Sexually Violent Predators

A sexually violent predator is defined as those who have been convicted of or charged with a crime of sexual violence and suffer from a mental abnormality or personality disorder which makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence.
In May 1987, Earl K. Shriner, a mentally handicapped man with a long criminal record, completed a ten-year sentence in Washington for kidnapping and assaulting two teenage girls. He had a 24-year history of killing, sexual assault, and kidnapping. Prior to his discharge, prison officials learned that he intended to torture children after he was released, and tried vigorously to detain him through the civil commitment laws covering mental illness. Unable to demonstrate the required recent overt act to prove dangerousness, the state had no option but to release Shriner. Two years after his release, he raped and strangled a seven-year-old boy in Tacoma, Washington, severed his penis, and left him in the woods to die.
After cases like these were going on in the state of Washington the governor decided to enact a control committee to help protect the community from predators such as Shriner. The Task Force held public hearings throughout the state and considered numerous ways to strengthen the states laws concerning sex offenses. The group’s recommendations became an omnibus bill to the 1990 Legislature, outlining sweeping changes in the penalties for sex offenses, enacting a sex offender registry and community notification provisions, and establishing programs to assist victims. The Task Force’s most controversial recommendation called for a new civil commitment statute authorizing the state to confine and treat a small group of sex offenders over whom the state had no existing authority. These civil commitment proposals, and the majority of the other Task Force recommendations, were passed unanimously by both houses of the legislature in February 1990.
The law authorizes prosecutors (or the Attorney General) to initiate civil proceedings for a person whose sentence for a sexually violent offense has expired or is about to expire, and that person: has been convicted of a sexually violent crime and is nearing the end of a criminal sentence; has committed a sexually violent offense as a juvenile and is about to be released; has been charged with a violent sex offense but has been determined to be incompetent to stand trial; or has been found not guilty of a sex offense by reason of insanity.
After Washington passed this bill states such as Arizona, California, Kansas and Wisconsin signed a similar bill in regards to sexually violent predators. The only difference is that Washington houses their predators who are being confined after their sentence in a prison mental health facility where the other states house their predators in more of a hospital setting. California is the only state that also has a time period they are held for which is two years where the other states do not have a strict time period.
Sexually violent predators are a very scary and concerning part of our justice system. There needs to be some type of help or confinement for individuals who are not going to change their ways. We as the justice system can not release them back into our society to harm others. I believe the confinement we are doing now is a great step, we just need to figure out a way to help change them or help them help society in some way.


http://www.dshs.wa.gov/hrsa/scc/SVP.htm
http://dcj.state.co.us/ors/pdf/docs/Final%20SVP.pdf

Jessica's Law

When it comes to sex offenders, our law makers are trying to do many different things to help keep our children safe. Like my first blog on sex offending I talked about Megan’s Law there is also another known as Jessica’s Law. This law which was passed and put into action in the state of Florida was proposed to Congress in 2005 but never enacted. Since Florida enacted the law, 42 other states have passed the law.
The name Jessica’s Law comes from a girl in Florida named Jessica Lunsford who was raped and murdered by John Couey a repeat sex offender. Public outrage over this case spurred Florida officials to introduce this legislation. Among the key provisions of the law are a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring of adults convicted of lewd or lascivious acts against a victim less than 12 years old. In Florida, sexual battery or rape of a child less than twelve years old is punishable only by life imprisonment with no chance of parole.
There has been some criticism to this new law by families of sex offenders and others who believe the registries are a bad idea. They believe that the sex offender’s registry is filled with individuals who did not commit a violent offense but committed loose offenses such as victimless crimes and underage consensual sex which they call, “Romeo and Juliet” cases. They believe that our countries registries are filling up to fast and need to be narrowed. The counter argument to this is that the Jessica’s Law is a list of offenders who harm children under 12 so they are the more serious offenders. The families of sex offenders say that the punishment is too harsh due to the fact the sentence can be for 25 years but they will always be labeled as a sex offender in their communities and may even be harmed by the address being given out.
Some key supporters of this bill are John Walsh of “Americas Most Wanted” of Bill O’Reilly of “The O’Reilly Factor.” They both say that the laws against sex offenders needs to be tightened so they crime is not worth the punishment. The new laws coming out against sex offenders are all great ideas in my eyes. With all the offenders out there that sneak under the radar all they are doing is hurting our children and our children may grow up to be the same way or may go on to murder because of the pain they felt while growing up. Sex offending is on the decline but does that mean we should lighten our offenses? Maybe it’s declining because our punishments are getting harsher. So why on earth should we lighten the punishment?



http://www.billoreilly.com/outragefunnels
http://jessicas-law.blogspot.com/
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/Sex_Offender_Facts/Jessicas_Law.html

Sex Trade

The sex trade, also known as sex-trafficking is not only a threat and an epidemic in nearby countries, but it has also been a constant hushed crime by the United States. Sex-trafficking has been disguised with the occasional rapes and prostitution convictions, however the University of Pennsylvania took this matter seriously enough to request a $400, 000 grant to research 17 different cities in America to attempt to get to the bottom of how one incident of sexual assault, abuse, rape, and possibly prostitution can lead to a large uncontrollable sex-trade.
Every city that was researched was high populated and consumed with high end job opportunities and vast amounts of money. Estes, who was in the lead of the research at the University of Penn concluded that there were two types of populations being exploited for sex. Sixty to seventy percent were white middle class working women, while the other almost forty percent were predominantly black runaways or “throw-aways” that ranged from the ages of 14-17 years old. Women have a wide range of reasons for why they sell their body for sex, including prior abuse, low self esteem, no income, homeless, and many others.

These were the top 3 reasons:
•The largest group, about 122,000, is made up of children who have run away from home and turned to prostitution or pornography to get money for food or drugs.
•The second-largest group, about 73,000, is made up of children who live at home and are used by family or friends in exchange for money, food, drugs or other benefits.
•The third-largest group, about 52,000, is made up of "throwaway" children who have been abandoned by parents or guardians and turned to the sex trade to survive.
Even though peace officers are aware of the common reasons for why girls/women sell their bodies for money or food they continue to arrest them. The people that should be arrested and convicted for their crimes are “the pimps, the johns” the ones that are responsible for exploiting these young women.

The University of Pennsylvania recommends:
•That a federal agency or task force be responsible for protecting children from exploitation.
•That law enforcement agencies focus more on arresting the exploiters — pimps, traffickers and customers — than the children.
•That penalties for sexual crimes against children be increased significantly.

The most important message that needs to be sent home that any act of abuse, assault, rape or prostitution can lead to this epidemic of sex trafficking, if it goes unnoticed. Society does not want there to be “pimps/employers” and his “employees” on every corner making money not only for themselves, but for their employers as well. Holding both parties responsible is the best solution, and allowing for a type of reform can help these women to make a change for their mistakes.



New York Times

Usatoday.com- Sex trade may lure 325,000 U.S. kids

Female Sex Offenders

Sex Crimes is an issue that is on ever parents mind, they watch were their kids at all times and worry about everyone who is around their child at all times. One of the biggest stereotypes of child sexual offenses is that all offenders are men and that is not the truth.

The majority of attention on sex crimes focuses on men as the offenders; an increased awareness of females as sex offenders has surfaced in recent years. Highly publicized cases involving inappropriate and illegal sexual contact between female high school teachers and their male students are a primary source of this growing attention. These cases are not representative of the full nature or scope of sexual abuse committed by females, however, and they have the potential to promote myths and misperceptions about the broader issue of female-perpetrated sex crimes.

A research done by Snyder and Sickmund in 2006 says that females are responsible for 3% of forcible rape cases, 5% of other violent sex offenses, and 19% of non-violent sex offenses. Nationwide approximately 140,000 men are incarcerated for sex offenses and only 1,500 are estimated to be imprisoned for these offenses.

Are Female Sex Offenders Different Than Males?

Just like all other crime suspects both male and female offenders have very similar features. They both show poor coping skills, relationship difficulties, cognitive distortions, and victim empathy deficits.
Even though they have things in common there are differences such as females are more likely to have a victimization history, females more likely to offend with a co-operating male offender, females more likely to offend in care giving situations, females are more likely to forcibly rape someone of the own sex rather than opposite sex

The treatment for female sex offenders is very similar to the treatment program for males. The only differences are they try harder to establish a trusting relationship, promote autonomy, develop a positive self-conception, and try harder to reduce self destructive behaviors.

The community supervision after the release is very similar to that of a released male offender. They both must register under Megans Law and must also report to all authorities in the surrounding area.

In all the surfacing of female sex offenders is showing society that all stereotypes are not 100% correct and the treatment and punishment should not just be built around males but also around females.





References:
Center for Sex Offender Management
Female Sex Offenders, March 2007

Female Sex Offenders
http://www.healing4women.com/media/Female%20Sex%20Offenders%20-%20Duncan%202007.pdf

Chemical castration.

Chemical castration is a form of punishment and rehabilitation for criminals such as child molesters, rapists and other sex offenders. The first known use was in 1944 with the drug called diethylstilbestrol, which was used to lower male testosterone. The use of chemicals to castrate differs than normal castration where the testes are actually removed. Chemical castration is the use of a chemical called cyproterone or the birth-control drug Depo-Provera. When used by men, these drugs can reduce sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies, and capacity for sexual arousal.

An experiment done by P. Gagne on 48 males, in which they were to undergo 12 months of medroxyprogesterone acetate, a form of chemical castration was such a success that the researchers asked for it to be a legal form of punishment. After their 12 month period all showed signs of decreased sexual needs, sexual fantasies, and greater control over their sex drives. The research also showed that after the procedure had finished the men still showed signs of decreasing sexual desires; the males still did not show any signs of adverse side effects.

Many individuals and groups have fought against the chemical castration idea noting that it violates the 8th and 14th amendment. They say it violates the 8th amendment of cruel and unusual punishment when the chemical castration is ordered for an offender and the offender in-turn loses the chance of procreation. They also state that it’s a violation of the 14th amendment of due process of law. The argue that this procedure is disproportionate because this process falls mostly on males.

Nine states in the United States have used the chemical castration process; California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin. California was the first state to use chemical castration as a punishment for sex offenders. They used in cases where the victim was under the age of 13. Judges in California may require the offender to undergo chemical castration after their first offense, but after their second offense the procedure is mandatory

I do agree with this form of punishment, after looking at the research to this procedure it seems to me that it would work. I do believe it needs to be well mandated and similar to other harsh punishments the guilt of the offender needs to be proven without a doubt. With sexual offending becoming such a threat to our society and the ever changing desires of certain individuals we need to find a way to help offenders before they offend. That being so hard I do believe this procedure is a good idea and needs to be looked into for some offender’s punishment.

Treatment of Offenders

In California there are 110,000 sex offenders, 16,000 of those are in prison. 1,000 are in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Juvenile Justice, 10,300 are under probation supervision, 7,000 under parole supervision are considered high risk of re-offending, and 5,000 under parole supervision are considered sexual habitual offenders.

Treatment is a big controversy on all states minds when they think of releasing sex offenders. The question is, does the treatment that our inmates are receiving work and deter the offenders from re-offending. Well the answer is hard to figure out, due to what do we look at as evidence? Do we look at the recidivism rate, or alcoholism and addiction levels, or do we use surveys and polygraph the offenders to see if they have the urge to re-offend? There are so many ways to check but which actually tells you the true answer?

A study was ran in Portland Oregon by Barry Maletzky, MD and Kevin McGovern, Ph.d who both worked at, “The Sexual Abuse Clinic of Portland Oregon.” During 1973 and 1990 they both followed 5,000 offenders in which 3,700 were pedophiles, 770 were exhibitionist and the rest were a variety of other paraphilias. All the offenders were treated in their clinic and similar clinics and using behavior oriented methods they tested the success of the treatment. The success was measured by
• No re-arrest
• Self report of no maladaptive sexual behaviors
• Reduced deviant arousal maintained post-treatment as verified on penile plethysmograph
• Significant other rating of patients behavior

The success rate was 94.7% of heterosexuals and 86.4% of homosexual pedophiles. Rapists showed 73.5% of success, exhibitionist and public masturbators were about 92% success rating.

The overall ratings were as such;
• Treated offenders reoffended at a rate of 11%, untreated at 17.6%
• True incest offenders have lower reoffense rates than other child molesters. (5.3% with 5-year follow-up without treatment, no recidivism with treatment, compares to 17.8% treated and 25% untreated for non-incestuous child molesters.)
• When subjects were followed for as long as ten years, the "treatment effect" weakened over time, but even in the tenth year, treated offenders reoffended less untreated men.
• Men treated before 1980 (more traditional methods) reoffended at a rate of 12.8%. while men treated after 1980 (present day methods) reoffended at 7.4% (1993 data – not included in article

Megan Nicole Kanka

Megan Nicole Kanka was a seven year old girl from New Jersey who had her life taken by Jesse Timmendequas in July of 1994. Timmendequas was a repeat violent sex offender who lived with other known sex offenders across the street from the Kanka residence. The parents of Megan; Richard and Maureen were not aware that the house across the street was the home of known violent sex offenders. This horrific story would later become a benchmark on one of the countries best sex offender notification laws.

Many laws regarding sex offender notification began at the state level and throughout communities to notify neighbors when an offender was living in their area. Washington was one of the first states to adopt a full state law notifying communities of nearby sex offenders and called it the “Washington State Community Protection Act of 1990.” Megan’s Law was brought to the federal level in 1994 and is known officially as the, “Sexual Offender Act of 1994.”

In 1996 Bill Clinton signed Megan’s Law which asks states to make private or personal information about sex offenders open to the public. Different states have different requirements for sex offenders. Approximately 15 states have put their databases on-line and made it searchable for the public by name or zip code. The website shows detailed information about the person, from known offenses to known identification marks and possibly a picture of the individual. Some states require the offenders to notify schools and neighbors in the surrounding area that they are moving into their neighborhood and some states have even required them to place signs in their windows notifying the neighbors of their status.

California Megan’s Law

Megan’s Law was passed by California legislatures on August 24, 2004 and signed by the governor on September 24, 2004. The website in California gives you information on more than 63,000 individuals who are required to register. Home address’s are available on more than 33,500, more than 30,500 are available by zip code and 22,000 others are not included but known by local authorities.

California Megan's Law Website;

http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/


Other Useful Websites;

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?id=1083&action=tdihArticleCategory


http://scsotf.com/Megan%27s%20Law.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan's_Law