March 12, 2012

Monitoring lax on D.C. sex offenders

Here we see the erroneous thought that, non compliant registrants will commit further crimes while not true of compliant registrants. Dr Jill Levenson in her study "Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Is it Associated with Recidivism?" found that, results fail to support the supposition that sexual offenders who fail to register are more sexually dangerous than those who comply with registration requirements!
3-12-2012 Washington DC:

District officials didn't check 2/3 of registrants

Two-thirds of the District's nearly 1,000 sex offenders have not been actively monitored, leaving area residents more vulnerable to future sex crimes.

While Virginia and Maryland authorities visit the homes of registered offenders at least twice a year to verify their whereabouts, officials in D.C. do not conduct compliance checks at the residences of about 660 sex offenders -- including convicted rapists, child molesters and purveyors of kiddie porn.

Up until Friday night, both agencies told The Washington Examiner that the other is responsible for keeping track of the offenders that are no longer on probation or parole. Sunday night, CSOSA spokesman Len Sipes said he was wrong, and that his agency has responsibility for all 989 registered sex offenders.

The confusion has made it easier for District sex offenders to escape being monitored. ......

Tracking offenders and ensuring the registries are accurate are key parts of preventing future crimes. ..For the remainder of this article: by Scott McCabe

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