Posted on: Monday, March 28, 2005
ISLAND VOICES
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By Adriana Ramelli
Recidivism by the sex offender appears to be the driving issue as to whether or not to impose a policy for public notification.
While the recidivism rate appears relatively low for those sex offenders in the treatment program within the Hawai'i prison system, we cannot assume the rate of recidivism is low for all sex offenders in Hawai'i. Not all convicted sex offenders are incarcerated, and there are sex offenders in prison who refuse to participate in treatment.
The individuals who are often thought of as sex offenders are the child molesters, pedophiles and rapists. By legal statute, they are considered "violent sex offenders" because the crimes for which they were convicted are considered violent sex offenses.
Many sex offenders are high-functioning individuals who hold responsible jobs and may not have any prior criminal record. Sex offenders sometimes molest their own children and may molest both within and outside of the family. Child molesters usually assault many children before they are caught. Sex offenders may also abuse adults they know — a classmate, friend or spouse.
Statistics compiled by the Sex Abuse Treatment Center show only 16 percent of victims were assaulted by a stranger. Sex offenders often live secretive and manipulative lifestyles, and deny and minimize the harm imposed on others. They are skilled at keeping the offense a secret, allowing them to avoid prosecution and incarceration. They know what they are doing is wrong and illegal.
The rate of recidivism is based on reported sex crimes, and herein lies the greatest problem. Intimidation by the offender and the fear of breaking up the family keep children silent. If the offender is a coach, minister, teacher or authority figure, children are even less likely to report the incident, thinking no one will believe them. Adults, fearing public judgment and shame and further victimization by the offender, choose not to report it. The National Crime Victimization Surveys (Bureau of Justice) indicate that only one out of three sexual assaults against persons 12 or older are reported to law enforcement.
A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice of 9,691 released sex offenders in 15 states (November 2003) found that released sex offenders were four times more likely to be rearrested for a sex crime compared to non-sex offenders. Released child molesters were more likely to be rearrested for child molestation.
Protecting children and adults from sexual offenders is no simple task. Research states that individuals who commit sex crimes should be managed, treated and supervised differently from other criminals. Sex offender treatment is absolutely necessary as it helps sex offenders to learn how to develop internal controls. Containment of sex offenders is the key to prevention.
While the Department of Probation has the job of imposing conditions on the offender and monitoring this lifestyle, we have to rely on the sex offender to abide by all of the conditions of probation, and rely on individuals to report the sex crime should this individual reoffend. This is a tall order.
The sex offender registration, created by the Hawai'i Legislature in 1997, is a containment tool that can be used as prevention and protection. While there is no research proving that public notification will prevent sex crimes, there is also no research that can conclusively state that sex offenders will not reoffend again.
Some believe that with treatment, sex offenders are at "low risk" to reoffend. The term "low risk" is meaningless when dealing with human lives. Even one victim is one too many if a sex crime can be prevented. Is it not our right to know that the neighbor is a sex offender or that the child's coach has a sex crime history?
The Hawai'i Legislature in 1997 created the sex offender registration and public notification for the following stated purpose, "For too long, the interest of justice have been heavily weighted on concern for the offenders' rights, and there is a need to balance the scales of justice between the right of the offenders and the rights of victims."
The sex offender registry is about the victim and the public's right to access information. The protection of the sex offender should not outweigh effective protection and safety of individuals in our community.
Public opinion on this issue was clearly stated in the November election with the passage of the constitutional amendment that authorized the Legislature to take action and make sex offender information public. We need to have the registry and we need to ensure that the integrity of the registry is not diluted.
To do that, the photograph, home address, work street name and zip code of the most dangerous sex offenders should be on the Internet. Senate Bill 708 must pass at the Legislature. I urge the public to support this measure.
Adriana Ramelli is executive director of The Sex Abuse Treatment Center, a program of Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
