ME - Maine Sex Offender Registry

David Charns

The following was sent in to us via email.

Hi,

I am working on a story about the variances of the Maine Sex Offender Registry and how a lot of information is incomplete, therefore giving some identifying information to those on the list but not for others.

I am trying to find someone on the list to talk to about this for an interview.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

David Charns
Anchor/Reporter - WMTW News 8
(207) 233-2724
dcharns@hearst.com
@DavidWMTW

ME - Former Howland police chief (Carl Smith) charged with sexual assault

Carl Smith

Original Article (Video available)

05/14/2014

By Kaitlyn Chana

BANGOR (NEWS CENTER) - A former Howland police chief made his first court appearance today, on charges that he sexually assaulted two 5-year-old girls. 72-year-old, Carl Smith of Eddington made his first appearance via video conference in court this afternoon. Smith didn't want the courtroom to hear his complaints and charges, so his court-appointed attorney asked the judge to not talk about the sex charges.

The judge explained that this is an open courtroom. He didn't go into specifics but did read the four sex charges. Two are for gross sexual assault and the other two are for unlawful sexual contact.

On Saturday, the Wells Police Department arrested Smith and authorities say he molested twin 5-year-old girls. The alleged assaults happened in Eddington at the end of April. Prosecutors think Smith was babysitting the children. They say he used to work at Ironwood, a residential facility for troubled teens, but then after reports of the alleged assaults he quit his job and left the state. He recently came back to Maine and was arrested. In terms of the alleged victims, law enforcement said the girls told administration at their school about what they say happened. Penobscot County District Attorney, Christopher Almy said he's admitted to some of these sexual actions.

"I don't know if he is going to take responsibility or if he is going to fight it. At this point, we do know he did make some admissions about his role and that's significant."

The judge said the severity of this crime makes him a flight risk.The bail is set at $100,000 dollars cash and he can't have contact with the alleged victims, or with any children under the ages of 18. Smith served as Howland police chief up until he retired in 1988. He has no prior charges.

ME - South Portland may curb where sex offenders can live

Original Article

05/08/2014

By Kate Irish Collins

SOUTH PORTLAND - South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins said he never wants to ask the question of whether his department could have done more to protect the city’s children. That’s why he is pushing for a new ordinance that would limit where a certain class of sex offender could live within city limits.

At its meeting on Monday, the City Council gave unanimous initial approval to the new residency rules, which would prohibit sex offenders convicted of “serious crimes” – defined as a class A, B or C felony against children under 14 – from living within 750 feet of a school, park, athletic field or recreational facility.

The Greenbelt Walkway, which runs the length of the city, however, would be specially exempted. A public hearing and second reading on the ordinance will be held at 7 p.m. on May 19.

In introducing the sex offender residency restrictions, Googins called them “reasonable and balanced” and said the goal of the new rules is to protect children.

He said South Portland has 26 registered sex offenders who live, work or attend school in the city. Of that group, 10 offenders reside in the city and six are now living in areas that would fall within the proposed sex offender restriction zones.

Googins said any sex offender who has had a prior continuous residence within the areas designated as off limits would be grandfathered if the new rules take effect.

In a memo sent to City Manager Jim Gailey outlining the new residency restrictions, Googins said, “There are significant residential areas of the city, which would not be affected and therefore (this ordinance) balances the interests and needs of sex offenders by allowing ample housing.”

In the memo Googins also said, “I fully understand the impact such an ordinance has, and I strongly believe that these further protective measures (are) necessary to safeguard places where children congregate and (are) a positive step toward improving the safety of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.”

Once the new rules are in place, a sex offender violating the residency restrictions could face fines of up to $500 a day.

In his comments Monday, Gailey told the City Council that the Maine Legislature passed a bill in 2009 specifically allowing municipalities to put residency restrictions on a certain class of sex offender. Creating and implementing such an ordinance for South Portland, he said, is a top priority of the police department.

Specifically, the new ordinance would prohibit a sex offender from living within “a distance of 750 feet surrounding the real property comprising a public or private elementary, middle or secondary school or up to a maximum distance of 750 feet surrounding the real property comprising a municipally owned or state-owned property that is leased to a nonprofit organization for purposes of a park, athletic field or recreational facility that is open to the public where children are the primary users.”

In the findings and purposes section of the new ordinance it states: “The city promotes and strives to create a safe environment for its citizens to live and raise families and considers the promotion of the safety and welfare of children to be of paramount importance. The city recognizes that sex offenders who prey upon children may have a high rate of recidivism (Studies don't show this)  … (and) the city finds that further protective measures are necessary and warranted to safeguard places where children congregate.”

No one spoke against the new residency restrictions during Monday’s meeting, although Councilor Tom Blake did ask Gailey if the city had heard anything from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine in opposition to the ordinance. Gailey said that as of Monday his office had received no communication from the civil liberties union in regard to the sex offender residency restrictions being proposed.

Prior to the council’s initial vote on the new ordinance, Councilor Melissa Linscott said she’s pleased to see the restrictions come forward and said they were important to have in place.

Mayor Gerard Jalbert agreed and said, “We need tools in place to keep children safe.”

Council favors zoning proposals

In other action Monday, the City Council gave initial approval to a controversial new commercial zone in the Thornton Heights neighborhood, which could pave the way for a new Dunkin’ Donuts store to go up on what is now an undeveloped, city-owned lot at the corner of Main and Westbrook streets.

The vote on the Thornton Heights Commercial zone was 5-2, with councilors Blake and Patti Smith opposed.

The vote followed another lengthy public comment period, during which most of the speakers urged the council not to move the new zone forward.

And, similar to the workshop held on the new Thornton Heights zone last week, members of the Congregation Bet Ha’am synagogue on Westbrook Street were outspoken about the plan.

However, before the vote on first reading, Jalbert said the council is still keeping an open mind about how to best use the city-owned lot, which is adjacent to the synagogue. And he said within the next two weeks there is still time to come up with a compromise solution.

Following the 5-2 vote on the new Thornton Heights zone, the council unanimously approved new zoning for the west end of Main Street that it hopes will lead to reinvestment and new development in that area of the city.

The new Main Street zone specifically prohibits drive-through restaurants, and the council has said it would make the new rules retroactive in an attempt to save the historic St. John the Evangelist Church, located on the corner of Thirlmere Avenue and Main Street, from being torn down by Cafua Management, the Massachusetts-based developer that wants to build a 24-hour Dunkin’ Donuts on the west side of the city.

A public hearing and final vote on the new Thornton Heights Commercial zone and the new Main Street Community Commercial zone is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 19.

Also on Monday, the council unanimously approved new rules that would allow restaurants, in certain areas of the city, to provide outdoor seating for their patrons under specific guidelines, including requiring the business to get a license from the city and to provide adequate insurance.

ME - Maine Panel Splits on Bill to Expand Sex Offender Registry

Original Article

01/27/2014

By A.J. Higgins

A legislative committee has issued a split decision on a bill requiring state residents convicted of sex offenses in foreign countries to register as a sex offenders here in Maine. Supporters say the bill is needed because current law provides a loophole for Maine sex offenders whose crimes are committed outside the country. But critics argue there are serious due process issues at stake because the standards for a conviction in a foreign country may not be the same as in the United States. A.J. Higgins has more.


The need for the bill seemed obvious to state Rep. Joyce Maker, a Republican from Calais, a stone's throw from the Canadian border. She says the issue came to her attention during a conversation with someone from Homeland Security, who told her an American convicted of child sexual assault in Canada had been deported back Maine.

But Maker says state law enforcement agencies were not authorized to add his name to the sex offender registry because his conviction occurred outside the U.S.

"It's going to be my focus, I guess here in the Legislature, to try to protect those children that are being sexually abused," she told colleagues, "and this is just one other avenue that they're getting to."

Maker's solution would be to require Maine residents convicted of sex offenses in foreign countries to comply with the provisions of the state Sex Offender Registry Notification Act. The bill received the support of the Calais Police Department last year, but the legislation was carried over to this year's session.

Mark Dion, house chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, says a 9 to 4 vote by the panel against the legislation reflects lawmakers' concerns over the due process rights of the individual.

"I think the arguments around due process are significant enough that this could get tied up in courts, when what the police chief wants to do tomorrow is make sure his community has been put on notice," Dion said.

The due process issues are very real for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine that has gone on record against Maker's bill. The ACLU says that, unlike others convicted in Maine and required to register as sex offenders, those with convictions in other countries have not gone through the American criminal justice system and not afforded the same constitutional protections.

As pointed out by the ACLU's Oami Amarasingham, not only would there be concerns that a foreign court would not include adequate criminal defense provisions, in some countries, there might not even be a trial. Those real concerns created a lot of doubt for Dion and other members of the panel, prompting the Portland Democrat to try to find an alternative remedy.

"So rather than see this fall down some sort of legal wormhole, we worked with the chiefs and said, look, they can develop notification policies, they can advise us as to what criteria they would use from the other police agencies in determining whether or not to make a notification," Dion says. "So I think we protect the public safety, we get the word out where it's appropriate. But we don't get hung up being in court trying to determine if it's fair to put somebody on a registry in this state."

Rep. Corey Wilson, an Augusta Republican, says Dion's compromise could provide the kind of protections law enforcement agencies want. But Wilson also worries that without a strong enough message, police agencies might simply choose to avoid community notifications all together.

"I'm afraid that there are going to be police chiefs or county sheriffs that are going to be reluctant to take on this for fear of litigation purposes, where we're dealing with foreign jurisdictions and sort of uncharted territory, where we're not dealing with convictions within this country," Wilson said.

Dion says a minority report on the bill is expected, setting the stage for further debate when the measure reaches the House floor.

ME - Few sex offenders commit new crimes

Original Article

10/13/2013

By Keith Edwards

AUGUSTA - Sex offenders are the only type of criminal with their own registry so the public can keep an eye on them, so they must be the most likely to commit more crimes, right?

Wrong.

Contrary to the seemingly widespread public perception that sex offenders are more likely than other criminals to commit another crime, state and national statistics show that sex offenders are less likely to commit another criminal act than other criminals.

A 2010 study (PDF) by researchers at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service found “sex offenders had statistically significant lower rates of return to prison for a new crime than other offenders at one, two, and three years after release from prison.”

The study found that 4 percent of sex offenders were returned to prison within one year of their release for any new crime, compared to 7.1 percent of other offenders. Sex offenders were returned to prison for committing new crimes after two and three years at rates of 8.8 percent and 15 percent, respectively, compared to 15.1 percent and 21 percent for all other offenders.

However, the same study noted sex offenders were much more likely to end up back in prison than other criminals for committing, specifically, another sex offense.

“Sex offender return rates for sex offenses at one, two and three years were .7 percent, 1.8 percent, and 3.8 percent, which were 14, 18, and 38 times higher than the return rate of other offenders,” according to the report (PDF), “Sexual Assault Trends and Sex Offender Recidivism in Maine.”

Police Chief Robert Gregoire said he was not aware of any reoffenses by sex offenders in Augusta.

Nor was Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty aware of reoffenses by sex offenders in the county.

Mayor William Stokes, who is also deputy attorney general and head of the criminal division of the Maine attorney general’s office, said sex offenses tend to be of more concern than many other crimes because of the nature of the offense.

He noted he’s seen data indicating some sex offenders, specifically those who commit criminal acts against children, have a higher likelihood of engaging in such acts again than other criminals.

“That’s why they have the sex offender registry, and you don’t have a registry for burglars and other criminals,” Stokes said.
- And even though sex offenders have a lower recidivism rate of any other criminal, they continue to pass draconian laws to further punish those least likely to re-offend?  Yeah, that makes since... NOT!

Scott Landry, superintendent of Maine Correctional Center, said some sex offenders are at higher risk of offending, more so than both other sex offenders and other criminals. He said those higher-risk offenders are monitored more closely upon their release, and have more requirements to maintain close contact with their probation officer, and, often, a sex offender therapist.

“Not all sex offenders are of equal risk to reoffend,” Landry said, noting when someone who is 19 years-old and has a sexual relationship with someone who is 15, the act is still illegal, but the offender is likely less a risk to reoffend than more severe offenders.

Augusta landlord Larry Fleury, who owns 23 rental properties in Augusta with 170 units, rents to more than a dozen sex offenders in the city.

Fleury said in the 31 years he has rented out apartments in Augusta, he hasn’t had a tenant who was a sex offender commit another sex offense.

“We looked at recidivism rates and found they’re actually less likely to reoffend than people who’ve done other types of things,” Fleury said.

National data also appears to contradict public perception that sex offenders are more likely to commit new crimes than criminals who commit non-sex offenses.

A 2003 federal Bureau of Justice Statistics study of recidivism of more than 9,000 male sex offenders in 15 states released from prison in 1994 found they were less likely to commit new crimes than the 260,000 non-sex offenders released that same year, but more likely than them to commit new sex offenses.

Within the first three years of their release from prison, 24 percent of those sex offenders were reconvicted of a new criminal offense, versus 48 percent of other, non-sex offender criminals over that same time period.
- But that isn't new sexual crimes, it's any new crime, and most of the time it's a technical violation.

However sex offenders were four times more likely to be arrested for a sex crime than other offenders, according to the federal study. Within the first three years following their release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime, while only 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders were arrested for a sex crime.