National Sex Offender Registry should be public

[M.Dancer]

I agree with the concept of a sex offender registry. I think parents with young children should know if a convicted child molester or child rapist moves into their neighbourhood.

Edit.

However, I don't think it should be a public registry.

How do you juggle the two exclusive thoughts (should not be public vs parents should know?)

[M.Dancer]

People may or may not know what a rape-o is but they definitely know what a Chester is.

What?

[Shady]

How do you juggle the two exclusive thoughts (should not be public vs parents should know?)

I think parents should be made aware.

[M.Dancer]

I think parents should be made aware.

So you think it should be public then...

[Shady]

So you think it should be public then...

No. It shouldn't be public. The general public shouldn't have access to it. Law enforcement would control the registry, as well as the disbursement of information.

[M.Dancer]

No. It shouldn't be public. The general public shouldn't have access to it. Law enforcement would control the registry, as well as the disbursement of information.

You cannot on one hand say that it should not be made public, but on the other saying that parents should know. Letting parents know is making it public.

[Shady]

You cannot on one hand say that it should not be made public, but on the other saying that parents should know. Letting parents know is making it public.

What I mean by it not being public is that the public wouldn't have direct access to its information. They could request to know if a convicted sex offender resides in their neighbourhood. However, I would have parents that are given such information bound by a type of non-disclosure agreement.

[M.Dancer]

However, I would have parents that are given such information bound by a type of non-disclosure agreement.

Yeah that would work....

[Shady]

Yeah that would work....

Actually I think it would. Anyways, thanks for the substantive post!

[Mr.Canada]

What?

Prison slang.

Rape-o = Rapist

Chester = Child Molester. It's from an old cartoon strip that used to be in Hustler magazine in the 70's and 80's called Chester the Molester.

[guyser]

The Ontario College of Teachers Routinely allow repeat sex offenders to teach in Ontario Schools. Not only that teachers are allowed to teach

"...allow repeat sex offenders" ?

Hyperbole.

Check these out.

1. Female sex offender allowed to teach after having repeated sex with student.

http://www.oct.ca/investigations_hearings/decision_summaries/dec_05/dec05_webb.aspx?lang=en-CA

2. Male sex offender who appears to have kdnapped two woman and then had forced sex... rape!

http://www.oct.ca/investigations_hearings/decision_summaries/sept_03/sept_abdallah.aspx?lang=en-CA

3. Gang rape aided by Principal of school and two teachers who sent students home rather then face police...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/05/29/ott-lawsuit-defence-ashbury-college.html

Shot yourself in the foot with those. If thats the best you can come up with then there is a minor problem, not a major.

Only the Principal is a concern.

Edited September 22, 2010 by guyser

[M.Dancer]

"...allow repeat sex offenders" ?

Hyperbole.

Shot yourself in the foot with those. If thats the best you can come up with then there is a minor problem, not a major.

Only the Principal is a concern.

I would argue the second, the male teacher is a greater concern. A convicted rapist allowed to teach?

The first link, the women, I don't know...my first question would be, is she hot? Did the kid enjoy himself? If there are two yes answers, then meh..

[guyser]

I cannot believe that you are taking the side of a child rapist. Are you seriously defending a child molester?

Have you stopped beating your wife yet?

[guyser]

I would argue the second, the male teacher is a greater concern. A convicted rapist allowed to teach?

The first link, the women, I don't know...my first question would be, is she hot? Did the kid enjoy himself? If there are two yes answers, then meh..

TRhe second one is the one that had to be cleared by a psychiatrist wasnt it? If so and that was the stipulations .....

Youd think they could find something to move him out but , yeah that is tough to swallow

The first one....I agree. Not to mention it was after the school year and the kid was 18. At 18 we all tried to nail the french teachers.

[M.Dancer]

TRhe second one is the one that had to be cleared by a psychiatrist wasnt it? If so and that was the stipulations .....

That stipulation leaves me cold. His refusal to admit that his acts were not consensual is troubling, that sort of denial of guilt is usually enough to be rejected for parole. I see no inherint right to his job. If I was on the board i would recommend he find work with inanimate objects.

[ToadBrother]

Try to stay on topic, instead of personally attacking me.

So you're defending child molesters and rapists and support them in their quest to hide in our communities.

Wow, I cannot believe so many people are defending child molesters and rapists. I find this just absurd to the highest level.

Let me start by saying "Screw you." Nothing in my post suggested such a thing, and it's the height of immorality on your part to try to twist my words. You talk a long streak about morals, but show damned few yourself. What a dishonorable and disgusting thing to say. Grow up, you childish little twerp.

Child Molesters , rapists, pedophiles all gave up their rights to privacy the moment the molested that child or raped that elderly woman or had sex with an infant.

Some people here are willing to give them a free pass and let them blend in and hide in our communities. This line of thinking is downright dangerous. There is no cure for pedophilia and the majority of offenders reoffend. How many lives will we allow to be destroyed by these perverts?

I find it sad that people are so liberal that they are willing to allow child molesters to roam free.

Will no one side with the victims?

I never said any such thing. What I'm saying is that all this hysteria about child molesters seems to be in the direction of vile little pervs on the Internet luring kids or in back alleys or at summer camps or whatever. What I'm saying is that it misses the target of protection by a long shot. I didn't even necessarily disagree with you, though I still think going after the shady guy in the trench coat is an easy ploy, but will do little enough to protect children. Saying to people "Some guy you know, or maybe even you, is more like to try to do nasty things to Little Johnny than El Pervo the Facebook freak" isn't a message parents want to hear, they want to hear how the law is going to get medieval on child molesters' asses. It's classic security theater, like having big burly guys at an airport. It creates the illusion of safety while ignoring the extent and direction of the danger.

[Bonam]

In principle, making the identities of sex offenders public knowledge is a good idea, it lets people protect themselves and their children from these individuals. In practice, because of the confused and muddled nature of our laws relating to sex offenses, they can unjustly screw over people's lives. No one (I hope) would argue that an adult who rapes a young child gives up their rights to privacy. But what about the 17 year old who had, what he/she thought, was consensual sex with a 14 year old? 1 year too old for that to be legal, and if convicted, he/she now has to spend the rest of their life as a registered sex offender with all the attached stigma? What about the high school boy who gets a "text" from his "girlfriend" with some "naughty pictures" attached, and is convicted of "possessing child pornography"? What about the guy that gets unjustly convicted when a girl he slept with decides to change her mind and call it "rape" after the fact?

There are many situations which are not deserving of stigmatizing a person for the rest of their lives but nonetheless still would make someone a "sex offender". To make a national sex offender registry, I think we would need to first revamp our laws so that they make sense, so that real crimes are properly and severely punished, while these less significant "crimes" are reclassified.

[dre]

Why limit this to child molestation, or even sex crimes?

You could make the same case for any serious criminal. Id like to know if a theif will multiple convictions is moving into my neigborhood. Or any type of violent criminal. Maybe we could tattoo a system of color coded dots on convict so that everybody knows exactly who their interacting with! It makes sense from a public safety standpoint.

The problem is that one of the fundamental principles of our justice system is that once your sentence, and parole are over the government stops screwing around with you. What some people seem to be suggesting here, is that the government follow these people around for life, and remind everyone about the bad shit they have already served time for. This will prevent them from getting a job, having a normal life, etc. So in additional to their origional sentence they are harrassed for life.

I dont want to be subjected to a legal system that works like that... even if it DOES serve the public interest in SOME ways it damages it in others.

[capricorn]

The problem is that one of the fundamental principles of our justice system is that once your sentence, and parole are over the government stops screwing around with you.

dre, I think you would agree that it is not a "problem" if the system works as intended. You pay your debt, you straighten out and get your act together. Those are the people that need a break.

What some people seem to be suggesting here, is that the government follow these people around for life, and remind everyone about the bad shit they have already served time for. This will prevent them from getting a job, having a normal life, etc. So in additional to their origional sentence they are harrassed for life.

Yes, some ex-cons are doubly penalized after serving their sentences. For one time offenders, I don't agree with that.

[Moonlight Graham]

There is no cure for pedophilia so it's not a matter of if a pedophile will rape another child, only when.

There's no cure for pedophilia, but that doesn't mean a pedophile is 100% guaranteed to repeat an offense.

[Moonlight Graham]

Here's a reasonable compromise: make a public registry, but only repeat child sex offenders go on the public list. 2 strikes & you're out.

But that begs the question: why would a repeat offender be allowed on our street anyways? Throw away the key after 2 strikes. Or 1 strike if it is a horrible act.

[dre]

There's no cure for pedophilia, but that doesn't mean a pedophile is 100% guaranteed to repeat an offense.

The rate of recidivism amongst convicted child molesters is actually lower than it is for most other criminals.

[Shwa]

The rate of recidivism amongst convicted child molesters is actually lower than it is for most other criminals.

This is true, but it comes down to values. Would you be worried about a car thief or bank robber being a repeat offender more than a child molester?

Here are two sources which show the recidivism rate for sexual offenders versus

Sex offender recidivism - Public Safety Canada

When the whole sample was examined, it was found that within the first five years of release, 14% had a new charge or conviction for a sexual offence. This percentage represents an overall average for a mixed group of sexual offenders.

Sex offender recidivism - John Howard Society of Alberta

One research project looked at 61 previous studies of sexual recidivism using a 4-5 year follow up period. This research on sex offenders found that 13.4% recidivated with a sexual offence, 12.2% recidivated with a non-sexual, violent offence and 36.6% recidivated with any other offence.

However the JH of A has an interesting comment:

In addition, the long-term follow-up study (15-30 years)of child molesters showed that the

average recidivism rate for this group of offenders is actually lower than the average

recidivism rate for non-sexual offenders (61% versus 83.2% respectively for any new

conviction)...

The long term follow-up study referred to above included a control group of non-sexual

criminals. The highest rate of recidivism (77%) was for those with previous sexual offences,

who selected boy victims outside the family and who were never married.

In general, rapists reoffend more often than child molesters

.

[CANADIEN]

Parents should be able to know if a convicted child molester lives in their area. That being said, I doubt it would hav a lot of impact nthe number of sexual assaults on children. As it has pointed by others, most of these crimes are committed by people the child knows, not stangers.

Well, in Mr. Canada's books, that comment must mean I support child molesters.

[Jack Weber]

Parents should be able to know if a convicted child molester lives in their area. That being said, I doubt it would hav a lot of impact nthe number of sexual assaults on children. As it has pointed by others, most of these crimes are committed by people the child knows, not stangers.

Well, in Mr. Canada's books, that comment must mean I support child molesters.

Not only do you support child molesters,but,you're probably a Communist!!!!