Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Widewing on January 10, 2003, 10:34:19 AM
-
How they managed to do this is what officials are pondering right now.
However, I believe I know what happened.
The Arch Diocese switched to an unlisted number.
-
Amen.
-
They got lost cause Gray Davis did not want anyone to know about his past!:D
-
Maybe it's safe for me to move back to California...
-
never fear, they'll pop back up :(
-
I have a friend who thinks this law is unfair!
That it ruins the lives of these poor men.
I say GOOD!
-
Washington State lost track of 10% of theirs...gee, what do these two states have in common politically? I'll let Eagler answer that one ;)
SAN JOSE, CALIF. -- California has lost track of more than 33,000
convicted sex offenders, despite a law requiring rapists and child molesters to
register each year for inclusion in the Megan's Law database.
"We don't know where they are," acknowledged Margaret Moore, who until
recently ran California's sex offender registry.
Sex offenders are not checking in with law enforcement, which in most cases is
a felony. And many overworked police departments are not following up.
Experts say sex offender databases nationwide have fallen short of their
promise.
"It's not only in California," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for
Megan's Law, a national victims' rights group. "We're expecting sex offenders
to be reporting their addresses and that's the problem."
According to 2002 data provided to the Associated Press after repeated
requests over nine months, the state does not know the whereabouts of at least
33,296 sex offenders, or 44 percent of the 76,350 who registered with the state
at least once. These rapists and child molesters vanished after registering.
The total number of convicted sex offenders whose whereabouts are unknown
may be even higher: No one knows how many offenders never registered at all
after leaving prison.
Failing to register could put high-risk offenders in jail for as many as three more
years, but most police departments are not enforcing the law.
No one knows how many of these missing sex offenders have struck again. But
nationally, 52 percent of rapists are arrested for new crimes within three years
of leaving prison, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The 1996 law is 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.
All states have similar laws designed to warn communities about the presence
of such ex-cons.
Megan's Law databases are supposed to help the public and police monitor
convicted 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.
But no one audits California's database for accuracy. State Justice Department
officials cannot even say how much the program costs.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer touts the sex offender database as a valuable
tool for the public. But when presented with the AP's findings he acknowledged
changes are needed.
"Our system is inadequate, woefully inadequate," he said. "It can only be
improved by putting money into the local law enforcement agencies. It's a
matter of resources."
Some states take a firmer approach. In Washington, law enforcement officers
go to sex offenders each year to confirm their information, rather than relying
on ex-cons to report in. Ten percent of that state's 17,105 offenders could not
be found, said Toni Korneder, Washington's Criminal History Records manager
-
Some of the Libs here would come and say how this law sucks....
WHere is MT when you need him?
-
A permanent address at the bottom of San Francisco Bay would solve that problem. Or is that too drastic.
Shuckins