If you visit the Department of Justice website, and research ACTUAL statistics and factual information, you will find that the number of released sex offenders that re-offend is in the SINGLE DIGITS percentage-wise. They, according to true fact, are the LEAST likely, of ALL offenders to re-commit. Gee, that totally goes against what you have been led to believe, huh. The facts are this...a child is molested every 2 minutes in this country...they are abused, (largest percentage) by family members, and/or people they know and trust. Stranger abduction is very rare. It just doesn't appear so because the media, and politicians passing "feel good" laws and banking their re-election on the public's fear, have you looking for boogeymen behind every bush.
The media jumps on these stories because it boosts their ratings and makes their advertisers very happy. The really sad thing to me is that there are THOUSANDS of men sitting in prison right now that were falsely accused of this crime, but were convicted. This just happened to my best friend's husband. After the jury found him guilty and he was given 25-Life for something he didn't even do, his attorney polled the jury. Attorneys do this to hone their skills...what could I have done differently, etc. The jury said, and I quote, "We didn't believe the child's story, there were major problems with it, but YOU (the defense attorney) didn't prove that he DIDN'T do it". So basically, my friend is sitting in a state prison now on the "what if" mentality, and the jury came right out and admitted it. They don't want to be a part of a jury who sends someone back out on the streets who's been accused of this kind of crime. They don't care that they just MIGHT be innocent. Well, I hope they can sleep well, I know I wouldn't be able to.
In the witch hunt mentality this country espouses today, if you are ACCUSED of a sex crime, you are GUILTY of it before you even step one foot in the courtroom. Many, MANY men are taking plea deals because even though they are innocent, the DA is threatening LIFE sentences if they make them take it to court, (or make the "victim" testify), and with the odds running EXTREMELY high in favor of the state (DA), they take the pleas.
The laws in this country, the restrictions concerning a released sex offender are changing weekly, right now as I type this, another state is tacking on even more and more restrictions. Men who have been out for YEARS, paid their debt to society and have never committed another crime since then, and who were told they wouldn't have to register BY THE JUDGE, or that they would only have to register for 10 years, are being told that they are now going to have to register for LIFE, because the state changed the law. The guy's been off of the register for 8-10 years, but he now has to go back on. DOUBLE JEOPARDY, anyone? Because to the man and his family who have to endure this, that is EXACTLY how it feels.
The registries, state AND national, are a joke. They are not kept up to date, the information you find on them is inaccurate at best. The ones you SHOULD be afraid of, the Joseph Duncans and Joseph Smiths, are the very ones who will go underground. The people who ABIDE by this "Scarlet Letter Law", have paid their debt and just want to get on with their lives. Live and work, just like everyone else, support their families. And don't even tell me that they should have thought about all of that BEFORE they committed the crime. So should an axe murderer have THOUGHT about his crime before he committed it. But if he gets out, either on parole or from having served his whole time, he's FREE. He doesn't have to plaster his personal information, including his address all over the world so nuts like that guy who killed the two in Maine last week, can easily find him, his wife, and his kids. Oh yes, sex offenders have families. So, we are not only persecuting them, we are terrorizing their wife and their children, on top of not allowing them to earn a living with which to support them.
Facts state that released felons who cannot find a place to live, cannot find a job, have had reassimilating back into society made IMPOSSIBLE...WILL RE-OFFEND.
There are good websites you can go to, to learn truth and facts about this crime and the people who commit them. Department of Justice, SOSEN.org is a good one, Prison Talk Online has a section for that particular crime and their families, it has a LOAD of factual information on it. Anyone is welcome to come in and read, learn, post, etc. You just won't be allowed to "bash". So think about that before you enter. The moderators there are very strict about that kind of thing. When you learn the truth, you are going to be angry about all of the lies the politicians have told you. Just remember that the easiest way for a candidate to get elected or re-elected is to play on your fears..."If you elect me, I will pass a bill that will exhile them to a deserted island somewhere". That's just an example.
After everything I have taken the time to learn, I would much rather live right smack dab beside a released sex offender than I would a drug dealer. There's more chance of your child being hit in a drive-by, than being hurt by that sex offender.
Our government is taking liberties, doing things to these people and their families that goes directly against their constitutional rights. If they can tell these people where they can work and live, they can do it to anyone, just remember that.
Thank you for listening.
Wake up, America, you're constitution's on fire.
