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SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY

 

Law weakens rights, offers little security

 

By J. TOM MORGAN

Published on: 08/22/06

 

Georgia's sex offender registry law is irreparably flawed.

 

Its stated purpose is the protection of Georgia's children. Yet it does little, if anything, to protect children from sexual assault. It provides a false sense of security for citizens while unreasonably and irrationally depriving individuals of fundamental rights.

 

My career has been dedicated to the protection of children. I was responsible for the prosecution of hundreds of sex offenders over 21 years. I taught prosecutors throughout the United States and Europe how to prosecute sex offenders.

 

I co-founded and currently chair the Georgia Center for Children, a private nonprofit organization that provides free counseling for victims of child sexual abuse. I am dismayed when a statute is passed, purportedly to protect children, but actually does nothing to protect them. I am concerned when laws compromise the rights of citizens without judicious, sound rationale.

 

Georgia's statute prohibits a registered sex offender from working within 1,000 feet of "a place of worship," even if children are not present during working hours.

 

Interestingly, it does not prevent a sex offender from attending the same church. Some of the most notorious sex offenders I prosecuted were members of the clergy who lived in parsonages within 1,000 feet of the church. I did not prosecute any cases where a person unaffiliated with the church molested a child on or near church property.

 

A registered sex offender, whom I prosecuted, must resign from his job of five years because his office is within 1, 000 feet of a church even though children are not present during the work week. Yet he can attend the church while children are present.

 

Under the statute, a sex offender may not live or work within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop, school or church. How are children any safer because a registered sex offender lives more than 1,000 feet away? If someone desires to walk 1,000 feet to harm a child, he will walk another few feet for the same purpose. Does distance really make a difference? No.

 

The law also prohibits sex offenders from staying in hotels with swimming pools. I am dubious that this provision is enforceable and am certain it will waste resources needed to stop actual crimes. I did not prosecute any cases in which a stranger molested a child in a hotel swimming pool.

 

When I talk with friends, colleagues and neighbors regarding this law, the first reaction is that we must do everything we can to protect our children. Absolutely. But I am afraid this statute gives parents and communities a false sense of protection against crimes that most often occur not at school bus stops, but where children are in the greatest danger: their own homes.

 

Ninety percent of children are sexually abused by a family member or someone they know and trust. I never prosecuted a case where a child was molested at a school bus stop. I did prosecute many, many cases where children were molested in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

 

Without valid justification, the statute deprives individuals of the freedom to work and live in a broad range of locations. This is legally and ethically wrong. There are laws we can pass to protect children. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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