genderberg.com - Sex offenders populate state

CRITICS CLAIM NEVADA A 'PLAYGROUND' FOR SEXUAL PREDATORS
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 1, 2004

RENO - Out-of-state sex offenders are converging on Nevada because of its reputation for lax enforcement of registration and notification laws, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

Authorities told the newspaper that the state's inability to keep tabs on sex offenders is encouraging the influx, particularly to Las Vegas.

"It's a playground for them," said Susan Cooper, executive director of the Las Vegas-based Community Action Against Rape. "They think they can blend (in)."

Sex offenders know Nevada authorities - unlike their counterparts in California, Washington, Florida and other states - lack the resources to track them down when they ignore registration laws, Las Vegas police Sgt. Russ Shoemaker said.

"We are looking at a mass exodus by sex offenders from other states (to Nevada)," Shoemaker said. "They talk to each other and they know, right now, Nevada's not a bad place to be."

Although Nevada's sex offender laws were designed to heighten public awareness of such criminals, a six-month Gazette-Journal investigation found they are falling short of the promise.

What are known as Megan's laws were imposed after the 1994 assault and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a sex offender living near her in New Jersey.

While the laws have been strengthened in many states in recent years, they're languishing in Nevada, the newspaper reported in a special 12-page report published Sunday.

Among other findings, the Gazette-Journal reported the public is notified of only a small percentage of the state's nearly 5,000 known sex offenders, and Nevada authorities don't know the whereabouts of nearly 40 percent of them.

Only four other states have lost track of a higher percentage of sex criminals.

One of the problems is that Nevada law relies on sex offenders to alert police when they change addresses, authorities said.

"We're expecting America's most devious criminals to participate in registration on an honor system," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a New York-based advocacy group for tougher sex offender laws. "It's completely absurd. That's (Nevada's) first fatal mistake."

The investigation also found that Nevada would be one of only nine states without a sex offender Web site had not a private group stepped up to fund it.

Some have criticized the Web site, saying sex offenders' locations are identified only by ZIP code.

Nevada's management of sex offenders is inadequate, leaving women and children vulnerable to attack by sexual predators, local and national experts maintain.

They're pressing state legislators to strengthen state Megan's laws, and to provide more funding to those who deal with sex offenders.

They also say the state should stop relying on offenders to initiate registration and instead force them to register when sentenced or released from prison.

Donna Coleman, president of Las Vegas-based Children's Advocacy Alliance, said legislators must make sex offender management a priority.

"We need to feel as safe in our communities as the tourists feel in the hotels," Coleman said.

State Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, and other lawmakers acknowledge the state's sex offender management system is lacking but say solutions aren't simple.

"There has to be a better system put in place so we are keeping better track of these guys at the local law-enforcement or state level," Washington said. "It remains to be seen (how to make improvements), but it has to happen."

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