As a legislator, one of the biggest concerns I have is public safety. Keeping the public safe from the many dangers that are prevalent in today’s society is a challenge. One area of work I have spent a great deal of time on is keeping children safe from sex abuse. And unfortunately, I have found that there are too many things that are a false sense of security. One I have a big problem with is the sex offender registry. The research shows that sex offender registries don’t reduce recidivism. Full Opinion Piece
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This guy is F-ed up. Basically an OK article; however the guy has some deeply embedded myths running around in his brain.
” Think of sex offenders like cancer. There are all different types. They attack differently. They respond to treatment and punishment differently. They should all be taken serious but there are some that are more awful than others”
Apparently this man believes even something that is not “sex” but is considered “sex” because some sick people that see “sex” everywhere they look convinced lawmakers to pass a law are a cancer that needs to be killed (this is what is done to cancer cells;’ they are killed).
Can someone PLEASE shed a little light on this statement that sounds like utter BS every time I hear it?
“Out of 100 sex offenders, 60 to 70 go unreported.”
If something is not reported I always wonder if this statement is being made to keep people thinking that these unconstitutional registries are a good thing and still needed. They must be just making up a number they think sounds good.
Paul Heroux is legislative cancer and is rapidly spreading to his most vulnerable victims; his constituents and the uninformed voter populace.
To: Q. I tried to find that usually obscure and usually inaccurate history of the “60 to 70 ” statistic. All I could find was a town meeting in Holder, Masschusits (typo) that took place on Feb. 8, 2007 where Robert Baker of the Sex Offender Registration Board barfed out to the crowded room of seventy people saying, “..the staggering statistic… 60 to 70%..will go unreported….” Got it from “The Landmark” regional newspaper. Why zit so hard to find this stuff ?
However, the MOTHER LODE of statistics misused can be found at: WAR / SEX OFFENDER MYTHS dated 2013. Of course it’s Women Against Registry reprinting Derek Logue’s vital work.
To: Wonderin. THANK YOU for those NoTell California lyrics !! My favorite is ” they stabbed it with their steely knives, but they could not kill the beast”. Not sure why I like that…
“Out of 100 sex offenders, 60 to 70 go unreported.”
I think he made a typing error, and means ‘sex offenses’. Lets say we accept his numbers of 60-70% unreported, even though in times more current than when this study was made the number could be even higher now due to the counter-productive laws which shame entire families and create more under-reporting by the victim if the victim was abused by a family member, which is common. Since we know registrants commit under 5 percent of sex crimes, it follows non-registrants commit over 95% of sex crimes. Since the crimes are unreported, its hard to definitively know if it is registrants or non-registrants who committed those crimes, but I would venture to guess it is virtually entirely non-registrants committing those unreported crimes because as Heroux pointed out, non-registrants can disappear before they are made to register and then commit more sex crimes unabated, granted they are not politicians like Al Robles, Mark Foley or John Walsh and not be made to register even if their guilt is unquestionable. In Robles case, it is still alleged, however, but I’m confident he is guilty because he fits a scientific pattern of those who advocate for these draconian punishments being offenders themselves. And he is not being accused by someone of low stature either.
Q said ‘ ““Out of 100 sex offenders, 60 to 70 go unreported”
If something is not reported I always wonder if this statement is being made to keep people thinking that these unconstitutional registries are a good thing and still needed. They must be just making up a number they think sounds good.’
I think it was already pointed out that California registrant parolees are subjected to mandatory lie detector tests. And no surprise, the ones not sent back to jail passed with flying colors and not committing any more offenses. 98+% no new sex crimes. Whatever percent goes under-reported of current sex crimes, it didn’t mostly come from registrants, according to scientific studies. The 60-70% underreported sex crimes number is used as propaganda to confuse and re-enforce the rationale for unconstitutional punishments/restrictions on registrants, as Q acknowledged as a possibility, since it makes for a good soundbite statistic that sounds like it damns registrants, when it really shows the need to get rid of these draconian punishments which shame entire families and lead to under-reporting.
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Dissapearing sex offender. Ha! If I could buy a gun and disappear into the bush of Alaska without having to worry bout being a fugitive for failing to register I would be gone. If it wasn’t for my son and grandson I probably would do it anyway just to get away from this weak cowardly draconian thing people call society.
To: Q. Thank you for going to Derek’s statistics. It’s amazing the help he has provided over the years.
You know, if I got in a bar fight with the Runners, I sure would want Derek by my side….