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Can a registered sex offender coach children in Kansas? That question popped up after a concerned parent emailed FactFinder 12 about a registered sex offender coaching a youth sports team.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said there is no criminal law in Kansas that prevents a convicted sex offender from coaching in youth sports. With the coach not doing anything illegal by coaching, 12 News is not naming him nor the team.
Bennett did say, “There may be conditions of parole or probation that prohibit ‘unsupervised conduct’ or require a convicted offender to not reside within a certain distance from a school.” But “Once the term of probation has been served, that condition no longer applies.”
Personal protection expert and former Miami Police Detective Joe Schillaci said youth sports are a way in which sex offenders can find victims.
I was amazed when I saw this article…. Amazed that there was any place in the U.S. where Registrants are not completely banned from interacting with youth in a professional or volunteer capacity. 😳🤷🏻♂️
Notice the article didn’t mention what the coach in question was convicted for, and certainly not the actual recidivism rates for that particular offense(s). Nor if those offenses were related in any way to coaching youth sports. Nor did they bother to find or interview one of the concerned parents. And they went to a “personal protection expert and former Miami Police Detective” for supporting claims that make up over half the story. Apparently, the local LE didn’t see a need to raise alarms here, for whatever reason. My guess is it’s one of those Romeo and Juliet cases that the reporter buried because it would diminish the alarm intent of the story (likely the real reason they wouldn’t name the coach or team).
In any case, ideally the parents of the kids on that team would be better served to come up with a rotation to observe the practices and meetings this coach has with the team and only intervene if seeing something inappropriate. Or at least discuss with their kids what to look for and what to do if they see it.
But the reality is they’ll probably clamor and yell for the coach to be removed. And not a single one of them will volunteer to coach this team or help find a replacement. Most people would rather pat their own backs for that than do some actual, involved parenting.
To those that say this registrant shouldn’t have taken this position, I respectfully disagree. We all harp on how those with our status should be given second chances and whatnot, and part of that should be to be allowed to demonstrate that we are no longer a threat to anyone. Simply catering to misguided public perception accomplishes nothing. Hang him from the rafters if he accosts one of his players, but research has consistently shown that he is less likely to do so than another coach without priors of any kind.
I have to wonder why this man is coaching youth sports. Does he have a child on the team?
This hits sorta close to home for me. My family, my whole family, was involved with youth sports for years. My elder Brother played youth sports in a city league from age 9 to age 16. My Dad was often, not always but often, his team’s coach. My Mother was the, “Team Mom” and scorekeeper. I was the batboy at age 6…years later, because I didn’t play sports, an Umpire.
Dad remained involved with the league for years after my Brother stopped playing. He even coached a team one year, right after Mom died. My Brother became a Scoutmaster, for his Son’s troop…but continued with that for a couple years after his younger son dropped out. Even today, Dad goes down to the Sports field to help the first year kids learn the fundamentals of fielding. My Brother assists the new Scout Master for this troop…despite his youngest being in his mid-twenties.
Neither my Dad nor my Brother are PFRs. If they were, I would advise them to stay away. Even if they were not on the hate list for crimes against children. People will assume. People will…it would end badly for them regardless of their intentions or actions. I suspect this will end badly for the man in the article, regardless of his motivations or actions.
There was a man in the league…continued to coach 9/10 year olds for years and years. Started coaching his, at the time, 9 year old Son’s team…but stayed with that age group for at least a decade. He had a very, “Hands on” approach to coaching boys of that age…for years. Everybody is going to assume the man in the article is like this coach, and not like my Dad and Brother.
Fact is, sometimes adults do want to be involved with youth activities for perfectly legit reasons. I, for example, continued to umpire little league games for 9 year olds, into my teen years. I didn’t play, so this was my…required contribution to the “Family Effort”. Me, at the time 18 year old, gay person…who later became a PFR convicted of CP possession…free to wander about the Sports park. All the boys knew me…I was the umpire for their games. Nobody “monitored” me…why would they? My family was a fixture of that park for YEARS. I suppose I could have…gotten away with anything.
In honesty, I did commit one crime there…I stole some candy while working in the snack bar. I still feel the shame of that…
The story, churns up memories for me. Some good memories, some not so good. Some…ire…perhaps this man, despite being a PFR, is like my Dad! Some… concern…perhaps he is like that other coach I mentioned.
So guilty before any offense has taken place. Was the man guilty of an abuse against a child? The article didn’t mention his offense. The people just assume the worst. As usual
In Wi. It would be a crime to be a coach of any minor’s team.
My thought is even if it was allowed, it would be so dangerous for the PFR that it wouldn’t be worth it.
Anyone who finds out would have an article in the local news like this one. Every parent will question with prejudice their child. False accusations will be bound to fly.
the story is a trigger ! its either a fake because everything on that news page is sex offender related to keep the fire burning the author of the story is a night crawler probably gets a nice bonus every year too keep the fire going
This kind of stupidity is why Amerika has Registries. We know that because these people are freaking out about a PFR that they have no idea how to protect children. So they take the easy, brainless route.
It doesn’t matter at all who is coaching a minor’s team. The parents need to be EQUALLY vigilant and concerned about whomever it is. IF parents did that and IF they actually protected their children, instead of pretending that big government is helping them, THEN there would be no need at all to give a flip about if the coach was listed on a big government nonsense list or not.
It really is that simple. Registries are not needed in any way. If a parent is relying on Registries to protect their children then they are not protecting their children. While they and the rest of the dummies are freaking out about some PFR somewhere coaching a team, their children will be the ones being molested. That happens all the time and isn’t going to stop.
“If you know the name of the person that’s coaching, Google that name. It’s public record,” he said. “If that person is on a registry, it’ll come up. So, yeah, by all means.”
Yeah, by all means you’re giving Karen the wrong information. Googling doesn’t work too well with common names. That’s one good thing I’m blessed with. You better know more details, Karen
My son‘s coach used to ask me every game would I help him with coaching and practices or sometimes pick kids up and take them to there games and practices as the other parents did for my son when me and my ex-wife were to busy working.
The look on there faces every time I would flat out tell them “No” was priceless 😂
As for me, I will not associate myself with anything that involves children.
I actually give the coach props for not allowing the registry to dictate his life. Wonder how any of the parents would respond if asked wether they thought he was actually a good coach.