Poor sex offender '"forced underground"

[elfeminista]

AP
Calif. offenders say they are homeless

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Wed Oct 31, 8:07 PM ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hundreds of California sex offenders who face tough new restrictions on where they can live are declaring themselves homeless — truthfully or not — and that's making it difficult for the state to track them.

Jessica's Law, approved by 70 percent of California voters a year ago, bars registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children gather. That leaves few places where offenders can live legally.

Some who have had trouble finding a place to live are avoiding re-arrest by reporting — falsely, in some cases — that they are homeless.

Experts say it is hard to monitor sex offenders when they lie about their address or are living day-to-day in cheap hotels, homeless shelters or on the street. It also means they may not be getting the treatment they need.

"We could potentially be making the world more dangerous rather than less dangerous," said therapist Gerry Blasingame, past chairman of the California Coalition on Sexual Offending.

Similar laws in Iowa and Florida have driven offenders underground or onto the streets.

"They drop off the registry because they don't want to admit living in a prohibited zone," said Corwin Ritchie, executive director of the association of Iowa prosecutors.

The organization tried unsuccessfully in the past two years to persuade lawmakers to repeal the state's 2,000-foot residency restriction.

"Most legislators know in their hearts that the law is no good and a waste of time, but they're afraid of the politics of it," Ritchie said.

The problem is worsening in Florida as about 100 local ordinances add restrictions to the state's 1,000-foot rule, said Florida Corrections Department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. Sixteen homeless offenders are now living under a Miami bridge, while another took to sleeping on a bench outside a probation office.

"As society has imposed restrictions, it becomes almost impossible for them to find places to live," Plessinger said.

Twenty-two states have distance restrictions varying from 500 feet to 2,000 feet, according to California researchers. But most impose the offender-free zones only around schools, and several apply only to child molesters, not all sex offenders.

California's law requires parolees to live in the county of their last legal residence. But in San Francisco, for example, all homes are within 2,000 feet of a school or park.

"The state is requiring parolees to find eligible housing in San Francisco, knowing full well there isn't any," said Mike Jimenez, president of the California parole officers union. "It will be impossible for parole agents to enforce Jessica's Law in certain areas, and encouraging `transient' living arrangements just allows sex offenders to avoid it altogether."

State figures show a 27 percent increase in homelessness among California's 67,000 registered sex offenders since the law took effect in November 2006. Since August, the number of offenders with no permanent address rose by 560 to 2,622.

"This is a huge surge," said Deputy Attorney General Janet Neeley, whose office maintains the database. "Any law enforcement officer would tell you we would prefer to have offenders at addresses where we can locate them."

Offenders who declare themselves homeless must tell their parole officer each day where they spent the previous night.

Those who declare themselves homeless are still legally bound by the 2,000-foot rule; they cannot stay under a bridge near where children gather, for example. But it is more difficult for parole officers to keep tabs on them.

Parole officers said some offenders are registering as homeless, then sneaking back to homes that violate the law. That's easy to do because fewer than 30 percent of transient offenders currently wear the Global Positioning System tracking devices required by Jessica's Law.

"If they tell you that they were under the American River bridge, we're going to take that at face value," said Corrections Department spokesman Bill Sessa, referring to a homeless hangout in Sacramento.

During a recent sweep in the Oakland area, parole officers discovered that two of the five offenders they checked weren't living in the temporary shelters they had reported as their new homes. Neither had been issued a GPS device.

Department spokesman Seth Unger said parole agents are starting to make the homeless a priority in issuing the GPS ankle bracelets, which are still being phased in.

R.L., a 42-year-old sex offender who lives near Disneyland in Southern California, said he registered as homeless after his parole agent told him two potential homes were too close to schools or parks.

"I finally asked, `Where do you want me to live?' He said, `You have a car, don't you?'" said R.L., who asked that his full not be used because of the stigma surrounding sex offenders.

The law was named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a convicted sex offender near her Florida home in 2005.

The author of Jessica's Law, state Sen. George Runner, said "90 percent" of it is working well. But he conceded that some portions need to be fixed.

"When the voters voted for this, they decided that they didn't want a child molester to live across the street from a school," said Runner, a Republican from Lancaster in Los Angeles County's high desert. "If that means that in some areas that needs to be 1,000 feet or 1,500 feet, then I think that we still accomplish what it is the voters wanted."

___

[oneangrygirl]

maybe they should live inside a jail.

[CoolAunt]

Excuse me if I don't cry him a river of tears.

[elfeminista]

"
The law was named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a convicted sex offender near her Florida home in 2005. "

It is interesting how they categorize men like this along side of 25 year ols femake teachers who fall in love with 15 year old boys. I am not excusing it, but
at the same time it is not the same thing.

The law against pedophiles are very lax in some states (!!!). As recently as four years ago in Iowa, male sex offenders were getting 2 year *suspended sentences* plus "treatment". In Iowa, and many rural places it is a big hidden secret. and it is the Women that are scarred for life because it is the men that do the crime of abusing children.

[RGM]

maybe they should live inside a jail.

I was thinking the same thing while reading the article. Sad that you're not allowed to live near places where children congregate (hmm, are kids too young to congregate?), which rules you out from a lot of major cities. Go live in a forest where you won't see any, and you'll be with all your friends too.

[Andrew]

THe Australian Outback ( and such places) are wide open; but then again, there are still a few children around.

[Andrew]

THere used to be an outfit called ITT Antarctic Services. Maybe they're still around. THey hired guys to do maintenance, pick up trash, etc. at these scientific stations in Antarctica. I don't know if they hire felons, but if these guys gave the group any trouble, I think I know where they'd end up.

[axjxhx]

ooh, poor wittle pedophiles.

forget GPS. if The People knew that the photos of these offenders were widely available to parents and concerned adults, then The People could police these offenders, homeless or not. GPS or none. knowledge of who these offenders are is more important to The People rather than to obscure their identities through 'police observation.' if The People were realistic and knew that it was their responsibility to know the faces of these offenders, then The People would not depend on the patriarchal police to know where these offenders are all the time. The People would know their faces. The People would drive them from their communities. either way, these offenders would probably end up homeless -- and not just lying about it, either.

depending on the police to know who all the sexual offenders are is willful ignorance. i regularly go on the internet to search for photos of offenders in my area. i study their (mug shot) faces. if i see them in public, i will look them in the eye and they will know that i KNOW what they've done. i believe strongly in the shaming and outing of sexual offenders since the whole offense is hidden behind all kinds of doors and curtains in the beginning, and then to be obscured by legalities and social continuities (and by segregating them in jails and prisons so that they survive their time served) once the crimes have been uncovered from the first series of obscurities. the whole thing needs to be blown wide open, but unless sex is *sexxxay* and *hott* then no one (other than a fraction of The People) wants to acknowledge any responsibility for opening a reasonable (not totally reactionary) dialog about sex and abuse of power in sex. as of right now, The People just want someone else to take care of these problems.


okay, rant over. for now.

[Andrew]

THanks for the rant, nonetheless. You speak truth.
I live in an area with numerous registered offenders. You reminded of my duty to find out more of who they are.