Where Should Sex Offenders Live When They're Released?
After they've served their time, sex offenders by statute must be released into the communities where they committed their crimes. Understandably, this doesn't sit well with potential neighbors, but they have to go somewhere, right?
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The almost-release of convicted sex offender Michael Fink into the Manree Park neighborhood touched a deep nerve throughout the community.
Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz temporarily rescinded his release order because one of Fink's victims lives just a block or two away from Fink's proposed residence at 918 Lathrop Avenue.
Fink was convicted first in 1987 of second degree sexual assault and served an 18-month sentence. He was then convicted of attempted burglary and got a five-year stint in prison. Then, in 1994, he was convicted of attacking two 12-year-old girls. After he served his sentence, he was found to be sexually violent under Wisconsin's 980 law and committed to the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston.
State statute says that sex offenders have to be released back into the communities where they committed their crimes so Fink will live, albeit under strict supervision, somewhere in Racine County. The trick, according to Lloyd Sinclair of the Department of Human Services, is finding a location that isn't too close to schools, playgrounds, or daycare centers. DHS also has to be sure that victims aren't nearby and there aren't too many other sex offenders in the neighborhood as well.
It's a tall order to be sure, and residents who live in the vicinity get vocal about not having these types of criminals in their neighborhoods.
Terri Renguette on Facebook said, "I suggest right next door to the judge, his attorney, the parole board or anyone else from the court system that think this is a safe idea. Let him be their next door neighbor around their kids and grandkids."
Patch reader C. Sanders posted a comment on an earlier story, "If they want to release this (expletive), then air drop him nude to a remote location in Antarctica. For that matter, send him into space with enough air for 30 seconds."
Fink's release is still a go, and the DHS has 30 days or less to find a suitable location, per the judge's order issued Thursday.
So, readers, where should sex offenders be placed when it's time for them to be released?
Dean
3:58 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013
Lock them up forever. That you can spend my tax money on!!!
CowDung
4:29 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013
Seems kind of stupid to have them live with (or near) the judges that 'released them'. The judges are following the law--they can't keep a person in prison for longer than the sentenced time or what is prescribed by the law.
BarT
8:41 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013
Where do people convicted of child abuse live? Drunk drivers who kill children? Drug dealers who sell to kids? Dads who get arrested and their family loses their homes? Make sex offenders live where those people move to . . .
Eric Knight
8:48 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013
First of all, most violent sex offenders are usually considered for civil confinement. That is certainly being considered for Fink.
That said, the vast majority of registered sex offenders do not reoffend, according to US Department of Justice statistics. While the likelihood of gang members, drug dealers, car thieves, and non-sexual violence offenders reoffend at a rate that exceeds 50%, sex offenders recidivism rate is 3.8%, more than 1000% less likely to commit another crime.
The problem is that the term "sex offender" is too diluted. It includes individuals who have committed crimes against children, against adults, sometimes no victims, and even non-sex-related crimes like indecent exposure and public urination. Yes, the latter two crimes are rare, but they do happen.
What is MORE important is not to restrict the vast majority of registered sex offenders from living where they want, but to emphasize common sense when it comes to educating your children about dangers. It is 10 times more likely that someone in a child's family or people the family knows will commit the offense against the child than a stranger. Common sense should also apply to registry issues as well.
Heather Asiyanbi
8:38 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
@Eric - Fink already was civilly confined for a number of years and has met the conditions for release since.
Eric Knight
11:05 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
@Heather Then please show me a statistic on where individuals, once released from a civil treatment center, have reoffended. The point is that fear and hysteria is creating the danger, not the offender's residence itself. A released drug dealer or gang member would statistically present more danger to children by his presence than most sex offenders. This is not an opinion, but a very easily proved fact from Department of Justice recidivism statistics, as well as the Wisconsin State Police statistics.
Heather Asiyanbi
11:11 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
@Eric - I wasn't arguing a point, just highlighting t that for the court, Fink has met the conditions for release from the treatment center and now must be placed back into the community.
Sex Offender Issues
12:21 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
They should be able to live anywhere they wish. Ex-sex offenders have one of the lowest recidivism rates of all other criminals, yet we don't have an online shaming hit-list for them. Why don't we push for a registry for all criminals?
And apparently the Patch is not moderating comments. The following should've been deleted and the person blocked from commenting. If this were said about blacks, Jews or any other race, it would be considered a hate crime / threat.
"Terri Renguette on Facebook said, "I suggest right next door to the judge, his attorney, the parole board or anyone else from the court system that think this is a safe idea. Let him be their next door neighbor around their kids and grandkids."
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSOIssues
Sam Izera
12:37 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
There would be no such person as a sex offender if we all did what is written in Matthew 19:19 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Regrettably, with all the hate that permeates society, like some of the comments above, it appears that we all have to live with all kinds of offenders of the law, in addition to sex offenders. My book Pedophilia: A Cause and A Cure would be beneficial for those who seriously want to examine the cause of child sexual abuse and how to prevent it.
dsaff
5:20 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
next to Nuitari
John Taxthepoor
8:17 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Since liberals think these animals are humans and should not be executed, I am all for them going back to the hood they lived in. It takes a Village to help these guys, so back to HOME they should be. ENJOY the diddling
WIRSOL
11:59 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The harshest laws that have been created in this state were made by BOTH parties when the Dems were in control of all the houses of our government.
What do you think about those Drunk drivers that endanger children's lives or hit them on the road or those drug dealers that provide substances to children for them to overdose with?
People are imperfect, they make mistakes, such as drunk driving and the like. 80% of sex offenses are committed by someone known and trusted by the child and family, usually a family member. 90% of sex offenders that are arrested are first time offenders, that means they have never been arrested before. Usually they have never been arrested for ANYTHING, other than a speeding ticket.
If you want to be afraid of someone, then look around you, see the trusted people that are with you and your child? THEY are the most likely to sexually abuse your child, not someone that has been charged, convicted and served their time and completed their treatment.
The potential risk of recidivism of a treated sex offender is less than 3% where as a drunk driver that has completed the 'class' required in some areas of Wisconsin have a recidivism rate that is many times that.
What that says is that the treatment for sex offenders combined with the harsh punishments that go with it are an effective deterrent of re-offense. Obviously the methods employed here in WI to combat Drunk driving and drug abuse are not nearly as effective.
Frances Martin
10:06 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
There should be a distinction, though, between the 18 year olds with a 15 yeqr old girlfriend, and pedophiles who prey on the very young--I'm not positive, but I don't think there is. ( a couple of months ago there was a 60th anniversary notice about a couple who married when she was 15 and he was 18 or 19. )
It's a very difficult question as to what to do with pedophiles ,and I had thought the recidivism rate was much higher and that pedophilia is not really curable.
Terri
10:39 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
I thought that same thing, that pedophilles are incurable. Unless they are figuring all that are listed as sex offenders?
Sam Izera
10:40 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
A pedophile has a sexual interest in young children, but that is not a crime. It is when they act out on their fantasy that makes it a crime. A crime is an act, not a thought (yet). So the legal system deals with pedohiles who commit acts of child molestation.
As to the national registry, there are many Romeo and Juliet types on the list, and even ten year olds. People who urinated in public are on the list. It is no wonder there are almost one million on the registry. Instead of registering people who already commited a crime, it should be a requirement that any professional who is responsible for the education or recreation of children should be required to register where they should be told what the consequences of their act will be. My newest book is illustrative. It cqn be read free at whowrotewhat.net/badge. It is entitled Is that a sexual predator hiding behind that badge. This should convince people who have been posting here how little they know of the subject, but it will,provide a comprehensive education on how to stop child molestation.
Sandy
11:22 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
I agree with Eric, the term "sex offender" is so diluted that many who are listed under it are not predators and will not offend again. I have a relative that had a friend come on to him quite strongly as well as to others at her HS but because she was 16 and he was 18 he got the bum rap of a sex offense, even though she told police it was consensual. How do you fight things like that? These kinds of instances get these people labeled as "sex offense probation" for life. That means that even if they go on 20 years down the road and get a disorderly conduct charge, they still have to go on sex offense probation! The system is screwed up and needs to be redefined and clarified so that people like Fink can be put in the proper category and those who are not predators can get a clean slate and go on to not be ostracized by their community but lead productive lives.
Where Fink should live is a concern but with proper monitoring (as in a GPS bracelet) and effective counseling as well as him checking in with an approved liason it is possible for him to live in many different places.
Roy
4:45 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
If they've served their sentence then that should be able to live anywhere they want. What we need to make a list of, and ostracize from our communities are those that kill the babies, the abortionists....they're the "sick ones".
Tressa Kitelinger-Prudhom Stein
5:33 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Offenders under 18 if tried ss a juvenile are NOT on the Sex Offender Registry. They have their own registry available only to Law enforcement, not to public.So that adorable little boy, girl, teen or younger may have been convicted of a Sex Crime of another sweet boy or girl and you may never know.
Also WI does have "Romeo and Juliet" type clauses. Fyi.
Paul Berge
4:44 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Do you have a map of what's left east of !-94 once the Sex Offender Free Zones encircling schools, parks and day care centers are removed from consideration?
Mike Itzenhuiser
12:14 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
There's got to be a deserted island somewhere???