Keeping track of sex offenders

Cortez Journal ^ | April 21, 2005 | Kelsey Warner

[trussell]

April 21, 2005

Keeping track of sex offenders

By Kelsey Warner
Journal Staff Writer

It happens with alarming frequency - registered sex offenders going AWOL and being lost to law enforcement agencies.

Take Jeffrey Barrett for example, a convicted sex offender whose current whereabouts are unknown.

BARRETT

GODDARD

"He was originally registered with us (the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office), he moved to the city and we de-registered him and they registered him," Lt. Steve Harmon said. "One of their officers did a spot check and found out he had moved back to the county."

Barrett hasn't been found, but reports indicate he may be in Anacortes, Wash., Harmon said.

Another example is the case of Michael Goddard, a convicted sex offender living in Cortez. Roughly six months ago Goddard moved from the address he was registered under and into another home - still in Cortez. A phone call from Goddard's former neighbor informed police that he had moved. According to Lt. Darrell Hinton, Goddard failed to re-register after he moved, a failure that resulted in his April 12 arrest.

So how does this keep happening?

"It happens all the time around the country," Harmon said. "We can't keep a 24-hour watch on these guys."

Local law enforcement agencies monitor sex offenders by performing random spot checks.

According to Harmon, office protocol was changed this year when responsibility for making random checks on the county's 36 registered offenders was moved from the patrol department to detectives.

But, Harmon said, "We can't check on all of them. We move down the list every week."

Like the sheriff's office, Cortez Police has also recently changed the way in which they oversee sex offenders. Each officer has been assigned one or two of the 20 sex offenders in the city to randomly drop in on, Hinton said.

REGISTRY

According to the CBI Web site:

There are 579 current sex offenders in the state that have failed to register.

As of January 2005, 8,169 sex offenders were registered in Colorado - a 7 percent increase from January 2004.

Approximately 65 percent of convicted sex offenders are placed on probation each year.

Only 16 percent of sexual assaults are reported to police.

In the last year, approximately 1 in 150 women and 1 in 830 men have experienced a completed sexual assault.

Harmon wishes more could be done to oversee the offenders.

"We don't have the manpower to check up on them the way I'd like," Harmon said.

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Web site, "While sex offenders cannot be cured, it is believed that some can be managed. Colorado utilizes the Containment Approach to manage sex offenders in the community. Sex offenders are never managed by an individual person. Rather they are managed by community supervision teams."

Registration is a condition of release for most sex offenders. The details of the case determine when and how often a convicted sex offender must register. Some are required to register only when they move, others are required to re-register on their birthday, while still others are required to register every 90 days for the rest of their lives.

The current state statute governing registration requires that every person who wishes to see the sex offender registry demonstrate a need to know. For example, a library or recreation center - public facilities that are used commonly by unsupervised children - have a need to know the identity of registered sex offenders. At the same time if children routinely walk home from school or go to a family member's house, a parent has a need to know if a sex offender lives along that route.

Hinton would like see the development of a national registry and a loosening of restrictions on the availability of the local sex offender registry.

Reach Kelsey Warner here .

[queenkathy]

You had to "buy" the list? How so?

[duck duck goose]

What kills me is, I look up the criminalcheck website all of the time. Who is to say that those registered are actually residing there? This article raises concerns. I honestly believe there is no rehabilitation. If they are to be released, they need to have a bracelet, that way the registered addy isnt a factor anymore. I would like to see them pay for the service as well.

[SamFromLivingston]

They are quite easy to catch up with if they are locked up in prison or dead.

[F16Fighter]

Oh that's right...

One Bubba J. Sinkmeister isn't a "sex offender." Why am I expecting him to be on this list?

[trussell]

The only way to get a hard copy of the local list is to buy it from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. I paid $20 for the list that includes 38 in Cortez, 5 in Mancos, and 9 in Dolores. Cortez is a little town of less than 8,000 people. There are 7 within walking distance of my house. Mancos is a tiny town, so is Dolores. Blink while you are driving through and you might miss them!

The police will let you look at the list, but they stand over you like a watch dog!

[trussell]

That would work!!

[trussell]

I couldn't agree more!

[xzins]

This type of crime and some others should have the penalty of X number of years in prison followed by life probation.

If Martha Stewart can be marked to show if she's left her mansion, then these guys can be marked to show if they've left their county.

[trussell]

That only shows 2 from my area...there are a total of 38 in my zip code, and 52 (total)in my county.

[Dad yer funny]

YEAH ,...note to Self: find companies that makes these bracelets , be ready to buy stock after due diligence

[duck duck goose]

Try criminalcheck.com
Enter any combination of zip codes. This is free and is updated immediately when someone is released.

[trussell]

I will keep that idea in my prayers! Please let me know if my prayers are answered!

[duck duck goose]

Thats scary. You are the very first person to tell me this.

[trussell]

See post 29

[trussell]

Disregard my last comment to you :)

[duck duck goose]

Think about it..the only reason to have them is because they are offenders. Why should our tax dollars pay for them, when we paid to have them housed when convicted??

[The Red Zone]

In a land that is la-di-da about strangers from Mexico showing up in their neighborhood to carry crates of lettuce, and where a household may not even know half the neighbors on their street, it's quite easy for a person to get himself lost halfway across the country if he wishes. Double plus easy if he or she is Hispanic.

[Dashing Dasher]

Let's tattoo "sexual deviant" on their foreheads!!!

All in favor?

[trussell]

Most people don't realize what is suppose to be in their area. I bought the list that is suppose to give me the entire list. Of course...not all rapes are reported, and not all offenders are registered!

[Dashing Dasher]

Keeping track of sex offenders

Headstones are easy to keep track of.

Good one!