Beating Megan's Law - How violent sex offenders can legally live in towns without the

There is a reason this law was enacted, a beautiful little girl named Megan Kanka. She was murdered because her family didn't know there were 3 sex offenders living in a house across the street from them. The same fate should not befall another child; Megan's Law is there as a tool for law enforcement and communities.

Recently released sex offenders can live for months near schools, day care centers and playgrounds, with no requirement that community members — or even police — be notified.


http://www.app.com/article/20120108...w-loophole?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

OKay, I'm sitting here scratching my head, and feeling really dumb right now, because I think I need someone to actually explain this to me. Yes, I read the article, and I still feel dumb. I read the article, word by word, no skimming, and I'm still stymied.

I live in MI. My father is a sex offender. He spent 19 years in prison, and was released 12/13/2011. He was already classified as a Tier 3 offender BEFORE he was released. In fact, he was supposed to be released in October, but the state would not let him go because his paperwork was taking too long, they couldn't find a safe location to release him to, and they were trying to secure placement in the many programs he has to complete to satisfy his parole. They did not release him until he was listed on the sex offender website, complete with each and every one of his restrictions, and his classification made, as well as secure housing and programs already in place.

If MI can do it, why can't other states follow suit? I am so freaking confused right now. A sex offender does not need to be out of prison in order for the state to determine if they are a risk or not, they already know that. Grrrrrr.

I hear ya not my kids.

Here, in sunny South Florida, RSO's can list a street corner as their residence. I kid you not. If they are homeless - they can just say the corner of NW 1 Avenue and NW 42 Street. Its sickening and makes no sense.

I have over 500 of them within a 5 mile radius of my house. I guess that's the price you pay for living in a warmer climate. I've always wondered about the ones that migrate here during the winter months - I'm "assuming" they all don't "check in" once they get to town. KWIM?

Jacie Estes said:

There is a reason this law was enacted, a beautiful little girl named Megan Kanka. She was murdered because her family didn't know there were 3 sex offenders living in a house across the street from them. The same fate should not befall another child; Megan's Law is there as a tool for law enforcement and communities.

Recently released sex offenders can live for months near schools, day care centers and playgrounds, with no requirement that community members — or even police — be notified.


http://www.app.com/article/20120108...w-loophole?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

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From the link:

Buncher pointed out that although just-released offenders may not have been classified, they are still closely supervised by probation officers.
http://www.app.com/article/20120108...w-loophole?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

Click to expand...

Does that mean that probation officers move in with them and make sure that they aren't having inappropriate contact with kids during the time the probation office is closed????

Of course it doesn't. There is no reason for a delay in notifying the public of the fact that a sex offender moving into the neighborhood.

A city, county or state can release a statement regarding a criminal, an environmental hazard, you name it, without knowing the full nature of the risk. They basically just say, We have a problem, stay away from this area...

If they have to make the classification determination after release, fine. List them anyway, as undetermined Tier, and update when they are classified. That simple. Then the community knows there is a risk, and it is up to them to ascertain the danger. Not ideal, but better than no notification at all.

mysteriew said:

From the link:



Does that mean that probation officers move in with them and make sure that they aren't having inappropriate contact with kids during the time the probation office is closed????

Of course it doesn't. There is no reason for a delay in notifying the public of the fact that a sex offender moving into the neighborhood.

Click to expand...

Jesse Timmendequas, Megan Kanka's killer and his 2 housemates were not known to the neighborhood as sex offenders. The house was owned by one of their family members but they did not inform the families in the cul de sac about the status of these men.Timmendequas was in a program/jail for sex offenders at Avenel, NJ but would not participate in the court ordered treatment. He moved to the Kanka's neighborhood from Avenel. He had 2 priors, both attacks on little girls that were thwarted. He lured Megan into the house across the street from her home with a puppy. After abusing and murdering her he hid her body in a toy chest. He then drove her about 2 miles away and laid her body, inside the toy chest, on the edge of an overgrown area by a community soccer field.

In doing my research for a thesis I wrote about Meghan and her mother's efforts re: Megan's Law, the most disturbing fact was that Timmendequas raped this little girl after she was dead. He will never get the death penalty, it was commuted because NJ is a no DP state. He was a ticking time bomb and if his history was known, her parent's would not have a false sense of security in their little neighborhood.

http://www-ec.njit.edu/~newrev/v2s3/elli/wreck.htm

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/sex_offenders_in_avenel_must_b.html

not_my_kids said:

OKay, I'm sitting here scratching my head, and feeling really dumb right now, because I think I need someone to actually explain this to me. Yes, I read the article, and I still feel dumb. I read the article, word by word, no skimming, and I'm still stymied.

I live in MI. My father is a sex offender. He spent 19 years in prison, and was released 12/13/2011. He was already classified as a Tier 3 offender BEFORE he was released. In fact, he was supposed to be released in October, but the state would not let him go because his paperwork was taking too long, they couldn't find a safe location to release him to, and they were trying to secure placement in the many programs he has to complete to satisfy his parole. They did not release him until he was listed on the sex offender website, complete with each and every one of his restrictions, and his classification made, as well as secure housing and programs already in place.

If MI can do it, why can't other states follow suit? I am so freaking confused right now. A sex offender does not need to be out of prison in order for the state to determine if they are a risk or not, they already know that. Grrrrrr.

Click to expand...

MN is strict too. They are classified BEFORE they are released and LE has to have a community meeting to let the public know who is moving into the area. If the offender is classified at a high level possibility to re-offend, they can be remanded to a secure facility and never released even after their sentenced is served~! I don't know what it's called off the top of my head, but I believe all Level 3 offenders are 'evaluated' at the end of their sentence to see if they should be kept instead of released. :great:

MNlady said:

MN is strict too. They are classified BEFORE they are released and LE has to have a community meeting to let the public know who is moving into the area. If the offender is classified at a high level possibility to re-offend, they can be remanded to a secure facility and never released even after their sentenced is served~! I don't know what it's called off the top of my head, but I believe all Level 3 offenders are 'evaluated' at the end of their sentence to see if they should be kept instead of released. :great:

Click to expand...

I think that's civil commitment, and if you ask me, all states should have it.

If the person is at a high risk to reoffend, then shouldn't that be a sign that they pose a legitimate risk to others? Shouldn't that be enough to lock them up again? Who cares if their prison sentence is over...the sentence will never be over for the next person they kill, attack, or rape. MOO.

Here where I live they will only announce on TV when there is a violent sexular predator moving to our city, they don't tell you where just that they are moving here, give you a name and a face.

There are three registered sex offenders here in the little town I am in that live right next to our elementary school, all have sex offense's against children. If I stood in the trailer park where they live I could throw a rock and hit the school, no joke.

When I found out I called the PD and asked why in the hello they were allowed to live in such a close proximinty to the school. Here they do not put restrictions on where this vermon can live. PD told me if they limited them then they would all move out further and it would be harder to keep track of them.
I notified the principal of the school right away because everyday kids walk through that TP as they are coming and going, he was not aware.

It just pizzes me off to no end the kind of protection these monsters seem to have.

http://www.app.com/article/20120108/...text|Frontpage (the link from OP)

FIRST
Bunker of the NJ Ofc of Pub Defender said:
“It undermines public safety if you have a sex offender who can’t find a place to live or a job.”

What! How does NJ Megan’s Law provisions about public notice and Tier classification impact offenders’ ability to get housing or a job?

As I understand it, NJ law classification procedure looks at the SxOffr’s post-release job, etc.
before making classification into Tier I, II or III (1,2, or 3?) so how can procedure be completed before S/O gets job?
If S/O does not get job immed’ly on release, seems like this could and would drag on for months,
with no notice to public, which I guess is what the article is about.

Who participates in the classification procedure ---psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, social workers, attorneys, and judges, etc. Depends on the state?

How well does the Tier classification procedure predicting future S/O’s? In NJ? In other st's?

If NJ had 1000 Tier 2 offenders and 1000 Tier 3 offenders, during the same post release period, do studies or reports show more Tier 3 offenders reoffended? I wonder.

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SECOND
And, for crying out loud, about Bunker’s other statement,
“You don’t want to send out a notice unnecessarily for people who are low risk and make them more likely to commit another offense.”

How would an unnecessary notice to the public make more likely that a sex offender will commit another offense?

Well, Bunker is an <unusual> fella, now isn't he?

Don't get me wrong, I do care about the details of a person's crime, and a I do think we should have a "Tier 0" classification for guys that got drunk and peed in a person's yard, or the guy that was unlucky enough to be 8 months older than his girlfriend. I imagine this is the type of person Bunker is referring to, but one never knows.

What I do know is that if Johnny went to jail because Sally wasn't quite 18, that means that while he is a sex offender by definition, he is not a child molester nor a serial rapist, and stating his classification within the system will not make him either of those.

For the rest of them, the higher tiers, I don't care if they can find a job, and I don't care if they can find a home. That means all kinds of good things for those of us that happen to want our kids and ourselves to be safe. That means that they can't pay fines and fees that they may have been ordered to pay, for monitoring, parole, restitution, you name it. That means that they violate, and they go back to prison. For others, it just means they are miserable and dead broke. That's fine. I can handle that.

Here's a question? How does landing on the registry actually make it harder for a sex offender to find a job? Aren't job applicants supposed to reveal criminal convictions? If they have restrictions, aren't they to also reveal that to their potential employers? Is the Public Defender's Office suggesting that sex offenders lie or withhold information?