WI- Out of the Shadows, Part 3: Confronting sex crimes in our community

6-25-2009 WIsconsin:

Team work: Compliance officers keep close tabs on local offenders

Even sex offenders need a place to call home.

Nichole Hall, Wisconsin Department of Corrections sex offender registry specialist for Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties, defines sex offenders’ successful reintegration into society in just three words: “No more victims.”

One linchpin of efforts to accomplish this goal is the Fond du Lac Police Department’s Sex Offender Compliance Team (SOCT), which was designed to maintain the balance between the offender’s constitutional rights and the safety of citizens.

About a year ago, police Officer Corby Gross — former DOC supervisor of high-risk sex offenders in Kenosha and Fond du Lac — proposed to Fond du Lac Police Department Chief Tony Barthuly that a team should be formed to monitor sex offenders living in the city.

Barthuly, taking note of his slogan of “an informed community is a safer community,” gave his approval to the unit.

“This isn’t a team for show. This is a team for compliance,” Barthuly said.

“There’s nothing more precious than our children,” he added. “Those kids are so vulnerable. One of these offenders could change that kid’s life, ruin it from something that is a great thing to something that they have scars to carry for the rest of their life.”

Gross said he saw two needs: to check that offenders are giving the state correct information and to help with registered sex offenders on probation and parole.

The Compliance Team consists of three supervisors and nine officers. Gross said part of his job is handling paperwork and legal issues related to monitoring sex offenders. Supervisors work on scheduling to pull officers off patrol to perform the duties.

The team begins a round of checks every six months and will be at large events looking for high-risk sex offenders and informing the public about what the team does.

“We’re going to do Fond du Lac Fondue Fest and some of the larger soccer tournaments,” Gross said. “We’ve also looked at other sporting tournaments. Anything that involves kids (Barthuly) is really adamant about getting us involved.”

Hall supplies the Police Department with a list of registered sex offenders within Fond du Lac. Team members visit the state registry Web site to check addresses and then go to the homes to assure compliance, said Gross.

“We go out to that address, knock on the door and make contact with them. We don’t stop until we make contact with them,” Gross said. “If we have to check four or five times, we will. Every time a member stops they leave a business card.

“We are being as proactive as we can without impeding on constitutional rights,” he added.

Gross said a team member also will do a report on a sex offender living in a different county who works in Fond du Lac.
No restrictions

Fond du Lac does not have ordinances restricting where a sex offender can live, but limits are in place regarding attending events where children may be present, Barthuly said.

“It’s best that (the public) knows where the registered sex offenders live in the community so if they are up to anything or are doing anything strange, people can call either Probation and Parole or the Police Department to let us know what is going on.”

Barthuly said City Manager Tom Herre and the Fond du Lac City Council support the current system.

Studies show restricting registered sex offenders from living close to parks, schools and other locations does not work because it pushes them out of the city to the point where they go underground or return to the city and live in the dark, Gross said.

“A sex offender has what is called an offense cycle. … They need to be thrown out of that offense cycle,” Gross said. “If they don’t have contact with law enforcement or therapy to throw them out of the cycle, that’s when we find they re-offend. The first step is making contact with them, making the community aware. We feel that knowledge is the best defense against recidivism in the city of Fond du Lac.”

Hall said Wisconsin municipalities can limit where registered sex offenders live. She opposes the living restrictions because it gives parents a false sense of safety.

She said 80 to 90 percent of sexual assaults are never reported, meaning parents and citizens should always operate with caution.

She added that many people don’t understand the offender can come back to the same community to go to school, work or visit their family or friends.

If sex offenders begin supplying false addresses when pushed out of communities, law enforcement would then have inaccurate information if there were a report of an assault or abduction, Hall added.

Hall said victim advocacy groups that oppose residency restrictions include: the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and the Jacob Wetterling Foundation.

She added that registry restrictions can ultimately give sex offenders the secrecy they thrive on.

“(Residency restrictions) are based on the ‘stranger danger’ myth that children are most at risk from a stranger and being abducted when the reality is that over 90 percent of offenders know their victims and have some sort of relationship with them,” Hall said. ..Source.. by Russ Plummer • The Reporter