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The story of Megan’s Law

Megan Kanka was murdered

The possibility of Britain adopting US-style “naming and shaming” of paedophiles living in the community has been raised by Home Secretary John Reid.
Mr Reid is sending a minister to the US to examine the legislation – known as Megan’s Law.
American parents – unlike their UK counterparts – have access to information on paedophiles living in their local area.
The law was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and has since been adopted in some form by all 50 states.
It arose from the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka.
She was killed by Jesse Timmendequas, a known child molester with two previous convictions for sexual offences.
He had moved into the same neighbourhood as her family without their knowledge.
The murder caused outrage in the US and Megan’s mother campaigned for a change in the law to give parents access to information on child sex offenders in their area.

Parents must now be informed when offenders move into their neighbourhood after being freed from prison.

Divided opinions
A number of states list offenders’ details on the internet, allowing parents to enter their own details to check if anyone on the register has moved in nearby.
Supporters of the law point to cases where registered sex offenders have been discovered working in amusement parks, youth counselling and other activities involving contact with children.
One Californian grandmother told how she had checked the database after growing suspicious that her daughter-in-law, and mother of her four grandchildren, had re-married a convicted sex offender.
“I said, ‘What if he’s a rapist?’ and sure as hell, he was.”
But opponents argue the law encourages acts of vigilantism and does not give offenders who have paid their dues the chance to merge back into society.
They also question the effectiveness of Megan’s Law. Past studies have shown that far fewer paedophiles comply with registration requirements in the US than in the UK.
Critics also point out that most cases of child abuse occur within the family, and suggest that victims may stay silent if they know a family member will be denounced.
State differences
Offenders must register their address with the local police upon release from prison, but many give bogus details.
Others have given their details, but travelled outside their local areas to prey on youngsters in neighbourhoods where no-one knew about them.
The law takes different forms in different states.
In Louisiana, the public has complete access to information on offenders and their movements.
One company offers e-mail alerts to families warning of sex offenders moving to homes near them.
In Washington state, law enforcement officers can call at every house in the neighbourhood to warn people about an offender moving in.
Sex offenders in Oregon can be forced to display a sign in their windows. Some believe that Megan’s Law does not go far enough and several states are investigating the use of, or have already introduced, chemical or surgical castration for certain sexual offenders.

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Welcome to the California Department of Justice’s Internet web site, which lists designated registered sex offenders in California.

As a result of a new law, this site will provide you with access to information on more than 63,000 persons required to register in California as sex offenders. Specific home addresses are displayed on more than 33,500 offenders in the California communities; as to these persons, the site displays the last registered address reported by the offender. An additional 30,500 offenders are included on the site with listing by ZIP Code, city, and county. Information on approximately 22,000 other offenders is not included on this site, but is known to law enforcement personnel.

Once you have read and acknowledged the disclaimer on the next page, you may search the database by a sex offender’s specific name, obtain ZIP Code and city/county listings, obtain detailed personal profile information on each registrant, and use our map application to search your neighborhood or anywhere throughout the State to determine the specific location of any of those registrants on whom the law allows us to display a home address.

Not all sex offenders have been caught and convicted. Most sex offenses are committed by family, friends or acquaintances of the victim.

It looks like this

• Sex offenders pose a high risk of re-offending after release from custody;

• Protecting the public from sex offenders is a primary governmental interest;
• The privacy interests of persons convicted of sex offenses are less important than the government’s interest in public safety;