Homeless sex offenders? Why the outrage, these offenders have made their own choices, and committed a crime. Why should our money be used to house them? As far as "poor homeless offenders", wrong.
We need to concentrate on the victims, who may be homeless, who face a lifetime of healing from the sexual abuse from these offenders. Isn't it time to get out priorities right, to provide for victims instead of the offenders.
K.Hardin

Homeless sex offenders? Why the outrage, these offenders have made their own choices, and committed a crime. Why should our money be used to house them? As far as "poor homeless offenders", wrong.
We need to concentrate on the victims, who may be homeless, who face a lifetime of healing from the sexual abuse from these offenders. Isn't it time to get out priorities right, to provide for victims instead of the offenders.
K.Hardin

The state already owns an island in puget sound thta once was federal prison and is now a state prison (McNiel Island) that has a bunch of houses already built on it. Currently these houses are rented to the staff that work at prison for far less than the rent they would pay if they were on the mainland. So my suggestion is make these staff go live on the mainland and then take these homes back and put the sex offenders into these homes. If the home is a three bedroom home put six of them in there together this would help with part of the problem. There is no real cure other than leave them in prison for life.

I have a real problem with the fact that if you were to get a drug charge or some other charge that was not a crime against another person, you are required to obtain an approved address before you could get released back into the public. But, these sex offenders who's crimes are obviously crimes against people are just released on the hopes that they will not offend again, will not get back into drugs and alcohol again, not be made to attend treatment( obviously no money for that since they are homeless), and are free to do as they please. There is a solution: Keep them locked up. They would be sure to have a roof over there head and three square meals a day. Also a structured routine that assures that they do NOT re-offend

Sherry said:
There must be state/gov/fed buildings not being used such as old schools that have been closed do to funding,that could be used! They already have all the amenities needed to house these offenders. Put fencing around the facilaties and whenever they go or come they must check out then back in, make them pay rent raise a "garden",have chickens and anything else that keeps them busy and self supporting, and a curfew. Personally we should not even allow them back on the streets!!! unfortunately we have no control over it...I don't know if this is the answer, but its better then not knowing where they are at all.I guess we have to live with monsters like it or not!!!!

Sherry.

Sherry said:
There must be state/gov/fed buildings not being used such as old schools that have been closed do to funding,that could be used! They already have all the amenities needed to house these offenders. Put fencing around the facilaties and whenever they go or come they must check out then back in, make them pay rent raise a "garden",have chickens and anything else that keeps them busy and self supporting, and a curfew. Personally we should not even allow them back on the streets!!! unfortunately we have no control over it...I don't know if this is the answer, but its better then not knowing where they are at all.I guess we have to live with monsters like it or not!!!!

Sherry.

Why do we always rely on tax dollars to take care of business? Ombudsman, yes, I think so. In this situation, it is the homeless's fault. It is also the victim's faults for putting themselves in that situation. It's a double sided coin, homeless sex offenders can be avoided if people are more wary of what's going on around them, or if parents take a extra precaution to protect their kids because what capacity of harm can these hobos do? Stuff little boys into their bags? I am a young university student who has not experienced much in her life, and I might be naive but this is my current opinion and I hope things get better :-)

Did I really hear Susannah Frame equate sex offenders with lepers? Does she really believe that people who suffer from a horrible, disabling illness through no fault of their own should be equated with individuals who knowingly, intentionally, choose to sexually assault another human being?

The tragic exile of lepers because stupid people inaccurately believe that leprosy is contagious has always been used to describe the ultimate cruelty of ignorant people. Sex offenders are labelled as sex offenders because they've chosen to do harm and got caught. There is no record of successful rehabilitation of sex offenders, especially level 3. They do real harm. Frame does a major disservice to lepers in using an easy but idiotic analogy. Shame on her. If there's an organization of lepers, I hope they take her and King5 to task!!!!!!!!!

Is she really that insensitive, or that sloppy a journalist?

It seems to me as though nobody should be unduly burdened with the fear of having such monsters live in their neighborhood. Rich or poor, communal neighborhood or impoverished ghetto, there is no reason any family should have to deal with the threat of these peoples' very existence hanging over their heads. Tax dollars, in my opinion, should be spent not in rehoming these people, but in finding more feasible ways to fence them off harmlessly in some remote corner of the world. Sick or evil, their actions cause harm that haunts their victims throughout their lives, and much of the time their jail sentences are much shorter than for far lesser crimes. If they are homeless and preying upon people and children, the Department of Corrections is doing a terrible job. If they are homed and stable and preying upon people and children, the Department of Corrections is doing a terrible job. Perhaps someone should invest in a deserted island somewhere?

It seems to me as though nobody should be unduly burdened with the fear of having such monsters live in their neighborhood. Rich or poor, communal neighborhood or impoverished ghetto, there is no reason any family should have to deal with the threat of these peoples' very existence hanging over their heads. Tax dollars, in my opinion, should be spent not in rehoming these people, but in finding more feasible ways to fence them off harmlessly in some remote corner of the world. Sick or evil, their actions cause harm that haunts their victims throughout their lives, and much of the time their jail sentences are much shorter than for far lesser crimes. If they are homeless and preying upon people and children, the Department of Corrections is doing a terrible job. If they are homed and stable and preying upon people and children, the Department of Corrections is doing a terrible job. Perhaps someone should invest in a deserted island somewhere?

As you can see from the responses, in general, people are fed up with having these offenders foisted upon their communities and neighborhoods. The problem begins with far too lenient penalties for sex crimes. People who rape and molest children nedd to be imprisoned far longet than current penalties. Further, our community based treatment alternative, SSOSA, needs to be eliminated. Over, 5,000 individuals who have been convicted since 1984 have received NO state prison time under this awful law/program. Let's start with very serious penalties on first offense. When offenders come out, I favor much more use of available technology, like all level 2's and 3's being tracked via live (real time GPS). No tax dollars for housing offenders. I also like the idea of forcing them to McNeil Island if they have nowhere to live. We already pay for that facility.

Ok, so we pay yet more tax dollars for housing. Whos neighborhood gets it? Right....
A halfway house for a homeless sex offender? No thanks, not on my bar tab.I think I prefer the "under the bridge" option.

Seems to me that if these offenders need to be continually tracked by the state after their release, the state should concede that they are not "cured" and should keep them incarcerated. Probably not much more expensive, and a lot safer for the communities.

Maybe some people are better locked up for "life"

The lady with the baseball bat had it right!!

Easy solution,.... GPS tracking for life,...first offense,.....period.

I'm a level-3 sex offender. I work and pay my rent. I have been rejected for housing and for better jobs. But I kept working at it, and found opportunities. There are people who give us chances, and it is up to ourselves to fulfil our responsibilities. Public housing is not the solution- only a stop-gap for homelessness. What needs to occur is for people to realize that MOST of us- by a HUGE margin- are successful, take care of ourselves, and never commit additional sex offenses. Do some research, instead of letting emotions run rampant, and you will see that Washington's SOTP in Monroe is one of the best. There will never be a perfect success rate- in ANYTHING- be realistic. I am successful, I control my arousals, I am transparent in everything I do. Would you prefer I not work, pay my own rent, and de-stabilize myself because you cannot believe I can or should? Do you realize the enormous costs of prisons? Prisons are a out-of-sight-out-of-mind solution. Our prisons are filling up with sex offenders, and we are paying taxes to house men out of state. When will the hysteria end? The media needs to stop the sensationalizing of this horror and report the successes that overwhelm the number of failures, not just the terrible re-offenses. Re-offenders are not a majority amongst sex offenders- do your research. I hurt so many people with my deviant sexual offending- my victims, their families, my family, myself, and even you for having to deal with this. I choose never to forget that, yet not live in a state of toxic shame, and progress forward to improve everything I do. Remember this: When you know me, about me, and WHERE I AM, then you are SAFE from me. It is when you throw me out and remove me from my ability to help myself that I become dangerous. It is refusing to rent me living space that makes me homeless, not my success in treatment. My success in treatment is what provides me with the tools to overcome public ignorance of my ability to succeed. Also: No sex offender releases homeless unless he has completed his full sentence. Only those of us, like myself, that have solid release plans get released earlier for good behavior. Check out the REAL statistics of Sex Offender Treatment Programs in Washington (Dept of Corrections website). The SOTP there is superb. They change wrecked lives into productive ones. You will be amazed at how many of us DO succeed and NEVER re-offend. SOTP is where tax money should go. They should at least DOUBLE the SOTP, if not more. That is the best solution, because I am here to affirm that teartment DOES work for MOST sex offenders in Washington- BY FAR! The media reoprts otherwise, but they are wrong. I am not proud to be a sex offender. I am proud to be successful in not being a re-offender. That is qualified one day at a time.

Well Steve, your words sound great; and boy, have I ever heard that crap before. Manipulation and BS are handy tools to have, aren't they? You kept repeating how we should do our research but, Steve, it's obvious you haven't done any!! There are no greater re-offenders than sexual perverts - NONE!! The percentages for reoffending are off the scales; do you really expect us to just accept your nonsense 'facts'? Or your claim to control over your own behavior?

My work history is in state mental health and state correctional facilities. I've been around you folks for over 25 years, and I have ZERO sympathy. You do not deserve second chances. You made your selfish choices to take what you wanted and you need to live with the consequences, just as your victims must. But you guys are always ready to blame others, and whine about how you've already paid the price. No, you haven't paid the price. Your victims serve a life sentence for your perversion, and so should you.

As the president of the bald men's club might say: I not only work with offenders, I was a child victim of an offender. But as a victim, I didn't choose to victimize others and then make excuses. I'm now 61 and I'm still serving that life sentence. I never got to have the life I earned, thanx to your kind, so you can go bag it Steve. You deserve nothing!

The only thing you said that I agreed with, is that it's safer to know who and where you are. When you guys get out of prison, I think you need to live in structured communities with others of your ilk; away from human beings. I'd gladly pay higher taxes for that.

One a pedophile, ALWAYS a pedophile. There is no way any amount of therapy, understanding or confinement will ever change that fact! Those who have shown that they have a sexual appetite for children should be FOREVER locked away from society. Unfortunately, our courts and societal norms prohibit us from removing them permanently via the Death Penalty. They truly are the new lepers, and they (women as well as men) should be strictly monitored and kept away from their possible prey at all costs. I am truly sorry that they are outcasts, but they brought it on themselves, and the taxpayer should not have to foot the bill to house them outside prison. The frightening thing is how many of them there are among us, now that we actually can track them.

While I applaud Steve's hard work, I refuse to be content placing my wife and daughter’s safety and well being in the hands of those who commit these offenses. There is no cure for this mental deficiency that causes a person to destroy an innocent victim's WHOLE LIFE. You can lock a rabid killer pit-bull in a kennel for as long as you want and tell him every day that he shouldn't be what he is, and you can spend time and money to train him, but as soon as you turn your back on him, he will kill and maim and destroy. It's the same way with sexual predators. There is no cure for this mental deficiency that makes a person prey upon the most vulnerable and innocent in our society. So what if you think you have paid your debt and are controlling your urges enough to walk freely amongst us. What happens when you have an off day, or just decide it's not worth the effort? No way. For my money and my vote, until the state can prove that they can CURE and not just "treat" this mental condition, these predators should not be allowed their freedom. EVER!

I cannot figure how anyone in would be interest in kids. This is perversion, cruel and any honest person would know that. So those people are immoral to carry on with that.

We need to gather rocks. Each and every person who has complained about someone convicted of a sex offense needs to find a rock. Take your rock and throw it at the problem, continue throwing your rocks at the problem until you feel safe and you have solved the problem. The point is you will never throw enough rocks, the manner in which we are trying to solve the problem won't work.

I am a counselor, these are things that I will tell you which are true. These are things I do know. No baby just out of the womb wants to become a drug addict, or kill someone or molest their or someone else's children. There is a process, a set of events or circumstances where either someone will be unjustly accused or will have a mental break and offend.

I can not guarantee that you and/or one of your children will not walk home and be killed by a drunken driver, I can not guarantee that your children will not be approached by a methamphetamine dealer and become hooked on drugs, I can not guarantee that your marriage will remain intact and that your husband or wife will not leave you, I can not guarantee that you will not die of some form of cancer. I can not guarantee that one of your children's classmates will not bring a weapon to school to use. But I can tell you that all the above will occur to you before someone convicted of a sex offense commits the same crime again, if they do at all.

The only safety and only guarantees that we have access to are not tangible. Because people can and do change, to condemn one person to live in chains forever is to eventually condemn all of us to be enslaved with fear, hatred and no hope. We must rise above our fears, and learn to work as a community. Certainly some people should not have access to certain jobs, but to mark everyone forever and make they and their families' pay forever is not how a healthy society works.
Don't pay attention to the media who only focus on the 1% of the sociopaths and not those who have successfully recovered their lives. I would be happy to have my money go to help someone re-enter society and heal, then we are all better for it.

Whoever he(she)is without sin, let them cast the first stone. That was and still is a good statement. Let us drop our stones and really work toward bringing people home and healthy, then we will all be safe.

That is exactly the attitude that keeps predators on the streets. I am so sick of people throwing numbers around to defend these predators without actually studying the real data. I encourage all of you to visit http://www.csom.org/pubs/recidsexof.html and read the real data on these predators. And as far as the casting stones bit... that "good statement" was in reference to a prostitute being stoned to death, not someone who destroys the lives of the most vulnerable and innocent members of our society. And I do believe that the One who made that statement has a special place lined up for those who prey on His children. And you can believe that He will not be letting them out for good behavior!!

When someone has fulfilled their stntance in prision, or jail.. case is closed. It is not approperate for anyone else " after the release" of someone to say " wait a damn second", while no one wins. The victom does not win, nor does the inmate. The true values of a forgiving scociety seem only to forgive some people, but when it comes to sex offenders they close the door, and build another jail cell on top of them.

Surely, some sex offenders will re offend.., but that is not saying all do. We must Judge the book by the content of the pages, not by how many pages that book has ".

DOC is NOT doing enough to protect the community from Sex Offenders and is NOT doing enough to protect the COMMUNITY OF SEX OFFENDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES -- IN FACT THEY JEAPORDIZE THE COMMUNITY BY NOT RELEASING THEM TO SUPPORTIVE FAMILIES! They don't care, they don't want the liability, the sex offenders often have a family they could live with but DOC denies the address, forcing them to be homeless. I am a wife of a convicted sex offender. I love him, despite what he did in his past. He was convicted and served his time, his crime did not involve a child. His earned release date was March 28, 2008, but DOC will NOT release him because they don't want to pay for his parole supervision and the 'sex offender treatment therapy' they say he needs. THEY DENIED TWO SUPPORTIVE, SOBER, FAMILY ADDRESSES! They do this with 80% if not 100% of the inmates trying to get released, they deny addresses that would be a good home for them to live in.

You all have talked about not wanting to pay for supporting sex offenders and giving them a place to live and RIGHTLY SO! Make DOC let people go home to families! And Let the sex offender’s family pay for them! My husband’s grandmother has sent him money for 10 years! The DOC gets 25% of that money. 25% of every inmate’s money from families. Our family wanted my husband to live with us. We will support him financially, so will our church, but DOC won’t allow it! I am a member of the community and our family is a member of the community. We live a Christian sober, simple lifestyle. We have a church that will accept and support us and wrote a letter saying so. My husband will go to a weekly 12 step meeting and all his counselor groups and a weekly accountability group. The DOC doesn't care about any of this. They don't care that he has been in prison for the past 10 years and has had NO infractions and has worked for DOC in various jobs and has had no problems, including doing peer orientation every Thursday.

They turned down two addresses, one where I live now with his grandmother in a clean, quite, good neighborhood, and the second one with his parents in a good neighborhood in Skagit County. They turned them down because the don't want the EXPENSE AND THE LIABILITY OF SUPERVISING MY HUSBAND AND THEY ARE TRYING TO KEEP HIM UNTIL HIS MAX OUT TIME OF 2010. (Which means they will not be legally liable and have no expense of supervision, he'll be out without any parole officer watching him.) But they are breaking the law - NOW. When an inmate has a certificate from the parole board with 'earned good time' and an earned release date they cannot be forced to serve their good time unless they do something wrong to lose their good time, and their 'earned release date' becomes their 'max out date'. So they are breaking the law keeping him.

I'm not minimizing what my husband did. He was a scum who broke the law and hurt someone. He paid for his crime by serving 12 years. He went to his therapy and did well. He became a Christian in prison 8 years ago. The law sentenced him, he was punished in prison doing his time, the law says it's time to release him. If he ever hurts anyone again, he'll go to prison and never get out. We know he won't ever hurt anyone again and we will call his therapist and CCO if he ever even acts strange, because my life is not with a menace to society but with a changed man who wants his chance at a new life. We are committed to accountability and responsibility. I'll protect myself and the community and my family and my husband last - with God as my witness.

Thanks Jeane July 16, 2008. I like what you wrote very much.

And to everyone reading these blogs. Washington state calls anyone with a sex crime a 'Sex offender' not JUST those who commit crimes against children but also those who commit adult rape.

It seems King 5 doesn't mind this blog dialog. BUT why won't they do a "Paul Harvey - The Rest of the Story" style report???

What are they afraid of? I have written the 'investigators' and asked if they wanted the real truth as I have experienced it, a story on me and my husband but they have refused.

Hmmm.

Are they Pro State??? Pro DOC? I thought they were here to protect the community we live in...
I'm a part of the community... aren't I?
Things that make ya go hmmm...

Yes, King 5, where is your professional journalism and "quest for the truth" now?

It is always easier to publish a story which goes with the misinformation trends, to help people feel and feed their anger about their world, like the Nazi's toward the Jews, than to be courageous and report the truth of the other side. Let's see if King 5, can really live up to the reputation that they have inflated for themselves. The onus is on you King 5.

@ Chris

In the time of Christ, thieves were the most reviled of persons. Which is why Christ was being crucified with them. Today the men on either side of Christ would have been someone convicted of a sex offense.

I'm sorry for you that your version of Jesus Christ and his principals are so warped. I hope you find healing.

Another source of information regarding recidivism rates and comparisons which are more up to date.

http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0907/

Ignoring the problem is not the solution! Obviously, there are those who feel homeless people are not fit to live in (their) society! This is NOT a personal decision... It's becoming such an epidemic! Believe me when I say, that some of these individuals certainly have made it their personal choice to live this life style! They are not all criminals, HOWEVER, there are criminals amongst them! My family recently became victims of a hideous crime by three homeless men, who murdered my ex-husband and his friend! Brutally! WHY? Because, he was the only witness to another crime, whereas, these heartless souls, took a bat to another homeless mans legs..... NOW, will they get the justice they deserve? Not, likey, because, as some of you have suggested... they are after all, JUST homeless people! If you haven't been personally effected... than of course your attitude would be to do nothing..... My son's are forever... damaged by this horific crime! As is the entire family. I hope for all of those with such closed minds, that you never... have to suffer the consequences as we have.

The facts ARE that male sex offenders that successfully complete SOTP in Monroe are less than 3% likely to commit a new crime, and even less than that for it to be a new sex offense. So, that means 97%+ never commit a new offense of any kind. The rates of sex offenders being violated for non-compliance of their supervision conditions is much higher, and often those are related to their offense behaviors. Offenders who do not receive treatment are at far greater risks than this, which supports my plea for doubling the SOTP in Monroe! Wake up! It makes a HUGE difference!!! The SOTP group I attend, the group members I share intimate personal experiences with, my family, my neighbors, my co-workers and everyone I know supports me. I have far more support than you might expect- MOST of us do! "We" are not all homeless- in fact most of us BY FAR are neither homeless, jobless or constantly struggling to overcome impulsive urges to touch children. My crimes were against teenage males, and I do not experience arousals to them at all anymore. Still, I am cognizant of my potential to return to my offending cycle, which comprises of secrecy, lies, fear and isolation. Since I have been exposed, and dealt with heavy emotional scars, asocial behavior problems and come out of the closet, I lead a pretty normal life. A healthy, ambitious, productive and valued life. YOU do not pay for me to exist. Your children ARE safe from me, because I tell people what i have done, tell them how I did it, tell them what to watch for in me. You KNOW where I am, what I can do, and how I do it. It is not the sex offender that lives across the street that you know about that you need fear- you can control how your children interact (or don't) with him. It is the one living next door, or teaching your child at school, or sleeping in the room next to you, a son, an uncle, a father, etc which you don't know about that you really have to worry about. How do you protect from the unknown? Creating laws does not prevent the crimes- only punishes for them. What needs to be done is to examine the sex offender like myself, work with me to educate oursevles in how I came to be what I am, and how that knowledge can help your son or brother or husband NOT become the same. See, that is who we are- not lurking trenchcoat wearing creeps, but normal everyday-looking men, the guy you thought was such a great guy, would never do... Punishing me further by severing my ability to work, reside indoors, and pay for my own way does not prevent non-sex offenders from becoming one. Sex offenses are horrendous crimes, which have been going on forever, always dismissed and denied. Now we desire to protect children by listening to them, educating them, punishing severely those that hurt them. Now it is time to start thinking of ways to PREVENT the sex offender from becoming one, instead of waiting for him to act out and then show how much we love the children by punishing him severely- the victim still was victimized. By reducing the released offender's ability to succeed drives him closer to whatever his deviant cycle is. That too, does the children less justice. Sure- kill us all, then we can't possibly re-offend. I get that. But in this time of sensationalizing the horror, the children continue to be offended, because nearly nothing is being done to help those who begin to have sexual problems. If you were feeling inappropriate sexual thoughts, who would you turn to? Anyone is now required to turn you in, and now you are one of us. How can you get help, without ruination? It is time to get intelligent and not be hysterical. NEVER should sex crimes be dismissed, overlooked or downplayed. I BELIEVE in registration, and happily participate punctually. I abhor offending children, and those who do. I MAKE SURE I do not- and can not- offend, by working every single day to remain stable financially, emotionally, physically and socially. It is a chore, don't think it's easy. So many of you HATE me, yet you don't know me at all. You think I'm one of the ridiculously small group that does it again, can't help myself, and thinks hurting kids is funny. Meanwhile, while your hatred is directed at me, you fail to realize that your son, brother, uncle, friend, coach, teacher, priest, policeman, politician, or neighbor is offending a child. Stop fretting over punishing me, don't think 10 years wasn't horrible. Try helping prevent the would-be victims from suffering instead of waiting to punish their attackers in order to show the children how much you care. Care enough to be smart, to look around you, protect your children from the unknowns, not just the knowns. It isnt easy to think your loved one could be doing what I did. That is what EVERYONE I knew thought- "no way he could be doing that..." Sex offending will NEVER stop, just as any crime. But it CAN be reduced, to very small levels, if we just get it together and think of what MORE we can do to protect children from becoming victims in the first place. Educating the children is a big factor, which is the one thing being done. Assisting those who would offend, are about to, or have, to deal with it is a necessity if the first-time offenses are desired to reduce. Do you think that a death penalty will stop someone from sexually attacking your child? I can tell you, the law was not a deterrant for my offending- my ife was a wreck, my mind was warped, I believed my victims desired what I did to them. What makes you think that harsher punishment will stop the offending? I KNOW it won't. I've talked to a thousand other men like myself in my 10 years in prison. NONE agreed that worse penalties would have stopped them. Get with it people- punishment may settle your anger, I get that, but it doesn't keep the next generation from offending the next. TREATMENT DOES MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. It will never be 100%. But if it were as poor as 10% that would still be superb, over this after-release ostracization which is only creating greater risks of re-offense. In actuality, the numbers for Washington State's SOTP are phenomenal. Thousands of children have been protected by their efforts. The few that were not are exemplified by the media. Sickening that we overlook such an achievement for the sound-byte that get us riled.

@ Chris: Your site is superb. I also recommend it. The facts seem accurate to my knowledge. The graphs are misleading in one aspect: The high percentage rates you see include men returning to prison/jail for any reasons- including violations-not only for new sex offenses. Where you see 53% recidivism, it refers to men 25 years past their offense. Today that means men who committed their offenses in 1983. Those men did not receive SOTP, as it opened in Monroe in 1984. Also, those numbers are nationwide. NOT all states have SOTP, and FEW are successful ones, generally under-budgeted and with a lack of public interest. Their recidivism rates are much higher than ours. Washington's SOTP IS top-notch. In fact our SOTP makes the national % look better than it would. Minnesota is known also for its excellent SOTP. These are the best in the country- I was lucky to have it. The rate shown of 18% of treated offenders as opposed to 43% of non-treated (remember- national averages!) really proves my point! TREATMENT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE. While you may say "Any % is too much" I have to say, "When does thousands of children protected, when a hundred are still offended, not worth expanding on the process that saves the thousands?????!!!!!" This is a no-brainer people! Take steps to protect your children- enforce the law, punish severely, I get that. But stop refusing to look at the ugliest factor of sex offending, and the one that is the MOST NECESSARY to PREVENT the crimes: The uncomfortable fact that it is going on underneath your nose. While your loved one points his finger at me, you look away while he does it. There are new men delivered to prison EVERY DAY that are sex offenders in our state. Locking them up for lifetimes will NOT stop the chain buses from bringing more. Only YOU can stop the buses from running. It begins with waking up, stop being hysterical, and start focusing on the efforts that reduce sex offenses from happening in the first place. Why can't you see that? Do you think your family is immune to it?

Our 30+ year old son has been stigmatized for life, over something he did as a 13 year old, to be labeled a level one sex offender. He has been homeless for years, because of this. He is on SSI. He had been on the school's IEP program. He was acting sexually suggestive with his young son, and had other acting out behaviors. However, when we tried to place him outside the home, and this issue was brought up to the court as we were trying to let the courts understand the need for him to be placed outside the home, they went to the extreme and after having him in a juvenile facility for two years at Chehalis. We did not expect that he would also be labeled a level one sex offender. He never did anything in the way of actual sex. He was, for what we understand, acting silly, and also experiencing sexual feelings due to his hormone growth. Our mistake was mentioning this to the courts at all. They had a field day with this issue. Our son has never molested anyone since that "time." He needs a pro bono lawyer who is willing to see how they can get him off the level one list. The courts seem to always throw the baby out with the bath water. I am no way have a problem with incarcerating sexual offenders, but our son was not a sexual offender, he was a troubled teenage boy and did not understand the seriousness of his behavior at that time. He is a very smart person today, although he has some anger problems and someone else in his position would probably also be angry. But he does a good job of trying to keep up his chin. I think it's a shame how the system has screwed up the lives of many young boys, and it is usually boys and not girls that you hear about in this regard, for obvious reasons. Please don't judge me as being lenient with sexual offenders. But our son deserves a fair judgment after all these years.

I am corrected an early blog I submitted regarding our 30 year old son, who has been labeled a level one. He was involved with childish and immature behavior with his BROTHER, not his SON. Sorry for the error.

Castration, either chemical, or other.
Violent sex offenders instill an element of fear into their neighborhood which we should not have to tolerate. Their recidivism rate it too high to offer second chances. The lives of individuals and families they've ruined out weigh their right to live among us.

Well said Stephen wille!

I am one of the survivors of abuse from a friends father and a exboyfriend. It still to this day makes me ill and need to remind myself that Im not in that situation any longer. Us survivors dont deserve to "have to deal with it" the rest of our lives, and neither does our families or spouses! We didnt do anything to deserve these horrific things happening. I am suprised at some of the reactions that its the survivor's fault for getting abused. That is 100% BS. People shouldnt have to watch out for this kind of crap! Keep them in jail or castrate them! Thats their choice!

Mr. Wille and LF share a common despickery for sex offenders. And they are valid in their feelings. Those of us who have hurt others- especially children- have committed acts of terror, anguish and often brutality onto the most innocent and fragile. This is not tolerable. Why then, I ask again to you both, do you not do anything to prevent the offending from happening the first time? Yes, the convicted sex offender frightens you , that is understandable and valid. Punishing sex offenders, whether by lifetime imprisonment, death, or castration (which in generally ineffective because the deviant arousal is very often not even accompanied with erections), takes out the valid anger and loathing on those of us who have committed the offenses. I get that. HOWEVER- while you ignore that the real recidivism rate for Washinton State SOTP graduates is under %5 for committing new sex offenses- yes, I said %5, for real (not these national or international averages showing up to 60%, or statistics that include non-treated sex offenders or those treated elsewhere), while you ignore those worthy successes out of denial for rights to offenders of heneous crimes like mine, you do NOTHING to prevent the man who you DO NOT KNOW from offending. Thus, after you have killed us all, or locked us all away, you will still have the SAME NUMBER of NEW sex offenses occurring. Will someone tell me why THOSE victims shouldn't be considered for prevention?!?!? There ARE things that can be done, including the education of children and vulnerable people already in progress. There needs to be less livid hatred for those with deviant thoughts developing, so they are more apt to come forward to get help. As it stands, your witch-hunting is blatantly endorsing the unknown offender to keep getting closer to a victim. Scream at me, shoot me, punish me more and more, deny my success, refuse to listen to my explanations, but for gods sake people- stop for air and look behind you- that little kid is going to be offended, probably by the man you know as your son, husband, priest, policeman, coach, sibling, mother, etc. They don't want to do it... but they don't know how to tell anyone... they would be a sex offender, and everyone wants them dead... maybe I won't say anything... I can handle it, it will go away... I need help--- who do I tell??? My world will be crushed, just for having the feelings or thoughts of deviant sexual behaviors. WAKE UP PEOPLE! It is time to help stop sex offending. Punishment DOES NOT PREVENT SEX OFFENSES. It did not prevent mine. It will not prevent tomorrow's victims. Only forms of treatment, with understanding that they are NOT CURES, only exposures of would-be offenders,BEFORE THEY ARE ONE, which is 99% of the task-exposure- to get to them before they offend. WAKE UP, and stop letting your anger and hurt disallow new victims prevention. Work for the betterment of people, not the destruction of them AFTER they hurt someone. What advice would you have for someone that came to you and said they were thinking of touching a child, but had not yet....? How can you prevent that child from being touched? Throw him in prison for life? Kill him? What if his brother was also thinking of it, and saw what you did to him? Think he would "deal with it?"

We arent talking about preventative measures, we are talking about people that are ALREADY convicted of sexual crimes! If someone came to me and told me they had thoughts of touching a child I would get them into some kind of program because they are trying to save a victim before they hurt anyone but the reality is that most of them dont go tell anyone BEFORE they offend. They dont care! Its not about them being scared, because as long as they havent touched a child yet then they cant be sent to jail or anything of that nature because they arent guilty and CAN get the help they need.

Im sorry but Steve I find your stats laughable! They are SO untrue! I PERSONALLY have known at least one of my offenders to re-offend multiple times and then get deported and still get back into the USA and then re-offend again. Yet he wanted my forgiveness?! You offenders dont understand the lives we survivors have to live after we have been sexually abused. I think everyone deserves a chance but they have to be willing to get themselves help whether they be criticized or not. Its like a person with an eating disorder or alcohol problem, they are ashamed too but there comes a point to when it becomes obvious to everyone around them and something needs to be done(except with those problems the only person they are hurting is themselves). So whether they are decided to go into a mental hospital to try and figure out a way to deal with this and get coping stratagies, or go to therapy individually, etc. it doesnt matter they need to be a decent human being and do whats right and get help then. But for the ones that have already offended... I have no pity for them. They shouldnt have any rights because they took someone elses choice away once they violated them. Its like taking their life without actually taking it... and they should serve a life sentence themselves after that!

To LF: I too was a victim, so I do know the anguish of having parts of my life taken from me in ways that I did not even understand then. That I proceeded to commit the same offenses that were enacted upon me is horrible and very damning in my heart. I do not ask you, or anyone, for forgiveness. I do not ask you to support me, to enable me, nor to forget me. Rather, I ask that you learn from me, in ways to understand the epidemic of sex offending, so that more and more people can indeed come forward. You are wrong that a person coming forward is not chastised or even ex-communicated. Men who come forward to deal with sexual deviancy issues- those who have not committed crimes- are treated exactly as though they had. This hysteria over punishing sex offenders (which I am NOT denying is valid) is causing the epidemic to spread, not reducing it. It is my goal speaking out here to educate on ways to truly reduce sex offending, by pointing out the tremendous numbers of NEW sex offenders being discovered every day... regardless of the heightened punishments and community banishments. It is time to get into the idea that life sentences and death for sex offenders will NOT stop sex offending. The statistics for Washington State SOTP graduates ARE TRUE. Your offender that repeated his crimes- did he complete SOTP in Washington? If he did, I would wonder how he traveled outside the USA... See, my offender was never apprehended, because I didn't tell anyone. I occurred in 1976, when I was 11. It happened for months. Then, in our small town, you didn't talk about it... Now, children have educaiton about sex rights to their bodies, and come forward more than ever! That is so awesome that people finalloy stopped ignoring them! I wish I had not been ignored in 1976. However, those of us victimized as children that did not receive justice, and cannot, must not throw our anger into the pool as all we cause is hysteria that clouds the reality of preventing the next generations from not having to report anything due to NOT BE OFFENDED. We CAN reduce sex offending to a minimum. It will never stop, but it can be affected greatly- if we work together to be intelligent about how to help the next guy BEFORE he offends. I know some dozens of men that did come forward prior to offending, including myself, and were frightened away for fear of life-ruination, and we each went on to offend. Was everyone's hysterical anger over those that had already offended more valuable than my victims' rights to been prevented? That is what this constant media-driven attack-mode does- it perpetuates the epidemic, and does nothing to reduce it. Perhaps, I fear, it may only make it harder to prevent the crimes, by causing would-be offenders more and more trepidation for thinking of dealing with issues. Can we stop our selfish anger for long enough to help the children be protected from the ones most dangerous to them now? You know where I am, what I do, how I work, and I remain transparent and forward, regardless of how much I am attacked for doing that. It is how I get through my life without hurting another. I have to stay open. Shutting me out only hurts my success, I happen to be courageous, but most men like me don't have the means to risk the backlashes we receive. But I forge on for the sake of the next victims... it is time we work with everything we have to protect them. Stop centering your energies on the known, controllable factors... the unknowns are the next knowns. Is there nothing you can do to help them stop before the child is hurt? I think there is. What will you do to make a difference in helping the next guy stop? Scare him away from help? Brilliant.

Your logic is faulty. Incarcerating sex offenders prevents them from offending again as long as they are in prison. New offenders are a completely separate issue.

By your reasoning, what's the point of incarcerating murderers? There are always new murders committed by someone who's never killed (or at least never been caught) before!

Stop acting like this is my fault because I cannot and will not trust sex offenders who have already offended. If you believe this so much than you should start a campaign or something. With a past of being a victim then Im sure youll get some attention. Good luck with that.

I do not support ignoring sex offenders living in your community! I also agree that life sentences are the most simple and stop-gap way to reduce recidivism the most. My point was made by LF above, when said that "New offenders are a completely separate issue." Precisely.
See, the trouble with the sex offender living next door to you is that you think of his crimes and potential to commit another. That pisses you off, and it should! It should makeyou more aware that these things go on, all around you every single day. They are happening someplace within the view of your home- most likely. No kidding. Sex offending is greatly still under-reported by victims. Why would a child dare come forward to tell what her father did, when she sees other fathers taken away for life? See, you and I see that the child needs to be separated from him. But that child does not. The child sees horror worse than letting the crime persist, this is a distorted view from a vulnerable person. If we are to begin to reduce "new" sex offenses, which in turn will greatly reduce the number of sex offenders, which reduces the need for housing for released sex offenders- as well as reducing the tremendous overhead costs of housing prisoners, then we have to change our focus onto the prevention of the crimes, by preventing the behaviors, which means preventing distorted thinking and twisted justifications ("permission givers") with the would-be sex offender.
When I say change focus, I certainly do NOT mean ignoring the crisis of the currently released sex offenders! Given opportunity for work, we take care of ourselves. The attack on us is understandable- our crimes are horrific. I do not ask for your disregard of my crimes. Rather, I make sure you know about me, not just to protect you and your children from me, but to protect myself as well. See, if you are watching me, it is one additional testimony that I didn't do something too. This fervor of punishment, though rooted in the anger that our nation hushed up and ignored children being victimized for over two hundred years of our history, is derailing the real need: STOPPING IT FROM HAPPENING! The old solutions were running the guy out of town- send them to someone else's town, untreated, without anyone knowing about him. That was the worst thing to do, as we now accept. Today, we register where we live, disclose our crimes to employers, landlords, intimate friends, family and congregations. Everyone associated in our lives knows. They watch us, aid us, keep us focused on better thinking and emotional controls. It really does work, in FAR MORE cases than it does not, by incredible margins people! Just because I promote treatment, as the FACTS will show you is immensely successful here in our state (check Washington State D.O.C. for numbers, or call Monroe and ask SOTP there- they will share all you need to know), does not mean I am asking for leniancy on punished sex offenders. I can assure you, however, that the struggle to remain working and living in my own residence is a tough measure. My roommate was torn from a full-time job, where his crime had nothing to do with his duties, because the media make a big cry for a wanted offender that also worked there recently- and he was not even a sex offender!!! So, under pressure from the media, the company let him go. Has that improved society one bit? Do you think it's funny that he suffered himself, since he committed a sex offense and all he suffered was years and years in prison and years of parole, and monetary restitution? Does this serve the public best interest? Does it help prevent further sex offenses? Or does working men, who live indoors in stable lives sound better to you? Stop letting your anger- justified as it is- blind you from the bigger picture of how children need your attention paid to those you do NOT know are sex offenders, and refuse to look at because it is easier to point fingers at us. Chastise me all you want, I get that. But when will you do something as serious about the kids that are being offended elsewhere by men who are not sex offenders (yet)??? Can't we work together, to learn the realities that shape sex offenders like me? Isn't there something that can be done besides making things worse? I say there is. It begins with gaining control of hurtful anger, and focusing on preventions- which still include maintaining known sex offenders from re-offending. The pendulum has swung from public indifference and refusal of acceptance now to lashing out with a fiery anger. About time! But, we must center the target and put together our resources as a people to do the most good- putting it all into one, vengeful-driven witch-hunt (on men who are not hidden) is not efficient, and does little to protect the children compared to developing ways to prevent them from being offended in the first place. Please tell me that your anger does not require new victims to give you more sex offenders to be angry at?

Its sad that you turn it around on someone who is innocent like me. YOU are a convicted sex offender not me, so if I am angry then too bad. I dont need YOU(of all people) telling me how I should be or what I need to be doing. I protect my children and children I know because i know what to look for. I know to look out for guys like you who try and manipulate people and situations. Oh and the only reason I have repeated the fact that people who havent offended yet arent the same as you sex offenders who have is because this isnt what the blog is about. The blog is about people who have just been let out of jail for this, OK? Do you get it now? No one cares about your life and why you keep reposting to me I dont know. The ONLY reason I repost to you I guess is because I dont want other surviviors like me reading this thinking wow she should defend herself from this sex offender because he doesnt know what hes talking about(because you dont). I think its sad that you dont want forgiveness for the people you hurt(as you stated above), because that SHOULD matter to you if you are infact not going to re-offend. It should matter.

I am not sure, LF, how you feel I have turned anything onto you. I think that your anger is justified, and that your feelings are absolutely valid. That you hear those words from me jaded, as though I mean to mock you, I cannot do anything about. I am sorry, genuinely, truly, for the terror and hurts you suffer every day. As a sex offender, I see that my existence alone is traumatic for you. To speak of it here, publically, is a new victimization. I DO understand. When I was offending, I was unable to see such hurts, I did not feel empathy. I was not filled with anger or intent to suffer physical harm on my victims, rather I believed what I was doing was loving, caring and pleasant. That is how I had to train my own mind to do such sick, perverted and awful things to those I really cared about in my heart. To have hurt them so deeply, and to know there is no way to fix that hurt, is tormenting. I live with that every day, for my whole life. I deserve that. I say that I do not ask for forgiveness from my victims, not being callous or uncaring. I feel that I can only earn forgiveness, and perhaps may not be able to. My goal is to prevent victims, so that others might not suffer what my own victims have. First, I remain transparent about myself, which includes rebutting here- even though I am hated and despised. It is a duty, as I see it. Secondly, I feel that we must redirect anger at sex offenders. That anger should not be dismissed, diminished or forgotten. I think it the horror which victims must live should be motivation to stop worsening the situation. By reducing the released sex offenders' abilities to self-sustain, we force them to become dependents on society. If all sex offenders were incarcerated for life, or put to death, that would solve the recidivism risk. However, it would not even affect the numbers of new sex offenders emerging. As we focus on driving the sex offender from our view- we do not protect the children of new offenders. I expect that within my lifetime that I will be incarcerated for having done nothing further criminal or sexually deviant, but for being a sex offender. While I have this time out here, until a law is made that drives me back into prison walls, I desire to find a way to protect those like the boys I offended. There must be soemthing I can do. I will continue to do it, regardless of how hard I must work, or how terrible I am made to feel about being who and what I am. It is what I owe to my victims, at the least, as it is all I can do. Forgiveness not withstanding.
Would you prefer I live under a bridge until you have to pay for me too?

Sexual offenders should lose their rights,
even human rights as a majority go on to offend again for this reason they should lose their rights to have kids of their own and be given a life sentence meaning life with no parole and/or castrated.

It may seem harsh, but if any one touched my kids or anyone from my family the police better find them first!

Hello. Hope this list can tolerate a different point of view.

It has only been in the last 45 years or so that the public has become so vicious about sex-offenders, and very little distinction is there in the public mind regarding the difference between a peeping Tom and the criminally insane who torture and kill.

When I grew up one's Mama warned little girls about watching out for men. "Everyone knew" that men had a thing for little girls. It was very, very common. Most caused no harm and they were rarely reported. Of course, they were low-level type sex offenders.

Now don't get the idea I am "for" sex offenders, because I am not. Yet justice is what is supposed to be done with folks. Murderers do not have to "register". Other federal crimes do not require registration. So if it is "right" to make sex offenders register and ruin their hopes of a life, why is it not right to register thieves and drug pushers? A drug pusher can do more damage to a child than most (not all, of course) sex offenders.

And to the nurse who has no sympathy for sex offenders, what are you doing in a mental institution if you don't like and don't want to help? One mental illness is so much worse than another? There is no question that there is a mental derangement of some kind with those who sex-offend after they know the consequences.

We need to find a way to handle sex offenders so they aren't sneeking into a family to molest the step-children. We need to consider that some of this is genetic, and learn how not to pass those genes down. Sex offenders should not have the right to bear or raise children. Our future depends on that.

Instead of registering sex offenders, there should be competent medical help provided on a case-by-case basis. Hormones can be handled. Take away the urge.