CA- Victims oppose taking names off sex offender registry

By Melanie Jula Sakoda
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
May 28, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ca_victims_oppose_taking_names_off_sex_offender_registry

The California Sex Offender Management Board is recommending to the legislature that only high-risk offenders should be required to register for life. Others, characterized as “low risk,” could be removed from the registry 10 to 20 years after the offense. We are deeply concerned about this proposal.

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Board-wants-to-remove-low-risk-sex-offenders-from-5503219.php

We believe that if there is a problem with the sex offender registry being too confusing or too cumbersome, the appropriate remedy is to re-organize the list using categories like "least dangerous" and "most dangerous." Totally removing identified sex offenders from the registry after a certain amount of time has passed with no new crimes DETECTED, puts children and vulnerable adults at risk. Allowing these criminals to return to obscurity should not be the solution.

The vast majority of sex offenses are never reported. Of those that are reported, an even smaller number result in convictions. Sex offender registries are not perfect. They certainly don’t identify those predators that have never been reported or convicted. But they do give us information that parents and other adults can use to decide for themselves whether or not they want to risk an association with a convicted offender.

Legislators who want to change the registry should move cautiously. The vulnerable and the wounded should be their priority, not those who have caused, and may still be causing, horrific pain and trauma.