Zero Tolerance for Child Molesters

Their names were DeAnn and Alicia and they lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They were sisters, 11 and 7, and now they are dead. Kidnapped, brutalized and murdered this month by a 30-year-old convicted sex offender who the system--though fully aware of who he was and what he was capable of--thought was better left on the streets.

Unfortunately, DeAnn Emerald Mu’min and Alicia Sybilla Jones are not alone. They are simply the most recent children to die at the hands of a repeat sex offender. They now join Polly Klaas and Megan Kanka, along with too many others to name, all victims of a system that refuses to remove sexual predators from society.

How many more names will be added to the list of victims before we decide we’ve had enough? How many more times will we turn a blind eye to the startling recidivism rate for child molesters before we say no more? And how much longer will we tolerate misguided judges who refuse to keep sexual predators locked up, instead ordering probation or counseling based on the naive belief that there is a “cure” for what therapists euphemistically call “inappropriate sexual urges”?

The lives and well-being of our children hang in the balance as we struggle to answer these questions. Child sexual abuse is not some fantasy created by scandal-driven media or hysterical mothers. Even the most conservative of statistics, those from sources as reputable as the FBI, are staggering: One in four girls and one in six boys will be a victim of sexual abuse, and 85% of the perpetrators will be someone the child knows. Despite our increased awareness and the call for stiff penalties, fewer than 1 in 20 offenders arrested for sex crimes against children spend any “hard time” in prison. For those who are incarcerated and released, there is a 75% certainty that they will commit new offenses, which may explain why adult sex offenders report an average of 23 child victims.

Given these statistics, it is shocking to see how leniently the courts treat this crime and how often child molesters are repeatedly allowed just one more chance. As someone who practiced law for 10 years and who has counseled convicted sex offenders, I know too well that the sexual predation of children is not a crime that can be prevented or controlled by trying to change the perpetrator’s pattern of desire. Their desires are immutable and ingrained. Changing the Earth’s rotation would seem easier.

The only real answer lies in incarceration. This is not to say that we should ignore the mental health aspects of this problem. To the contrary, those who can be helped should be helped--while they are in prison. And those who can’t be helped should remain in prison.

The legislature in Washington state tried to create such a system by mandating that repeat sex offenders be psychologically tested before their release to determine if they still posed a risk of harm. If they did, their confinement continued. Unfortunately, the law as worded was ruled unconstitutional. However, in California a similar law last month withstood its first constitutional challenge in a decision by the state Court of Appeal. The usefulness and necessity of such a law in preventing repeat offenses is manifest and must be pursued in all states.

The same goes for recently enacted sexual predator laws. New Jersey began the first community notification of sex offenders, and now this trend has swept the country. In California, a new law mandates chemical castration for sex offenders after a second conviction, and as an option for a judge after a first conviction (offenders also have the option of surgical castration). In numerous communities, background checks and fingerprints are required for adults seeking to work with children in such organizations as Little League or the Girl Scouts. Such measures have been derided as unduly punitive or hysterical overreactions, but statistical reality suggests that these steps may not go far enough toward safeguarding children against the danger posed by repeat sex offenders.

Still, we have not taken the one step that would provide the ultimate protection for our children: For child molesters, it should be one strike and you’re out. Society must have zero tolerance for child molestation. There is something terribly wrong with a system that is incapable of protecting children from a man who:

* for his first offense, attacked a couple on a beach and was only put on probation;

* for his second offense, attempted sexual battery on a 12-year-old girl and was given a short prison term, then let out early due to prison overcrowding;

* for his third offense, sexually battered a 5-year-old girl and was only sentenced to house arrest and probation;

* for his fourth offense (during his period of house arrest and probation on his third offense), was accused of attempted rape on an 11-year-old girl, but never arrested;

* for his fifth offense, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed DeAnn and Alicia.

We owe our children better. We obviously can’t do any worse.