NV- RATING RELAPSE RISKS

6-22-2008 Nevada:

Reclassifying sexual offenders means more will feel public pressure

For more than a decade, James has lived a life of anonymity. The 45-year-old, who spent 10 years in prison for rape and was released in the mid-1990s, is proud that he owns his own home in a conservative community. He's had a good-paying construction job for 14 years and helped raise his 18-year-old stepdaughter.

He is considered such a low risk to re-offend that the state categorized him as a Tier 1 sex offender, the lowest level.

But many Tier 1 offenders, including James, are going to see their status change July 1 when a new law goes into effect that revamps how Nevada categorizes sex offenders.

Nevada currently categorizes the offenders by their risk of re-offending. Under the new law, they'll be categorized by the crime they committed.

There are 166 Tier 3 sex offenders in Nevada, but authorities believe that number will jump to 2,515.

James, as a newly categorized Tier 3 sex offender, will be required to report to law enforcement every 90 days. He must submit to fingerprinting and could be forced to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet. James is most upset that his photo and personal information will now be available to the public on Web sites tracking sex offenders.

"It crushes me to no end that my daughter is going to have to explain to somebody what her father did in 1983," he said.

("James" is not the sex offender's real name. He was provided an alias for this story. He was interviewed at his attorney's office with his attorney present.)

He and other sex offenders are now challenging the law in state court. The lawsuits don't use the sex offenders' real or full names. They claim the law, commonly referred to as the Adam Walsh Act, is unconstitutional and punishes them after they've finished paying for their crime. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada also is planning on challenging the law in federal court.

Randall Roske, James' attorney, said: "This new law will do nothing better to protect the public. It's a waste of resources and will demonize a group of people who are trying to put the past behind them and are not a risk to society."

THE CRIME

James knows he's not someone people would view with sympathy.

He was a 20-year-old Marine stationed in North Carolina in 1983 when he raped a 20-year-old female soldier in the barracks. He was drunk at the time and, according to a psychosexual evaluation, held his victim down during the 10-minute assault. Authorities arrested James the day of the rape, and a military court convicted him in 1984. He was sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison in Kansas.

"That's the military. They do not play," James said.

After his release, James moved to Southern Nevada to start a new life. He got a job with a construction company and married in 1996. His wife, he claims, had a gambling problem that led to their divorce in 2003. He married his current wife that same year.

And he received a citation in 2005 for soliciting prostitution. He took a class and paid a fine.

A few people in his life know about his rape conviction. His wife knows. His boss knows, too. But James said he can't bring himself to tell his stepdaughter or others with whom he works.

"Why do I have to explain to her, to a colleague, something that happened 25 years ago?" he asked.

In July 2006, President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The law is named after the boy who was kidnapped and killed in the 1980s. His father, John Walsh, is widely known as the host of the television show "America's Most Wanted."

The law increases penalties for some crimes against children, like sex trafficking, and creates a national registry of sex offenders. It pushes each state to use the same criteria in categorizing sex offenders. Supporters say using this prevents sex offenders from evading detection by moving from state to state.

In Nevada, the Assembly passed Assembly Bill 579 during the 2007 Legislature, which placed the state in step with the federal act.

Critics of the bill say authorities will have a harder time keeping track of the high number of sex offenders because resources are spread too thin. They also say the law ignores that an offender could be a high risk to re-offend.

Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, doesn't buy it, adding the public has a right to know if sex offenders are living in their community.

"Sex offenders, especially pedophiles, are not changing their behavior," said Anderson, who sat on a legislative subcommittee that pushed the bill through.

He said Nevada historically had a hard time getting sex offenders to register and the new law will allow authorities to keep better track of them.

"If these people are going to be a threat to our community, we have a responsibility to tell society they are there," he said. "If we don't, it's foolishness."

John Pacult, a clinician who contracts with the state and county to conduct psychosexual evaluations of juvenile and adult sex offenders, said, however, that "the really dangerous people on the radar screen are going to get lost." The Parole and Probation system will become overwhelmed with the large number of new Tier 3 sex offenders, he said.

According to the state's Sex Offender Registry Web site, just over 100 Tier 3 sex offenders live in Clark County. When AB 579 goes into effect, the county will have more than 2,400.

Maggie McLetchie, staff attorney with the ACLU of Nevada, said the new tier system is also misleading. The new system looks only at the specific crime for which a sex offender was convicted. It doesn't consider whether an offender is likely to re-offend, which is more important in terms of public safety, she said.

"The ACLU does not oppose sex offender legislation that imposes tough penalties on convicted sex offenders. Part of the problem is that this new law doesn't further that goal," she said.

Lt. Adam Page, with the Department of Public Safety's Division of Parole and Probation, said he understands there will be some confusion when the law goes into effect. But he said the law creates consistency state to state.

Page, who works in the unit that monitors sex offenders, said he doesn't believe dangerous sex offenders will slip through the cracks. The Division of Parole and Probation monitors Tier 1, 2 and 3 sex offenders, and the Adam Walsh Act doesn't change that, he said.

The Division of Parole and Probation monitors about 725 sex offenders in Clark County.

He said, however, that people will need to change the way they think about the information on sex offender Web sites.

Under the current system, the "worst" offenders are labeled Tier 3 and placed on Web sites tracking sex offenders. When people see the offender's photo, they can reasonably believe that the person is a danger to the public, because they have a high risk of re-offending, he said.

Some Tier 2 offenders are placed on Web sites, but Tier 1 offenders are not posted.

Don't think of the new law as risk assessment, Page said. Rather, think of it as information on whether an offender has committed a serious sex offense against a child or a violent sex act.

He acknowledges that current Tier 1 offenders who have been staying out of trouble are going to be in a tough position on July 1.

"These offenders know how to keep their nose clean, and all of a sudden they're pulling the rug out from under them," Page said. "They have to move or possibly be put on GPS. It's changing overnight for these sex offenders and it's through no fault of their own. I can see how they'd be upset about it."

NEW REQUIREMENTS

James felt like he was punched in the stomach when he received the letter last May informing him of the changes to the law. He was so embarrassed that he will become a Tier 3 sex offender that he didn't tell his wife for a week, even though she knew of his conviction.

Under the new law, James is required to provide any type of Internet identity, e-mail and instant messaging addresses to authorities. He is also required to give his telephone numbers, Social Security number, normal travel routes, palm prints and DNA samples. His personal information will now be available on the state's sex offender Web site.

James is scared what people will do once they know he is a convicted rapist. He worries that he will be fired from his job or that his family will be harassed.

James believes the new law is unfair because he already paid for his crime, which he acknowledges was "evil."

Initially he told the Review-Journal that, since his prison release, he had never been in any trouble with the law outside of traffic violations. But his attorney later provided a copy of his psychosexual evaluation, which showed the prostitution citation from three years ago.

James' legal challenge is now in District Court. It claims he is again being punished for something he already served time for and that his freedom of movement, right to privacy and freedom of association is being violated.

Two more sex offenders, identified only as "D.P." and W.L.", also filed suit challenging the law. Others may follow.

D.P. was convicted of gross sexual imposition in 1993 in Ohio and was sentenced to one year in prison. He moved to Las Vegas and was assessed as a Tier 1, according to court documents. He is set to become a Tier 3 under the new law.

W.L. was convicted of lewdness with a minor in 1994 and given probation. He too is a Tier 1 but will become a Tier 3.

Their attorney, Richard Schonfeld, said legal challenges are needed.

"I'm interested in protecting the public when necessary," he said. "But AB 579 is clearly unconstitutional."

James' challenge is pending in the court system. Parts of D.P. and W.L.'s challenge will be heard on Tuesday before District Judge David Wall.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, was chairman of the committee that introduced the bill. He said the state faced a loss of about $3 million in federal grant money if it didn't implement the bill within three years.

He recalled that lawmakers were told there would be more Tier 3 sex offenders as a result, but the talks were general.

Anderson said victims of sex crimes have a much different view of the new law. They made it very clear they wanted to know whether sex offenders were in their neighborhoods. They wanted a reporting requirement, he said.

But to James, who says he isn't a danger to anyone, the law doesn't help anyone.

"I watch the news. I see the horror stories of these clowns who keep doing these things. There are some people in society that need to be watched. But I will argue I'm not one of them." ..News Source.. by David Kihara