Quincy Moves to Ban SOs from Libraries, Parks

From Patriot Ledger (story)

As many towns in the Commonwealth have done, Quincy is pushing through legislation that would ban SOs from libraries, parks, schools, and any other place children are likely to be.

This is only my first blog post on this subject, but something you are going to hear me talk about alot is that the majority of sex offences are committed against someone known to the victim, whether that be a relative, neighbor, teacher, etc. Banning SOs from public places like this is not a meaningful way to protect the public. Then again, neither is SORB, but that is a story for another day.

Here are some highlights from the article:

Violations of the ordinance, which would apply only to Level 3 sex offenders – those deemed by the state most likely to re-offend – would carry a $150 fine for a first violation and $300 for each subsequent violation.

Luckily cities and towns can not criminalize behavior like this. You just know these would be criminal violations if they could do it.

The proposal includes a provision that would allow sex offenders to enter prohibited areas to vote or attend a religious service.

See the can of worms laws like this open up? I can't seem to find the story right now, but last November, there was a big story about whether or not someone accused of a sex offense (not even convicted) should be allowed to vote in a school gymnasium. I was happy to see people outraged at the consideration of not allowing him to vote. Someone commented along the lines of "Does someone actually expect him to sneak into the school, grab a student in a hall, and assault him in the middle of the school day?"

Koch spokesman Chris Walker said the mayor “agrees with the sentiment behind the legislation” and, before deciding whether to sign it, will review it with the police department “to ensure that it will be as effective in the real world as it is in spirit to protect the citizens.”

Kudos to Mayor Koch for putting serious thought into this and not just doing what will look good to the public.

A first draft of the ordinance included a provision that would ban sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools and parks.

Councilor Joseph Finn said the residency restriction “would have made 99 percent of all housing unavailable” to offenders.

“Study after study indicates that there is no connection between residential proximity and recidivism of sexual crime,” Finn said. “All it really does is make housing an even more difficult dilemma and it creates greater transiency, which in fact increases recidivism.”

This is a serious mistake many cities and towns are making. At some point I will post a list of cities and towns in Massachusetts and what percentage of the town is off-limits to sex offenders (residentially atleast). It's amazing. Some towns are in the high-90s.

Coughlin said he was compelled to look at some type of sex offender ordinance after the parent of a teenager told him her child had seen a man masturbating while looking at pornography on a computer at the Thomas Crane Public Library. The man was told to leave the library, but was not arrested, Coughlin said.

A man was masturbating in a public library and all that was done is he was asked to leave? So instead of taking the first step of maybe making a policy in the library that anyone committing a sexual act in the library will be turned over to the police, we are now going to ban SOs from the library. Was this guy a SO? If not, then this new law would not have prevented what happen. If so, assuming his offense was Indecent Exposure (which is what I believe his crime was in this instance), then he would probably not be a Level 3 SO and again, this new law would not have prevented anything.

So, this is my first post on this blog. I came across the article while reading some blogs tonight and decided that there is a lot of news all the time on the subject and I want to do my part to pass on my take on the issues. I am not a blowhard who's going to scream and yell. I am going to point out hyprocracy when I see it. I am also going to applaud our leaders when they make tough, but correct decisions.

A little about myself: I am a 30-year-old Level 2 Sex Offender. I spent two years in jail for my crime (statutory rape of a child under 16). I don't plan to divulge my name any time soon. I have already had all the notoriety I can handle. Now I just want to talk about the issues of the day.