Sarah's Law

Busman747 · 25-04-2005, 21:50

I am sure that most of you are aware of what "Sarah's law" is all about, In brief, to publicly name and shame sex offenders especially those cases involving children.

There are as many reasons against as there are for a radical law that puts convicted pervs in the public eye.

We have come a long way in changing the law yet hold back on the one thing that exponents of this lobby group demand and that is making known to the public who our next door neighbours are!

In the U.S.A. they have "Megans Law" and ALL states put their pervs on the internet for all to see. Each state has slightly different features on the net but in some cases, they not only name them but give the address,.......even the reg and type of vehicle they drive and of course, a picture!

MEGANS LAW

I must admit, I was fully in support of the idea to name and shame but have the Americans gone over the top? I wonder what vigilante groups are doing with all this information at their disposal. Is Megans Law a recipe for disaster or do the American public use the information solely for the safety of their children?

cashman · 25-04-2005, 22:09

personally i'm all in favour of megans law,if vigilantes or whoever take the law in to their own hands tough, thats another legal matter, safety of children to me must be paramount. don't think many decent people would shed many tears over a battered or worse, pervert.

Busman747 · 25-04-2005, 22:21

LEVEL 3 SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION

Pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 6, sec. 178C-178P, the individual on this notification has been designated a Level 3 Sex Offender by the Sex Offender Registry Board. The Board has determined that the individual is at a high risk to re-offend and that the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is such that a substantial public safety interest is served by active community notification.

THIS INDIVIDUAL IS NOT WANTED BY THE POLICE

Name:Nicholas S. Harvey
Home Address:10 Pilgrim Road, Pembroke, MA
Work Address:63 Reservoir Park Drive, Rockland, MA
Age: 41
Sex: Male
Race: White
Height: 5' 11"
Build: Stocky
Weight: 200 lbs
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brown
Complexion: Medium

Offenses Committed:

Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14 Years of Age (6 Counts), Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior (6 Counts)

WARNING

Sex offender registry information shall not be used to commit a crime or to engage in illegal discrimination or harassment of an offender. Any person who uses information disclosed pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 6, section 178C-178P for such purposes shall be punished by not more than two and one half (2 1/2) years in a house of correction or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1000.00) or both (M.G.L. chapter 6, section 178N). In addidtion, any person who uses registry information to threaten to commit a crime may be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months (M.G.L. chapter 275, section 4).

This guy although a high risk, is NOT wanted by the police......but you may notice that in warnings against vigilante action, they talk about the MAXIMUM fine or imprisonment and many may feel that revenge is worth the sacrifice......It seems to almost encourage action against individuals. I understand what you are saying cashman....and that is my point! Naming and shaming encourages normally well adjusted law-abiding citizens to do something on the spur of the moment that will change their life forever. I am sure that other accywebbers feel the same as you (I do) but is it right?

(There was a picture to go with the info but it missed out on the copy and pasting! )

cashman · 25-04-2005, 22:32

i know its easy to sit here and say things,but if it was a child of mine i honestly wouldn't give a monkeys if it was right or not.

WillowTheWhisp · 25-04-2005, 22:41

I understand what you're saying Cashman but doing something to them in retaliation or vengeance is only going to end up with you getting the criminal record too and probably ending up in jail. Would that really benefit anyone? It wouldn't help the child who had been molested.

cashman · 25-04-2005, 22:51

your quite correct willow,but i can't honestly say i could sit back and let the law take its coarse,it's a bit scary but i don't know

Busman747 · 25-04-2005, 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

i know its easy to sit here and say things,but if it was a child of mine i honestly wouldn't give a monkeys if it was right or not.

As you say cashman, it is very easy to say but over the past few months I have given great thought into the pro's and cons of revenge.

Within the next month, the guy who caused the death of my daughter just one week before Christmas goes to court! IF he gets off, then I may reappraise my feelings but common sense (at the moment) tells me to accept the law of the land and I hope that the he goes down for quite some time!

The way I view it at the moment is that nothing will bring back my daughter and I am relying on British justice to punish him.

What he has done to me is NOTHING compared with the devastation he has brought on Michelles husband Scott.............

PLEASE all, keep to the thread, This is something I can cope with.......and the discussion is vigilante action..or not!

This has NOTHING to do with child violation but touches on revenge.....

Death crash driver sent to crown court

AN accident that led to the death of a woman returning from Christmas shopping landed a man in court on charges of death by dangerous driving.

The defendent is charged over the death of Michelle Blackledge, 28, after a two-car collision at Wilstead Hill on the A6 in Haynes on December 18.

The 26-year-old is accused of veering into the lane of on-coming traffic.

Mrs Blackledge, of Mill Lane, Clophill, worked as a graphic designer at mknews, a sister newspaper to Bedfordshire on Sunday.

She was driving a Vauxhall Corsa when it collided with a Vauxhall Cavalier. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

It happened as Mrs Blackledge and her husband Scott, 26, were coming home after buying Christmas cards and party poppers for a dinner party that evening. The Cavalier burst into flames just after the defendant managed to get out. Scott suffered various injuries.

cashman · 25-04-2005, 23:10

to me revenge comes into play more nowadays right or wrong, due to the fact that sentences are nothing more than a joke,certainly hope i'm wrong for your sake busman,but many years ago a gaol sentence was more of a deterrant,than today

WillowTheWhisp · 25-04-2005, 23:17

Feeling a need for justice/revenge I can totally understand and when the justice system fails then there is a natural temptation to take the law into our own hands.

The problem with doing that is that we would then become a criminal and the law would then seek to punish us. Does that really benefit our families?

Look at it in the context of a child who has been raped and the abuser is then attacked by the child's mother. The mother ends up in jail. The child then suffers even more not just the loss of the mother for a given time when he/she needs them most but also by being tormented with feelings of guilt for having "caused" the parent to be arrested. I know the child isn't guilty of anything but these are the sort of thoughts and feelings which torment the mind of an abused child. Why add to that?

Yes the law often fails us but hard as it may be we need to look at it in a different way and look at what effect our actions would have on our own loved-ones and families. The pervert/abuser/rapist has hurt the family once already. Why let them do it again? (Which is exactly what happens when you seek revenge.)

Bazf · 26-04-2005, 03:27

Tomorrow or when your reading this today the Govenor off Florida will sign in a new law named after another abducted child, it will mean that any offender who molests or harms a child will get a minimum of 25years in prison, no time off for good behavior, no time off for time served and after serving his time he will be GPS monitored for the rest of his life.

I must admit, I was fully in support of the idea to name and shame but have the Americans gone over the top? I wonder what vigilante groups are doing with all this information at their disposal. Is Megans Law a recipe for disaster or do the American public use the information solely for the safety of their children?

What tends to happen is if a perv moves in to your area is the neighbours get together and let him know that they know who he is and generally make it uncomfortable for him, if he can put up with it ok, if not then move, I personally have no time or sympathy for any of them and think they deserve all they get, the do gooder will always find a way to call it a disease and say they couldn't control themselves, try telling that to a parent thats just lost a child or a child thats just lost their innocence.
http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/sexual_...rs/search.asp?
just add a zip code (in Tampa our zips start 336 then 2 more numbers. Example 33618, 33624 etc...)

garinda · 26-04-2005, 06:17

I refer to a previous answer l gave in another similar thread.

When The News of the World, which back Sarah's law, printed photographs of convicted child abusers on it's front cover for two succesive weeks it resulted in mayhem. Riots on estates in Portsmouth, because the details printed resulted in an innocent person being wrongly mis-identified. Paediatricians [how ironic,] were also targeted with letter bombs?

l feel as strongly as the rest of you about the protection of children. l have a neice and nephew l would die for. l just don't know if this is the answer. After all these pervs are clever and many would just go underground. At least with the present sex offenders list the police know where these bastards live.

-pixie · 26-04-2005, 06:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

I refer to a previous answer l gave in another similar thread.

When The News of the World, which back Sarah's law, printed photographs of convicted child abusers on it's front cover for two succesive weeks it resulted in mayhem. Riots on estates in Portsmouth, because the details printed resulted in an innocent person being wrongly mis-identified. Paediatricians [how ironic,] were also targeted with letter bombs?

l feel as strongly as the rest of you about the protection of children. l have a neice and nephew l would die for. l just don't know if this is the answer. After all these pervs are clever and many would just go underground. At least with the present sex offenders list the police know where these bastards live.

I agree that widespread knowledge of names and location will result in vigilante action. Theres always some numbnut who won't check names and details and that results in innocent people getting hurt.
However I do think that the police need to think more carefully when "placing" these offenders back into the community. I know of one offender who has been placed on a street that is predominantly full of families and is right next to a local school. Tell me where the sense is in that?

garinda · 26-04-2005, 06:37

No sense Pixie, l quite agree.

I think convicted child abusers shouldn't be released back into the community at all if there is even the slightest risk to children.

Sentences for abusing and killing children and then release after 9 years of a sixteen year sentence such as 'Mr' Cook, are an absolute disgrace.

JohnW · 26-04-2005, 10:43

I was fully in support of Megans Law prior to hearing a radio interview on my way to work a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the law does not always fully distinguish between offenders. In the interview, a sexual offender called in to say that his offence was statutory rape and had happened 15 years previously. He, then a lad of 19, was going out with a girl two years his junior and they had slept together. When he broke up with the girl she must have told her parents what the two of them had done and the parents informed the police. The girl in question was within a few weeks of the age of consent when the offence occured. In the interview the man admitted that he had done wrong but protested that he is not a sexual pervert, has no interest in children sexually but would have to live with the terrible tag for the rest of his life. Now, the story may or may not have been true, I have no way of knowing, but the point is, it could be true and I'm sure there are such stories out there. The naming and shaming, I feel, should be restricted, so that it does not include offences of this nature. Of course, this then presents a problem of what should be revealed and what shouldn't, what ages are going to be the cut-off point, but I feel that this particular man was being over punished for what he had done. I think there is a vast difference between this man and a sexual predator who is out looking for children.

Busman, I am so sorry to hear of your terrible tragedy and I wish you all strength to help you through.

WillowTheWhisp · 26-04-2005, 13:40

An interesting point to add to that John, if the "offence" had taken place here no law would have been broken as the age of consent is 16 and the girl was 17 at the time. - so in America he is labelled alongside paedophiles, in the UK he would have been totally innocent of any crime and no charges brought against him unless the girl accused him of rape. In fact how many times here do girls under 16 have babies and no charges are ever considered against the father even in cases where he is an older teen of 17, 18 or 19?

Also, what happens in cases where the accused is later proved innocent but the name and address has already been seen by thousands?