “Sex Offenders Registration and

Until the 1998 amendments, incidents were only reported when a student was arrested for such a violation. The regulations now require institutions to report violations in situations where there was either an arrest or a disciplinary referral. Second, the Clery Act authorizes institutions to implement policies that allow parental notification when the student is under twenty-one (Harshman, Puro, Wolff 15).” When a student is found guilty of sexual assault the punishment is more law based rather than their education. ” Under the Clery Act, the school becomes allied with law enforcement, where the emphasis is on the punishment of offenses rather than the student’s education (Harshman, Puro, Wolff 16).” The main point of the Clery Act is that it is your responsibility to report something you see that is not right. By doing this you could help save someone’s life. These campaigns haven’t been the end solution to this ongoing problem but it has helped over the years.

Parents are looking for safe places where their children will be able to acquire a vigorous education; therefore, safety is one of the main concerns when it comes to selecting colleges. This places institutions in a situation where they will do anything to keep a good reputation. There is a consumer protection law called The Clery Act passed in 1990, which requires institutions to report crimes that happen on campus (Bulletin), but statistics like “ninety-one percent of college campuses disclosed zero reported incidences of rape in 2014” (Becker) clearly show how colleges are trying to hide the truth regardless of the policy. This is a moral hazard that creates an incentive for colleges to not accurately report cases. It’s been established that most of cases are not reported, which it is something “good” for institutions because they are less affected. But what if all cases were to be reported to the police instead? Institutions will definitely make sure to prevent any sexual assault in the first place. Consequently, there is a loss of trust in the institutions because victims believe that nothing will be done just like in the Turner case. Are institutions willing to sacrifice their reputation by making public every sexual assault case? We know that the answer for this is no. They value more the money that enters the institution more than the safety of the students who bring the

Ten years from the initial groundwork, in 1998, a provision was made that no longer made the outcomes of a student’s disciplinary case involving violence or non-forcible sex offenses protected from disclosure under federal laws concerning the privacy of students (Clery Center, n.d.). There was also an amendment made that eliminated loopholes in the policy. Eliminating loopholes, the amendment mandated daily security department logs of crime and expanded the requirements that included areas off-campus. Two years later, an amendment called the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act required appropriate law enforcement officials to add to the Annual Security Report a statement about how to find information about registered sex offenders in and around the area. In 2008, the Higher Education Opportunity Act widened the Clery Act scope. Emergency response and notification provisions were expanded, hate crimes categorization for reporting was broadened, there were safeguards for whistleblowers implemented, and finally, the Department of Education is required to annually report on Clery Act compliance. Following a landmark decision, in 2013, the Violence Against Women

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

“Society and policy makers have long struggled with finding effective ways to protect the public from sex offenders. A sex offender is a person who has been convicted of certain sex offense crimes. Examples of sex offenses include:

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