Monday, March 21, 2005
Is the Next Jessica Lunsford in Your Neighborhood?
Sorry... This post is not going to be as light-hearted/upbeat as most. But this is something I think is crazy, and the more I read/learn about it the worse it seems. What does it take to put sex offenders (especially those who committ crimes against minors, and even more so against those under 12) behind bars and keep them there?
I mean, John Couey (the scum who kidnapped, sexually assulted and killed Jessica Lunsford in Fl) is a guy who has been in and out of jail for 25 years, and has a least some history with crimes against children under 16. Not only was he released, but in most cases he got out early... Small sampling of his past by TexasRainMaker
Do I feel unsafe? No, not really, I would be surprised to find any neighborhoods that don't look like this. But it seems amazing to me to know that there are that many known sexual offenders living amongst us. Check our your neighborhood in Ohio or Kentucky.
Can't we get something done to get these guys behind bars and keep them their. And IF we are going to let them out... can't we do a better job of tracking them? With all the technology we have out there to track movements on everything from UPS shipments to Cars on streets, we ought to have a better reporting system than having a guy register himself. Can't we tag them with RFIDs, or ankle bracelets? I mean if Martha Stewart is going to have an ankle bracelet on, is it too much to ask for a sexual offender to wear one?
Does anyone disagree that if you committ a sexual crime against someone under 12, you should spend the rest of your life in jail (preferably sitting in a cell next to Bubba)!
I mean, John Couey (the scum who kidnapped, sexually assulted and killed Jessica Lunsford in Fl) is a guy who has been in and out of jail for 25 years, and has a least some history with crimes against children under 16. Not only was he released, but in most cases he got out early... Small sampling of his past by TexasRainMaker
Burglary/Forced Entry - residence - July 30, 1977 - sentenced to 10 years
Burglary/Forced Entry - residence - July 31, 1977 - adjudication withheld
Burglary - February 28, 1981 - sentenced to 7 years
Lewd/Lascivious conduct with child under 16 - April 8, 1991 - sentenced to 5 years
Forgery - April 9, 1995 - adjudication withheld
Hot checks - February 22, 2001 - sentence unknown
Let's see.. convicted april 1991 for 5 years for conduct with a minor...somehow convicted again in 1995 for forgery (just 4 years after his assult on a child, and I assume this didn't happen the day he was released from jail). So not only is a violation against a minor only worth 5 years for a criminal with multiple convictions in his past, but then he doesn't even serve that short time. Sick!
Now here is where it gets really sad. Most states have registries for Sex Offenders (an idea that seems so very stupid to me... let the criminal be responsible for reporting their own movement?) Anyway, you can go and find out what your neighborhood looks like. Now not all of these are crimes against minors, and some may never commit another crime, but by all studies i've seen, sexual offenders are the most likely to repeat their criminal ways. You may be surprised by what you find. Here is what my neighborhood looks like when you plot the addresses of the convicted sex offenders:
Do I feel unsafe? No, not really, I would be surprised to find any neighborhoods that don't look like this. But it seems amazing to me to know that there are that many known sexual offenders living amongst us. Check our your neighborhood in Ohio or Kentucky.
Can't we get something done to get these guys behind bars and keep them their. And IF we are going to let them out... can't we do a better job of tracking them? With all the technology we have out there to track movements on everything from UPS shipments to Cars on streets, we ought to have a better reporting system than having a guy register himself. Can't we tag them with RFIDs, or ankle bracelets? I mean if Martha Stewart is going to have an ankle bracelet on, is it too much to ask for a sexual offender to wear one?
Does anyone disagree that if you committ a sexual crime against someone under 12, you should spend the rest of your life in jail (preferably sitting in a cell next to Bubba)!
