Registration, notification only one step in protecting from
sexual assault
San Benito County has doled out $7,500
– and will pay an additional $7,500 annually – for a new sex
offender watch software program for the San Benito County Sheriff’s
Department that will allow residents to more quickly identify sex
offenders in the areas in which they live. But according to police,
it is the unknown offenders who p
ose more of a risk than the registered ones.
Registration, notification only one step in protecting from sexual assault
San Benito County has doled out $7,500 – and will pay an additional $7,500 annually – for a new sex offender watch software program for the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department that will allow residents to more quickly identify sex offenders in the areas in which they live. But according to police, it is the unknown offenders who pose more of a risk than the registered ones.
One of the distinguishing features of Offenderwatch – the new software used by the sheriff’s department – is that once residents register their address they receive an automatic e-mail notification when a sex offender registers in their neighborhood.
“Offenderwatch helps the community,” said San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill. “It gives more information than the Megan’s Law Web site, which doesn’t give the local spin. Users of Offenderwatch can sign up for e-mail releases that inform them when an offender moves to their area. With the Megan’s Law Web site, there is more lag time when they input the data.”
There are laws that prohibit newly released sex offenders from locating within 2000-feet of parks and schools, but the laws are being contested for people who were released from jail or prison before the law passed.
Registered offenders common
The reality is that if you live in Hollister you likely live close to a sex offender, Hollister Chief of Police Jeff Miller said.
“Chances are you probably live within a mile of a registrant,” Miller said.
There are more than one hundred different sexual offenses that require those convicted to register with law enforcement officials.
Local deputies and police officers work hard to stay on top of tracking and registering offenders so that they cannot just disappear, but some still do.
However, San Benito County has an excellent track record in terms of monitoring registrants, according to Hill.
Currently San Benito County only has one offender out of compliance and Hill said the sheriff’s department knows the person has fled the country and they are actively pursuing him. Within the city there was recently a compliance sweep and the Hollister Police Department found three suspects out of compliance.
“The county is No. 1 in the state for compliance [for registering sex offenders],” Hill said. “The issue comes from agencies that don’t put compliance as a priority. I tell my guys I want 100 percent compliance. I know we won’t get 100 percent compliance, but I want them to push the issue hard.”
Sex offenders must re-register with the police department every year on their birthday. They have a five-day compliance window to do so. After that, if they have not registered, a warrant is issued for their arrest.
The problem with tracking every single offender is that they tend to move around. Some leave the community and others just move from place to place. It is easy for an offender to leave one community and enter another without re-registering, but once they do a warrant is issued for the person’s arrest and they will go back to jail if caught.
Hill cited one example where a sex offender had listed a local address, but worked in San Jose. The offender bounced back and forth between the two cities. He would change vehicles a lot, so the sheriff’s department would watch what he drove so that they knew all the vehicles the person had access to, Hill said. If an incident occurred and a person gave a description of a vehicle that the suspect had access to, the department would know where to start looking.
Repeat offenses a concern
“We try to stay inside these guy’s heads,” Hill said. “They are manipulative so if we can add another level of public scrutiny to keep another incident from happening, I will.”
Repeat offenses are also a concern. A study released in 2002 showed that within three years following release from prison or jail, 5.3 percent of sex offenders – men who committed rape or sexual assault – were arrested again for another sex crime, according to a US Department of Justice.
Compared to non-sex offenders released from state prisons, released sex offenders were four times more likely to be arrested again for a sex-type crime.
There is no mandatory counseling program for parolees nor is there support. Often times when a person gets out of jail for a drug-related offense they are ordered to live in a rehabilitation facility for the first part of their release or to undergo treatment. In the case of sex offenders, it is up to the individual to decide whether they seek help.
But offenders that the police know about aren’t the ones citizens need to be worried about, according to Miller.
Teaching safety techniques
“The scary ones are the ones we don’t know about,” Miller said.
The registration lists, such as the Megan’s Law Web site and the new Offenderwatch software just let people know where previous offenders are located.
“There is no substitute for being diligent with your children and knowing where they are at all times,” Miller said. “If you just depend on the registration lists you’re not making your family any safer. If I had to choose between being notified when a registrant moves into my neighborhood or teaching my family proper safety techniques, I’d take the safety techniques.”
Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America someone is sexually assaulted. One in six American women is the victim of sexual assault and one in 33 men, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization.
Nearly three-quarter of rape victims are assaulted by someone they know, according to RAINN statistics.
At least 43 percent of children who are sexually abused are assaulted by a family member, 33 percent by someone they know and only a quarter by strangers, according to a 1990 paper published in the Crime Prevention Journal.
Schools take every precaution to make sure that every child is safe, but safety starts at home. One of the things the Hollister School District has done to keep children safer is to fingerprint parent volunteers and ensure that drivers for field trips are not on the Amber List registry.
If the district is notified by the police or sheriff’s department regarding individuals moving into an area the district informs principals and leaves it at their discretion as to whether they send letters home to parents.
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at po*******@pi**********.com.
Tips for Parents
on protecting kids
From the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
· Make sure you know where each of your children is at all times
· Be involved in your children’s activities
· Listen to your children
· Notice when anyone shows one or all of your children a great deal of attention or begins giving them gifts
· Teach your children that they have the right to say “NO!”
· Be sensitive to any change in your child’s behavior or attitude
· Be sure to screen babysitters and caregivers
· Practice basic safety skills with your children
· Remember there is no substitute for your attention and supervision
For more information, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.missingkids.com or the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network at www.rainn.org. Victims of sexual assault or those who suspect a friend or family member has been assaulted, may call 1-800-656-HOPE (1-800-656-4673)
– Patrick O’Donnell
