Monitor Sex Offenders Better

Here we go again, the false belief that monitoring former offenders -now every 30 days rather than every 90 day- will (or could have) somehow PREVENT further sex crimes. Knowing where folks live (or really where they sleep a few hours of the day) in no way is PREVENTION or a deterent. Sowell was properly registered and monitored according to law, and checking on him every 30 days would not have uncovered the fact that he was (alleged to be) murdering women. Law enforcement is touting -sounds good pretexts- and not real prevention; lawmakers will follow the same path which equals NO REAL PREVENTION!

11-28-2009 Ohio:

Anthony Sowell murdered 11 women in his Cleveland home before a potential victim escaped and notified the authorities, police say. The killings went on for years. Sowell kept the bodies at his home, where decomposition generated an odor some neighbors blamed on a nearby factory.

Had more of Sowell's neighbors known he was a convicted sex offender, more questions about the odor might have been asked.

But though Sowell was on the state's sex offender registry, he was not monitored closely. He had regular contact with police, but they were not allowed to enter his home without probable cause to believe a crime had been committed.

A bill introduced in the General Assembly would provide additional safeguards against people like Sowell.

Offenders in the state's Tier III category, the most serious for sex offenders, would be monitored more closely if the bill is enacted. Instead of verifying such an offender's address every 90 days, as now required, the period would be shortened to 30 days. At least once every three months, police would have to have face-to-face contact with such offenders.

Perhaps most important, residents of communities would have to be notified if Tier III offenders move into their neighborhoods.

We do not believe sex offenders should be stereotyped or persecuted. But the frequency with which we carry reports of offenders who, after being released from prison, commit new offenses is distressing. More needs to be done to protect Ohioans from sexual predators who manage to blend into neighborhoods and continue committing crimes.

We urge Ohio lawmakers to approve the new legislation, which then should be signed into law by Gov. Ted Strickland. ..Editorial by.. The Intelligencer