Patch is hard at work putting out their registry maps

As Patch continues to put out their fall maps, they have started toning it down a bit, as this is the second year that they have included information on why these maps might not be as helpful as they once touted them to be.

This particular article lets the reader know:

• Registries play only a limited role in preventing sex crimes against minors.
• Most perpetrators are known to the child.
• The U. S. Department of Justice estimates that only about 10 percent of perpetrators are actually strangers.
• Nearly a quarter of perpetrators are juveniles.

Last year, NARSOL sent a letter to Patch informing them of what research has shown concerning registrants and Halloween.  The letter was signed by many prominent, knowledgeable people and groups in the field of sex offense therapy, research, and law.  This was a powerful letter that made a difference with Patch.

At the same time last year, FAC posted research debunking what Patch was saying and doing on every Patch.com article that was published.  Because of what FAC was doing – putting the truth out there – Patch stopped their commenting section as it was, and now will only let you make comments if you register with them, create a profile giving them information about yourself, and live in the community for which they are posting the map, which tends to be small communities.

FAC already had an account with Patch for posting purposes through Facebook, but Patch has now “temporarily disabled our account” – more like permanently.  But that is okay as long as they have discontinued much of the propaganda they once put out there.

These are the kinds of results that can occur when we unite for a cause.  As a result of what NARSOL, FAC, and the many individuals who contacted Patch did, Patch had no choice but to listen and make some changes for the better.

As the president of FAC always says, “With unity comes change.”  We have the numbers in our organization to make a difference

At the bottom of the articles, Patch is now posting a link to the NARSOL letter and other letters objecting to what Patch is doing to people forced to register.  Underneath that link, they have a link to an article on why they are publishing these maps every year for the past 6 years:  because a young girl who was trick-or-treating was brutally raped and killed in 1973.  The man who did this to the girl was NOT on any registry.  It will tear your heart out when you read what he did to this innocent child, but Patch is not able to cite any other such incidents occurring on Halloween night.  As horrible as this crime was 48 years ago, how has banishing hundreds of thousands of citizens and their family members done anything to prevent such a future crime?  How has turning Halloween into a nightmare for so many registrants and their families done anything to prevent a future sex crime against a child?   What does help to prevent such crimes is for parents to accompany their children when they go trick-or-treating.

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