ADVOCATES FOR OFFENDERS SAY MEGAN’S LAW REGISTRIES CONTINUE TO PUNISH THEM EVEN AFTER THEY HAVE SERVED THEIR SENTENCE.
It was every parent’s worst nightmare.
Seven-year-old Megan Kanka left her New Jersey home on July 29, 1994, for a summer afternoon bike ride around her neighborhood, but she never returned.
Instead, neighbor Jesse Timmendequas lured her into his home by promising her a puppy. He then raped and murdered her, dumping her body in a nearby park.
The murder sparked national outrage, not least because Kanka’s parents had never been told their neighbor had two previous convictions for sexual offences against small children. It also sparked a New Jersey law and then a 1996 federal law – Megan’s Law – requiring states to notify the public about sex offenders living in their neighborhoods.
Twenty years later, the names, pictures and addresses of registered sex offenders – including 218 who live, work or attend school in Lebanon County – can be found at thePennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law Website. Such databases remain popular: a 2013 YouGov poll found that 71 percent of women and 52 percent of men believe it is “very important” to log all sex offender’s homes in the U.S.
However, advocates for offenders say registries continue to punish them even after they have served their sentence and even advocates for victims are lukewarm in their support.
“The intent of the Megan’s Law registry is commendable,” said Jenny Murphy-Shifflet, executive director of the Sexual Assault Recourse and Counseling Center of Lebanon County (SARCC). “I understand that its goal was to reduce sexual violence. The reality is that we haven’t seen any outcomes indicating that these goals have been reached.”
False sense of security
One out of every 728 Lebanon County residents is a registered Megan’s Law offender, and most have committed violent sexual crimes like rape, indecent assault or sexual abuse of children. Those offenders are required to have their address and place of work listed on the registry for 15 years to life depending on the crime and amount of offenses.
If that seems like a scarily high number, Murphy-Shifflet said it’s probably far lower than the actual number of sexual offenders, many of whom have never been caught. In fact, that’s one of the shortcomings of Megan’s Law, she said – it can create a false sense of security to residents who don’t live near offenders.
“Megan’s Law is almost like the Scarlet letter. They think it’s going to be easy to identify (sexual offenders),” agreed Kristen Houser, chief public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. “The reality is, most offenders hide in plain sight.”
On the other hand, it is difficult to know what concerned residents should do if they learn that a registered sex offender does live near them.
“We don’t want vigilantism, we don’t want people trying to run someone out of the neighborhood,” she said.
Houser said there is still value in removing anonymity from offenders. Knowing that a sex offender lives near you may allow parents to exercise a bit more caution or to emphasize to their child the importance of staying away from that particular neighbor, she said.
“A lot like punishment”
That’s isn’t enough of a benefit to outweigh the impact on offenders for Sandy Rozek, communications director of National Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. The organization says that it “advocates for laws based on facts and evidence and for policies that support the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of law abiding, former sex offenders into society.”
Offenders released into society can have difficulty finding jobs, participating in their children’s lives, and are often targeted for harassment, she said.
“You’ve crossed the line from focusing on criminal justice into vengefulness and revenge,” she said. “The general perception of the public is, if you’re on the list, you’ve done something horrible and you will do it again, and we’ll have to watch you.”
Lebanon County Public Defender Brian Deiderick knows that concern first hand – registration is legally considered a collateral consequence, not a punishment, but offenders are occasionally reluctant to plead guilty to charges that will require Megan’s Law registration, he said.
“It’s hard to explain that to clients sometimes,” he said. “If someone said to you, ‘you have to do x, y and z for the rest of your life,’ that sounds a lot like punishment.”
In most cases, however, it isn’t possible to have enough charges dismissed for a client to avoid Megan’s Law registration, he said. District Attorney David Arnold said his office does take the law into account when fashioning plea offers.
Even from the perspective of a victim’s advocate, Houser said she shares some concerns about the registry’s impact on perpetrators’ lives. People inclined to commit sexually deviant acts may be more likely to follow through on their impulse if their lives are destabilized, and they may also be reluctant to seek help for fear of the taboo long-term consequences.
“It’s very difficult for people to (get help), because we’ve made this such a difficult topic,” she said. “People are terrified because they don’t know where to go.”
Recidivism
At the heart of the debate over sex offender registries lie wildly different statistics about the likelihood of recidivism.
People with a previous sex offence conviction have a 37 percent re-offense rate, according to a study from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services as cited on the website of Parents for Megan’s Law. The Megan’s Law advocacy group also claims that up to 35 percent of rapists repeat their crimes.
Rozek prefers to focus on a 2003 U.S. Department of Justice study of inmates released in 1994 showing that only 5.3 percent of sexual offenders are arrested for another sexual offence after three years. However, that 5.3 percent rate was still four times higher than the likelihood of a future sexual offence by any other released inmate.
Part of the difference among statistics may lie in the definition of recidivism, Rosek said: studies of finding higher rates for sexual offenders tend to include commission of any crime and failing to meet Megan’s Law registry requirements, actions that do not involve another sexually deviant act, as recidivism.
Houser, however, said sexual re-offense rates may be higher than some studies have found because sexual offences are among the least likely crimes to be reported to police.
Wrong focus?
Still, most sex offenders aren’t like Megan Kanka’s attacker, according to Murphy-Shifflet – instead of going after strangers, they usually target victims they know. That’s why SARCC and PCAR prefer to focus on efforts like promoting bystander intervention, changed attitudes of joking about or excusing sexual violence, and encouraging potential victims to be assertive when another person’s actions are making them uncomfortable.
“Megan’s Law needs to not stand alone – it needs to be a tool or mechanism as part of a comprehensive approach that includes education to the community,” Murphy-Shiflett said.
National Reform Sex Offender Laws believes society should focus less on registries and more on counseling and therapy for offenders, “restorative justice” initiatives, and programs like Circles of Support and Accountability, Rozek said.
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