The child sex abuse scandal at Penn State and last Friday's guilty verdict against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky have shed the national spotlight on child predators and sex crimes against kids.
But residents of Florida are unfortunately no stranger to these types of cases. There are the shocking and high profile incidents, like the 2005 murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford by a convicted sex offender in Citrus County. And there are the commonplace crime stories, like a Largo man who was , just a few weeks after he was accused of .
Even when they're caught before harming anyone, the seeming preponderance of would-be child predators can be staggering. A netted 31 arrests, including local businessmen, members of the military and others in well to do professions, who showed up at a house allegedly intending to have sex with children.
A sting operation earlier this month by the Polk County Sheriff's Office and state and federal authorities netted 38 men in a similar operation.
A search for sex offenders in your neighborhood can be even more alarming, especially for parents. A recent look at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's online database of registered sexual offenders and predators by county turned up 1,669 results in Hillsborough, 1,457 in Pinellas, 753 in Pasco, 387 in Sarasota and 369 in Manatee.
How concerned are you about child sex offenders in your community? Do you look up registered offenders in your neighborhood? Did the Sandusky case open your eyes to the issue of sexual abuse against kids? And why do there seem to be so many child sex crimes in Florida?
We want to know what you think. Post a comment below and join the discussion.
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/search/label/%2FCrime-Police And you can see other public officials who have been busted here: http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2007/07/corruption-links.html
But…. (you knew this was coming) had I wonder how many of these arrests in these stings would have occurred at all. Would the person arrested have acted on the opportunity if it were not offered by an adult law enforcement officer? I remember the case of John DeLorean where it was proved that had the FBI not offered to smuggle drugs in his imported Autos, then he would have acted on it, therefore entrapment. So I have to scratch my head and wonder aloud. That said and aside, I really have issues with believing that this is not a curable illness. Was there something in there pasts that caused an attraction? Arrested sexual/mental development? And, should society be allowed to strip these individuals (regardless of their heinous crimes) of their constitutionally guaranteed rights? Should we as a society embark the path of yet another example what appears to be a Salem Witch hunt?
The REAL RECIDIVISM STUDIES 1) One approach is to extrapolate a true crime rate from victimization surveys and compare that with reported crime, typically finding that roughly 90% of sex crimes go unreported. Some put the estimate even higher.. 2)One of the main problems with recidivism studies is that all studies measure it differently and define it differently," 3)One long-term study of sex offenders from Canada measured recidivism seven ways. The highest rate, 88.3%, included prior, undetected sexual offenses "confessed" by first-time convicts. 4)But Ohio Northern University criminologist Keith Durkin points to anonymous surveys in which sex offenders "admit to as many undetected offenses as the number for which they have been caught". He views 50% as a "conservative" estimate for recidivism. 5)Young, violent offenders who suffer from mental illness, use alcohol or drugs and target very young victims "outside their family" pose the biggest risk. kinda blows that 1994 RSOL 5% BS right out the window Uh?
Somewhat poignant, based on the recent events in CO: http://img.chan4chan.com/img/2010-09-03/1283549820779.jpg