A bill under consideration would ban registered sex offenders from going to county fairs.
“There is a loophole in the current sex offender law that says you can’t work at the county fairs or you can’t be a vendor at the county fairs, but you can attend them,” Illinois State Representative Mike Smiddy told News 8′s Angie Sharp on Wednesday, February 12th, 2014.
State Rep. Smiddy heard about the loophole following the 2013 Whiteside County Fair. The State’s Attorney for Whiteside County called him and explained an instance where a Whiteside County Sheriff’s Deputy noticed a convicted sex offender around children at the fair. However, he wasn’t able to do anything, because it’s not against the law. Full Article
Was he taking his kids there to enjoy what life has to offer?
Unless he was banned as part of supervised release, it should be of absolutely no consequence other than that person that noticed him there to stay away from him and
not harass him or interfere with the registrant’s rights.
Police and public officials need to underscore the purpose of the law is not to further admonish registrants but to have the general population make informed decisions such as avoiding this person if they choose. Our pastor tried to get this point across in sermons in general terms. He is not the pastor anymore. Apparently cafeteria christianity is in vogue…
The dumb public employee really is saying the free citizen did NOTHING to assault another person…….thanks for reporting info that defends fundamental rights …buford.
This article and virtually all others never inform the public that the term SO as it applies in most cases regarding sanctions, is applied to persons on supervised release. It lumps in everyone regardless of how many decades their cases have been closed. Never once does the media step up to clear that up – that probably 10% of the registrants (or less) are actually on parole or probation and subject to most of the ‘permission’ presences.
The media is just as much to blame as the idiot politicians that put these draconian laws – based on invalid assumptions – in place.
Maybe they should ban kid’s from the fair, that way it would protect them all from RSO’s that attend. It would be simpler that way you can tell who is a kid or not,just by looking at them. But you can’t tell a RSO just by looking at them
There is a loophole in the current sex offender law that says you can’t work at the county fairs or you can’t be a vendor at the county fairs, but you can attend them,”
I find this statement hilarious and perplexing considering Megan’s Law IS a gigantic LOOPHOLE in the U.S Constitution that circumvents the privacy, safety and security of an individual for fleeting psychological comfort in knowing where one of “those people” lives.