5-1-2006 New York:
I'm sure folks have heard this comment: "There are 100,000 sex offenders or 24% are missing hiding somewhere in communities and preying on our children." How did that statement, and similar ones, come to be, and are they correct, a true statement of fact?
Here we will document the facts and present the truth about 100,000/24%. There are many who do not want this story told, but here goes. Below are the first stories publishing facts about what Laura Ahearn (Parents for Megan's Law) had gathered in her 2003 Survey.
The beginning:
Findings drawn from original news articles (further down page):
There are four indented paragraphs in the
CBS news article below (they also appear in the second news article) which contain the facts to refute the claim that there are 100,000 missing sex offenders. Notice the highlighting, that separates two groups of states: The first group is 32 states (blue background) and the second group is 19 states (yellow background):
Points drawn from the highlighted paragraphs in original articles (further down this page):
1) All 50 states were contacted by telephone (even though 32+19=51 PML numbers?);
2) Blue group: 32 states could not account for 24% of those who were supposed to be registered (no figure is provided as to how many were supposed to be registered, verifying 24% is impossible);
3) Blue group: How can one arrive at 24% when none of the 32 registries were ever audited, and when -whoever PML spoke to on the phone- they said their numbers were "only rough estimates of their accuracy.";
4) Blue group: 77,000 up-to-date addresses were missing from the 32 states (PML Fact); If all 32 states never audited their registries and commented they were only roughly accurate, how does one conclude 77,000 addresses were missing?;
5) Yellow group: 19 states did not track or were not able to track, how many sex offenders failed to register;
6) Yellow group: Thousands of the 133,705 offenders in this group may have disappeared.
7) In the CBS article they mention "missing registrants," such DOES NOT automatically translate to "missing: rapists, pedophiles, predators, sexually violent whatever" which politicans and the media so frequently say to get whatever it is they are trying to accomplish by citing these FACTOIDs. At some point the truth must be told!
Out of this comes the conclusion that "there are 100,000 missing" roaming somewhere in the nation (see quotes below).
In 2005, in an interview with the Boston Globe, Laura Ahearn had this to say about the number of registered sex offenders when she did her survey in 2003:
''We found that nearly a quarter of the nation's sex offenders were failing to comply with state registration laws," she said. ''At that time, there were 461,134 registered sex offenders."
This is the real truth, Laura Ahearn's DID NOT survey what the laws required of former offenders, her survey only addressed "number of former offenders." At that time -and still today- many state laws exempted former offenders from registration. Judicial decisions as well removed some offenders from registries. With circumstances such as this there is no way without a proper audit that, anyone can say former offenders are violating laws, or are missing!
Looking at what Ahearn provided the media, only a magician could arrive at conclusions they did 2003. Yet, that "100,000" statement has not changed one bit since that time, it has become a
FACTOID cited when some politician wants to get another sex offender law passed; truth no longer matters and sometimes is actually hidden to prevent it from bringing into question those who may have relied on the FACTOID.
In 2006, in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Hatch presented his bill S-1086 that included a section (Sec. 106 see near end of this post) which would have required the Department of Justice to
PUBLICALLY REPORT the number of sex offenders nationwide. However, before that bill was returned to the House where it would have been merged with the House version,
Sec. 106 was removed. The law ultimately became known as
the Adam Walsh Act. Accordingly, the true number of sex offenders nationwide is to remain a secret lest it bring into question the
FACTOID everyone relies on and prevents someone from getting a new sex offender law passed. The
FACTOID stands until someone gets a court to bring it into question.
eAdvocate
PS: The CBS News article also states "Federal law requires the addresses of convicted sex offenders to be verified at least once a year." That is not what the law states, it says, "Registrants must verify their addresses at xx frequency, based on their conviction." In the article it implies that police must verify addresses, reality is,
no federal law has that written into it,
not even the Adam Walsh Act/SORNA. Admittedly the USAG has construed that in SORNA Guidelines, but it is not written into the law.
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CBS News Article 2-6-2003
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2-6-2003 New York:
Thousands Of Sex Offenders 'Lost'
States Have Lost Track Of 24 Percent Of Rapists, Child Offenders
(AP) In a startling new survey, a child advocacy group found that states across the country have lost track of tens of thousands of rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders who are supposed to be registered in databases under what are called "Megan's Laws."
Prompted by an Associated Press investigation that revealed California had lost track of at least 33,000 sex offenders,
.Parents for Megan's Law contacted all 50 states by telephone to ask about the accuracy of their registries.
It found that states on average were unable to account for 24 percent of sex offenders supposed to be in the databases. And 19 states, including Texas and New York, said they were unable to track how many sex offenders were failing to register, or simply did not know.
Federal law requires the addresses of convicted sex offenders to be verified at least once a year.
But the survey found that up-to-date addresses for more than 77,000 sex offenders are missing from the databases of 32 states. And in the other 18 states and the District of Columbia, which are responsible for 133,705 offenders, thousands of the ex-convicts may have disappeared.
"They're implementing Megan's Law, then turning their backs on it," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of the nonprofit agency in New York. "They need the technology and the staff to track down their sex offenders."
All states responded to the group's survey, but only 32 were able to provide failure rates. Many of these said they have never audited their sex offender registries and provided only rough estimates of their accuracy.
The survey, which the group plans to release Friday, relied on the word of officials in each state, unlike the AP's analysis in California, which was based on a CD-ROM of data taken directly from the registry.
The databases
are supposed to help the public and police monitor sex offenders by keeping track of their home and
work addresses and other personal details.
Adults can search the database at sheriffs' offices or police departments, assuming the information is kept up to date as required.
All states have versions of the law named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a child molester who had moved in across the street.
..Source.. by CBS Sue Chan (See below)
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CBS News Article 2-6-2003 (See URL for Date)
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Thousands Of Sex Offenders 'Lost'
In a startling new survey, a child advocacy group found that states across the country have lost track of tens of thousands of rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders who are supposed to be registered in databases under what are called "Megan's Laws."
Prompted by an Associated Press investigation that revealed California had lost track of at least 33,000 sex offenders, Parents for Megan's Law contacted all 50 states by telephone to ask about the accuracy of their registries.
It found that states
on average were unable to account for
24 percent of sex offenders
supposed to be in the databases.
And 19 states, including Texas and New York, said they
were unable to track how many sex offenders were failing to register, or simply did not know.
Federal law requires the addresses of convicted sex offenders to be verified at least once a year.
But the
survey found that up-to-date addresses for more than 77,000 sex offenders
are missing from the databases of 32 states. And
in the other 18 states and the
District of Columbia, which are responsible for 133,705 offenders,
thousands of the ex-convicts may have disappeared.
"They're implementing Megan's Law, then turning their backs on it," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of the nonprofit agency in New York. "They need the technology and the staff to track down their sex offenders."
All states responded to the group's survey, but
only 32 were able to provide failure rates. Many of these said
they have never audited their sex offender registries and
provided only rough estimates of their accuracy.
The survey, which the group plans to release Friday, relied on the word of officials in each state, unlike the AP's analysis in California, which was based on a CD-ROM of data taken directly from the registry.
The databases are supposed to help the public and police monitor sex offenders by keeping track of their home and work addresses and other personal details. Adults can search the database at sheriffs' offices or police departments, assuming the information is kept up to date as required.
All states have versions of the law named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a child molester who had moved in across the street.
..Source.. by CBS News
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St. Petersburg Times News Article 2-7-2003
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Florida among best on Megan's Law data
SAN FRANCISCO -- A child advocacy group has found that states across the country have lost track of tens of thousands of rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders who are supposed to be registered in Megan's Law databases.
The same survey found that Florida has one of the nation's best compliance rates.
Prompted by an Associated Press investigation that revealed California had lost track of at least 33,000 sex offenders, Parents for Megan's Law contacted all 50 states by telephone to ask about the accuracy of their registries.
It found that states on average were unable to account for 24 percent of sex offenders supposed to be in the databases. And 18 states, including Texas and New York, plus the District of Columbia said they were unable to track how many sex offenders were failing to register, or simply did not know.
Federal law requires the addresses of convicted sex offenders to be verified at least once a year.
But the survey found that up-to-date addresses for more than 77,000 sex offenders are missing from the databases of 32 states. And in the other 18 states and the District of Columbia, which are responsible for 133,705 offenders, thousands of the ex-convicts may have disappeared.
All states responded to the group's survey, but only 32 were able to provide failure rates. Many of these said they have never audited their sex offender registries and provided only rough estimates of their accuracy.
The survey, which the group plans to release today, relied on the word of officials in each state, unlike the AP's analysis in California, which was based on a CD-ROM of data taken directly from the registry.
The survey said Oklahoma and Tennessee had the highest rates of noncompliance, both at 50 percent. A Tennessee official disputed this, and Oklahoma's Corrections Department spokesman, Brian Johnson, said the figure was just his best guess.
The databases are supposed to help the public and police monitor sex offenders by keeping track of their home and work addresses and other personal details. Adults can search the database at sheriffs' offices or police departments, assuming the information is kept up to date as required.
All states have versions of the law named for Megan Kanka, 7, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a child molester who had moved in across the street.
Among the states with the best compliance rates is Florida, where state officials told the group only 4.7 percent of 27,689 offenders have failed to update their addresses.
Florida's Department of Law Enforcement sends letters out each year and has a full-time staff of 11 to keep close track of those that come back. Offenders who don't respond often get a visit from police, spokeswoman Mary Coffee said.
Several state agencies, including the department that issues driver's licenses and state identification cards, which sex offenders in Florida are required to keep, have access to the database.
"We have legislative and technology help that helps us do our best keeping track of these folks," Coffee said.
..Source.. by AP
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Assorted Quotes of Missing Sex Offenders & Sources
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4-17-06 "Some estimates indicate that more than 500,000 convicted sex offenders live in the United States, of which the whereabouts of approximately 150,000 are unknown to authorities.
3-20-06 "There are over 500,000 convicted sex offenders in the United States. The government cannot account for over 100,000 of those 500,000 criminals. When you break that down, that means we do not know the whereabouts of over 20% of the country’s convicted sex offenders.
3-10-06 "Pointing out that the whereabouts are unknown for approximately one-fifth of the 500,000 registered sex offenders...
4-11-05: Officials estimate there are more than 400,000 convicted sex offenders in the United States. As many as one-fourth of sex offenders have moved and eluded law enforcement despite laws requiring them to report their home addresses,
5-3-05: there are an estimated 400,000 registered sex offenders in this country, and, believe it or not, the authorities have lost track of as many as 100,000 of them. That‘s 100,000, one in four, 100,000 missing.
5-11-05: There are 550,000 convicted sex offenders in the U.S. At least 24 percent are unaccounted for.
6-1-05: reports there are 400,000 sex offenders nationwide and 25 percent of them have fallen through the cracks.
8-24-05 "Of the 551,000 sex offenders registered in the USA, about 100,000 are missing or have failed to give a current address ..."
5-18-05: "Today, there are more than a half million sex offenders that are "supposed" to be registered in the United States; however at least 100,000 of these offenders are actually "missing" from the system.
7-15-05 "This means that out of the 550,000 sex offenders registered with states, the government can not identify 165,000 of them.
6-12-05: There are nearly 550,000 registered sex offenders in the United States and there are over 100,000 of them lurking about communities incognito—that is, law enforcement has no idea where they are or what they are doing.
4-8-05: Officials estimate there are more than 400,000 convicted sex offenders in the United States. As many as one-fourth of sex offenders have moved and eluded law enforcement despite laws requiring them to report their home addresses, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a Washington-based advocacy organization.
7-25-2005 Sen. Schumer: "Nationwide there are over 550,000 sex offenders, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Parents for Megans law estimates that 24% or between 100,000 and 150,000 aren’t even registered, meaning over 100,000 sex offenders are roaming the streets unknown to local law enforcement."
Senator Orin Hatch's website: "There are approximately 550,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, but an estimated 100,000 sex offenders have failed to register with their states as required. "
National Center for Missing and Exploited Kids (NCMEC): There are more than 400,000 sex offenders in the United States and 100,000 are actually missing and law-enforcement has no idea where they are located.
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The Boston Globe News Article 8-22-2005
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Restrictive law makes N.Y. city off-limits to sex offenders
Many states grapple with tighter controls
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Convicted sex offenders could risk re-arrest here if they pull off the highway to gas up their car because of a new law that makes it almost impossible for them to live, work, or even drive in this upstate city.
Binghamton is about to become a test case in New York for how far municipalities can go in restricting residency and everyday travel of sex offenders. Fifteen ''John Doe" plaintiffs have sued in federal court over the law, which is so sweeping that a person registered as a moderately or severely high-risk sex offender cannot drive on most roads in this city of 47,000. A hearing is set for Sept. 23.
Mayors, city councils, and county boards are wrestling with how to respond to residents' fears of sex offenders in a nation bombarded with news reports about the kidnapping, rape, and murder of children by sexual predators.
The goal of many local laws is to restrict offenders' ability to live in, and move through, communities. When one community acts, surrounding ones often follow suit to avoid being viewed as a haven for sex offenders.
In Florida, convicted sex offenders who are on probation and under court order to avoid children can no longer stay in public hurricane shelters, which are often in schools. Under a Florida policy enacted this summer, those offenders can instead seek shelter in a prison. The new policy applies to only six people in the state.
In Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, all sex offenders are prohibited from shelters and the county does not offer alternatives. The sheriff's department customarily advises sex offenders to ''keep up with the weather, know what your restrictions are per court mandate, and don't come to a shelter," said J. D. Callaway, a department spokesman.
In some states, such as Massachusetts, legislators are working to improve registration laws and make access to lists of convicted sex offenders widely available. In other states, including Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma, sex offenders can be monitored with global positioning devices.
Mayor Richard Bucci of Binghamton is unapologetic about the law, which he signed in early May, despite warnings by city attorneys that it would be challenged.
''I think in the end, New York state is going to have to strengthen its policies, because what you have now is local governments struggling to deal with these issues, because we don't think the state has gone far enough," said Bucci, a three-term mayor who was in office when a sex offender killed a 4-year-old girl in 1995.
In describing the law, Bucci said, ''When we plotted it on the map, it virtually eliminated the whole city of Binghamton." Registered moderate- and high-risk sex offenders are prohibited from living or entering within a quarter-mile radius of any public or private school, day-care center, playground, or park.
Critics say that local restrictions can raise equal-protection challenges that turn all sex offenders into an isolated subclass, regardless of their crime or response to treatment.
''We start off with very good intentions -- that is, the need to protect children," said Jim Cameron, who was the first New York state director of child protective services in the 1970s. ''But then we unfortunately begin to overreact and go to extremes we never intended to go, and I think that's what's happened here."
Laws making it difficult for sex offenders to live or work in a community could also make it difficult to keep track of them because they will move so frequently, said Dennis Kaufman, executive director of Legal Services of Central New York in Syracuse, which is representing the Binghamton plaintiffs.
''This law actually disrupts any offender's ability to establish themselves in the community, to get a job," Kaufman said. ''And part of the treatment is to have stability and a job." Binghamton has delayed enforcing its law until the court case is resolved. Still, two plaintiffs lost their jobs because employers feared violating the restricted zones, Kaufman said.
Even before residency restrictions started, more than 30 states had sex offender registries. The registries are an offshoot of Megan's Law, named for the New Jersey child who was raped and killed in 1994 by a convicted sex offender. The 1996 federal version of Megan's Law encouraged states to release information on sex offenders, using access to federal crime-fighting money as an incentive.
All 50 states passed a version of Megan's Law and many have gone beyond the scope of the original legislation by creating online registries and establishing systems for notifying residents when a sex offender moves into a community. Last month, the federal government linked the online registries of nearly two dozen participating states and the District of Columbia to one website managed by the Department of Justice (National Sex Offender Public Registry, www.nsopr.gov).
There are now 551,000 registered sex offenders in the country, said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a national child advocacy group.
Both critics and supporters of registration laws say their effectiveness is questionable. Ahearn said that a 2003 survey by her group highlighted how easily laws can fail if they don't have adequate funding or cooperation between state and municipal officials.
''We found that nearly a quarter of the nation's sex offenders were failing to comply with state registration laws," she said. ''At that time, there were 461,134 registered sex offenders."
But many child protection activists say the registries are not enough and are calling for residency restriction laws.
The number of such laws at the local or county level nationwide is not readily available, said Charles Onley, a research associate at the Department of Justice's Center for Sex Offender Management. But such measures are in place or under consideration, statewide or locally, in many states, including Massachusetts, Texas, Alabama, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, and California, as well as Florida and New York. The laws generally prevent offenders from living within 1,500 to 2,500 feet of places where children congregate.
In states such as Iowa, Tennessee, Illinois, and Ohio, residency restriction laws have resulted in widespread evictions of offenders, Onley said.
The push for stricter monitoring of sex offenders has also reached Congress. Federal lawmakers introduced several bills last spring that would penalize states for failing to tighten supervision. The push to increase federal oversight was fueled by the highly publicized kidnappings and killings of two Florida girls -- 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in February and 13-year-old Sarah Lunde in April. In both killings, a convicted sex offender was charged.
Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is sponsoring a bill that combines many separate reform proposals into one package, known as the Children's Safety Act. The Judiciary Committee approved it last month; it goes before the House in September. Among its highlights are tighter controls on state sex offender registries, greater cooperation among states in tracking offenders, and a national pilot program of electronic monitoring.
But as momentum grows for tighter restrictions against sex offenders, activists pressing for such restrictions caution that monitoring systems are effective only if states can ensure compliance.
Beginning next year, Nevada will require offenders to renew their driver's license annually to help track them.
New York is moving more cautiously. The state's Division of Criminal Justice Services -- which manages criminal databases -- will not comment on the Binghamton case. But Jessica Scaperotti, an agency spokeswoman, said, ''Unless someone is under parole or probation, you can't tell someone where to live."
New York's Republican-dominated Senate has passed a civil confinement bill, under which high-risk offenders could be held indefinitely, even after their prison terms end. The bill has not moved in the Democratic-dominated Assembly.
For now, specialists in child protective fields see restrictions against sex offenders continuing unabated, partly because municipal officials do not want their communities to be havens for offenders.
The intent of Megan's Law was laudable, said Cameron, ''but that tracking became almost a passion, it became so intense, and it just kind of swept everyone up."
..Source.. by Darryl McGrath, Globe Correspondent
2005 S-1086 Sponsored by Sen. Hatch:
SEC. 106. PARTICIPATING STATE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRIES.
(c) Publication of Number of Offenders Registered-
(1) IN GENERAL- Every 6 months, the Attorney General shall collect from each State information on the total number of covered individuals included in the registry maintained by that State.
(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY AND CONTENTS- The Attorney General shall--
(A) release information under paragraph (1) to the public in a manner consistent with this title; and
(B) include in such a release the number of individuals within each tier and the number of individuals who are in compliance with this title within each tier.
(3) DOUBLE-COUNTING- In reporting information collected under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that offenders are not being double-counted.
