Not in my backyard. That's what I say everytime I hear a story about convicted sex offenders needing a place to live. So where do we put them? That's the million-dollar question. Nobody wants them where they can do their dirty deeds again. Here in California, the state is putting these criminals up in local hotels and motels and there is nothing we can do about it. That's the part that sucks.This weekend, an Orange County motel evicted seven paroled child molesters after police issued a public warning about the men. The co-owner of the Garden Grove Inn says the registered sex offenders were forced from the motel Saturday because of the media attention they were drawing. The move came a day after police passed out to local homes and businesses about 700 fliers listing the names and photos of 16 high-risk offenders living in the Garden Grove Inn and the Hospitality Inn.
Florida came up with a solution too. House the convicted felons under a bridge that forms one part of the freeway out there. the part of the freeway that Florida is putting these pervs in offers no running water, no electricity and little protection from nasty weather. Department of Corrections Officials say it's not an ideal solution, but at least the state knows where the sex offenders are.
To understand this problem we must examine just what a sex offender is. The California justice system classifies them into three categories: High Risk, Serious, and Other. A high risk offender is a serious sex offender who has committed a combination of serious felony offences in addition to sex crimes. A serious offender has among other offences, committed child molestation, oral copulation or rape. To qualify as other, the offender must have been convicted of pornography or has committed spousal rape.
How can the high risk and the serious offenders be kept out of our neighborhoods? One way is to keep them incarcerated for longer periods of time...how about a lifetime? In California, most prisoners paroled from the Department of Corrections are classified high risk. and pre-sentence investigations or psychiatric reports aid in the state decision to release these slimeballs. If the system is working so well, why are their paroles crowed in hotels close to schools and neigborhoods with kids?Los Angeles’ parole agents said that they were unable to find enough housing meeting the criteria. In response, the parole agents shuffled paroles between hotels every four days to circumvent the law requiring paroles to register within five days of moving to a new residence. Aren’t the agents clever?
California’s Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that 17,583 sex offenders failed to register as required. It seems that they moved into a community without notifying police; additionally, some left the area. The Los Angeles, California’s percentage rate is high. Of 16,015 paroles, 4,831 are out of compliance.
I've seen some interesting ideas on what to do with these dregs of society. One solution I read is immediate imprisonment for life, even the elderly offenders. Just lock them up and let them have their way with each other and do what ever they please to each other. Another one suggested that it’s too bad that we can’t string them up, and not amputate, but hack off their testicles and watch them bleed to death. And another guy thinks that we should dig a gigantic hole approximately two miles in diameter and 100 feet deep, the walls vertical and un-scaleable. The only way in or out is by a hoist basket. Food, water, and medication lowered by hoist.
Now I like those ideas. Although they are not very constitutional but effective; they would remain in this hole living like the animals that they are, until they perish.
Some people have suggested therapy. Like that would help. In California, three-quarters of civilly committed sex offenders do not attend therapy. Those who choose to participate in sex offender treatment spend an average of less than 10 hours a week doing so. Many say their lawyers tell them to avoid it because admission of past misdeeds during therapy could make getting out impossible, or worse, lead to new criminal charges.
Why should we put up with sex offenders? Deviants, more properly called animals, that rape or molest just once need not ever be free. Sexual offenders should be treated as vicious caged animals. Unfortunately, we can’t rewrite the constitution; however, we can petition our state legislature and urge our federal representatives to pass constitutionally sound laws; laws that will incarcerate sexual predators for life. Unfortunately, it leaves one issue open. Where is the money to come from to build new prisons and hire correctional officers?
The real question in all of this crap is this: are you willing to ante up the additional tax dollars needed to keep our neighborhoods safe?
