No easy answers

So what is the actual problem here? Fear and nothing more, statistics will not change fear, nor will education about sex offenders. But, one thing will, look to other communities to see if their crime rates or sexual crimes have gone up, reality is, crime rates have gone down as have sexual crimes. Find the source of the fear because its not the actual sex offenders, its what the politicians are saying. Seek them out and demand an answer to the simple question, why should I fear sex offenders like you tout all year long? I doubt anyone will get an answer, because they would have to tell the truth. Truth and politics simply do not mix!

8-6-2010 Oregon:

Residents object to sex offenders as neighbors, but what is the alternative?

Residents of Ashland's Quiet Village neighborhood are making noise about convicted sex offenders living among them, and it's hard to blame them. But there is a larger issue here, one that raises questions about how our communities deal with those who break the rules.

Sexual abuse is a frightening topic, and movies, books and television shows can make it seem there is a rapist lurking behind every bush.

Consider the primary objection from the Quiet Village neighbors: Our children are at risk.

The statistics about child sexual abuse — a specific category of sexual offenses in general — are clear: Between 30 percent and 40 percent of child victims are abused by a family member. Half are victimized by someone they know. Children abused by a stranger amount to 10 percent of all victims.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, 5.3 percent of convicted sex offenders commit another sex crime after being released from prison — lower than the rates for selling drugs and burglary.

What's more, the three men living in the home in Quiet Village are not classified as predatory offenders. If they were, the law would have required police to notify neighbors that they were there.

Eugene Haag, the owner of the home where the men live, is a regional chaplain for the Oregon Department of Corrections. He has rented rooms in his home to sex offenders and others on parole for 36 years, and he says no resident has ever committed a crime while living there.

Haag says he rents to offenders to give them a place to live and to help them avoid repeating their crimes. He says further that he has no intention of changing his rental policy.

Haag has a point when he asks where offenders are supposed to live. The worst situation for anyone released from prison is to be homeless, living on the street exposed to active criminals who are not behind bars.

If these men should not live in Quiet Village, where do the neighbors suggest they go? Some other neighborhood in Ashland? Some neighborhood in Medford? Talent? Phoenix? And who gets to decide?

Residents are entitled to be concerned about the security of their neighborhoods and the safety of their children. But so are the residents of every community in Jackson County.

Some Quiet Village residents who attended a public meeting about the issue Monday night said they plan to ask lawmakers to toughen sex-offender laws. That's an appropriate step if you are convinced the current laws are inadequate.

But unless Oregon decides to impose a life sentence for every sex crime, similar situations eventually will occur. Then what? ..Opinion of: Mail Tribune