Posted on 05/09/2005 1:56:00 PM PDT by LouAvul
The California Megan's law Web site, which lists thousands of convicted sex offenders and their addresses, is being hailed as a success by residents and a nightmare by some listed on it.
The database includes information on more than 63,000 "serious" and "high-risk" registered sex offenders who live in California. Each offender's listing includes a photo, home address and other personal information.
As of January, the site listed 2,894 offenders in the Northern San Joaquin Valley and foothills: San Joaquin County, 1,199; Stanislaus County, 970; Merced County, 506; Tuolumne County, 112; Calaveras County, 69; and Mariposa County, 38.
Opponents of the online database fear it could lead to vigilantism, that some people might try to drive a convicted sex offender out of a neighborhood.
Proponents say the database is an opportunity for parents to talk with their children about protecting themselves from strangers and becoming more aware of their surroundings.
The Web site had more than 14 million hits in the first week it was accessible in December, the state Department of Justice reported.
Before online access, people who wanted to check the list had to go to a law enforcement agency and use a computer, Stanislaus County sheriff's Lt. Adam Christianson said.
Some law enforcement agencies reported getting frantic calls from people who had discovered a neighbor, co-worker or friend listed on the Megan's law database and wanted to know what they could do.
Christianson said he hasn't seen reports of vigilantism in Stanislaus County.
"I'm not aware of any of those types of cases," he said. "If something like that did happen, we'd respond immediately and make sure it didn't get out of control."
Christianson said laws prohibit people from using the database to harass or threaten offenders.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Boo-effin-Hoo!
I liked it better when we used to hang these nut jobs, thanks again SCOTUS.
Can we have them stuffed and mountedd? I think a perv's head would look nice in the den.
Yeah, just slightly pound the s4it out of the guy.
I think a doormat would be better so you can kick the bejeezus out of it every time you go out or come in.
Crimes against children should be a capital offense. No three strikes, just bye-bye.
I had an econ teacher once say that he thought we should outsource our prisons to Turkey. THAT would cut down on repeat offenses. I was all for it. He advocated that if your sent away 20 years for murder then you serve every day of those 20 years. I liked that teacher.
A person convicted of child molestation has forfeited the privilege of living anonymously, in my opinion. I think they should live in fear, in jail or out. That way they'd be too busy protecting themselves to have time for sexual assaults. As long as people are more concerned about the "rights" of the molester than about protecting our children, these sick criminals will continue to molest, abduct, and murder.
I'd rather be considered harsh and unforgiving than to ever contribute to an attack on a child by being too lenient toward the perpetrator.
So the freaks could get together and form a "Perverts Only" gated community.
Problem solved.
There`s a website some Freeper posted once, I forget the address, where you can punch in a name to do a search for the entire country, not just state by state, to see who is registered, and I swear there must be about a million Michael Jacksons. Just about every freggin` state, every county in the country has a "Michael Jackson" registered as a sex offender. I mean Ok, Jackson is a common name, but what is the deal with so many being sex offenders? Is it genetic?
Hey, if you want to "stuff" and "mount" a sexual deviant, then by all means.....;^)
I checked it the day it came online.
I also check it regularly for updates in my neighborhood - fortunately none are within my immediate surrounding area, but 1 mile is way too close for my tastes.
I look at the faces, read the names, and watch for them on the streets.
They are predators, and history shows that eventually they will hunt. I have no problem returning the favor should it be required.
They say that like it's a bad thing.
But seriously...
There hasn't been one incident of a sex offender being harmed as a result of being listed on the State's site. This is probably because the site is rather useless for determining a threat level from a given individual. You can see who the offenders are, their ages, and where they live; but, you only get a vague idea of why they're listed. No case information is given. A 48-year old subject might be listed as having been convicted for having sex with a minor, but you don't know if he forced himself on some poor kid last year or got caught with his 17-year old girlfriend 30 years ago.
I guess making Chester the molester feel bad is worse than what Chester the molester did to some innocent child in the eyes of some.
Chester served the sentence but Chester is still a convicted felon with rights stripped away. Parents have every right to protect their kids by any means necessary.
How are these people to support themselves?
what does that have to do with the database?
The 'Megan's Law" site gives much detail including age, date of conviction, nature of crime, etc. It contains info for Pennsylvania but I don't know about other states.
Wow. That website is highly cool tech. I picked Fresno, CA at random and then did some random plinking around. Some very very ugly customers.
One of them, who's pic looked like something out of a 1940's horror flick, had this little note under the Offenses tab:
288 CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN/LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS
Is that code#288, or 288 separate crimes?
Well, I'm not real sympathetic to the plight of these creeps, but if they're publicly listed, who's going to hire them? And if they can't get a job, what are they going to do all day, much less how are they going to eat?
It seems to be asking for trouble if there isn't some kind of supervised employment center that they could go to to work, minimum wage of course. I know it sounds socialist but we've got to do something with these people if we can't just keep them in prison or on an island forever. Even on an island we'd have to find them work or they'd kill each other.
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