Around the Web

The COO of the National Children's Museum was arrested Tuesday on charges of distributing child pornography over the Internet.

The Ontario Court of Appeal heard arguments recently on whether it should scrap the sex offender registry.  The case, according to the article, may end up reaching the Canadian Supreme Court. 

The debate over juvenile sex offender law and sentencing continues.  This article mentions that "the majority of [juvenile sex offenders] never offend again...maybe 5 to 14 percent...ever offend again."  This article says 10 percent will re-offend, as opposed to adults, "who are 50 percent likely to re-offend."

Utah legislative panel has approved a bill to end a ban on emergency kinship placements for abused children, which could cost the state up to $500,000 in federal funding.  According to the article "[e]mergency kinship placements have been banned since May under a 'better-safe-than-sorry' interpretation of the federal Adam Walsh Act, which requires that all adoptive and foster families, including kin, undergo lengthy FBI criminal screens."

According to Feminist Law Professors, eight Australian teenage boys who sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl, filmed it, and distributed it as pornography will not serve time.  The full story is available here.

Comments

[David H]

The Rochester report was strange in that another reporter interviewed me the week before for a sex offenders and Halloween story. I gave him accurate adult recidivism statistics. A local Parole Office even told him that he could not ever remember a sex offender committing another sex crime under his watch.

I sent this reporter the following e-mail:

Jane,

I watched your report with interest. In general, I thought you did a good job of showing the complexity of the problem. There are a couple of significant points I would like to raise.

Your story states: "In Monroe County, 35 to 40 pedophiles a year, aged 7 to 15, are returned to their parents, communities and schools."

There is no such think as a juvenile pedophile, aged 7 to 15. Clinically speaking, a pedophile must be someone who is 16 years or older. Here is the clinical definition of a pedophile:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), 1994, 886 pages, ISBN 0-89042-062-9, paperback, $42.95 (plus $5.00 shipping), Order #2062. Order From: American Psychiatric Press, Inc. 1400 K. Street, N.W., Washington, DC, 20005.

DSM-IV Criteria for Pedophilia

* Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges or behaviors involving sexual activity with a pre-pubescent child or children (generally age 13 or younger)
* The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors case clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupation, or other important areas of functioning.
* The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A. Note: Do not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old

It is not helpful to imply that a juvenile is a pedophile. Certainly, a 10 year old who molests a 7 year old is not a pedophile. There is a huge difference between an adult who molests a child and a child who has sexual contact with another child. That distinction should never be lost.

Also, your story states: "Only 10 percent will re-offend, compared to adults, who are 50 percent likely to re-offend."

I would be very interested in where you got that 50% re-offense rate for adults. I am extremely knowledgeable of sex offender recidivism studies and know of no large, broad based study that has a sexual re-offense rate that high. Re-offense rates are actually very low. The mythology of high recidivism rates has created an atmosphere of hysteria in many communities which is not helpful, to say the least.

This is information from my web site, "Facts about Megan's Law and Sex Offenders in New York State" - http://theparson.net/so

Much of the present discussion and debate about sex offenders is based on hysteria rather than fact. This is particularly true about sex offender recidivism. Recidivism statistics are often given without identifying the source. Even when attributed to a source, the statistics given are often misleading. For example, many New York politicians quote a 49% recidivism rate, giving the impression that 49% of sex offenders will repeat their crimes. This figure is drawn from a New York Department of Corrections study (Profile and follow-up of sex offenders released in 1986, prepared by Canestrini, K., State of New York Department of Correctional Services) which followed 556 sex offenders released from state prisons. Within 9 years of their release, 49% were returned to prison. Not reported is the fact that only 6% of these (34 out of 556) were returned to prison for a new sex crime. Most were returned for parole violations (27%) or for committing other crimes such as drug offenses. The study includes the clear statement: “These findings suggest that sex offenders are a diverse population and that when looking at sex offender recidivism it is important to distinguish total criminal activity from sexual reoffending.” (p. 34) Unfortunately, politicians and the media rarely do this.

Note too that this study was conducted before New York’s Megan’s Law was enacted. Has New York’s Megan’s Law reduced this already low recidivism rate? We don’t know. No long term study has been published since then. New York does regularly publish 3 year follow-ups of all those released from state prisons. Between 1985 and 2001 a total of 11,898 sex offenders were released. Only 253 of these (2.1%) were returned to prison for new sex crimes within three years of their release. (2001 Releases: Three Year Post Release Follow-up, State of New York Department of Correctional Services, p. 18) Note too that these figures are given for those guilty of the most serious offenses, not those guilty of less serious offenses who were sentenced to county jails or probation.

The myth is that all sex offenders are alike and that most re-offend. The facts are the opposite. Most former offenders want nothing more than to rebuild normal productive lives. If we prevent them from doing so, our communities will be less safe, not more so.
In 2003, The U.S. Department of Justice issued a report, Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994. Its findings: “In 1994, prisons in 15 States released 9,691 male sex offenders. The 9,691 men are two-thirds of all the male sex offenders released from State prisons in the United States in 1994. This report summarizes findings from a survey that tracked the 9,691 for 3 full years after their release… Within the first 3 years following their release from prison in 1994, 5.3% (517 of the 9,691) of released sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime… Of the 9,691 released sex offenders, 3.5% (339 of the 9,691) were reconvicted for a sex crime within the 3-year followup period.

If I can ever be of any assistance in preparing any future reports, please feel free to call on me.