As I posted earlier at this website, I am reading of warming centers throughout the eastern part of the U. S.  Inevitably there is always the same statement:  sex offenders (or registrants) are not allowed.  I cannot imagine what it is like for these men and women who have to live under such frigid conditions.  This is evidence that NATO was correct a few years back in passing their human rights violation against the U. S. for their mistreatment of registrants.

This situation is currently occurring in Suffolk, Virginia.  Maybe we cannot be there to help these registrants, but we can sure put some pressure on the people up there who can help.  This is one time that it is not about our own personal cause but about helping people in great need.

I have been in churches for years like these churches and know that venting or attacking these church-going people will probably cause them not to listen to us.  Don’t get me wrong:  My husband can tell you that I could easily win first-prize for venting when I see something that I feel is wrong, but over my many years, I have learned that words seasoned with a little grace accomplishes more than all of my venting.  But I do not want to come across as telling you how to reply to an issue such as this one.  Do what you think is best.  I just appreciate your taking the time to help these registrants out.

So as Media Chair for FAC, I am asking for some help – something that many of you do all of the time anyway.  Let’s see how many of us can respond in some way, asking these people in Suffolk to allow registrants into their warming centers.  I am listing the only three churches (out of 24) that were listed in the article, along with the email address for the lady who is spearheading everything.  I am personally mailing letters to them but know that most of you prefer email.  To email these three churches, you have to go to the church websites and click on “Contact”.  Maybe some of you can find separate email addresses for them since I could not.  Your reply to these churches does not have to be as long as mine – anything will help.

Administrator for the Night Stay Winter Shelter Program:

Cheryl Griffin

[email protected]

West End Baptist Church

105 St. James Avenue

Suffolk, VA  23434

Westendsuffolk.org

St. Mary’s Catholic Church

202 S Broad Street

Suffolk, VA  23434

Website under construction

Main Street United Methodist Church

202 N Main Street

Suffolk, VA  23434

Mainstum.org

(The street numbers above of 202 is not a typo.  Both of the above churches have that number listed at their websites.)

I am including the news article and part of my letter.  I am leaving out the parts of my letter that included my Christian beliefs that I used as I know that many FAC members have differing personal beliefs, and I respect that.

https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2019/11/29/caps-provides-shelter-this-winter/

Dear  _______________,

I read in your local Suffolk newspaper about your Night Stay Winter Shelter Program, noting that people on the sex offender registry cannot participate.  I can surely understand liability issues and wanting to make sure that everyone is safe, particularly children who might be in attendance.  It appears, though, that murderers, gang leaders, drug dealers, active shooters, terrorists, armed robbers, etc. will be able to participate.

The latest (May of 2019) U. S. Department of Justice’s study on the recidivism rates of released inmates, whose most serious offense was rape or sexual assault (which includes child molestation), found that over a 9-year period (2005 – 2014), 7.3% of these released inmates did re-offend.  But that means that 92.3% did NOT re-offend.  Over time, there will be further incidents, but studies have shown that the rate per year only declines until registrants eventually are no more likely to commit a sex offense than any other individual.  Research shows that people on the registry are less likely to re-offend than any other group of people charged with a crime, with the exception of murderers (because of their longer sentences, often being for life).  I often hear it said that registrants always re-offend.  This is a myth that research has debunked.  There is a wealth of research out there to back up what I am saying.

I am in a large support group with hundreds of men and women in the state of Florida who have a one-time-only sex offense.  Many of these offenses occurred 20 to 30 years ago.  Our group does not support re-offenders.  These men and women are working hard to be law-abiding citizens, which is not easy once you are on the registry.  These are a group of people who are treated like lepers.  The registry laws in this country keep growing, making it difficult for these people to find housing, live with family members, and get a decent job.

I live in a neighborhood with 12 men on the sex offender registry.  Ten of these men committed their one-time-only offense anywhere from 1999 – 2003.  None of these 12 men is continuing to commit sex crimes and have all been responsible neighbors for years.

Research shows that just under 90% of future sex crimes will be committed by people NOT on the registry.  Research also shows that over 90% of all sexual assault cases (which includes child molestation) are by people the victim already knows and NOT by strangers.

It breaks my heart to read in your local paper that all registrants are turned away, since the vast majority will never re-offend but have suffered so much already because of the draconian laws and ordinances that make life so difficult for them.  They can be arrested for things that are legal for you or me to do and which in no way harm another individual, such as registering one day late after 20 years of always registering on time.  In the state of Florida, that is a third degree felony for registrants.

I realize that there are liability issues for you, and that safety for everyone in attendance is important.  I also realize that there could be some registrants that are truly too dangerous for others to be around, but that number would be small.  Your local law enforcement could tell you who they are, if there are indeed any.  These same officials will also tell you that very few ever re-offend, but the majority have served time in prison and probation, and have learned their lesson.  They deserve a second chance.

When we think of the registry, we think of the most deplorable people on earth, but that is not the case.  Even Patty Wetteringly, the mother of the boy who was abducted, raped, and killed by a man on the sex offender registry, and who also helped our country start the national registry, has said that the registry is broken.  She has said that it includes too many people that do not belong there, and that most registrants do not even come close to committing the type of act that her son’s killer did.  The registry was meant for horrific crimes such as what was done to her son.  Now there are children as young as 10 years old on the registry; 21-year-old men who have sex with their very consenting 16-year-old girlfriend whom they marry after being released from prison; people arrested for public urination in some states; men who have never committed a crime in their life until they develop frontaltemporal dementia and touch a child inappropriately; and it goes on and on.  In Florida, you are on the registry for life.  Very few registrants have committed the egregious acts that happened to Patty Wetteringly’s son.

I know that you have to make sure that all participants are safe, but I also know that the deserving registrants in your town could be served by your organization, too.  If all of you put your heads together, you can think of a way to meet the needs of all your homeless citizens.  In my many years on this earth, I have learned if there is a will, there is a way.

Thank you for caring about and serving the homeless in Suffolk, Virginia.

Yours truly,