By Hazel Lodevico, Independent Newspapers

In 1994, a two-time convicted sex offender lured 7-year-old Megan Kafka into his New Jersey home with the promise of seeing a puppy. Instead, she was raped and killed by the man who had been convicted of sexually assaulting two other children.

After that brutal crime, New Jersey became the first state to pass Megan's Law, which mandates for active community notification, ensuring the community will be made aware of the presence of convicted sex offenders who may pose a risk to public safety.

The federal law requires all 50 states to release information to the public about known convicted sex offenders when it is necessary to protect their safety but does not mandate active notification.

In 2006, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed several laws advocating for rigorous tracking of registered sex offenders and placed further restrictions on where sex offenders may live after their release from prison.

As sex offenders move into parts of the Southeast Valley, attracted by low-income, affordable housing, law enforcement officials say they take extra measures to notify nearby residents of a released sex offender now living in their neighborhood.

With roughly 200 registered sex offenders in the Southeast Valley, about 60 of those addresses cannot be verified, according to the Department of Public Safety web site.

Arizona statutes

Arizona statutes on sex offenders are standard for police departments across the state, according to Lt. Paul Chagolla of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Lt. Chagolla said sex offenders must register with the county sheriff within 10 days after conviction or within 10 days after entering and remaining in any county in Arizona.

At the time of registration an offender must sign a written statement including all information required by the Director of the Department of Public Safety including name and most current place of residency.

If a registered sex offender changes his or her address or name, he or she must inform the sheriff's office in person and in writing of the new address or new name within 72 hours.

The same also goes for out-of-state sex offenders who move to Arizona.

If the offender moves out of Arizona, the sheriff of the county from which he or she moves must advise the local law-enforcement agency in the new jurisdiction.

Violation of registration requirements is a Class 4 felony and the offender will be arrested, Lt. Chagolla said.

According to Detective Phil Quitana of Mesa Police Department's sex offender notification unit, sex offenders are usually closely monitored by their probation officer. However, identifying out-of-state sex offenders who move into Arizona can be difficult if that offender is not assigned a probation officer.

In that case, a sex offender may not be immediately identified unless he or she is stopped for another offense such as a routine traffic stop, Detective Quitana said. However, that number is minute since roughly 90 percent of released sex offenders are on probation, Detective Quitana said.

Local law enforcement may also continually drop by the offender's home to verify the person is still living at the address or that they are not being harassed by the local community.

"People do need to realize that these are people who have done their time and now need to return to society," Detective Quitana said. "We try to build a rapport with these individuals. We don't want them to go underground."

While all police departments or sheriff's offices are also required to notify the community of a sex offender, only Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders - some of the most dangerous convicted offenders - are included in the notifications.

Much of the warnings come in the form of fliers and media announcements.

According to Jennie Lewis, Apache Junction Police Department Crime Analyst, police officers will send out notices to 100 houses buffered by the offender's home. These notices, which include the offender's name, address, physical characteristics and nature of his or her crime, are also passed out to nearby schools and surrounding daycare centers.

Sgt. Andrew Duncan of the Gilbert Police Department said he refers residents to Web sites such as www.familywatchdog.us/ and http://az.gov/webapp/offender/main.do to review safety tips and search for nearby sex offenders.

"We can do everything we can to monitor the offenders and reduce risks," Detective Quintana said. "However, we can't stop these people from moving into certain neighborhoods."

Detective Quintana added some sex offenders might wind up in the same apartment complex because most apartments require renters to have a minimal police record, prompting some sex offenders to live in the same apartment complex.

"Most of the time it's purely coincidental," Detective Quitana said.

A significant number of Level 2 and 3 sex offenders have relocated to East Mesa and Apache Junction, according to Department of Public Safety statistics.

Ms. Lewis suggested cheaper housing and a low cost of living might be the reason these sex offenders retreat to these communities.

"Because we are so small here in Apache Junction, these sex offenders may end up moving very close to each other, or to a high-risk area such as schools and daycare facilities," Ms. Lewis said.

New legislation

In May, Gov. Napolitano signed a law restricting the number of sex offenders who reside in a single apartment complex.

Further legislation has been proposed that prohibits where sex offenders may live, including places where children gather such as schools, daycares and churches.

In September, the Legislature approved measures mandating more stringent laws on sex offender tracking, including Global Positioning Satellite devices for Level 3 sex offenders, registration for homeless offenders and daily Motor Vehicle Department reports to DPS.

Level 3 sex offenders are now required to wear GPS ankle bracelets providing law enforcement with the offender's whereabouts.

Offenders without a physical home address are now required to register at their Sheriff's Office every 90 days instead of annually.

Another measure removes immunity from prosecution for sex offenders who commit crimes by consulting their court-ordered therapists before victims report the crimes to authorities. Previously, sex offenders could avoid prosecution by confiding in their therapist before a victim's report is filed.

Detective Quitana said these new measures have yet to be enforced by most state agencies, except homeless sex offender registration, which immediately went into effect.

Related links:

http://az.gov/webapp/offender/main.do

https://childsafenetwork.org

http://www.familywatchdog.us/

Level 2 and 3 registered sex offenders

East Mesa: 62

Apache Junction/Gold Canyon: 56

Chandler: 40

Gilbert: 21

Queen Creek: 20

l Level 1 sex offenders are not included in police notifications.

From http://az.gov/webapp/offender/main.do

Basic safety rules for children:

l If you are in a public place, and you get separated from your parents, do not wander around looking for them. Go to a checkout counter, the security office, or the lost and found and quickly tell the person in charge that you have lost your mom and dad and need help finding them.

l You should not get into a car or go anywhere with any person unless your parents have told you that it is okay.

l If someone follows you on foot or in a car, stay away from him or her. You should not get close to any car, unless your parent or a trusted adult accompanies you.

l Grownups and others who need help should not ask children for help; they should ask older people.

l No one should ask you for directions or for help looking for a "lost puppy", or tell you that your mother or father is in trouble and that he or she will take you to them.

l If someone tries to take you somewhere, quickly get away from him (or her) and yell or scream, "This man (woman) is trying to take me away" or "This person is not my father (mother)."

l You should try to take a friend with you, and never go places alone.

l Always ask your parents' permission to leave the yard or play area or to go into someone's home.

l No one should touch you in the parts of the body that would be covered by a bathing suit, nor should you touch anyone else in those areas. Your body is special and private.

From https://childsafenetwork.org

Here's to a happy 'Fright Night'

No designated time for trick-or-treating

By Jamie Paige
jpaige@news-press.com
Originally posted on October 31, 2006

Safety Tips

To help ensure a safe Halloween, the Lee County Sheriff's Office has suggested reviewing these safety tips with your family before trick-or-treating:

• Use makeup instead of a mask so you can see.

• Wear light-colored clothing or costumes. Carry a flashlight or light stick.

• Make a map of your trick-or-treat route. Parents can check public Web sites or other information sources as a precaution, such as familywatchdog.us.

• Stay in your own neighborhood.

• Keep a safe distance between you and moving cars. Use sidewalks or walk facing traffic.

• Be respectful of other people and their property.

• Stop only at well-lit houses. Don't go inside a stranger's house, no matter what anyone says.

• Screen all treats before you eat them. Don't accept and, especially, don't eat anything not commercially wrapped.

• Start early, end early.

• Walk, don't run. Don't carry sharp instruments. And never carry a lighted torch or candles.

• Don't go between parked cars or crisscross back and forth across streets or into traffic.

• Trick-or-treaters should always be in groups; parents should accompany young children.

Parents who want information should contact the Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Unit at 477-1400.

Trick or treating

There is no designated time for trick-or-treating in Lee County. "I would recommend trying to get younger kids in before dark, or shortly after," said Assistant County Manager Pete Winton. "We don't promulgate a time for it, but just use your common sense."

The city of Bonita Springs is not limiting hours of trick-or-treating.

"Just advising people to use caution and safety and if they are going to have the kids out after the sun goes down to make sure that everybody carries a flashlight," Assistant City Manager Barbara Barnes-Buchanan said.

While Cape Coral doesn't have a designated night to unleash ghosts and goblins, city spokeswoman Connie Barron said residents usually head out Halloween night for trick-or-treat.

"We leave that up to the parents," Baron said. "But we do anticipate it will be (today)."

Holiday history

Observance of Halloween dates back to Celtic rituals thousands of years ago. In the United States, the first official citywide Halloween celebration was in Anoka, Minn., in 1921.

About 2,000 years ago, the Celts, who lived in what is now the United Kingdom, Ireland and northern France, celebrated their new year Nov. 1. It marked the end of harvest and summer and beginning of winter, a time that was often associated with human death.

On Oct. 31, they observed Samhain, when it was believed ghosts of the dead returned to earth, according to history.com. Celts believed presence of spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future.

The Druids would build large bonfires, and people would burn crops and animals as sacrifices to Celtic deities. They wore costumes, typically animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes.

Black cat ban

A black cat is less likely to cross your path this Halloween in Lee County.

Like many shelters across the country, the Gulf Coast Humane Society in Lee County is prohibiting black cat adoptions until Nov. 3, fearing the animals could be mistreated in Halloween pranks — or worse, sacrificed in a satanic ritual.

It's not clear how many shelters still seasonally ban black cat adoptions, said Kim Intino, director of animal sheltering issues for the Humane Society of the United States. But Intino said the trend seems to be fading — along with the once-common bans on bunny adoptions around Easter or puppy adoptions as Christmas gifts.

Spooky numbers

According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

•36.1 million: Estimated number of potential "trick-or-treaters" in 2005 — 5- to 13-year-olds — across the United States, which declined by 284,000 from 2004.

•108 million: Number of occupied housing units across the nation — all potential stops for trick-or-treaters.

•1.1 billion pounds: Total production of major U.S. pumpkin-producing states in 2005. Illinois led by producing 497 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. Pumpkin patches in California, Ohio and Pennsylvania also provided lots of pumpkins: Each state produced at least 100 million pounds.

•1,241: Number of U.S. manufacturing establishments that produced chocolate and cocoa products in 2004, employing 43,322 people and shipping $12.5 billion worth of goods.

•515: Number of U.S. establishments that manufactured non-chocolate confectionary products in 2004.

•26 pounds: Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2005; it is believed a large portion is consumed around Halloween.

•2,497: Number of formal-wear and costume-rental establishments across the nation in 2004.

Find area sex offenders before Halloween night


NBC2 News
Last updated on: 10/30/2006 6:19:05 PM

LEE COUNTY: Deputies with the Lee County Sheriff�s Office say if you have bought the costumes and the candy and think that you are ready for Halloween night � think again. Deputies want parents to know if you don�t do your homework, you could be sending your child to the door of a sexual predator.

Lee County resident Scott Coyne says he wants to make sure his daughter Shelby�s Halloween is a safe one.

�It gets dark early now; we wanted to pick her up something a little lighter so it's easier to see,� said Coyne.

But beyond the safe costumes, candy checks, and looking both ways to cross the street, parents need to know whose door their children are about to knock on.

�We now really have to think about what house they're going to,� said Ileana Foell of the Lee County Sheriff�s Office.

Foell explained that there are hundreds of sexual offenders and predators in both Lee and Collier Counties. To find out if they live in your neighborhood, all you need to do is sign onto the internet.

�You can put in a street address and it will map out where all of the offenders are living at the moment,� said Foell.

Coyne says that he has visited sites such as familywatchdog.us and familybeacon.com three or four times every year.

�It comes up with signs and lists and some have places where they work which are helpful,� said Coyne.

�Many neighborhoods don't have offenders or predators living there. But if there is one you want to know,� said Foell.

Coyne says he makes sure he knows � especially around Halloween.

"You have to enjoy the day because the kids have to have fun. But at the same time, you've got to take care of your own,� said Coyne.

Statistics show that one in five girls and one out of six boys are molested before the age of 18. The numbers also show that 90 percent of molestations are done by someone the child knows.

� 2006 by NBC2 NEWS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Create A Safe Route For Your Trick or Treaters

As your witches and goblins go door to door this Halloween, cavities and sugar highs aren't the only concerns. Sex offenders live all around us, and most times they are just the guy or girl next door.

Halloween -- the day to be anyone but yourself. Kids transform into angels and ghosts, bumble bees and pirates, but sex offenders don't need a costume to get close to your children. It's the one night a year children parade from door to door, knocking for candy even from strangers.

It's important to know where your children are trick or treating. You can plan a trick or treating route right from your computer. Familywatchdog.us will map out your area and tell you where sex offenders live.

Looking at a map of Idaho Falls, it looks like every neighborhood is home to at least one. Type in your address and a map of your area will pop up. The colored dots represent sex offenders. The red dots are child sex offenders, yellow dots are rapists and green represents all other offenses.

Click on the pin points for more information. All of the offenders information is on your screen -- What the offenders been convicted of, what he looks like and his or her exact address, so while parents worry about cavities and sugar highs, make sure to beware of other threats as well.

Last year drastic steps were taken by law enforcement and probation and parole in some states to keep children away from sex offenders on Halloween.

In New Jersey, sex offenders couldn't leave their homes, and they were prohibited from opening their door for trick-or-treaters. In some counties in New York, sex offenders went to a mandatory educational program Oct. 31.

For more information, visit http://www.familywatchdog.us/.

Story Created: Oct 27, 2006 at 4:16 PM MST

Story Updated: Oct 27, 2006 at 8:09 PM MST

Don’t be a victim

By Pat Hambrick

Thursday, October 26, 2006 6:54 PM CDT

The Daily Citizen

Would-be attackers take heed: at least 18 women from the Searcy area will not be attacked without a fight.

After attending a self-defense workshop presented by Detectives Alza Cheek and Ann Owens of the Searcy Police Department’s Crimes Against Women Unit and White County Domestic Violence Prevention on Tuesday night, the women are prepared to defend themselves.

The detectives talked to the women about proactive measures to protect themselves while shopping, traveling, or at home, as well as demonstrated self-defense methods and suggested improvised weapons to use if they are attacked.

Owens warned the women to be alert when shopping at Wal-Mart, because four sexual offenders live nearby. She said information on the location of sexual predators can be found at www.familywatchdog.com or www.acic.org, though it is often not current due to the volume of data that must be entered daily. There are 133 sexual offenders currently living in White County and 14 of those live within the Searcy city limits, she said.

“It is important that you not consider yourself a victim. Have the mindset ‘I am not going to be a victim. I am not going down without a fight,’” Owens said.

The detectives stressed that a self-confident attitude — walking with your head up, alert and aware of the people around you — can be enough to deter a would-be attacker, who is usually looking for a less-confident target.

The detectives said the same awareness applies to people you encounter inside a store: pay attention to what people are wearing and be able to give a description, especially if the person makes you feel uncomfortable. If you do feel uncomfortable or someone seems to be following you outside the store, go to security and ask to be escorted to your car.

Before you exit the store, have your car keys in the palm of your hand with the key protruding between your fingers. The key can be used as a weapon, and the grasp on the key is secure so there is no fumbling when you go to unlock your car. Especially if it is dark, look under your vehicle to make sure no one is hiding there. If the car has been left unlocked, look in your back seat. Keep packages stored in the trunk or covered with a blanket in the back seat, the detectives advised.

If someone approaches you that you do not know, keep something between you and that person — the shopping cart, your car door, or package. Those things can also be used as a weapon. Owens reminded the women how much pain can be caused by an accidental bump on the leg from a shopping cart and suggested they thrust the cart into a would-be attacker. If asked for their purse, they should throw the purse past the attacker and run in the opposite direction, screaming for help.

Other improvised weapons the detectives suggested, in addition to the key above, include perfume, ink pen or pencil, high heel shoe, a drink in your hand, or pepper spray. Owens said caution should be used with pepper spray, especially if the wind is blowing, and anyone using the spray should always turn her head.

“Act crazy. Scream. Faint. Vomit. The attacker is not expecting that,” Owens said. “Spit, bite, scratch, hit — leave a mark that will allow police to identify the attacker.”

Other advice included: ask for help from the first person you see, call police, and try to remember a description of the suspect. If a sexual assault has occurred, do not shower or bathe, go straight to the hospital and do not change your clothes.

Women traveling alone by car should let someone know the route they will be taking and pay attention to road markers so they know where they are if they need to call for help. If your car breaks down, call police and report your location. Don’t let anyone in your car, Cheek advised.

Owens said a kit can be purchased at Wal-Mart, which includes a “call for help” sign that can be placed in the car window. Even if you do not have an activated cell phone, any cell phone that is charged will allow you to call 911. If you don’t have a cell phone, donated cell phones are available from the detectives or from WCDVP free of charge, Cheek said.

When at home, keep your doors and windows locked and do not let strangers into your home, they advised.

Cheek and Owens demonstrated some simple self-defense moves. Owens said a kick to the common peroneal nerve, on the side of the knee, is very painful, as is a kick to the kneecap or the back of the knee. The elbow is the hardest and strongest part of the body and can be a weapon. She reminded the women to SING, as demonstrated by Sandra Bullock in the movie “Miss Congeniality:” hit the attacker’s solar plexus, instep, nose and groin.

The detectives spoke about domestic violence and said bruising is one thing they look for, because the color of a bruise indicates the age of the bruise. It helps them to discern if a report of domestic violence took place within the time frame reported, among other things.

The women were shown photos of a local woman who was badly beaten and kicked, but managed to survive, and pointed out the way the color of her bruises changed over time. Issues surrounding domestic violence were also discussed.

The self-defense workshop was one of a number of programs presented in White County during October by WCDVP as part of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention month activities.

“Part of the mission of WCDVP is to educate the public about domestic violence. So many myths and stereotypes surround domestic violence, and those stereotypes interfere with the victim getting help,” said Kaye Candlish, Executive Director of WCDVP.

How safe is your child's trick or treat path?

Nov 2, 2006 09:05 AM

DUNCAN-- Halloween is less than a week away and that means many of you will be sending your kids out trick or treating. But times have changed for parents these days. It's not just about checking your candy and the little ones' costumes. Who's checking your neighborhood and how safe is your child's trick or treat path?

There are restrictions on where sex offenders can live, but nothing stops them from passing out candy to your kids. Theres a web site called http://www.familywatchdog.us/ it's something all parents should look at before Halloween night.

Most neighborhoods are ready for Halloween. Getting all the decorations in the right place didn't keep sandra chamberlain from checking for sex offenders in her neighborhood. Chamberlain says "its very important to know your path, your surroundings and make sure you know who lives there."

Sandra has looked up sex offender information on the Duncan Police Department's website. Detective Keith Stewart says he's concerned that too many parents aren't doing that. Detective Stewart says "they don't think about who's next door or who's around the corner and that can cause problems. We cant forget that they're here, they're in our community, they're in our society and you just have to be aware and be cautious of what you do."

The Duncan Police Department has a link to it on their page. But anyone can access it. When you go there, you'll see on the right side of your computer screen a spot that says "find offenders. " You just type your own address in and within seconds you have a list of sexual offenders in your community.

CITY SCHOOLS' CHIEF ACTS TO WARN PARENTS OF PREDATORS

Oct. 26, 2006

By SARAH McCROBIE, Staff Writer

Within a casual stroll of the Oswego Community Christian School, a registered sex offender makes his home.

Some 27 registered sex offenders live in Oswego, with a dozen of them living within a half mile of schools.

The sex offenders include three local men, who reside in homes within 1/2 mile from Leighton Elementary School; four men near Kingsford Park School, including one who lives .28 miles away; and one offender living 1/2 mile away from Riley Elementary School, and one near Fitzhugh, according to www.familywatchdog.us.

To make students, parents, and faculty aware of these individuals, Superintendent of Schools David Fischer recently mailed an informational letter to notify parents of Oswego students.

“I know parents are concerned about this issue, and this letter provided them with information to help them locate sex offenders within the district,” Fischer said.

Although Fischer is not legally required to inform parents of sex offenders living in the area, Fischer said he felt obligated to do so, “as it has the potential to impact district students.”

In addition to informing parents that there is a paroled sex offender living in the district, the superintendent also provided a Web site and the phone numbers of local law enforcement departments aimed at tracking registered sex offenders.

Fischer said that he sent out a similar letter last year after meeting with other Oswego County superintendents and members of the sheriff's department and other law enforcement officials. Despite the district's continual efforts to make parents aware, the superintendent said it is no easy task.

“The sex offender registry changes frequently ... It's a cumbersome task to keep parents informed because of all the changes,” Fischer said. However, he noted that the district was doing its best to increase awareness of sex offenders in the area, and said he would continue distributing such letters in the future.

CITY SCHOOLS' CHIEF ACTS TO WARN PARENTS OF PREDATORS

Within a casual stroll of the Oswego Community Christian School, a registered sex offender makes his home.

MAN WANTS TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT AT OHS

After several years of complaining to the school district because of its continual use of the high-powered lights over the Oswego High School tennis courts, one resident has had enough.

AT BOCES, NOT ALL LEARNING IS IN SCHOOL

“This is not your daddy's BOCES,” declares Ron Camp.

WEATHERIZATION DAY TO FOCUS ON LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

As the cold weather approaches, most families across Oswego County are turning up their thermostats to combat dropping temperatures. For low-income families, however, cranking up the heat is not always an option. These families could pay 16 percent or more of their annual incomes for energy compared with only 5 percent for non-low-income families. Unable to pay gaping balances or hefty reconnection fees, some families are considering how they will survive this winter without heat.

LIFE PARTICIPATES IN PAJAMA BRIGADE

The participants of the LIFE Day Habilitation program at Oswego Industries Inc. donated shirts and pajama bottoms to B104.7's “Pajama Brigade.” The country music radio station was collecting pajamas to send to help wounded soldiers in Iraq feel more comfortable while recovering from their injuries. The LIFE participants used money they had earned from a silent auction of some of their artwork. When they delivered the pajamas to the station, they were given a tour and were even on the air with Amber Taylor.

CBS 2 Investigates: New Sex Offender Database
Oct 9, 2006 5:02 pm US/Eastern

Color-Coded Online Site Let's You See Who Lives Where

Scott WeinbergerReporting
(CBS) NEW YORK With a click of the mouse, Candice Lombardi learned just how many sex offenders were living or working in her neighborhood."Nine hundred seventy offenders is a lot higher than I would have thought," Lombardi said."It gives you the persons picture, that's really scary, Second Avenue, that's where I live."Lombardi is the mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. She's looking at a brand new Web site -- www.familywatchdog.us. Here's how it works: just plug in your address and the site provides a map of your area. Color coded boxes show the address where registered sex offenders live or work and even details of their offenses. "This is a good piece of information. It's great to know that someone created a place where you can go and actually see who's in your neighborhood," said Lombardi.The closest two offenders to her home are a man who lives a few blocks south, convicted of sexually assaulting a 27-year-old woman, and another living nearby who's been convicted of attempted sodomy of a 13-year-old boy. Several months ago, a series of CBS 2 investigations revealed that 59 registered sex offenders were living in a cluster of boarding homes in one small Suffolk County neighborhood in Coram. After our stories were broadcast, state legislation was introduced to prevent this type of sex offender saturation in a single neighborhood. There is no cost to access the information on the Family Watchdog Web site, which draws all of it's information from sex offender registries in each state and combines that information with mapping software.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Watchdogs On the Lookout For Sexual Predators

By Charles Hack
10/05/2006

Any concerned parent who plugs their zip code into a sex-offender watchdog website will see a map that makes Brooklyn look like it is sick with measles. That’s because the map is scattered with hundreds of multicolored dots. Each spot marks the home or place of work of yet another sexual predator. Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector William Aubry of the 68th Precinct gave out the address, www.familywatchdog.us, at the Community Education Council 20’s September meeting at I.S. 259 McKinley at 7301 Ft. Hamilton Pkwy. The site contains a database of registered sexual offenders, including those convicted of rape and sexual battery. Parents can provide their email and zip code to receive notifications of any sex offenders moving into the neighborhood.But Aubry said that his precinct has been safer for school kids, after cops took a suspected pedophile off the streets for allegedly trying to abduct children in the Borough Park area. The police put out a dragnet after multiple reports of attempted abductions. The increased surveillance led to the arrest of other dubious characters, “because on a daily, weekly and monthly basis there are people who approach kids,” Aubrey said. The prime suspect was arrested near Fort Hamilton High School after approaching girls attending summer school, the police said. A potential victim provided the police with a good description of the suspect’s van, Aubry said. “We took it seriously and we followed up on it,” said Aubry. No attempted abductions have been reported since the fall semester started three weeks ago, Aubry said.

“We believe that the person responsible has now been arrested,” Aubry said. Because of the state’s bureaucracy, the Web site may flag sex offenders convicted out of state — who move into the precinct — even before the police know about it, Aubry said. “The Internet site makes it a lot easier,” Aubry said. The commanding officer urged the public to call 911 as soon as possible after any incident. Parents can also visit the state Division of Criminal Justice Services’ Web site at www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us, which provides an official database of registered sex offenders. In other business, the Community Education Council voted on a resolution to support the United Federation of Teachers’ call to the city’s education chancellor to reduce class sizes and make schools safer. “Thirty five kids — that’s too many kids in a class,” said Ellen Driesen, District 20 United Federation of Teachers representative. “But in the suburbs where classrooms have 20 kids, the kids do very, very well.” Driesen also said that schools need to be made safer. “Schools are a sanctuary,” said Driesen. “It is not permissible to have a child disrupt the class. It is dangerous. It is not the place for it.” A copy of the resolution will now be sent to Joel Klein, chancellor of the city Department of Education. Those interested in how the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case is progressing after 13 years, heard that it will finally reach the highest court in the state. Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard by the New York State Court of Appeals on Oct. 10. at 2 p.m. in Albany, announced April Humphrey, New York City coordinator, for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. The campaign organizers will be chartering buses to take protestors to a rally supporting New York City teachers before the hearing. “Overcrowding is one of the most serious issues facing schools system-wide,” “There are too many kids in the class. There are too many kids in all of the schools.” The law suit was filed in 1993 by public school parents, arguing that there were large disparities between resources allocated to city and suburban schools. Humphrey said that since then, a full half of the kids in New York City failed to graduate after four years at high school. “The same conditions that were there 13 years ago when the lawsuit was filed still exist in our schools today,” said Humphrey. “The system has failed them.” The lower court awarded $5.6 billion in operating budget and $9.2 billion in capital funding, Humphrey said. The Court of Appeals is expected to decide how much money is appropriate to compensate the city, Humphrey said. For more information about the CFE and the rally call Jessica Garcia at (212) 867-8455. Chancellor Joe Klein is scheduled to appear at P.S. 200, at 1940 Benson Ave. on Oct. 17 at the next CEC 20 meeting. Call (718) 759-3921 for more information.
©Courier-Life Publications 2006

Forget Neverland! Moms Beware of Congress!

Erin Kotecki Vest
09.29.2006

If my Mom-senses are correct, the resignation of Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) means I can add Congressman to the ever-growing list of suspicious individuals.
Just to review: I can't take my kids to any church, school, the ride to or from school, after-school activities, a hospital, therapy, and now...Capitol Hill.
If you are brave enough to Google "accused of molestation" you will find over a million pages of links. If you are brave enough to track sex-offenders in your area, you'll find them living down the block, near the grocery store, or next to your babysitter's house.
While no one is accusing the former Congressman of touching anyone inappropriately, he's now got parents of America thinking twice about letting their teen help Rock the Vote this November. While we may never know what the Congressman actually wrote, you can bet any 16-year-old using their Instant Messenger to contact a public official will get a "Hey Johnny, let Mommy see that IM" instead of "Isn't our Johnny great! He's getting involved in politics so young!"
Once again it's the kids and parents getting screwed. Once again my job gets harder. Once again the country is "shocked" and "disappointed" in a public figure. The story is getting really old. Maybe at the next PTA meeting we should discuss all those in our community who are NOT accused of something inappropriate with a child, instead of those who are.
According to FamilyWatchdog, one in FIVE children has been sexually propositioned on the Internet and 90-percent of all sexual assaults are committed by someone the child KNOWS. They are teachers, priests, pastors, coaches, troop leaders, hospital workers, bus drivers, and celebrities. These days danger for our children can come in ANY packaging, even the country's "moral" Republican Congressmen.
So as I make a mental note that "Congressman" and "Priest" now share the same list, I'll also make a note to keep this in mind come election time, and the next PTA meeting, and at the little league game, and on the bus, and...

Neighbors connect with neighbors

By Patrick Cronin
pcronin@seacoastonline.com

Diane Gordon said it's getting harder and harder to stay connected with her neighbors.

But the Hampton resident is hoping to change all that by getting them to sign up and use NeighborsConnecting.com.

Gordon said the site is the brainchild of former Hampton residents Frank and Michelle Condon. It was developed to keep neighbors connected in the 21st century.

There are already 1,400 neighborhoods using the free site, representing 48 states. In Hampton, there are 14 neighborhoods signed up.

"The most important things to people are their home, their neighbors, their city and then the rest of world," Frank Condon said. "We want to give them the tools so they can stay connected."

Condon said the site allows members of any community to keep in touch with one another through the use of calendars, a message board, live chatting, e-mail and document sharing.

The site is also partnered with familywatchdog.us, which allows access to a list of registered sex offenders living within a community.

Condon said the couple got the idea for the site when they worked on a Web site for their local church.

"We developed a Web site called www.ministrymanager.com to help churches bring their members together by using the power of the Web," Condon said.

It wasn't until the couple moved to South Carolina that they got the idea to use the same concept for neighborhoods.

"I live in a neighborhood with 400 homes," Condon said. "There is no way for me to really know what is going on unless there is a newsletter going around. This site is that newsletter."

Condon said the site is so successful that they are working on another site to be released next month called LinkingCommunities.com.

"What makes this different is that outside modulars have been created for the school, law enforcement, and local government," Condon said. "For example, if the police department wanted to issue a missing persons report, they could do that and it would automatically be sent to all the communities that are connected. The town could do the same thing with road closures, trash pickup, while schools can post lunch menus and other items."

How Many Sex Offenders Live in Your Neighborhood?






Sep 22, 2006 09:12 AM MDT

Nampa, Idaho -- There are sex offender watch dog web sites all over the Internet, and one Nampa parent stumbled upon some information he didn't like. Now he's hoping some changes can be made, because as it stands there are more than a dozen offenders within a half mile of his son's elementary school.
"I entered my address and quite a few dots popped up on the screen," said Beau Courtney, a concerned parent.
Those dots represent sexual offenders, and Courtney was shocked to see how many surrounded his 7-year-old son's elementary school, Lincoln.
"There were 16 offenders who live within a half mile of my sons school and two who live within a 1000 feet," said Courtney.
In the state of Idaho that's legal, according to new legislation that went into effect this July.
"It's designed to keep registered offenders off the school property its based on a 500-foot distance where they can't been inside that distance," said Lt. Marvin Dashiell with the Canyon County Sheriff's Department.
But for Courtney, that's still too close for comfort. So after he found out this alarming information, he did what any concerned parent would do -- he started by calling his son's school, and then moved up the chain all the way to the Idaho State Police.
"I kind of got stymied and I ended up at a point where this is the legislation, this is the way it is, and I worry a lot of parents probably don't know that," said Courtney.
The worst part is the only sex offenders people are able to track are the ones who take the time to register.
"We'll still have the fail to comply's. They won't update registration they won't notify change of addresses or they'll just avoid us once they are convicted," said Dashiell.
"I was lulled into that sense of security, its not in my neighborhood, it's not going to happen to my kid. But it happens, and it happens all over, and I shouldn't have been that way," said Courtney.
The Web site he used was http://www.familywatchdog.us/. That site also lists out where the offender lives, their name, mug shot, and what he or she was convicted of. It will also tell you how many offenders live within certain distances to schools.

Safety tips to help protect children

By By Bridgett Morales Kilgore bkilgore@md-times.com
Wednesday August 2, 2006

Mooresville
Parents in the Mooresville area are on high alert following a report of a stranger who touched a child at Pioneer Park.
The incident provides an important opportunity for parents to talk to their children about safety, said Morgan County Sheriff’s Department detective Volitta Fritsche.
Fritsche is a trainer for r.a.d.Kids, which stands for Resist Aggression Defensively, an educational self-protection program for children. Mooresville began offering the training last year after a student survey showed students were concerned about abduction, Mooresville Consolidated School Corp. Community Relations Coordinator Susan Haynes said.
Haynes said the survey was taken when the Amber Alert System was started and was prominent on television, radio and highway signs.
Haynes said the program provides not only self-defense and safety education, but a combination of safety information that provides skills that even elementary-aged children can use to defend themselves.
Haynes said parents are encouraged to attend the training to provide an opportunity to start conversation about safety and rules for home, the neighborhood, playground and everywhere else.
Mooresville received a grant to provide the training from Learn and Serve America of Homeland Security Division to train several local people to teach the r.a.d.Kids program to elementary students.
More than 20 students completed the 10-hour safety training. Haynes said the Mooresville schools will be offering the program again to students ages 5-7 and 8-12 in the upcoming school year.
Fritsche also received an additional grant for the sheriff’s department to offer the program to more families and children.
The need to teach children safety techniques has been spotlighted by the incident at Pioneer Park and one in a park near Fishers, Fritsche said.
“Parents should always share an open line of communication with kids,” Fritsche said. “And be as honest as you can. We want to protect them from the ugliness, but you don’t have to go into the gory details.”
What parents should tell kids to keep them safe
Fritsche said the first line of defense for kids when a stranger approaches is to scream.
“It seems as if the boy by screaming reacted right by calling his grandma and that is what helped him,” Fritsche said, referring to the incident at Pioneer Park.
Fritsche said children in public areas should be accompanied by an adult.
Even then, children should be told to be aware of their surroundings.
“Know your exits, know your surroundings like where the nearest home is, the nearest phone,” Fritsche said they advise kids in the training.
Kids who ride their bikes in rural areas should especially be aware of these safety tips.
Fritsche said parents should tell their children if someone tries to abduct them, to give a good fight.
“I suggest parents tell their children to never go peacefully,” Fritsche said. “My thing is, you hit, kick, you yell, you pinch, do whatever you can to get loose.”
And, at all costs, she advises children to anything they have to do to avoid getting in a vehicle with a person who might be attempting to abduct them.
“They are going to try to make you more isolated. They don’t want witnesses.”
Resources for parents
Even if students are not able to take the class, through the Internet, parents have access to Web site for families to help identify dangerous areas for kids. Web sites such like www.familywatchdog.org and the Indiana sex offender Web site, www.indianasheriffs.org, also provide information to parents to help talk to kids about safety issues.

FAMILYWATCHDOG

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The web site helps keep track of sexual predators in the area.
Watch this story nowClick here to playClick here to play This is one of many web sites that keep track of sexual predators in your area.
What makes it special is that this site will send you free weekly undates on the movement of sex predators or daily updates for $18 a year. You can also select just the photos of predators in the area for a quick glance of faces you need to know in your area.

Video: Watch Video


Online Sex Offender Web Site Is User-Friendly


Last Updated:03-22-06 at 12:48PM
There are more than 63,000 convicted sex offenders in California, with at least 4,000 right here in San Diego. Now, tracking their whereabouts just got easier.There are lots of things parents can do to protect their children. One thing you can do from your computer is log on to FamilyWatchdog.us. Like other Web sites, it alerts parents and the public on the whereabouts of sexual predators.Mother of three Bernadette Abshier has used other Web sites before as a way of protecting her children."It's good to have information, and it's good to be able to see it quickly," she said. "I haven't been on this particular Web site, but other Web sites that are offered and I have been on them, so I am aware."Police say it's crucial for parents to know who's living in their neighborhood, and if strangers are lurking around schools or parks.The FamilyWatchdog.us site is very user-friendly. All you have to do is enter an address and a detailed map pops up. Click on the squares that appear and you'll get information about sexual predators -- what they look like, where they live, their convictions, and where they work.Where they worked really interested Bernadette."I think that's new, I don't think I've been on a Web site that gives you the difference," she said.The information on Family Watchdog's Web site is the same information on California's Megan's Law Web site. The Family Watchdog Web site is the only sex offender Web site that has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Hey ladies, cruise on over for iDiva insights

By Leanne Kleinmann
idiva@idivamemphis.com
May 11, 2006
You probably know that iDivamemphis.com, the Web site, was founded to be a place where women from all over the Greater Memphis area could ask questions, solve problems, and hand out advice.
Today there are some great resources on the site. Go to iDivamem phis.com and add your own.

In the Mommy Track category, susanl found a better site than the one I first posted: familywatchdog.us. It's a free way to find out whether registered sex offenders live near your house and your kid's school. There are also lots of good resources for families, including a video (watch the trailer free) called "Stranger Safety."
In the ever-popular Eat, Drink, Shop category, we're talking about where to find comfortable sandals; samida points out that "if you walk down the foot care aisle of some stores you will notice more pads, insoles and random products aimed at us 'stiletto slaves'."

And you'll like CA Fashion Editor Barbara Bradley's advice about accessorizing if you're not a hat person (the post is about her story about a hat shop): "... accessories are a great place to put your money. They give you value because they last, don't depend upon your clothing size, travel well, and make everything else look different.

"For me, prime accessories are big 'statement' necklaces (like medallion drops) in semi-precious stones, dyed fresh-water pearls, and some beaded jewelry in polished horn (really nice, smooth, light and well put-together), decorative leather belts and high-quality silk print scarves.

"And here's another little benefit you get from accessories: You'll find, over the years, they tend to give you a style. You're the lady with the beautiful scarves, for example."

Have a comment? Go to iDivamemphis.com.

Tracking Sex Offenders Near Your Home

POSTED: 5:36 pm EDT May 3, 2006

There’s increased public awareness that convicted sex offenders are living in all kinds of communities.
So, is there one on your street or living or working within feet of your child's school? Chances are, the answer is yes.
NBC 30 found out how you can help prevent your child from becoming part of another tragic statistic.
Steve Roddel, the creator of familywatchdog.us, said when it comes to protecting kids from sex offenders the answer is simple.
"Awareness is your best defense," he said.

Roddel, a father of three kids, started the site about a year ago after he learned a convicted rapist lived 600 feet from his home. The offender wasn't listed on the state sex offender registry. Roddel decided parents needed a better resource.

His site is updated every day, is free and simple to use.

Within minutes, NBC 30 discovered that there are 59 convicted sex offenders within a half a mile of Vincent E. Mauro Elementary School in New Haven.

And the schools are not required to notify parents when a sex offender moves in.

The only way to find out is to check the sites yourself. Police say every parent should do their research.

Not all convicted sex offenders are listed, so the risk out there is even greater than the numbers suggest.

In Connecticut, offenders who have committed sexually violent crimes or committed non-violent crimes against children are only listed on the registry if they were released from prison after October 1988.

Additional Resources:
FamilyWatchdog


For the latest news, stay tuned to NBC 30 Connecticut News and NBC30.com

Warrants issued for sex offenders
KTVO, MO - Apr 25, 2006

Watch the story:

(KIRKSVILLE, Mo.) Adair County Sheriff's deputies executed arrest warrants Tuesday afternoon for four sex offenders who they say have failed to comply with registration laws.

The four suspects are 54-year-old Paul E. Attebery, who is currently located in Illinois, 29-year-old David P. Colyer of Kirksville, 53-year-old Ronald J. Liebeck of Kirksville and 55-year-old Ernest G. Gotham, also from Kirksville.

All four face felony charges for failing to register with the sheriff's department. Each man is facing up to four years in jail, a $1,000 fine or a combination of the two.

Adair County law enforcement officials say sex offender registration is something they take very seriously. There are currently 50 registered sex offenders in Adair County. Each one is required to check in with the Sheriff's Department on a regular basis.

"State requirements for sex offenders are that they have to notify the sheriff's office within 10 days of changing their address or employment status. Every 90 days they have to come in and verify that they still live at the same address," said Chief Deputy Larry Logston.

"People need to know [that information] because they need to know who is next door or down the street so you don't just let your children out unattended," said Adair County Prosecutor Mark Williams.

There are ways to tell if there is a sex offender living in your neighborhood. Logston recommends two web sites which allow you to enter your address and see a map that indicates where sex offenders live. You can use the Missouri State Highway Patrol's web site or go to www.familywatchdog.us.

--Dana Jay, Reporting

Smart gives tips on abduction prevention

By LAURIE KIEFABERTribune Staff WriterSaturday, April 01, 2006
Ed Smart was in town to promote KinderVision's “The Greatest Save” child safety campaign and stress the importance of preventing harm to children Friday.Elizabeth Smart's father from the Salt Lake City, Utah area helped lobby Congress for passage of the Amber Alert for the protection and rescue of other children. Elizabeth was abducted from her home on June 5, 2002 by a man who had done work at the Smart home. She was found March 12, 2003 in a nearby town and reunited with her family.
Experiencing a child abduction is “like an open wound that never heals,”
Smart said after the press conference Friday. “Elizabeth was abducted, but the rest of the family were victims too. ... Even babies can be traumatized by what happens to the family.”At 18, Elizabeth is a harpist and plans to study at Brigham Young University in the fall, possibly majoring in music, her father said. While his daughter, wife and five other children are doing well, Smart emphasized abduction can happen to anyone.
“Everyone thinks it can't happen to me,” he said. “It can happen if you're rich or poor or live in the city or a rural community. There are enough out there it can happen and it happens on a daily basis.”The lobbyist for Amber Alert legislation said there are three main things parents can do for their children. First, they can sit down and talk and watch them, and second, prepare by having identification information ready if they are abducted and get online to know where the predators live.
Steve Roddel, president and CEO of www.familywatchdog.us, also was present Friday. His Web site shows maps of registered sex offenders in 44 states. He started the site because he learned there was a serial rapist living 600 feet behind his back door and that person had a better view of his daughter playing in the back yard than he did. Since starting the site, he's had many people say they did not know the magnitude of the problem. There are about 8,000 sex offenders living in Indiana and 4,000 convicted sex offenders move daily in the U.S.In addition, 76 percent of serial rapists have been molested as children, 40 percent of child molesters were molested as children and 30 percent of juvenile delinquents were molested, Smart said.“Our goal with Doug (Sebastian) and ‘The Greatest Save' is to stop child molestation in one generation,” Roddel said.Sebastian is KinderVision's founder.The third thing parents can do is educate their children on being proactive. The KinderVision Web site and their programs have been part of the child education process for years with videos designed to help children learn how to avoid being hurt by strangers.Part of their latest campaign is “The Greatest Save” questionnaire, which asks children of all ages safety questions to prevent their abduction and exploitation. If they answer all 20 correctly, they can print out a certificate to be redeemed at one of several local retailers or fulfillment centers for a colorful wristband. The quiz also lets parents know what their children do and don't know about safety.“It's not difficult to teach them without scaring them,” Sebastian said. “You teach them to cross the street. A place or people aren't necessarily bad; it's the actions they take ... and knowing how to respond.”Smart said none of his children are allowed to go anywhere alone.“I'm very paranoid and tell the kids you have to put up with me,” he said. “... I don't know that I could go through (an abduction) again.”Roddel's Web site also lists employer addresses for the registered sex offenders listed on the site. It's not a crime for businesses to employ sex offenders, but parents need to be aware of who they're getting services from. Many sex offenders work in carpentry and plumbing and may go to people's homes.“It comes down to teaching your children a life skill,” Smart said. “(She) may end up using (the skills) as a young woman ... Nobody deserves to be assaulted.“... It's so much easier to take preventive steps than deal with the aftermath.”The KinderVision Web site also offers daily safety tips for everyone.“We're as content rich as any web site in the country,” Douglas said. “I encourage families to take advantage of that.”In addition to “The Greatest Save” safety quizzes and educational videos, KinderVision recently produced a music video, which will be available soon, and safety educational materials for children from kindergarten through high school.KinderVision is a national child safety education program founded in 1991 in Carlsbad, Calif. as a result of the kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Leticia Hernandez. Sebastian has dedicated his life to protecting children and has succeeded in advancing child safety initiatives in 47 states.“The Greatest Save” wristband “fulfillment centers”:*Korner Kurl Ice Cream Parlor, Peru*Absolutely Fabulous Salon, Peru*Brandt's Harley-Davidson, Wabash

Iowa sex offender shares his viewpoint
Friday, March 31, 2006 9:38 AM CST

Editor's note: This is the sixth in a seven-part series.

By Joseph Marks, staff writer

At 30 years old, Brian King leads a much calmer life than he did 10 years ago when he was young and living in Waterloo, Iowa. He works as a mechanic and is one course shy of completing a degree in diesel technology from Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo.

He hasn't been charged with more than a speeding ticket in nine years, according to Iowa and Minnesota court records, and said he wants nothing more than to hold down a job and be a vital member of society.

King made a series of mistakes 10 years ago that changed his life and followed him from Waterloo to Shell Rock, Iowa, and then to Albert Lea, where he moved about six months ago.

He was charged with and pleaded guilty to two acts of indecent exposure, requiring him to register as a sex offender in Iowa and in any state he moved to for the next 10 years.


“I did something wrong,” said King, in an interview last Saturday, “and I deserve to be punished. It was a stupid thing to do but it was nothing sexual or deviant. It didn't get me off, it was just a stupid joke.”

King's name was one of five on a list of registered sex offenders from Iowa who currently live in Albert Lea, available on the Web site www12.familywatchdog.us. The list was presented at an Albert Lea City Council meeting Jan. 23 and posted on a local online forum.

He is one of 42 registered sex or predatory offenders living in Albert Lea, according to detective Frank Kohl. The names and pictures of only five of those offenders are available to the public because their crimes were committed in Iowa. Of the five Iowa offenders in Albert Lea, King is the only one whose crimes did not involve physical contact with the victim, accordingto the national sex offender registry Web site.

Kohl said he believes there are other registered offenders in the city whose only charge is indecent exposure but said he could not be certain.

Other registered sex offenders in the city whose names are publicly available declined to be interviewed by the Tribune.

In July of 2004, Iowa began posting the names and pictures of all registered sex offenders whose crimes were committed in the state on its registry Web site.

Minnesota, by contrast, assigns one of three risk levels to offenders who have served prison time and only releases names and pictures of offenders in the two categories judged most likely to re-offend, said Liz Bogut, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The Minnesota registry includes “predatory offenders” whose crimes may not have been sexual in nature, Bogut said. Offenders who have not served prison time are not assigned a risk level.



After the January meeting anxiety about predatory offenders spread through the community. Local parent Ted Paulson and Power 96 DJ Ron Hunter circulated a petition that led the City Council to form a committee to draft an ordinance, one aimed at restricting certain offenders from living in close proximity to schools, child-care centers or parks.

During this same period, King said, a flier was circulated in his neighborhood with his picture and a list of his offenses. He said his landlord, who was aware of the charges, contacted him when a number of neighbors called her with their concerns.

“I wondered if it would come up when I moved,” King said. “I was hoping it wouldn't. It's not that I'm trying to run away. I'm trying to get by and live my life. I work, I hold down a job, I went to college. I haven't been in a bit of trouble since then.”

Kohl said he is aware of recent cases in the city of fliers circulated near the homes of known offenders.

“My question,” King said, “is when these people were 18,19, 20 or 21 did they do stupid things? And most of them probably did. They probably mooned someone or did something similar to what I did and they didn't get caught. But I did.”

Ten years ago

While driving on the freeway in Black Hawk County, Iowa, in January of 1997, King pulled alongside a car full of young women driving in the other lane. He put his car in cruise control, unzipped his pants, sidled up and exposed himself frontally to the women in the other car. He was 20 years old at the time. The women weren't under 18.



“I did it and drove away,” said King. “It was just a stupid joke.”

One of the women called the police and reported King's license plate number. A few days later, law enforcement officers called King and told him about the girl's complaint.

The way law enforcement officers treated him when they spoke to him about the act made him angry and resentful. On May 17, 1997, just five days before pleading guilty to indecent exposure in the first case, King exposed himself again, this time to a 17-year-old girl while driving on Interstate 380 in Buchanan County, Iowa. Once again he was caught.

According to court documents in the Buchanan County case, “He admitted he had done the act and could not explain why he had done it. He mentioned it was an ‘impulse'”

King was sentenced to 60 days in jail with work release for the Black Hawk County offense on July 22, 1997, according to court documents. Three days later he was sentenced to 30 days of work release for the Buchanan County offense and required to attend sex offender treatment classes.

King had to register as a sex offender in Iowa, where registration is mandatory when convicted of indecent exposure, said Gordon Miller, public service executive with the Iowa Department of Public Safety in Des Moines. Either crime would have landed him on the registry, he said.

King claims these are the only two times he exposed himself to a stranger. Court records show he has never been charged with another offense. King said he has never committed a sexual offense where he had physical contact with anyone. That claim is backed up by court records in Iowa and Minnesota.

As of Jan. 1, 2006, 885 of Iowa's roughly 6,000 registered sex offenders had never been convicted of an offense that involved physical contact with the victim, Miller said.

A no-contact indecent exposure charge would not require someone to register as a sex offender in Minnesota, according to Bogut, but Kohl noted a fifth-degree criminal sex charge pleaded down to indecent exposure would require a Minnesota offender to register.

Treatment

As part of his sentence, King was required to attend a sex offender treatment program. According to Ken Kolthoff, division manager for field services for Iowa's first judicial district which includes Buchanan County, a sex offender treatment program is mandatory for all people convicted of sex offenses in the district regardless of severity.

Classes in the first judicial district are held weekly, Kolthoff said, and are composed of treatment and assessment components. He said offenders are usually required to attend classes regularly for two years and then attend therapy sessions less regularly for the remainder of their probation period. Iowa's treatment programs for sex offenders are completely funded by the state, Kolthoff said.

“They work on things like what the offender's deviant or unhealthy cycles are and what led up to the offense,” Kolthoff said. “They work on relapse prevention and at not entering into that situation again, looking through the victim's eyes and trying to work on empathy and understanding.”

King described the treatment class as humiliating, saying he was offended to be placed in a class with child molesters and did not learn from the class because it was not geared toward his offense level.

“I had to go to sex offender classes for six months with child molesters” he said, “people who'd molested their grandkids and neighbors' kids. I didn't even fit into that category. It was humiliating because I'm not that type of person. I'd never even fathom doing that.”

Kolthoff said the assessment portion of sex offender treatment classes in Iowa's first judicial district consists of three assessment tools: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; polygraph tests during which the offender is questioned about his complete sexual history; and a plethysmograph test, known colloquially as a “peter meter,” where a device is attached to the offender's penis and it gauges the response while he looks at slides of adults and children of various ages.

It was the last test King found the most offensive.

“I was offended to sit there and see that,” he said. “I walked out and told my probation officer, ‘if you ever show me that again I'll call my lawyer.' They have no right to put me through that. They saw there was no reaction. That disgusted me. That's not who I am. I'd never even think about that.”

Two thousand feet

On July 1, 2002, a law passed by the Iowa Legislature took effect prohibiting anyone who had ever committed a sex offense against a minor from living within 2,000 feet of a school or child-care center. The law drew fire from the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, law enforcement and neighboring states, which were concerned the law would push Iowa's offenders over the border.

Soon after the law was passed, the ICLU won a case filed on behalf of several Iowa registrants and an injunction was passed discontinuing the law, Miller said. That injunction was overturned last year when the Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled the law was constitutional and the restrictions took effect again in September of 2005.

When the 2,000-foot rule took effect King was 29 and living in a fourplex on Upton Avenue in Waterloo.

“I never paid much attention to the registry until Sept. 1,” he said, “when they came up with this law. My name never came up, and it was never a problem until Sept. 1 and that's when it just hit the fan.”

Only small portions of Waterloo remained available to offenders, King said. Law enforcement didn't create maps indicating where offenders could live. Miller confirmed maps for sex offenders were handled at the local level when the law took effect.

“We referred registrants to local officials,” he said, because there was no statewide geomap available. We had to leave it up to the local authorities to determine. I don't think many maps were made available.”

Even today, six months later, Miller said, it is difficult to determine how much of Iowa is available to live in.

“One early statistic was as much as 75 percent of Iowa was out-of-bounds,” he said. “I can't believe it's that much because of the rural areas. If you're talking about where housing is actually available, that may be realistic. In Des Moines proper, it's estimated as much as 90 percent of the city is off-limits.”

None of this mattered at first to King, who would have been grandfathered into the law because he lived at his apartment before it took effect. Everything changed, King said, when a neighbor came home drunk and burned down his apartment building in June of 2005.

After the fire, King lived with a family friend, an 84-year-old woman, but she became uncomfortable when she received phone calls because he was publicly registered at her address. In September of last year, he moved from the old woman's house to an apartment in Shell Rock, Iowa. Within days, King said, the 2,000-foot rule went into effect and he was visited by local law enforcement.

“The sheriff's office said I had to move,” he said. “I said where can I move to and they said we don't have a map yet. This was a couple of days after Sept. 1, and they pretty much said, ‘It's your problem. Deal with it.'

“At that time I lived in Shell Rock and worked in Hampton, 45 minutes west, and there wasn't a single town between Shell Rock and Hampton I could live. Every town I asked said the same thing. It's your problem. It came down to moving to Minnesota because I could live wherever I wanted.”

Six months ago, King moved to Albert Lea, hoping for a fresh start. He was disappointed last month, when fliers with his picture were circulated in his neighborhood and his landlord began receiving calls from neighbors.

“People don't do their research,” he said. “They hear sex offender and they instantly think child molester. That's not the case. In Iowa there are so many cases like mine.”

Down the road

King will move back to Iowa in a few weeks for a mechanic job in the Waterloo area. He said he will live with his parents at first, who live on a farm outside the city a long way from any schools or child-care centers.

“I'm 30 years old,” he said. “I've worked hard to support myself, and I shouldn't have to move in with my parents.”

Eventually, King said, he hopes to find a small town without any schools or child-cares in the area. In about a year and a half, King's 10-year registration period will end.

King's past mistakes won't drift away when his registry ends though. According to Miller, Iowa's 2,000-foot rule has been interpreted to apply to offenders even after their registration period ends.

“What good does it do then to be off the registry,” King said. “All I want to do is work and be a part of society and hold down a job. I'm trying to better my life.”

Kidnapping victim's father fights for stricter sex-crime laws

March 31. 2006 6:59AM

Elizabeth Smart's parent appears with Indiana lawmaker.MARTIN DeAGOSTINOTribune Staff WriterINDIANAPOLIS -- The father of teenage kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart called for tougher sex-crime laws and more family education about the dangers posed by sex offenders.Ed Smart, of Salt Lake City, said few people believe their loved ones will be victimized, despite its frequency."The thing that people have to realize is, this can happen to you," Smart said. "I don't care where you are, (and) I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but an abduction can happen."

Smart spoke at a news conference with state Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield, who outlined proposed sex-offender legislation for the 2007 legislative session.Drozda would increase the penalties and require mandatory prison time for several sex crimes, including child solicitation, child exploitation and possession of child pornography. He also would require first-time child pornography offenders to register as sex offenders, a change from current law that does not require registry until a second offense.Smart acknowledged he knows little about Indiana laws, but he said strict laws are a necessary ingredient to fight sex crimes."I hear time and time again, stories about sex offenders that are out there that somehow escape underneath the wire and they're not listed on the sex offender registry," he said. "And it is criminal, because the next victim is going to be the one that may be making headlines."Smart's 14-year-old daughter made headlines when she was kidnapped from the family's Utah home in June 2002. She was found nine months later within a few miles of her home, wearing a disguise and in the company of two homeless people.Utah prosecutors charged Brian David Mitchell with kidnapping and sexual assault, but a court later found him incompetent to stand trial. Mitchell, who regarded himself as a religious prophet of sorts, was said to have viewed his victim as a bride. Smart said Thursday that his "incredibly blessed" family is moving forward from their tragedy and that Elizabeth, now 18, will start college this fall."She is one very strong young woman," he said, "and I thank all the people who prayed for us and tried to support us."Smart, 50, said he now works full time promoting public awareness of sex offenders and proactive education for children who might encounter them. His Indiana trip involved Family Watchdog, a Carmel, Ind., group with a similar agenda.He praised the organization's work in publicizing sex offenders' locations, which is done through a Web site at http://www.familywatchdog.us/. The Web site also includes an online quiz that tests children's knowledge of personal safety."People really do care," Smart said, "and it's when we care that we are able to make changes."

Senate OKs sex offender bill

Unanimously approved measure keeps school property off-limits
Betsy Z. Russell Staff writerMarch 29, 2006

BOISE – Registered sex offenders would have to stay away from Idaho schools under a bill the state Senate passed unanimously Tuesday.
"I think anything we can do to protect children from exposure to sex offenders is a good thing," said Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene. "And certainly creating statutory limits for their access on school grounds will diminish their exposure."
HB 713 has been amended twice – first by the House, to add an emergency clause so it'll take effect right away, then by the Senate to add some exceptions and make it clear that school districts can adopt more stringent rules of their own.
The push for the bill started in North Idaho, but Goedde, who co-sponsored it in the Senate with Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, said, "Senators, this is not a North Idaho problem alone."
He suggested senators look at the Web site http://www.familywatchdog.us/, which provides maps of where sex offenders live. "The maps that I've seen are pretty scary," he said.
Goedde said last April he was approached by parents from Post Falls whose children's elementary school teacher's husband was a sex offender and volunteering in the classroom.
"The school district didn't know that, but we had nothing to stop that in the statute," Goedde said. "That's what first got me interested. Subsequent to that, we've had other high-publicity cases involving sex offenders in North Idaho. So we started down this road trying to keep sex offenders away from schools."
The Coeur d'Alene School Board passed a resolution on the issue that was adopted by the Idaho State School Boards Association and led to the bill.
Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, an attorney, drafted the Senate amendments, and several senators praised them during the debate. They make exceptions for parents who attend a parent-teacher conference or a supervised school event in which their child is participating, and for mail or food delivery people who simply make a delivery to a school and leave.
Still, sex offenders who work for landscaping companies or contractors couldn't be on school grounds when kids are present, she said, because they'd be spending time near children, not just quickly coming and going.
The bill also bans sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school, although it doesn't force those already living there to move.
Kelly said the bill isn't perfect. "To my frustration, one of the things this bill doesn't do is divide sex offenders into any kind of categories, and the reason the bill doesn't do it is because our law doesn't do it."
Idaho law classifies registered sex offenders into two groups: violent sexual predators, and everyone else. There are just over 30 designated violent sexual predators, but more than 2,000 sex offenders.
Jorgenson said, "A lesser offender is still required to abide by these laws."
Goedde had hoped to propose legislation this year to create more categories of sex offenders, but with all the bills this year to crack down on sex crimes, "that fell through the cracks," he said.
"It's something that's not going to get done this year, but it's on my list."
HB 713 now goes back to the House for concurrence in the Senate amendments, before the governor can sign it into law.

Popular Websites That Track Child Predators

LAST UPDATE: 3/28/2006 6:46:08
AMPosted By: Maritza Nunez
This story is available on your cell phone at mobile.woai.com.
How much do you know about the people in your neighborhood? News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Tanji Patton shows you how to find out if any of them could be a threat to your child's safety.
Vergel Casunuran keeps a close watch on his neighborhood. He is the father of two young children and he looks out for their safety by constantly checking websites that track child predators and where they live.
"They're everywhere," he says. "Every time there is a sexual offender move in within the zip code, I will be notified by email of the move."
Vergel uses a website called mapsexoffenders.com. All you have to do is type in your address, and your neighborhood pops up, along with bullets that pinpoint where a registered sex offender is living. Click on the bullet, and you'll see the offender's name, address and picture.
Sign up for email alerts and you'll get a message every time a sex offender moves into your neighborhood.
Familywatchdog.us is another popular website. Many viewers have emailed the Trouble Shooters about this site that shows you a satellite image of sex offenders in your area. Searching the database is free, but if you want email alerts, there is a small fee.
Both websites get their information from the official DPS sex offender database,which provides even more information, all free of charge.
"DPS compiles the information in a statewide databse that's accessible to the public," says DPS spokesperson Tela Mange.
The websites give Vergel some peace of mind. "To me, if a simple task like that would save a kid, it's worth it."http://www.mapsexoffenders.com/ http://www.familywatchdog.us/ http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/

City response to sex offenders could set stage in Minnesota

Saturday, March 25, 2006 7:16 PM CST
Editor's note: This the first of a seven-part series.By Joseph Marks, staff writerAlbert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen plans to present names to the City Council for a committee to study drafting of an ordinance restricting certain registered sex offenders from living in close proximity to schools, child-care centers and parks in the city during their Monday meeting. If adopted, this will only be the second ordinance imposing such restrictions in the state of Minnesota and, perhaps, a reference point for legislators, lobbyists and citizens across the state as they continue to deal with a world that is very different from the one most of them grew up in.The proposed ordinance likely will not restrict all registered sex offenders, said City Attorney Steve Schwab, but only those convicted of a sex crime against children. Unlike the only existing restriction zone ordinance in the state, passed a few months ago in Taylors Falls, Minn., Schwab said an Albert Lea ordinance will not be so restrictive that it will deny offenders the right to live in the city. He said this will help the ordinance withstand any constitutional challenges.“This is a passion for me because I'm a dad, I'm a council man and I'm charged with the protection of the community,” said City Councilor George Marin, who is also a pastor at Grace Lutheran Church and will serve on the committee. “As a pastor, I see this on a regular basis and the effects of child molestation and abuse are lifelong.”Members of the Albert Lea Police Department have maintained that an ordinance restricting where offenders can live is unlikely to reduce cases of abuse.
“I just don't know how that ordinance is going to accomplish anything,” said detective Frank Kohl. “I've said many times over, most offenders offend against someone they know, a stepchild, a girlfriend's kid, nieces or cousins. What we see in this town are sex offenses against children perpetrated by someone they're very familiar with. It's someone in the household.”Offenders who do seek out children they aren't related to usually do so on the Internet, according to Kohl, not in parks or school yards. He also expressed concern that an ordinance prohibiting sex offenders from living next to schools, parks or child-care centers would not prohibit them from walking or driving to those locations.In the beginningIt all began with a Web site, www12.familywatchdog.us, which lists pictures, names and other identifying information about sexual and predatory offenders, organized by city and state, which community member John Cook presented to the Albert Lea City Council at its Jan. 23 meeting.The Web site only tells a small portion of the story though. About 47 registered predatory offenders live in Albert Lea, said Bill Donnay, director of the Risk Assessment and Community Notification Unit of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Only five names appear on the Web site, all offenders who moved to Albert Lea from Iowa. Unlike Iowa, which opted in 2004 to list pictures of all registered sex offenders on its registry Web site, Minnesota only releases information publicly about the top two levels of offenders who are judged most likely to reoffend.Minnesota's registry is called a predatory offender list and includes those convicted of certaincrimes that were not sexual in nature.
Anxiety about predatory offenders spread through the community when the Web site was revealed and across the pages of Albertlea.com, a message board devoted, in part, to city issues. Power 96 DJ Ron Hunter publicized the issue on his radio programs and a public information session was held Feb. 20 in the Albert Lea High School auditorium. About 50 community members attended, fewer than expected.Not content to wait for the issue to be handled at the state level, Hunter and Ted Paulson, a local father, handed out petitions to bring the issue of restricting where certain offenders could live in the community to a local ballot referendum in November. They collected more than 900 signatures, according to Paulson, and the issue was brought back to the City Council March 13, when councilors voted unanimously to form an exploratory committee. Marin asked the committee to respond before school classes dismiss for summer.If an ordinance is passed, there will be no need for a ballot referendum, Simonsen said.South of the borderOn July 1 of 2002, a law passed by the Iowa State Legislature took effect prohibiting anyone who had ever committed a sex offense against a minor from living within 2,000 feet of a school or child-care center.The law drew fire from the Iowa Civil Liberties Union and neighboring states, which were concerned the law would push Iowa's offenders over the border.Soon after the law was passed, the ICLU won a case filed on behalf of several Iowa registrants and an injunction was passed discontinuing the law, according to Gordon Miller, public service executive with the Iowa Department of Public Safety located in Des Moines. That injunction was overturned last year when the federal Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled the law was constitutional and the restrictions took effect again in September of 2005.
Since the law took effect again, twice as many registered offenders from the state are listed as “whereabouts unknown,” meaning they have not registered their current addresses with the state, Miller said.While the law undoubtedly had a chilling effect on offenders' willingness to report their whereabouts to the state, Miller said the increase may be due, in part, to more aggressive tracking of registrants which also began last year.The number of Iowa sex offenders who continue to register but have moved to other states has also increased since the law went into effect, Miller said.Rural areas of Iowa also disliked the law because it pushed offenders out of cities and into rural motels, apartments and other country dwellings, as described in a New York Times story dated March 15, 2006. Officers of the law were upset because a large portion of their work time was taken to enforce a law that made it increasingly difficult to track offenders.A story of two statesMinnesota classifies predatory offenders into one of three risk levels or leaves their risk level unassigned if they have not served prison time, said Albert Lea Police Chief Dwaine Winkels.Police are required to notify all neighbors when a Level 3 offender moves into the area and are permitted to notify schools and other at-risk agencies when a Level 2 offender moves to the neighborhood. Minnesota police are barred from informing people when Level 1 and unassigned offenders move into the area.As of Feb. 20, there were 61 offenders in Freeborn County. There were no Level 3 offenders in the county. Four Level 2 offenders and 10 Level 1 offenders lived in Freeborn County, Donnay said. (Of those, nine Level 1 offenders and one Level 2 offender lived in Albert Lea.)The remainder of offenders were listed as “unassigned.”Prior to 2004, Iowa officials organized registered sex offenders into three categories, with a low, moderate or high risk of reoffending based on nationally accepted risk assessment tools, Miller said. Despite requirements, Miller said most registered sex offenders in Iowa were never assigned risk levels because the department could never manage the large workload. Miller estimated only 10 percent of offenders in the state were ever registered.In July of 2004, the Iowa State Legislature opted to discontinue performing risk assessments entirely, said Miller, and made the names and pictures of all registered offenders available on the Internet.None of the five Iowa sex offenders who now live in Albert Lea were assigned a risk level, according to Iowa's registry Web site. Winkels said he believes none of them would be assessed as Level 2 or 3 offenders in Minnesota.In Minnesota, risk levels are assigned to sex offenders upon release from prison, said Liz McClung, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Corrections. No-risk assessment is assigned for offenders who do not serve time in a state-run prison.Risk level assignments take into account the seriousness of the offense, prior offense history, response to treatment, psychological characteristics and future living arrangements, McClung said. Risk levels are assigned by a review committee composed of the prison warden, a law enforcement officer, a treatment professional, a case worker and a victim's rights advocate.The factsRecidivism rates for sex offenders are extremely low compared to the criminal population at large, McClung said.In 1997, 1998 and 1999, 5 percent of all sex offenders were arrested for another sex crime. The recidivism rate for criminals at large is around 33 percent, according to McClung.A March 2002 study which followed 1,432 sex offenders at all levels of risk assessment found that 3 percent of Level 1 offenders, 4 percent of Level 2 offenders and 9 percent of Level 3 offenders were arrested again for a sex crime, McClung said.About 10 percent of predatory offender crimes are committed by known offenders, according to Donnay, and the remainder are committed by offenders not yet listed on the registry.Meanwhile in St. PaulWhile some push locally for restriction zones others, including John Cook who first brought the issue of registered sex offenders to the public's attention, continue to push for wider community notification. Cook said he has e-mailed several legislators, including DFL Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson and Rep. Dan Dorman, R-Albert Lea, about expanding community notification to include Level 1 offenders and several offenders who are unassigned.Several ideas regarding sex offender registration have floated around the Legislature this session, Dorman said, including expanding the public registry and electronic monitoring of registered offenders but, he said, no bills have reached the floor of the House yet.Dorman said he was concerned an expanded registry would be expensive to keep up and may not include accurate information.“My understanding is that states that do this, their online registries are only about 75 percent accurate,” he said. “They don't have the money to maintain the registry where it's at. I want to make a good, sound public policy decision that will make us safer, not something based on fear or that will help us win the next election.”Cook said he wasn't concerned about offenders no longer registering because he is counting on curious parents to search through the Web site and report offenders whose pictures are matched with the wrong address.