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	Parents Call for Change in State Sex Offender Laws Queens Gazette January 19, 2011 http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-01-19/Front_Page/Parents_Call_For_Change_In_State_Sex_Offender_Laws.html Outraged parents of youngsters attending Queens Catholic elementary schools are calling on officials at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn to better scrutinize people who volunteer to work with children. Parents and lawmakers in Eastern Queens are up in arms over a convicted sex offender who fell through cracks in the state system and landed a position as a volunteer at St. Mel’s catholic school in Whitestone just weeks after his release from prison. Joseph Denice, 24, of Whitestone, served part of a six-month sentence for forging documents and sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy at a Flushing intermediate school. Law enforcement sources said Denice, who was interning at an afterschool program at I.S. 25 at the time, admitted to investigators that he abused the boy from July to September 2009. A criminal complaint filed by the Queens District Attorney’s office states that Denice said he met the victim and his mother through the program and was able to convince them that he worked with the city Administration for Children’s Services. Denice told the mother he had to perform a “body scan” on the child as part of a court order so the city would not remove the boy from his home. Denice admitted that he engaged in sexual contact with the boy several times, the complaint states. Denice was initially charged with four counts of sexual abuse and forgery for presenting the boy and his mother with a letter from a non-existent family court judge that ordered the body scans. He was sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation and was incarcerated from June 21, 2010 to October 15, 2010. Following his release from prison, Denice allegedly wasted no time reaching out to officials at St. Mel’s, where he secured another volunteer position in an afterschool program, said a parent who asked to remain anonymous. “We found out about his past and demanded his removal from the program. He was working as a religious instructor and was consistently alone with the children. We are very lucky that no one was hurt or abused by this predator,” the parent stated. A spokesperson for the diocese said Denice was very manipulative in his approach to school officials. Monsignor Kieran Harrington said the diocese depends on the vigilance of parents to help root out offenders like Denice who manipulate their way into contact with youngsters. Harrington said Denice was removed from the program two weeks ago, after parents demanded his dismissal. At the time of his sentencing last year, Denice was considered low risk for repeat offense and was declared a Level 1 registered sex offender. A Level 1 offender must register with the New York state sex offender registry for a minimum of 20 years. Levels 2 and 3 sex offenders are considered high-risk repeaters and must register for life. School records indicate Denice volunteered for afterschool programs at St. Kevin’s School in Flushing and St. Luke’s School in Whitestone in the years prior to his arrest. There is no record of abuse at either school. Diocese officials said they are troubled that the state law does not alert parents of the whereabouts of child sex offenders and called on state lawmakers to change the law to protect innocent children. State Senator Tony Avella (D-Bayside) is calling for a change in the current law to eliminate loopholes that let a convicted offender like Denice slip through the cracks. “He is a Level 1 offender, which means he is not on the state registry, so parents can’t find him online,” Avella said. He was very clever and manipulated the truth so well that people fell for his lies," Avella said in reference to the I.S. 25 case. "He is apparently very good at working the system."
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