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March 26, 2005
Sex offender registry helps, but can't stop crime, chief says
The suspect in Thursday's abduction has been on the list in 1997.
The man who oversees Iowa's sex offender registry says the list of 6,400 names - including suspect Roger P. Bentley - is an informational tool that cannot be viewed as sure-fire public protection.
Steven Conlon said the list, and the rules for people on it, cannot stop crime. And lifetime supervision of offenders is not an option.
"The fact is, whether you're talking about sex offenders or robbers or any other criminal, if a person wants to go out and commit a crime, unless you're with them 24 hours a day, they can commit that crime," Conlon said.
Iowa's online registry is far more comprehensive than it was a year ago.
Until last year, the registry included only the names of people at high risk to reoffend, based on medical assessments. Analyzing cases to identify those offenders for the Web site created a backlog of more than 2,000 cases.
Last year the Legislature allowed registry officials to post nearly all offenders. Critics said the change would unfairly lump nonviolent offenders with rapists, but officials say the backlog was eliminated.
"As far as availability and convenience, we've taken a very big step," Conlon said.
It is unclear whether Bentley has been medically assessed. He was added to the list in 1997.
Sex offender registries popped up across the country after 1996, when Congress passed "Megan's Law," named for a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered by a convicted child molester who lived in her neighborhood.
Iowa law requires convicted sex offenders to register with the sheriff in the county in which they live. The sheriff then notifies media outlets.
Over the past two years, checks by news organizations and a study by a New York organization called Parents for Megan's Law found incorrect addresses for about one-fourth of the high-risk offenders on Iowa's list.
State officials send letters to offenders every year to verify addresses, but sometimes offenders move and leave no forwarding address. Some offenders receive the questionnaires but don't respond.
Bentley was charged with failure to register in 1999 but was acquitted.
"The problem with all this noncompliance is very simple: We're expecting the most cunning of all criminals to register themselves, to hold themselves accountable," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law.
"We think offenders should have lifetime supervision, which would make it the state's responsibility to ensure these people are registered," she said.
She pointed to Florida sex offender John Evander Couey, who last week admitted that he abducted and killed 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford and buried her body under the steps of her neighbor's home, Florida officials say.
Couey, a convicted offender listed in Florida's official sex registry, was targeted by police after they learned he had failed to notify authorities that he had moved.
Posted by Nealus at March 26, 2005 10:47 PM
