GPS tracking of molesters proposed

January 26, 2006
2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Legislation also would put offenders on parole for life; ideas give some lawmakers pause

By Greg Hafkin
greg.hafkin@indystar.com

Convicted child molesters would face much closer scrutiny after prison under bills moving forward in the legislature.
The proposed laws would require that molesters be placed on lifetime parole upon being released. They also would be monitored with global positioning devices for the rest of their lives. In addition, paroled molesters would be restricted from living within 1,000 feet of a school, park or youth center.
Senate Bill 6 will go before the Senate Appropriations Committee today so legislators can discuss the proposal's financing. The GPS tracking is estimated to cost $10 per day for each offender. According to the Indiana Department of Correction, 378 child molesters were released from state prisons last year.
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee approved House Bill 1132 on Wednesday by a vote of 9-0. That legislation also includes GPS tracking and lifetime parole, but some legislators expressed reservations about treating all molesters the same. The committee referred the bill to a subcommittee for discussion about a possible amendment.
Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, said the criminal justice system should not give the same treatment to all child molesters.
The two main types of offenders, experts say, are fixated and regressed offenders. Fixated offenders are adults who are sexually attracted to children, while regressed offenders are typically attracted to adults but may have sex with children in times of stress.
"The people who prefer children are never going to change," Lawson said. "Those folks are not the folks who are involved in incest situations. There's two separate offenders, and we need to recognize that."
Lawson drew on her own experience. She said a member of her extended family molested her, and if he had been sent to prison, it would have ruined her family. She said certain offenders are better off being treated and rehabilitated rather than monitored.
"We need to be worried about the people, all of the people," Lawson said. "We need to make sure we know what the deep-seated problems are."
Tracking all convicted child molesters their entire lives could be very costly, said Scott Ehlers, state legislative affairs director for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
"There are ways you can determine the dangerousness of a so-called child molester, and you have to weigh the costs versus the benefits," Ehlers said. "What we have seen around the country is overbreadth in terms of who is included in these laws."
Supporters of the legislation said sex offenders are difficult to treat and will continue committing crimes unless an effort is taken to stop them.
"The typical repeat offender will molest 30 to 60 times before they're rearrested," said Steve Roddel, Westfield, the founder of familywatchdog.us, an online sex offender registry. "There is no evidence that rehabilitation works for that population."
A federal Bureau of Justice Statistics study in the mid-1990s found 3.3 percent of convicted child molesters and statutory rapists were rearrested for a similar crime within three years after being released from prison. A 2000 report from the same agency found that the offender is a stranger in only 7 percent of reported sexual assaults against children.
Since most molested children know their molester, GPS monitoring would achieve little, said Eric Lotke, a research fellow at the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. "You can't fix this from outer space," Lotke said. "GPS is a waste of money, a waste of resources, a distraction from things that would actually help."
Call Star reporter Greg Hafkin at (317) 444-2774.