Joel Hendon

The National Sex Offender Registry: Good And Bad


Posted: Wednesday, October 21, 2009

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

All convicted sex offenders are listed in the National Sex Offender Registry. It is quite amazing and of interest to check it out. The statistics are almost unbelievable. One can list his zip code in their search window and it will show and describe any sex offender in your zip area. I found five listed in our area, one of which lives about two and one-half blocks away. I am not acquainted with either of them but some carry very familiar last names so I may know some of their relatives. Of course, there are some who move and fail to notify their authorities, but they often get in serious trouble when they do that.

I looked at the various states and their stats where they have listed so many offenders per million residents. Some states surely have different laws to determine who is a sex offender. The spread is much too wide to be representative of the character of a states residents. For instance, Montana shows the number 4520.9 offenders per million. That is the largest percentage of any shown. While Minnesota comes in with the lowest figure at only 34.6 per million. I cannot accept that as being anywhere near accurate in sizing up a states people. I suggest that it must have more to do with the strictness of their state laws and the strictness of their being enforced.

It is definitely a good thing to know if you have such an individual in your area. I have no sympathy for such a person, especially if there are children involved, which I imagine is true of the majority of sex crimes. But, as is the case with almost everything, there is a down side to all of this.

Just today, an article from a Tennessee paper, told a sad story. A 32 year old brought his daughter her lunch at school at noon time. While waiting in the school's office, someone checked the registry and found him listed. The police arrested the man and took him away. The little girl had not known that her father, when he was 20 years old and courting a 16 year old girlfriend had engaged in consensual sex but when the girl's mother found out, he was arrested and charged with statutory rape.

I am not condoning the action of the 20 year old and the 16 year old when they were courting. But it definitely seems to me that there should be different rules for something this near normal and that of real pedophile acts or forcible rape, etc. This man, from all appearances, is now a good father and just a good man who made a mistake when he was 20. But that is far from being a mentally deranged sexual predator. It is a shame that the little girl will now have to be told what happened here. Maybe it will not bother her that much, but then, it may. And I've read of such things as an 8 year old boy hugging a girl classmate and being labeled a sex offender. Good grief! What kind of world are we living in when there is no difference considered in innocent acts and criminal acts? For any who would like to check out the registry, you can simply enter a zip code and state name and pull up a map showing all registered offenders locations on a may of the area. http://www.familywatchdog.us/Search.asp

Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by The Old Gray Mare
 2 years 192 days ago.
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Another very informative article and well written. You are so right about the different levels of sex offenders. There should be a breakdown of the predetors that prey on young children, male or female. These are the ones that need to be flagged. Others engaging in willing sexual activity, i.e., the case you cite should not be lumped in with the predetory crimes and worse. However, it behooves every parent and every concerned individual to check out their surrounding towns as well as the state statistics to stay informed. I immediately checked out the link in your good article. Folks it works. Joel has done most of the work for you - all you have to do is plug in your town and zip code or, if you don't get a result for your own zip code, plus in a larger city code nearby. It's shocking, really!
» left by Joel Hendon 2 years 190 days ago.
Thanks Old Gray Mare, for your kind comments.
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