Locking Up Child Molesters

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Reported by: Abbie Alford

Email: aalford@fox23.com

Updated: 1/21/2010 8:26 am

Published: 1/20/2010 5:13 pm

OK HB 2968 (111.5KB)

Child sex offenders could spend more time in prison for sex abuse.

Wednesday, Oklahoma State Representative Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher, introduced HB 2968 that would increase the minimum prison sentence from 25 years to 50 years for those who are convicted of sexually abusing a child under the age of 12.

FOX23’s Abbie Alford takes a deeper look into protecting your kids from predators.

On the Oklahoma Department of Corrections website you can search for child crimes and the offenders.

We found one woman in Tulsa who was convicted of Cause, Procure, Or Permit-Injury/Sex Abuse in 2005. She was sentenced to six years in prison but served two years. The mother will have to register for life as a sex offender.

Now one lawmaker and police say parents who allow sex abuse and those who commit the sex act should be locked up longer.

"'Yeah he is abusing my kid but I had free rent and groceries is what it amounts to so I am going to prostitute my kid out so that we have a place to live," says The Tulsa Police Exploitation Sgt. John Adams. "You didn't protect your child as your parent. That is your biggest responsibility as a parent is to protect your child and make sure that your child is safe and provided for not to use your child for rent."

Currently in Oklahoma, the minimum sentence is 25 years to life in prison but in a lifetime of pain for abused child.

So Representative Sanders says if abusers or those who allow it to happen don’t get a life sentence they need to spend at least 50 years in prison.

"He's not going to the total deep end and saying castration or death he's actually. This is livable punishment," says Adams. "It will make sure that they don't get out in 20 year, they don't get out in 15. The 85 percent of 50 years they will at least be in there for thirty, thirty-five, forty years before they are able to touch parole."

This law would also require sex offenders to register with a valid and map-able address.

P.O. Boxes would be prohibited and valid zip code matching the city the offender registers in will be required.

Tulsa Police already require a map-able address.

If there is not a map-able address sex offenders would need to register with local law enforcement every seven days.

Representative Sanders says he also wants to shorten the time it takes to register once released from prison from 45 days to 10 days.

Sanders plans to meet with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections on Friday.

Tulsa Police have added a delinquent sex offender list to its website.

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The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of KOKI FOX23 - Tulsa

MSLGWCEO - 1/27/2010 2:53 PM

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This is worth repeating. "Let the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry speak for itself. At this moment there are 6,357 registered sex offenders in the entire state. The site lists 157 "Habitual" or repeat offenders. That equals .027 percent "Habitual!" That is slightly over 1/4 of 1 percent. Now when a politician says that "recidivism is high, it is a pure lie!" Our own registry backs that up! Either they don't understand and get their information from Fox News, and the rest of the entertainment media who could care less about research and protecting children and society, and care ONLY for ratings. Politicians care only for votes. Oklahoma law makers are totally wasting our taxes by making sex offender law that protects no one. The small amount of repeat offenders in Oklahoma,(slightly over 1/4 of 1%). It's a FACT that these sex offender laws are based on the myth that repeat sex offenses are high. THEY ARE NOT and I will debate any politician on the facts. The registry numbers do not lie!"

Tigger - 1/27/2010 12:12 PM

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GPS Monitoring is a generally effective way to discover where a sex offender was after a crime was committed, that is as long as the one being monitored IS NOT the one who committed the crime, for usually, if the person is going to commit a crime they will first cut off the ankle bracelet so that no record will exist. The true costs for monitoring where were summarized in a study following the first year of use in Massachusetts found that with the real costs of tracking and following up on the false reports and equipment failures was over $ 10,000.00 per person. Even after shifting to a different company where their equipment is slightly more reliable, the costs paid to the company for their service and not including the costs for law enforcement to follow up on all the technical violations produced usually by equipment failures is at $342.00 per month or $4,104.00 per year. If the Adam Walsh Act is passed in Oklahoma, the number of people on tier three will increase to 80% and the number in tier 2 will be another 10% so this law will require 90% of the over 6,000 registered sex offenders to be monitored at a cost of 19.44 million dollars for the monitoring alone not including the added costs of law enforcement to respond to the equipment failures. Those costs will add by about 8% per year as that is the rate at which the registry grows each year. Follow the money and my guess is that legislators pushing this new law are well invested in the company that will have this monitoring contract.

MSLGWCEO - 1/24/2010 3:36 PM

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Cont: GPS use also raises a number of ethical and constitutional issues. One senator who voted against the Wisconsin bill stated it would create a “big brother bureaucracy” and was unnecessary [6]. Most states are imposing the devices on all offenders, even low-risk offenders. It raises questions on the limits states can invade in the private lives of freed citizens. There is also a question of whether the devices violate the fourth amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures [7]. With all the concerns and limitations regarding GPS, it makes little sense to pass such sweeping legislation. Both the state and the offender will be burdened with the number of false alarms, as noted in the Washington study. Furthermore, GPS does not monitor the offender’s actions, just location, and can easily be removed by an offender who is determined to re-offend [8]. In other words, GPS will not prevent crimes, but places an undue burden on the state and the offender both. Former offenders are concerned of being “branded for life,” a mark of infamy which lowers his chances at successful rehabilitation and reintegration. Such expenses would be better spent on prevention, treatment, and reintegration programs that are proven effective in reducing sex crimes in general and reducing recidivism rates for convicted offenders. Therefore, I encourage you to withdraw support of Senate Bill 2301 in favor of more effective and less burdensome laws. Thank you for your time. Sources: 1. http:/criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/stats_by_county.htm 2. Elise Castelli, “Global positioning to track sex offenders.” Boston Globe, Sept. 21, 2004 3. Nicole Marshall, “Sex offender law faces opposition," Tulsa World, Oct. 28, 2007 4. www.unc.edu/~cahoon/problems.html 5. Jonathan Martin, “GPS tracking beset by problems of terrain, technology, and time.” Seattle Times, Sept. 28, 2005 6. Steven Waleters et al. “GPS tracki

MSLGWCEO - 1/24/2010 3:33 PM

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The chances of passing the expenses onto former offenders is unlikely, as most former offenders struggle to find steady employment in a slumping economy and employers hostile to people with criminal records. By adopting the Adam Walsh Act, Oklahoma has, 78% of the total sex offender population [3]. On Tier III. Including Our youth for consensual teen sex. This exact scenario in Oklahoma, that Congressman Scot portrays, would put the young man on Tier III as "aggravated Lifetime registration." The use of GPS devices should be reconsidered, as the technology suffers from numerous limitations. Among the common technological problems: “Geometric Dilution Of Precision” (GDOP), meaning if the angle of the receiver to the satellite is too small, the satellite may give a false reading; satellite visibility- buildings, metal, and other terrain obscures the signal; speed limits- if it is going above a certain speed, it will not work; and temperature limits- will not work in extremes of temperature [4]. Washington state did a test run with “passive” devices (passive devices merely record where the person has been and must be uploaded to read, whereas active devices send out constant signals), and found 4000 “notices of violation,” the vast majority of which were false alarms due to technical difficulties [5]. The batteries could fail to charge, be defective, or possibly leak or explode. GPS use also raises a number of ethical and constitutional issues. One senator who voted against the Wisconsin bill stated it would create a “big brother bureaucracy” and was unnecessary [6]. Most states are imposing the devices on all offenders, even low-risk offenders. It raises questions on the limits states can invade in the private lives of freed citizens. There is also a question of whether the devices violate the fourth amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures [7].

MSLGWCEO - 1/24/2010 3:30 PM

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Oppose Senate Bill 2301 I am very concerned! The GPS devices are costly and ineffective in reducing sex crimes, and constitutes such a great burden to both law enforcement and to the former offenders who have served their time and are struggling to successfully reintegrate into society. We have passed law after law without a task force to assist lawmakers in understanding the research. Oklahoma law makers have failed to consider the research of experts. Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry this day, January 24, 2010 lists 6357 registered sex offenders with 175 "Habitual" sex offenders for the entire state. That's slightly over 1/4 of 1 percent Habitual or repeat offenders on the registry. Oklahoma cannot afford Senate Bill 2301. This would mean millions in increased taxes to Oklahoma citizens. A burden we cannot afford! To make the former offender pay, $300.00 per month, who has been law abiding would only set them up for failure. We have banished them from our cities and towns, from their jobs and have made life so miserable that many abscond because they have been legislated out of homes and jobs. They are compelled to flee rather than be treated as sub-human. Enough is enough. Example: According to the New York State Registry website, New York has just over 26,773 registered sex offenders, 6,660 of which are currently listed as a Level 3 offender [1]. It has been estimated that the cost of GPS is around $10 per day per device[2]. If the law was applied to all 6,660 offenders currently on the list, the state will have to shell out $24.3 Millions dollars per year just to maintain the devices. For Oklahoma, 78% being on Tier III would be 78% of 6357 is 4,958 x $300 per month equals, X 12 months comes to $17,848,800

SOIssues - 1/23/2010 8:07 PM

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http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com

Tigger - 1/23/2010 1:13 PM

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The age of consent in most states is now 16. Studies have found that 62% of boys and 51% of girls have shared intercourse by this age. If a parent decides to press charges or if the couple breaks up, it is likely that the boy, even if it is he that is under 16 will be charged with statutory rape. If convicted, that child's life is over. Even if convicted as a juvenile, and later his record is expunged, under the Federal Adam Walsh Act he will be forced to register four times per year for the rest of his life. The average age of a person convicted of child molestation is fourteen and one-half. Phone sexting, teens sending partially naked pictures of themselves is being prosecuted as distributing child pornography. None of these laws have truly made any difference in the reduction of child molestation or sexual offenses, but they are costing millions of dollars in our tax dollars and destroying thousands of children's lives. Well over half of all sex offense convictions are against people under the age of 21. We are making criminals of our children. Minimum sentencing laws take the discretion of sentencing away from judges and nearly eliminates the ability of a district attorney to get a plea bargain which forces many victims to be re-victimized during the trials. If all registered sex offenders were locked up for life, we would only reduce the number of new offenses per year by 8% because 92% of all sex crimes are committed by first time offenders. Please stop supporting legislatures that won't listen to the facts and only promote additional punishment to sex offenders as a way to promote their own political careers.

MSLGWCEO - 1/23/2010 11:32 AM

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Let the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry speak for itself. At this moment there are 6,357 registered sex offenders in the entire state. The site lists 157 "Habitual" or repeat offenders. That equals .027 percent "Habitual!" That is slightly over 1/4 of 1 percent. Now when a politician says that "recidivism is high, it is a pure lie!" Our own registry backs that up! Either they don't understand and get their information from Fox News, and the rest of the entertainment media who could care less about research and protecting children and society, and care ONLY for ratings. Politicians care only for votes. Oklahoma law makers are totally wasting our taxes by making sex offender law that protects no one. The small amount of repeat offenders in Oklahoma,(slightly over 1/4 of 1%). It's a FACT that these sex offender laws are based on the myth that repeat sex offenses are high. THEY ARE NOT and I will debate any politician on the facts. The registry numbers do not lie!

MSLGWCEO - 1/23/2010 8:50 AM

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During the last year, there have been numerous challenges around the country to the retroactive application of sex offender laws. I’ve listed a few of the notable cases below where courts have held that the retroactive application of these laws constituted unconstitutional ex post facto punishment. Carr v. United States, currently pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, which involves an Ex Post Facto Clause challenge to the retroactive application of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Missouri Supreme Court held that laws regulating where sex offenders live and what they do on Halloween cannot apply to those convicted before the laws took effect. A federal district court judge enjoined part of Nebraska’s new sex offender law, holding that Nebraska will not be allowed to enforce the following statutes against persons who have been convicted of sex offenses but who have completed their criminal sentences: The Maine Supreme Court held that the change in the registration law violated the US Constitution’s prohibition against ex post facto punishments, noting that the Federal and Maine Constitutions provide the same Ex Post Facto protections. NOTE: Oklahoma's Constitution also provides the SAME protections against ex post facto law. In a 5-2 decision Kentucky v. Baker (Oct. 1, 2009), the Kentucky Supreme Court held that KRS 17.545, which restricts where registered sex offenders may live, could not be applied to those who committed their offenses prior to July 12, 2006, the effective date of the statute. The court noted that the retroactive application of the statute was an ex post facto punishment, The Supreme Court majority concluded that the residency requirements "ARE SO PUNITIVE AS TO NEGATE ANY INTENTION TO DEEM THEM CIVIL." Upcoming SCOTUS decision: In Carr v. United States, Docket No. 08-1301, the US Supreme Court will soon consider an ex post facto challenge to SORNA. Many of these laws will come crashing down, in my opinion.

Gregg777 - 1/22/2010 2:05 PM

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MSLGWCEO you really should talk to someone, a counselor or something. You need help I think. Or stick to a topic about something you know about.

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