Sex Offender Public Policy Registration Notification and Civil Commitment Registration 3 levels in MA Only the 3rd level is extremely public active notification SO s giving their information to the police Notification Offense Picture Where the offender lives Where the offender works Where the person frequents Civil Commitment You have been evaluated and have found to been a sexually dangerous person and that you are at a high risk to reoffend and therefore you are kept in order to provide treatment until you are no longer found sexually dangerous Assistant District Attorney for the jurisdiction where you were convicted is responsible for filing a civil commitment hearing How It s Supposed to Work Research Public Policy Treatment How They Come About Came about due to extreme cases not due to research or statistics Registration and Notification Megan Kanka o If we knew this guy was here we would have been able to protect her o What brought about the notification and registration laws Civil Commitment Earl Shriner Case 1990 o Earl was about to be released even though he was saying that he was having fantasies about raping boys because he wasn t talking about specific people and holding someone against their will didn t apply o Ended up raping and mutilating a 6 year old boy Proximity Jessica Lunsford o Little girl abducted raped and killed in Florida o Brought about the law that sex offenders cannot reside a certain distance from where children congregate All came from high profile cases o Tend to get people worked up about the issue o Tend to be the exception All involved the victim getting killed Less than 3 involve the victim getting killed Sex Offender Laws Registration and Notification o On the SO to register and update information o Need to request from the police to know the second level sex offenders o On SORB for 20 years though some are for life Can appeal at 10 years Civil Commitment AKA SVP o SVP Sexually Valiant Predatory laws o If you have a mental health abnormality or personality disorder that puts you at a high risk of offending you can be held in a facility until you are found to no longer be sexually dangerous Have to have a disorder and the disorder has to be associated with your risk Once you re in it s very hard to get out o Being held for treatment makes it constitutional o 17 states have civil commitment Proximity No Live Zones Residency Restrictions o Cannot live within a certain radius of a place where children congregate i e schools daycares playgrounds etc o MA doesn t have it with the exception of a few towns Average US Rate 240 sex offenders per 100 000 population o Delaware has the highest rate o Takes into account the real numbers as well as how well the states keep up with the sex offenders Indecent assault and battery assault and battery involving private areas Intended Purpose Registration and Notification o Lower Recidivism o Help solve new crimes Can easily check on past offenders o Warn community pro active protective behavior Civil Commitment o Prevent the release of offenders who are a high risk to re offend due to Mental abnormality Personality disorder Likely to commit another sex crime against a stranger Did away with the against a stranger part but it was originally because committing a sex crime against a stranger raises your risk Proximity o Prevent offenders from living near areas where children congregate e g schools day care centers etc Assumptions Registration and Notification o Children tend to be victimized by strangers o Recidivism for convicted offenders is high Civil Commitment o Certain offenders are high risk and will re offend due to psychological personality factors o Treatment will help change these factors Residency numerous Pre Implementation Research NONE No research done to see how it would function the efficacy of the laws o Sex offenders are predatory and will seek out children where they are most Testing Assumptions Strangers Victimize Children o 90 Known 10 Stranger perpetrated abuse Father 20 Stepfather 29 Other Relative 11 o Another study with children showing the lowest rate between stranger and Acquaintances 30 known perpetrator rate Male Victim Stranger 40 Family Known 60 Female Victim Stranger 21 Family Known 79 Recidivism is High drugs o General 2nd lowest of homicide rape robbery assault burglary and o Same offense 2nd lowest of same as above o Most got picked up for another offense much more likely to commit a new crime not another sex crime o 10 Year Recidivism Rate Percentage of Offenders who had a recidivism rate of o Recidivism Studies Prentky 1997 20 0 Hanson 1998 13 4 Hanson 2004 21 8 Hanson 2005 13 7 Marques 2005 24 4 o Sex offender recidivism tends to run between 13 25 across multiple o Incest offenders tend to run a lower rate makes sense when you look at studies Assumption is not well supported the risk factors from the statistical test o Have high risk groups less than 20 Between 50 to 80 recidivism rate for those that meet the following Stranger unrelated victims Male victims High number high repetition Strong pedophilic sexual interest o Most treatment resistant because it s extremely difficult to change Testing Assumptions continued Treatable o One study Recidivism when treated 12 Recidivism when untreated 17 5 difference between the two but a 30 drop in recidivism overall o Wasn t the treatment so much that matters it s the degree to which the patients understand the treatment and apply it Need to use treatments that are seen to be effective Need to see how well the patients understand the treatment and if they know how to implement it o Treatment Caveat Most treatment resistant groups Antisocial Personality Psychopathy Strong pedophilic interest offenders Predatory Behavior part of Residency assumption o No real research on this o Anecdotally the high risk and or stranger victim offenders may tend to exhibit more predatory behaviors o Areas to be avoided are where children are being supervised Registration and Notification o Lower Recidivism Limited research no evidence o Help solve new crimes Anecdotal evidence of helping investigations o Warn community Those actively notified so who more protective behaviors More awareness not educationally based o Unintended Impact High demand on parole probation and police New resource establishment SORB Cost and not getting a lot of bang for your buck Negative offender impact False sense of security most SO s are known not strangers Testing