In our area, they cannot live in a school zone - nor can they reside in 'family' housing (apartments, small communities of families, etc). They must register as sex offenders - not doing so can land them back in jail.

That said, it totally irks me off when they 'register' as Transient! Are you serious? Sex offenders can just be 'transient' and not have an address. Doesn't that make them more likely to skip off on their court ordered obligations to register, check in, etc?

The higher the level (level 3&4) the scarier it is and the more likely they are to re-offend (or so I've read). This means as parents, we need to be ever more vigilant in keeping an eye on our children. It is a scary world we live in when sex offenders get to roam the streets.

I don't know what the answer is. I just know that I don't want them living near me.

For me it depends on whether they're actually a sexual predator or someone that got involved with a person that wasn't quite eighteen yet. I don't believe the latter should even be labeled "sex offender" because it's an insult to those who have actually been raped. Unless they can determine that the recipient of "statutory rape" was forced or unable to consent (aka too young or ill-informed to understand what sex was, unconscious, lacking mental capacity to truly consent) , it should not be placed in the same category as real rape.

While I was visiting my mother I found a letter in her mailbox informing that a sexual offender was living ten houses down. The charge was "carnal knowledge of a minor", which under the state penal code meant he had CONSENSUAL sex with someone under the age of eighteen. I looked it up because I wanted to be certain he wasn't a rapist and if he had been, I would have done everything in my power to have him banned from the neighborhood before returning home. It's a shame that this guy is being put under the same category as someone that held someone at gunpoint or physically restrained them or drugged them. It's simply not the same thing.

That being said, I don't believe rapists and child molesters should EVER be released from imprisonment, unless they are castrated before release. It's an unforgivable crime that can't be committed by accident. People can accidentally kill other people in various ways, but it's impossible to "accidentally" hold someone down and stick it to them or slip drugs into their food or drink and mount them while they are unconscious.

Rape is never an accident, it is deliberately forcing sexual acts on another person. The only case in which I could believe someone "didn't mean to" rape another person would be if the assailant were mentally handicapped and unable to understand that their victim wasn't willing. Even then, they should not be allowed freedom (unless we were to start a remote colony far away from civilization for rapists and molesters to live), because innocent people shouldn't have to pay for their violence and/or lack of self control.

Address registration is a fool's errand. Felons are ambulatory.

Registration only serves to intensely stigmatize this disenfranchised population who have served their time. Would recidivism rates be so high if offenders did not have such barriers placed before them at every fork in the road?

The sex offender of tomorrow could live across the street. It is wise to be proactive.

I am not excusing the crimes, and I do live next to a convicted rapist (I get a postcard evey few months) so I understand the reality of the situation.

You are right Birch. But, I know you have to agree that living near one very close is a very uncomfortable situtation, I know sometimes I'd be standing out on my front porch and he would be out of his house and I would be stairing at me. Make me very uncomforftable. Thank goodness for security alarms. I know he is regesterd cause after my neighbor told me, I looked him up on line. I too am just very vidulant when I am out front with the god or by myself.

here is a web site to see if there are sex offenders in your area

http://www.familywatchdog.us/

I think sex offenders should be castrated.

I'm with ya on that statment!

these days, if a man hugs a woman, or just smacks her bum he can be charges for sexual abuse and be on the sex offenders list..sure its not appropriate to do that, but then they're labled as a predator for life. something like that does not go away.
some kids in school are being put on it as well if they had a girlfriend like a few years younger than them.
the ones who actually are a predator, do things with children..rape or assult women severly, they should be put in a place pretty much away from society, but where are they going to put them nowadays, buildings and houses are going up like hot cakes, and families are moving into them..if you want them away from the general public there should be a facility stricktly for people like them who live in the same community.

That may even make it worse as they can share thier stories and fantisy and be worse when the come out. I doubt that keep of comfindment would be adventages to the crime.

but if their not allowed near families, children, and schools, getting them out of society would help this all together. i mean they already have a record, and will never be allowed near these people again, so putting them in their own community [like a jail so to speak] would make things like this unlikely to happen, because they would be put there to do those things to each other cuz their sick people.
Better yet put them in a mental hospital. thats a chemical imbalance if they think doing things like this is right.

Are you kidding? Normal people do not rape children because they had barriers put in place regarding where they can live.

plus it would most likely be a guared area like a jail, where they are not allowed out. it would be a community for them to live in theres no getting out to shoot the breeze with a friend. your in there because of what you did, so thats where you stay.

Exactly. Putting barriers on where they live is pointless.

Something's not working. Time to try something else.

Well Just got done with going to court for beinh sexualy molested and the guy had things he HAD to do after he was convicted like:

Reister as a sex ofender
not live in any or go into ANY school zones!
cannot go to ANY youth functions (FFA, 4-H..esct.)
probation
Jail 30 days
$600.00 dollers in fines

Thats just the things I remember...

Oh and thats in Illinois.

I agree completely!

would being castrated help? not all men rape. you don't need to rape with a penis. there are other ways people are sexually assaulted. it is mostly about wanting to hurt someone and overpower them which you can do whether you are castrated or not. women can be guilty of sexual molestation but you can't castrate them. i don't know what the answer is. i wish they could just be isolated from the rest of the world to make sure they don't do it again but that's just not possible. it kinda sucks that they have human rights when they don't respect the rights of others. i think the sentences should be way tougher and they should be required to have ongoing therapy to figure out why they do it in the first place and to help them stop. i know that probably won't happen though.

i think it depends on the charge too... only because my baby's daddy is a "sex offender" because of a age legality of TWO WEEKS.... and it keeps biting him im the tush now, years later... all over the internet it said he did not have to register any longer (including the sherrif's website) and he still got locked up for failure to register 2008...
but at the same time, if a had a convicted child preditor and mollestor living around, i would want to know because my little one is my world!

If castration is the answer, what about female sex offenders?

I agree that therapy is a big thing that is left out of the equation. It seems like sex offenders continue to be punished past their agreed upon sentences. I think we need to have a completely different program for detentioni and rehab of these offenders than what we have now.

Are there a lot of women sex offenders? I didn't know that. Do you mean like those teachers we see in the news who have sex with their students?

reality is, there are male AND female sex offenders, but you hear more about male sex offenders, because a cop will believe any tale a female says.
Turning the sexual act, on the guy.
And yes, that is a sex offender, those teachers we see having sex with their students. Male or Female, they are both sex offenders.