Sexual abuse is defined as "any sexual behavior with a child to meet the adult's sexual needs or interest," according to the Stop It Now website. This behavior includes any touching, forcing, penetrating, showing or even looking.
It is true that sex offenders are mandated by law to register information such as name, residency address and employment after release from a psychiatric facility or even prison with their local law enforcement in order to make people aware and inform them of this potential safety risk. This law is also known as Megan's Law. The law was named after Megan Kanka, a 7 year old, who was murdered and had unnecessarily suffered both sexual abuse and rape simply because the parents didn't know that the person living across from them had a past record of sex offenses.
Some concerns of this law include "fear of vigilantism and discouragement of sex offenders complying with the registry law." Another concern is that some registered sex offenders may not pose an immediate threat. For example, let's take in consideration 'statutory rape.' There are cases where sex is consensual between couples who are close in age but one just happens to be a minor or 17 and under, while the other person is 18 or slightly older. This would be the only case that I'd be somewhat lenient towards especially if both parties were sexually active and dating prior to one of the individuals reaching 18. However, the other 2 concerns should not be of any concern for the child molester for it was their choice to commit the crime.
Legally, sex offenders can be released from prison and live in communities near you and I, putting our families at risk. They don't deserve that right, do they? Personally, I feel that sex offenders should be confined to their homes and places of employment. They should be forced to wear electronic monitoring devices on their ankles for the remainder of their existence. In addition, they should be forced to pay for the device instead of using tax dollars. Sex offenders should not be permitted to any civil rights such as the right to privacy. They've given up their rights the very minute they stripped that young child's rights away. After all, how safe would you feel living next to a convicted child molester?
Unfortunately, these offenders exist everywhere from schools, work, churches, neighborhoods, family, friends and any where else you can think of. Are children really safe? My answer: No child will ever be 100% safe for these molesters are not detectable. The only solution is to stay informed, remain alert and report any suspicious behavior.
2 comments:
Although I do agree with some of your points about stripping sexual offenders of their rights, I think it's a bit much to ask to have them all confined to certain areas. I am not at all trying to excuse the behaviors that these offenders participate in, but it seems that with time there have been some laws placed to begin the process of identifying who these offenders are and where they live. Not only can one look up a list of their local offenders online, but during Halloween offenders are not allowed to pass out candy and actually have to mark their front doors with a sign saying not to bother knocking. I know that there are some offenders who will most likely never change their habits, and unfortunately it is the lives of our children that are at risk, but not all offenders continue offending and some actually do seek counseling and get better. It is up to a child's parents to stay attentive, focused and involved in his/her child's life to guarantee that they are doing all that is possible to keep thier child safe.
I have to agree with both you and Paola here. While my gut says that your "rights" safeguard new neighbors once the offender has been released from jail, isn't the point of jail to punish the criminal for the crime? Are there studies showing that creating a more constricting environment for released criminals allows them to behave better? I don't know...
There are articles on the web about all the restrictions on sex offenders in Florida that have forced hundreds to live under bridges. Does this make our cities safer? I don't think so...
What can we do instead to rehabilitate them? What about optional chemical castration?
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