Banning the Bad Guys

By Anita Hamilton

With the gut-wrenching details of heinous sex crimes making national headlines in the past few years, it's easy to see why cities and states would rush to get tougher on offenders even after they get out of prison. The rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford, 9, in March caused Florida to pass a law in May that mandates lifetime monitoring with ankle bracelets for anyone convicted of a sex crime against a minor. The 2003 abduction of North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin helped spur the creation of a national online registry of sex offenders that began rolling out in July.

Now cities from Miami Beach to Hamilton Township, N.J., have begun imposing restrictions that barely leave sex offenders any place to live. On Sept. 1 Iowa is enforcing one of the toughest statewide bans in the country by barring anyone convicted of a sexual crime against a minor from living within 2,000 ft. of a school or day-care center. That comes just two months after another Iowa bill, which requires DNA samples from all sex offenders and mandates life in prison for anyone convicted of a second sexual offense against a minor. "The public wants this," says Iowa attorney general Tom Miller. "Iowans feel strongly about stopping sexual abuse."

Sympathy for pedophiles and rapists is, understandably, in short supply ("If I could find a cage and put them all in, that would be fine," says Sjodin's mother Linda Walker), but the growing movement to limit where past offenders can live, work or even set foot has begun to draw increasing criticism from civil-liberties groups, sex-abuse experts and even some child advocates. Reports of rape and attempted rape have plummeted some 70% since the early 1990s, and reconviction rates of child molesters are estimated at 13%, compared with 47% for all non-sex criminals. Some critics question whether tougher laws are needed--and whether they really work. "By socially ostracizing these people and making it next to impossible for them to find a job or have educational opportunities or otherwise forge necessary social ties, what do we expect is going to happen with them?" asks Bruce Winick, a University of Miami law and psychiatry professor. "If we banish the sexual offender to a subterranean existence, pretty soon he starts getting back that criminal urge."

Others argue that the new laws are inefficient because they focus on monitoring anyone who has committed a sex crime rather than those who are most likely to strike again. Those critics say that therapy to break the cycle of behavior, supervision by a parole officer and even polygraph tests to assess whether an offender is lying about his or her activities and urges would be a more effective way to control them. A 2002 survey of nearly 9,500 sex offenders found that those who underwent therapy were 40% less likely to reoffend than those who did not. But few of the new laws have provisions for treatment.

A sex offender in Mason City, Iowa, who lives within sight of a day-care center and asked not to be named in this story, told TIME he plans to move to Nebraska or South Dakota to escape Iowa's pending residency restrictions. Convicted at 19 for having nonforcible sexual relations with a 14-year-old, he served two years in prison before his release in June 2004. "What really bothers me is that years from now, I'll still have to worry about something I did at age 19," says the offender, who is now 23. "This is like using a broadsword to cut out a lump of cancer." Legislator Jerry Behn, the lead sponsor of Iowa's new residency law, sees things differently. "It's very important not to instill victim status on these predators," he says. "Some inconvenience on them is nothing compared to the lifetime of suffering they give to their victims."

While restrictive measures have so far been upheld in court, more challenges are in the works. The New York State Civil Liberties Union has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a lawsuit brought by 15 John Doe offenders in Binghamton, N.Y., who say that the city's new ordinance, which bans offenders from coming within a quarter mile of any park, school or day-care center, unconstitutionally limits free travel inside a state. In New Jersey, Steven Elwell, 35, is speaking out against a local ordinance that could keep him from living near any bus stop. "All of a sudden they are telling me where I can live and where I can't live. They are trying to take everything away from me," says Elwell, a former teacher who served one year in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl seven years ago. Now married with two kids, he owns a pizza shop in Cape May.

Even some child advocates say the new residency measures have gone too far. "These offenders need to have somewhere to live," says Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "We can't zone them out everywhere using the not-in-my-backyard approach."

In Iowa, police departments are facing a more basic problem: figuring out how to implement the laws. Just days before the new residency ban took effect, officials were scrambling to determine exactly which of the state's 6,000 registered offenders would have to move, and mapping out pedophile-free zones in places like Polk County, which has more than 1,400 registered day-care centers and 90 schools. What's more, Des Moines police sergeant Barry Arnold, who is overseeing the law in the state capital, estimates that the whereabouts of some 15% to 18% of the city's convicted offenders is unknown because they never reregistered after moving. That problem isn't unique to Des Moines. An estimated 100,000 of the more than 500,000 registered sex offenders nationwide have not provided a current address.

Since more than 80% of child-sex-abuse victims know their attackers--they're usually relatives or friends, not schoolyard stalkers--even stricter registration requirements and GPS tracking may not prevent a large number of sex crimes. Still, the desire to do something remains strong. "It's very hard to measure cause and effect," says California state attorney Bill Lockyer. "It seems logical, though, that if authorities know where the sex offender lives and works, and if neighbors can find out where they live, that will help both law enforcement and potential victims to protect themselves." The Children's Safety Act of 2005, which would require all states to provide uniform information about their sex offenders, is currently working its way through Congress. If it is passed, failure to register or keep one's registration current would be a felony.

Of course, no law will ever bring back the lives of past victims. "There is an eternal scar," says Walker, Sjodin's mother. "And as family members, we are forever imprisoned." As more states step up their monitoring of sex offenders, a growing number of them may find themselves imprisoned for life as well--even if they are no longer behind bars. --With reporting by Tim Padgett/Miami, Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles and David E. Thigpen/Des Moines

With reporting by Tim Padgett/Miami, Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles, David E. Thigpen/Des Moines