Press Release: Group calls registries useless in child’s horrific death
Registries are totally ineffetive at protecting the public from harm
7-17-2023. Raleigh, North Carolina . . . On July 8 in Rockford, Illinois, a horrible crime took place. A little ten-year-old girl, playing outside in her yard, was kidnapped and murdered close to her home. The man who was almost immediately arrested for the crime is a registrant on the Illinois Sexual Offender Registry.
We are NARSOL—the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws.
Like everyone, we are shaken and appalled by this heinous crime and the tragic loss of life. Nevertheless, as advocates in support of rational sexual offense laws, we believe it is important to speak out in favor of rational sexual offense laws even in the face of such tragedies — perhaps especially in the face of such tragedies. For it is in response to such tragedies when outrage and fear often triumph over good policymaking.
It is in the face of tragedy when good and decent people’s admirable desire to protect the most vulnerable among us leads to precipitous and counter-productive law-making. It is a well-known phenomenon that moral outrage can lead to a diminishment of logic and create excess punishment. This is very much the story behind many of the laws that have been imposed on people who have been convicted of sexual offenses.
We have learned volumes about these laws in the past three decades. We have learned that they do not produce the hoped-for results.
In short, the sexual offender registry does not accomplish the public safety goals for which it was created. Increasing penalties and restrictions against people who have previous sexual crime convictions is not a reasonable nor helpful reaction to random tragedies of this sort.
As much as we might wish they would, these laws do not protect children nor society. All they do is punish hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who have paid for their earlier offenses, men, women, and children who are nothing like the people who commit these rare, horrific crimes.
Crimes such as the one that took little Destiny’s life are horrifying and leave her family bereft, but they are extremely rare. Roger Lancaster, who has done extensive research in the subject, points out, “. . . the crimes that most spur public outrage — the abduction, rape and murder of children — are exceedingly rare. . . . a child’s risk of being killed by a sexual predator who is a stranger is comparable to the chance of being struck by lightning.”
The registry is totally ineffective in its intended purpose as a public safety initiative. Every time one of these rare, horrific tragedies occurs is proof that the registry doesn’t protect anyone. It did not protect Destiny.
NARSOL urges the citizens of Illinois to grieve for Destiny with her family and friends. We urge you to remember that her killer is not a monster but a human being who has committed a terrible crime. We urge you also to refrain from asking for an increase in more laws that are ineffective, costly, and punitive to a large number of people who have paid for their crimes and have done nothing to deserve more continued punishment.
We ask the Illinois state legislators to resist adding yet more ineffective laws to the ones that flow from the registry of persons with previous sexual crime convictions. We ask you also to address the need for improved mental health evaluation and treatment for all populations within your state.
Copyright © 2023 NARSOL All Rights Reserved.
Hello Sandy, I just want to make a basic point. The crime was horrific, but should not be allowed to be escalated to affect those who have not reoffended. My husband was on the registry for years after serving a 10 year prison term. It adversely affected our whole family. He recently passed away and my main point is, the punishment doesn’t even end with death, for the family, the stigma never goes away. Even if the registrant was innocent, which many are, it carries on. That leaves many looking at a hopeless future and no way to turn. Our legal system is terribly broken and ineffective. My biggest question is, if they are so dangerous WHY would they release them, especially since they have nothing left and no where to go? You back a wild animal in a corner and they WILL defend themselves. If they are an actual predator, their actions are uncontrollable. A very high percentage of those on the registry have NEVER reoffended. It is like the difference between a killer and a serial killer. Someone may kill another in a fit of rage and serve their time and never commit another crime. A serial killer on the other hand, is driven by an uncontrollable urge within their mind. Consequently they can spend years without their crimes being detected, resulting in a life sentence when the body count is discovered. My final question is has anyone ever heard of a convicted serial killer being released?
You’re correct. I’ve been on the registry for 16 years, have never been arrested for anything or even been in trouble post confinement, obtained one Bachelors degree and finishing up another degree, am married and raise my children in home yet still I’m seen as a threat. We make over 150k a year and places outright refuse to rent to us in places like Georgia because they outright deny anyone on the registry no matter how long ago the conviction was yet allow everyone else to include include murderers. The registry is nothing more than punishment and really is Jim Crow 2.0.
Very well written Sandy.
The problem is that this is ramping up to an election year and both the politicians and media are going for ratings. The media is going to emphasize this terrible crime to stir up the public and outrage. The politicians are going to respond in a tough on crime platform. As we all know, these unreasonable laws have been created for political purposes, not public safety. They started as an appeasement and have become a political tool towards reelection which is once again all about the money and as long as it is about money, expecting positive change is extremely unlikely. I hate to sound like a pessimist but for the last 14 years this has been the central focus in my life. The politicians don’t care a fig about public safety or effectiveness of the legislation that is passed as long as it guarantees reelection and more money.
I want to thank all involved for their time and efforts and pray that we can continue to pick away at the wall of injustice.
Unfortunately, horrible events like this only fuel the hatred of sex offenders and will end up increasing punishment. Policy and lawmakers use this as evidence that the list needs to be more harsh instead of rational and public opinion supports that.
Has the registry ever stopped a crime?
The sex offender registration keeps me from getting truck driver jobs even after my offense was in 1997, the background investigation group First Advantage in Indiana reports to employers that your registered. Fed Ex requires no felony convictions within 10 years of applications but being on the registry shows up current and you are disqualified from employment. Walmart and swift trucking and other big truck companies same results.
This was very good. The only thing I wish we would do is to go ahead and acknowledge that there are dangerous people on the registry. This is a fact and a yet another reason why the registry, in its current form, is very broken and must be abolished. Dangerous people don’t belong on a registry, they belong in prison for life. We do this everyday in the name of protecting the public from those who would harm. With 800,000 names, the registry is useless and gets in the way of identifying those very few. Since they shouldn’t be on the registry in the first place, what need is there for one at all? Instead we’re all lumped into the same group and then when one of those few act out, the movement takes a real hit. We should more willingly acknowledge this publicly when appropriate. Don’t we have little sympathy for that rare person who is on the registry and is intent on harming children and proves himself to actually be a monster? In fact, many say that it is because of these very few why any changes to the registry would be unacceptable. Talking about this would go a long way in relating better to the public because another fact is, we are all on the same side! We can all agree – NO one wants children harmed. We have to get people to understand – the registry actually HARMS way more children than it could ever help.
In the case of this incident, the appropriate punishment is to seek the death penalty(unfortunately repealed in Illinois in 2011). Not additional registration; which solves nothing. The crime is a capital offense crime and should be treated as such, not a sexual one.
May the lord comfort the lost little one in his loving arms.
They like to treat a sickness with the wrong medicine because it’s politically favorable.