Parole, Sex Offenders, and Kidnapped victim

What follows was copied from the Crime and Justice News. To read this wonderful publication and subscribe to the email digest, go to TheCrimeReport.org 500,000 Sex Offenders Overwhelm Parole System ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The case of the California sex offender who managed to hold a victim captive for 18 years at home despite regular visits from a parole officer is raising questions about the efficacy of the country's myriad laws on tracking the country's 500,000 registered sex offenders, says USA Today. Phillip Garrido met with his parole officer two to three times a month and since January had been monitored with a GPS device strapped to his ankle. Yet police say he managed to conceal Jaycee Lee Dugard, whom he is accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing, in a squalid backyard encampment for 18 years. The case is causing authorities to rethink their procedures as they question how a registered sex offender could lead a secret life while under their supervision. Some legal scholars and people who work with missing children say police are overwhelmed by the number of registered offenders they have to monitor. They say tough laws that require all sex offenders to register, no matter how small the offense, are counterproductive because parole officers waste too much time on minor cases. A sheriff's spokesman in Garrido's home county says, "All law enforcement agencies are asking themselves some real tough questions right now." Link to story in USA Today

Kidnap Case Shows Flaws Of Sex Registry System ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The case of Phillip Garrido and his 18-year captive calls into question whether government-managed sex offenders lists are useful and whether they create a false sense of public safety, says the New York Times. Sex offender lists have made far more information readily available to the public and the police than before, but experts say little research is available to suggest that the registries have actually discouraged offenders from committing new crimes. And some experts say that the lists may lead people to presume that anyone registered must also be elaborately monitored, when, in truth, monitoring ranges enormously from place to place and state to state. In some cases, it amounts to little more than an offender mailing a postcard with his address to a police department once a year. "We've come to see these registries as a panacea that is going to resolve all sex offender problems," said Richard Tewksbury, a professor of justice administration at the University of Louisville who has written extensively about the effects of registries. "That's just not realistic." New York Times article