Tracking the worst of the worst
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ex offenders. If you're like the rest of us, you don't want them in your neighborhood, down at the park, the swimming pool or at school.
State lawmakers responded to that public loathing during this year's session, passing House Bill 375, "Sex Offender Restrictions," which Gov. Huntsman signed into law on Tuesday. It bars convicted, paroled sex offenders from daycares and preschools, public swimming pools, public and private schools, public parks and playgrounds.
There is debate over whether or not this is feel-good legislation -- essentially unenforceable. Some say it will protect potential victims, but others doubt it will be effective.
We believe both arguments have merit, but in the end it's probably better to err on the side of doing something rather than nothing.
Utah does not count itself among the increasing number of states opting for so-called "civil commitment" of sex criminals. New York is the latest to pass a law that allows for sex offenders who come up for parole to be committed to mental hospitals, where they receive treatment to prevent crimes they might commit in the future. The argument -- with anecdotal evidence to support it -- is that sex offenders have high rates of recidivism and therefore present a significant threat to society; so some states are attempting to keep the worst of the worst locked up, perhaps indefinitely.
But since Utah is not part of that movement, our lawmakers are searching for ways to protect the public -- children, primarily -- from sexual predators. The method they've decided on involves restrictions from gathering places frequented by children and families.
As reported by our own Jesse Fruhwirth, law enforcement and corrections officials are fine with making it a class A misdemeanor for sex offenders who show up at a park or pool or school is fine -- penalties are up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine -- but a few of the people Fruhwirth spoke to raised interesting points to consider.
Clearfield's Assistant Police Chief Greg Krusi noted that while some sex offenders select victims at random in public places, most sex offenders prey on family members or acquaintances. A clinical social worker with Weber Human Services, Patricia Millar, wondered how offenders would be monitored.
Krusi makes a good point: Most of the sex offenders charged and convicted in Utah know their victims. Not all, but a significant majority.
As for the monitoring of sex offenders, Adult Probation & Parole agent Trent Wynn told our reporter that most paroled sex offenders are fitted with a global positioning satellite (GPS) monitoring device -- an ankle bracelet -- upon their release from prison. If exclusion zones identified in the law are programmed into the GPS tracking system, Adult Probation & Parole can be notified if a sex offender visits a restricted area.
If that really works, it's a great tool for keeping track of these offenders. And we hope Adult Probation & Parole will report success stories -- apprehension and prosecution of the violators -- once the new exclusion zones are programmed into the system.
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