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Posting #145 – Virginia’s Children as Pawns.By: RSOL of Virginia Dear Virginia House of Delegates Candidate, Today there are more than 15,500 people listed on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. That’s 1 out of every 210 adult males in our state. Approximately 1,200 new people are added every year. This number will NEVER decrease because Virginia continually increases the minimum time required to remain on the Registry, continually re-classifies “Non-Violent” offenders to “Violent” and continually adds new crimes that fall under “Sex Offender” offenses every year. The most prevalent persons listed on the U.S Registries are those who were found guilty where there was no real victim (Internet stings, viewing porn), those that agreed to a plea agreement to avoid public humiliation and life in prison, or one whose crime was statutory in nature (Romeo and Juliet) but they are listed as rape, carnal knowledge and sodomy on the Virginia Registry for LIFE. Forty-five minutes of viewing (not creating, not distributing and not downloading) child porn results in a possible 140 year prison sentence in Virginia, http://www.rsolvirginia.org/blog_125.html By all credible studies (see below) and accounts the vast majority of the people listed on the registries today will never re-offend. The National Statistics show the recidivism rates for sexual assaults to be 3.5 to 5.5%. The Residency Restrictions, GPS Monitoring, stigmatizing and publicly posting Juveniles and first time offenders has NOT, reduced Sex Offender recidivism rates (5.5%), provided safety, healing or support for victims, reflected the scientific research on sexual victimization, offending and risk or provided successful strategies for prevention. These reports and books also confirm the real recidivism rates for sexual assaults are 3.5-5.5%, NOT the 70, 80, 90 and 100% that State and Federal Politicians and the media continue to claim. The Virginia Sex Offender Registry has become a useless list of names that the public can no longer use to decipher who is a true threat and who has simply been swept up in this Legislative Predator Hysteria. Dilution is Not the Solution. If you were to think of this as a game of chess the Politicians have led the public to believe that because the registry exists they've reduced the moves a “Sex Offender” can make down to that of a pawn. The real problem is that this could not be further from the truth, what it’s done is given all persons listed the appearance of being a pawn. Because the Sex Offender Registry has become so vast the Garrido’s of the world give off the same appearance that someone who poses no risk at all. The Garrido’s are different; they are psychos, a true threat to society. The rest, the non-threats, because of the registry laws are unwilling pawns masking those who would do harm. The real predators enjoy what the registry has become; they've essentially vanished in its wake. What’s frightening is that the pawns on the other side, the most vulnerable, are Virginia’s children. The American Justice System is far from perfect. Innocent people are prosecuted and persecuted daily because district attorneys aren't looking for truth or justice; they just want convictions so that they can run for Attorney General, Governor and President of our great nation. A District Attorney can do anything he or she wants to, you may want to watch MSNBC’s documentary "Witch Hunt", narrated by Sean Penn. Once, America believed that in order to prevent the persecution of the innocent we would accept that one or two guilty might walk; we've gone to the extreme opposite of that, in order to prosecute one guilty person we are willing to destroy one thousand. The United States has become a fearful and paranoid country with a zero tolerance mentality. We punish through fear not through fact. Non threats need to be removed from the registry to better protect society. This past winter Congress held a hearing inquiring why not one of the 50 States is yet to be compliant with the SORNA the Adam Walsh Act guidelines. An extension was granted until next summer. This is the public front they show, my husband and I have met with numerous Legislative Directors and Lead Counsel Members to Congress and Senate members. In private they admit the general consensus is the Sex Offender Registries have failed and failed miserably. They know the States will NEVER fully comply and have in-fact given up. Some States have gone so far beyond the recommendations they have blatantly endangered the very constituents they claim to protect. Fear DOES work, but it is Immoral and Unjust. The below list of Studies, Reports and Books conclude the proliferation of “Sex Offender” Legislation over the past 20 years in America that was meant to memorialize an assaulted, murdered or missing child has largely failed.
The Sex Offender Registries are extremely costly to the Virginia taxpayer and to the families of the registered. It will cost $12 Million for Virginia to comply with SORNA/the Adam Walsh Act, but the state would only lose $400,000 (10% of the Byrne Grant) if they do not comply. Contrary to popular belief among the Legislators there is indeed hardship related to being listed on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. The lives being destroyed are not just the “Registered”, but their spouse, their children and every family member sharing their name and address. They ALL must endure a lifetime of shame, warranted or not. The time has come for the State of Virginia to open their eyes and ears and to take this data seriously. RSOL of Virginia |
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