07/29/2011
By Pat Munsey
The Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry has been available to citizens for more than a decade. The Perspective is proud to provide a copy of the registry to its readers each year, sponsored by the City of Kokomo, the Howard County Sheriff’s Department, AFSCME Council 632 and Local 2185 and White’s Meat Market. But is the registry working?
- Why would The Perspective provide a yearly copy of the registry to people? It would be out-dated in a few days, weeks or months. Just more fear-mongering to viewers, readers, etc.
That can be a difficult question to answer without identifying what its existence is supposed to accomplish. According to Howard County Sheriff Steve Rogers, it isn’t a deterrent for would-be offenders, but it certainly provides valuable information to citizens and law enforcement agencies alike.
“People do re-offend, even if they’re on the sex offender registry,” said Rogers. “Sex offenders -- especially those committing crimes against children -- are so dreaded that citizens want us to watch those folks.”
The sheriff acknowledged that recidivism rates are high among sex offenders (FALSE), which makes a registry a valuable tool. And long before the Internet exploded in popularity, the registry was around -- on good old paper -- to help investigators solve crimes.
- And once again, and ignorant sheriff who is just reporting the same lies as everyone else. Recidivism (new sex crimes) for sex offenders, are the second lowest of any other criminal, except murderers, and if you stop believing everything these idiots say, and find out for yourselves, you will see that recidivism is LOW, not high.
Rogers had an opportunity to use the registry in its early form when he worked to find [name withheld], the man who abducted Anita Wooldridge in 1998.
“Even [name withheld] was on a hard-copy registry; that’s how we located him,” said Rogers. “When the name ‘[name withheld]’ came up during the investigation, we cross-referenced the name in the big book and found [name withheld]. That led us to making him a suspect."
“Recently, we had a fellow who attempted to abduct a woman on the north end of Kokomo, and they determined later that he had been on the sex offender registry and got away from where he was supposed to be. That information gets to be very valuable during an investigation. If you have someone who has committed a crime and you can match it to someone who has committed a similar crime who lives in the neighborhood, it gives you someone to look at as a suspect. As a law enforcement officer, I see the value in that.”
- Yes, but putting the registry online, making it a vigilante hit-list, is not right, and it should be taken offline and used by police only. The public has proven they cannot handle the information without taking the law into their own hands. See here and here for some examples.
For citizens, the registry is successful as an informational tool.
- So, why stop there? Why not put all criminals on the online registry? Like gang members, gun owners (not that they are criminals), DUI offenders, drug dealers/users, abusive parents, domestic abusers, etc? If it's okay for one group, then it should be done to all criminals.
“The community knows to be aware,” said Rogers. “You tell your kids to be careful, but when you realize there is a predator close by, it makes you more careful.”
- And, in many cases, it makes you live in fear, and take the law into your own hands.
The sheriff’s department takes the enforcement of sex offender restrictions very seriously, and since the beginning of the year, that effort has risen to a new level of effectiveness. Those who choose not to follow the rules are finding themselves back behind bars.
“Some do resist,” said Rogers. “Sometimes, they register at a certain address, and later we find they haven’t maintained residence there for a long time. That’s when we start building a case against them. Then, they’re referred to the prosecutor, and warrants are issued."
“I don’t want this to be seen as a negative, but we have a much higher rate of warrants issued under Prosecutor Mark McCann’s watch. He has taken this very seriously for us. We have an increase in successful warrant requests and an increase in arrests. You are going to get arrested and charged if you violate the rules.”
In reviewing this year’s registry, readers should notice that offenders are broken into categories, based on the severity of their offense. The sheriff’s department provided an explanation of these categories.
- I am not sure of this states tier levels, but if it goes along with the federal laws, then it's not based on severity of the crime, but the label itself. If you did XXX you get XXX, etc. Many who are not a threat, have been labeled level 3 offenders, simply due to the label of the crime.
The sex offender is a low-level offender who has committed a crime such as sexual misconduct, sexual battery or possession of child pornography. They have no living restrictions.
- Child porn is a low level crime? I don't think this sheriff knows what he's talking about.
The offender against children is a higher-level offender who has committed a crime such as child molest, child seduction, child solicitation or any other sexual crime involving a child. These offenders must maintain a 1,000-foot living distance from any state-licensed daycare, public parks and schools.
The sexually violent predator is the highest-level offender. This is a person who has be convicted of A felony or B felony child molest, rape and more serious sexual offenses. Also, those offenders with two wholly separate convictions for sexual offenses of any type automatically fall into this category. In addition to the living restrictions, these offenders must report to the sheriff’s department every 90 days -- four times a year.
