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<br />
<br />Alex Edmondson, a city commissioner, was an
<br />opponent, he says, because itwould have forced
<br />people to move. By drawing up maps of the city
<br />and overlaying school buffer zones, the city also
<br />found that most local sex offenders would be
<br />concentrated in one tesidential area.
<br />Colorado and Minnesota chose nor to enact
<br />residency laws after commissioning studies of
<br />the regulations' effectiveness. In Colorado,
<br />research showed that second-time offenders did
<br />not live any closer to a school than those who
<br />did not reoffend. Both states' studies noted that
<br />residency restrictions tended to isolate offenders,
<br />driving them into rural places, or areas lacking
<br />jobs, transportation, arid treatment providers.
<br />They found that the laws significantly reduced
<br />offenders' access to affordable housing.
<br />Sex offender residency laws sound good
<br />in theory, says Jill Levenson, a researcher at
<br />Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, who
<br />is considered an expert on the topic. "They
<br />grow out of fear, out of anger at an abhorrent
<br />criminal-often a [person who has hurr] a child.
<br />The media perpetuates this perception that
<br />all offenders reoffend, that treatment doesn't
<br />help, and that [these people have] fixed and
<br />unchangeable characteristics."
<br />She goes on to say that there is no doubt that
<br />some sex offenders are highly dangerous and
<br />likely to commit more crimes, but notes that sex
<br />offenders are actually a heterogeneous group.
<br />"Residency laws tend to be overly inclusive.
<br />When we lump [all sex offenders] together, it
<br />dilutes the ability of the public to tell who is truly
<br />a risk," she says. Laws should target supervision
<br />and management pertinent to an individual's
<br />offense pattern, she adds.
<br />What is the recidivism rate among sex of-
<br />
<br />. States with residency laws
<br />States without residency laws
<br />
<br />fenders? A 2004 study by Andrew Harris and
<br />Karl Hanson of Public Safety and Emergency
<br />Preparedness Canada, a government agency,
<br />notes that the question is not easily answered
<br />because the offenders-their age, sex, previous
<br />criminal history, relationship to the victims-
<br />vary greatly. The age and sex of victims and the
<br />types of crimes are also factors.
<br />Using data from 10 follow-up studies of
<br />adult male offenders, Harris and Hanson's study
<br />found that most did nor commit new sex crimes.
<br />First-time offenders are less likely to reoffend
<br />than those with previous sexual convictions and
<br />younger offenders are more likely to commit
<br />new offenses.
<br />The likelihood of recidivism decreases the
<br />longer a convicted offender lives in the com-
<br />munity. Fifteen years following an offender's
<br />release, 13 percent of incestuous child molesters
<br />commit new sex crimes (six percent of them in
<br />the first five years). Among molesters with girl
<br />victims, 16 percent reoffend within 15 years.
<br />Among those with boy victims, that figure is 35
<br />percent (23 percent in the first five years).
<br />
<br />'Stranger danger'
<br />The most glaring mismatch between broad
<br />distance marker laws that prohibit sex offenders
<br />from being near schools is the fact that very few
<br />children are actually snatched from schools-or
<br />anywhere else-and assaulted by strangers. Ac-
<br />cording to the U.S. Bureau ofJustice, just over
<br />90 percent of all sex crimes against children are
<br />committed by a family member or an acquain-
<br />tance. (In cases of assault against adults, that
<br />number is lower-70 to 75 percent.)
<br />"It's the stranger offenses that seem to be the
<br />motivation for the legislation, yet the majority
<br />
<br />Sex Offenders by State
<br />Ala. 5,193 Mont. 1,495
<br />Alaska 4,219 Neb. 2,189
<br />Ariz. 11,305 Nev. 5,573
<br />Ark. 6,426 N.H. 3,250
<br />Calif. 104,824' N.J. 11,003
<br />Colo. 9,125 N.M. 1,915
<br />Conn. 4,106 N.Y. 22,209
<br />D.C. 641 N.C. 9,228
<br />Del. 2,984 N.D. 946
<br />Fla. 35,910 Ohio 3,750
<br />Ga. 11,744 Okla. 5,118
<br />Hawaii 2,170 Ore. 17,160
<br />Idaho 2,801 Pa. 7,736
<br />III. 17,890 R.1. 1,352
<br />Ind. 8,500 S.C. 8,556
<br />Iowa 6,058 S.D. 1,993
<br />Kan. 3,981 Tenn. 8,561
<br />Ky. 5,351 Texas 44,336
<br />La. 6,921 Utah 6,904
<br />Maine 1,670 Vt. 2,340
<br />Md. 4,340 Va. 12,152
<br />Mass. 8,104 Wash. 18,790
<br />Mich. 38,032 W.va. 2,500
<br />Minn. 13,885 Wis. 17,887
<br />Miss. 3,689 Wyo. 981
<br />Mo. 11,031
<br />
<br />'Includes offenders who were incarcerated, deported, and
<br />from out of state.
<br />Source: Parents for Megan's Law, 2006
<br />
<br />of offenses are perpetrated by offenders known
<br />to the victim," says Charles Onley, a research
<br />associate at the Center for Sex Offender Man-
<br />agement, a project supported by the Office of
<br />Justice Programs at the Department ofJustice.
<br />"The research is there. A lot of the residency
<br />restrictions are impacting people who perpe-
<br />trated these acts because they had access; they
<br />were in a position of trust and had fostered a
<br />relationship," he adds.
<br />David D'Amora also notes that national
<br />studies estimate that 85 percent of victims never
<br />report the crime. "A female or child is at a greater
<br />risk of being attacked by a never -arrested person
<br />than a convicted sex offender," he says.
<br />Of course, not all sex crimes involve children;
<br />33 percent of victims of any type of sexual as-
<br />sault are over 18, according to the Bureau of
<br />Justice National Incidence-Based Reporting
<br />System. Yet, buffer laws do not protect places
<br />where potential adult victims congregate, nor
<br />do most differentiate between sex offenders
<br />who offend against children and those who
<br />assault adults.
<br />
<br />Unintended consequences
<br />Residency restrictions can do more harm than
<br />good, say some sexual abuse experts. "There
<br />are a number of unintended consequences to
<br />offenders that the public and politicians aren't
<br />all that sympathetic to," says Jill Levenson.
<br />Chief among them, as the Colorado and Min-
<br />nesota studies note, is offenders' limited access
<br />to affordable housing, and sometimes, housing
<br />of any kind.
<br />Depending how a city is laid out, a distance
<br />marker law can virtually exclude sex offenders.
<br />Proposition 83, a bill passed overwhelmingly
<br />
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