DE - Sex offender restrictions ineffective

Original Article

01/31/2014

By Paul Smith

Regarding sex offender residency restrictions:

Patty Wetterling, whose son Jacob was kidnapped and never found, posted the following statement on the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center website: “Because residency restrictions have been shown to be ineffective at preventing harm to children, and may indeed actually increase the risks to kids, the JWRC does not support residency restriction laws.”

In 2009, the Broward County Florida Board of County Commissioners Sexual Offender and Sexual Predator Residence Task Force reported they had reviewed available research about the effectiveness of residence restrictions and “found no empirical evidence to indicate that these laws achieve their intended goals of preventing abuse, protecting children or reducing reoffending.”

The Minnesota DOC analyzed 224 sex offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 1990 and 2002 who were re-incarcerated for a sex offense prior to January 1, 2006. There were only two where the offender contacted a juvenile victim at a park, and both offenders lived more than 10 miles away. They concluded that not one of the offenses would have been affected by any residency restriction.

In 2007, the Kansas Sex Offender Policy Board reported to the legislature: “Although resident restrictions appear to have strong public support, the Board found no evidence to support its efficacy.” Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz stated: “Residence restrictions don’t contribute to public safety. In fact, the consensus of experts in the field of sex offender management supported by available research and experience indicates they do just the opposite. Right now, it appears that the best alternatives are in the form of community wide education and training regarding steps that can be taken to educate parents . . .”

The California Sex Offender Management Board reported that 90% of people convicted of a sex crime have not been convicted of any sex crime before. The University at Albany [New York] School of Criminal Justice reviewed sex crime arrest records from the period 1984 through 2004 and found that more than 95% of those arrested had no prior convictions for any sex crime. More than 9 of every 10 who will harm a child cannot be on any registry or regulated by your law. They feel safer though and likely won’t be as vigilant.

I know you are concerned for the welfare of Milton’s citizens, but your ignorance of the realities and facts about sex offenders and residency restrictions threatens to place them at greater risk.

MN - Patty Wetterling: 'Miracles can happen'

Jacob Wetterling

Original Article

Our hearts go out to Patty and we hope the person(s) responsible for his kidnapping will come forward and tell Patty where her son is.

10/22/2013

By Shelby Capacio and Paul Blume

ST. JOSEPH (KMSP) - The past 24 years have been filled with heartache and uncertainty for Patty Wetterling because she still doesn't know what happened to her son Jacob (Wikipedia) on Oct. 22, 1989.

"I remember so much and then it blurs," Wetterling told Fox 9 News. "I was probably technically in shock."

Jacob was 11 years old, riding his bike with a brother and a friend to his St. Joseph home when he was snatched at gunpoint, never to be seen again.

"We will never stop in our search for Jacob," his mother vowed. "We believe the possibility that he is still out there."

To this day, the case remains open -- and to this day, the Wetterlings flick on their porch light as a symbol of their hope that he will be found.

"One day, I want to look him in the eye and say, 'I never gave up,'" Wetterling said.

Knowing just how disrupting the disappearance of a child can be, Wetterling has used her experience to try to keep other families from having to endure a similar struggle.

"Our lives changed in every aspect," she said. "There is nothing that is the same."

Now, she is the chair of the board for the national Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In that capacity, she follows high-profile cases of missing children who surface and are returned to their loved ones years later -- including the case of three women released from captivity in Cleveland in May. Currently, she's keeping her eye on the little girl named Maria who was believed to be kidnapped and was found living in a gypsy community in Greece.

"They do give me great hope," Wetterling said of the finds.

Even after 24 years, Wetterling said she believes miracles can happen. In light of that, she is asking her neighbors, friends and other Minnesotans to turn on their porch lights on Tuesday night to remember Jacob and let the good in the world shine.

"There really are more good people who care about one another than bad," Wetterling insisted. "If good people pull together, it's amazing what can happen."

The Wetterlings spend the anniversary of the abduction together as a large family, and their outdoor lights will be on this evening. As is her tradition, Wetterling also baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies and delivered them to the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.