.jpg)
Anthony Sowell-(Mark Duncan/AP photo)
November 5, 2009 - Eleven bodies found at registered sex offender Anthony Sowell's home in Cleveland, Ohio is making more and more people wondering how they could have gotten there without anyone knowing. Now that Anthony Sowell has been arrested and charged with mutiple murder, the question is, why weren't the police and parole officers aware of what was going on? If it turns out that Sowell is responsible for the deaths of the people whose bodies have been found at his home, it could be because he was able to exploit a broken parole and sex offender registry system.
Phillip Garrido who was accussed recently of abducting Jaycee Dugard and fathered two girls by her was also a registered sex offender. He kept them hidden for 18 years in his backyard. In the 1970s, Garrido kidnapped Katie Callaway Hall, drove her to a shed in Nevada and raped her for hours. He served 11 years in prison for the attack before being released on parole. He was forced to register as a sex offender after being convicted of the rape.It is believed that Garrido had five or six different state parole officers assigned by the California Department of Corrections over the 18 years he imprisoned Dugard in his backyard. According to California authorities the parole system did a horrible job of monitoring Garrido.
Are parole officers missing opportunities to accurately monitor sex offenders or are they failing to report compliance issues to avoid further investigation? Training and accountability of parole officers in monitoring sex offenders seems to be an issue that needs to be addressed. Law enforcement agencies must be asking themselves some real tough questions regarding monitoring and supervising sex offenders.
Recidivism among sex offenders is high according to the US Justice Department. They are four times likely to repeat their behavior than a criminal convicted of burglary, assault or murder. There are more than 500,000 sex ofenders nationwide.
Phillip Garrido, top right, Jaycee Dugard, bottom right (Getty Images/AP)
.jpg)
Find out if sex offenders are living in your area by clicking here...
For more information on this and related topics please read the following articles:
Missing girls body found in Georgia landfill
Online friendships can mean offline peril
Please contact me directly if you would like information on security and safety awareness at
fred@jccsecurityconsultants.com
Comments
Get your facts straight.
"Recidivism among sex offenders is high according to the US Justice Department."
This is only true if they do not have the support they need, like having a place to stay, have family contact, and job.
Where did you get your experience, Fox News?
You need to read the US Justice Department's recidivism study a little closer. It says they have a significantly LOWER recidivism than other felons. What it DOES says is that sex offenders are 4 times more likely to commit a sex offence than other felons are.
An argument can be made that sex crimes are henious enough that this fact outweighs the low recidivism numbers. But thats a seperate issue. It would be nice to make sure the basic facts are right before writing about the topic.
I think we all failed jaycee -- if more of his associates/neighbors knew he was an offender, could she have been found sooner? according to this article, there is no excuse for any of us not knowing our neighbors. www.lawfirms.com/facebook-sex-offender-apps.html
I do not know what credentials you have in order to post an article on Examiner.com, but your statement: "Recidivism among sex offenders is high according to the US Justice Department. "is outright false.
U.S. Department of Justice Statistics: Criminal Offender Statistics
Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison –– 5.3 % of sex offenders versus 1.3 % of non-sex offenders.
Child victimizers
* Approximately 4,300 child molesters were released from prisons in 15 States in 1994. An estimated 3.3% of these 4,300 were rearrested for another sex crime against a child within 3 years of release from prison.
ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#recidivism
Many similar official state studies are found here:
constitutionalfights.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/sex-offender-data/
Follow the link and check out the author's website and you will see a growing trend to commercialize and cash-in on the sex offender hysteria.
While the public fears sex offenders without any objective source of data, men such as this author are using the money to sell the public data the government provides for FREE!
the entire parole system is a complete waste of money and resources, it lulls the public into a false sense of security thinking that if an offender has to meet with a parole agent once or twice a month that will somehow keep them from reoffending. Eliminate parole! That would reduce the prison population enough that there would be no need for early releases and save the taxpayers billions of dollars a year.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!