Sex Offender Notification System

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)

Finally, publically listing convicted sex offender’s name and other information can cause unnecessary trauma. Many citizens employ the sex offender registry list to obtain the address of an offender or his or her property. There have been many cases of

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,

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

The laws for sex offenders should be changed for many reasons. This is a very controversial subject, and tempers flare easily and often for good reason. Due to the plethora of opinions on this subject it is hard to determine what is right and what is wrong.

Prevention of child sex abuse has risen in recent years with various programs and policies that help reduce the rate of children being abused. Sex offender registries was formed to notify the local communities about a sex offender living near the families. The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Act requires states

In the United States, failure to adequately discriminate between and among sex offenses and the overuse of the label “sex offense” has led to the polarization and over criminalization of sex crimes and has resulted in a lack of reintegration options for these alleged criminals. The term “sex offender” needs to be reserved for those individuals who best represent the meaning of the term. (Colbert, 2011, p. 1) According to US Department of Justice, a sex offender is anyone convicted of an offense of a sexual nature under the law of any jurisdiction, this also includes juveniles fourteen years of age and older. (Colbert, 2011, p. 1) In the United States, the term sex offender is too broad and can be very misleading. There is a widespread misconception among society that the meaning of sex offender is pedophile and rapist, but a sex offender can be someone that was caught urinating in public or they can be underage teenagers having consensual sex. This lack of distinction between sex offenses results in a misinformed society and this absence of information in regards to sex offenses and the presence of the sex offender registry fuels society 's ignorance and heightened prejudices towards "sex offenses." The stigma that comes with the label "sex offense” persists beyond sentencing due to the parameters of the law, making reintegration of alleged criminals into society overbearing and near impossible. These registries are public record, however they only state partial information

With the sex offender’s registries controlled by each individual jurisdiction, maintaining a registry is time consuming and costly. The separate jurisdictions maintain their own registry is through the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG). The grant only deducts 10% of their budget if that jurisdiction in not following the minimal guidelines of SORNA. We see an issue with who to hold accountable when the inaccurate information and lack of information is projected to society. Take for instance an article wrote titled, Sex offender registration changes: not worth the cost? by Gunnarsson. In her article she states, “Estimates of how much Illinois risks losing for its noncompliance with SORNA range from $900,000 to $1.6 million. But the loss of Byrne

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

These offenders are people who had consensual sexual relationships with a minor. Sometimes the offender is also a minor, but is older than the other partner. The older person is then charged with statutory rape and are forced to register as a sex offender even though there was no force used. This law is in place to prevent older persons from taking advantage of a minor; however, this is completely unfair, especially if the offender is also a minor. Some opponents might say that “Romeo and Juliet” offenders should be on the registry because their sole purpose is to take advantage of minor to meet their needs. This is true and all “Romeo and Juliet” offenders should pay for the offense in some way; however, their names should not be on the registry and definitely not for life. Alternatives penalties include paying a fine, doing community service, going to counseling, and have the their name on the registry for a short term if the age gap is greater than five years or if the offense is committed more than once. For most offenders, these are foolish mistakes that they made in their teenage years, and therefore shouldn’t pay for it all their life. In addition, there are couples who are happily married even though there is an age gap of five or seven

Within the justice system, clinicians are asked to make a determination of risk for both adult and juvenile offenders. This evaluation of risk is then used by various legal entities to determine if that offender will be required to register as a sex offender. For both adult and juvenile offenders, the specific requirements of sex offender registration can vary dramatically from state to state (Batastini, Hunt, Present-Koller, & DeMatteo, 2011; Viljoen, et al., 2008). This can be problematic if an offender either wishes to reside in a different state then the offense was committed in, or if the offender commits an offense in a state he does not reside in.

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

Community’s response to official Sex Offender registers In December 2012 the Western Australian Legislative Assembly passed the Community Protection Amendment Bill. This bill introduced an online sex offender register open to the community. The website posts the names and photographs of the state’s most dangerous, recidivist sex offenders (Hinch, 2012). The main

In 1994, twice-convicted sex offender Jesse Timmendequas raped and murdered Megan Kanka, a seven-year old girl who lived across the street. In reaction to this emotionally-charged crime, Megan's home state of New Jersey ratified a community notification bill - dubbed "Megan's Law" - just three months later. This fall, a national version of the law went into effect, mandating that all fifty states notify citizens in writing of the presence of convicted sex offenders within their communities. Certainly, society has a responsibility to protect children from sex offenders, and many feel that Megan's Law is the best course of action. However, others feel that it is an unwarranted

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) recognizes that sex offense and child sexual abuse cause great pain and suffering to victims and their families. (NACDL pg. 1) With the help of probation officers (PO Officers) and the help of Police Officers, both departments play an important role in their communities when tracking down a sex offender. Police officers are able to track down where they are and are able to help a PO officer out, while the PO officer deals with the sex offender and their consequences. It is difficult being in a community where sex offenders are ceased uneasy in a society. This paper will examine closely on if sex offenders can deter