New Law
(MISSOURI) A new Missouri Supreme Court ruling changes the way the state handles its sex offender list. What does that mean for you? It means a convicted sex offender could be living in your neighborhood, and you would never know about it.
According to Megan's law, offenders must register their names and addresses at the county sheriff's department.
The new ruling says sex offenders whose convictions occurred prior to this law taking effect in 1995, can't be forced to come in and register.
So now, unless someone's a persistent offender or considered a "violent sex offender", he or she will be off the hook when it comes to registering.
"In Adair County, we have 43 registered sex offenders. That number keeps going down, but we could possibly lose 12 more, and of those 12 individuals, some of those charges could be rape, but they're still going to be removed from the list," said Chief Deputy Larry Logston with the Adair County Sheriff's Department.
Those in support of the new ruling say most individuals who are convicted of sexual offenses are not repeat offenders.
Missouri now becomes one of only four states in the nation that doesn't require certain sex offenders to register at their county sheriff's department.
This makes me sick to my stomach and angers me greatly. Basically this law will state that anyone who committed a sexual offense before 1995, will not be known and will not have to register. I cannot for one minute fathom why they would change this. The article states that people in support of the ruling says that most who are convicted of sexual offenses are not repeat offenders. That is absolutely false and misleading. In fact, people who commit sexual offenses are the most difficult to rehabilitate and the reoffending rate is extremely high!! I think this is dangerous for our kids and for society and is another example of our government protecting the guilty, rather than the innocent.
According to Megan's law, offenders must register their names and addresses at the county sheriff's department.
The new ruling says sex offenders whose convictions occurred prior to this law taking effect in 1995, can't be forced to come in and register.
So now, unless someone's a persistent offender or considered a "violent sex offender", he or she will be off the hook when it comes to registering.
"In Adair County, we have 43 registered sex offenders. That number keeps going down, but we could possibly lose 12 more, and of those 12 individuals, some of those charges could be rape, but they're still going to be removed from the list," said Chief Deputy Larry Logston with the Adair County Sheriff's Department.
Those in support of the new ruling say most individuals who are convicted of sexual offenses are not repeat offenders.
Missouri now becomes one of only four states in the nation that doesn't require certain sex offenders to register at their county sheriff's department.
This makes me sick to my stomach and angers me greatly. Basically this law will state that anyone who committed a sexual offense before 1995, will not be known and will not have to register. I cannot for one minute fathom why they would change this. The article states that people in support of the ruling says that most who are convicted of sexual offenses are not repeat offenders. That is absolutely false and misleading. In fact, people who commit sexual offenses are the most difficult to rehabilitate and the reoffending rate is extremely high!! I think this is dangerous for our kids and for society and is another example of our government protecting the guilty, rather than the innocent.
posted by Sam at 8:50 AM
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