U.S. States Fail at Protecting Children from Sex Offenders, Report Says

By Radeyah Hack
News Editor

Stony Brook, NY – Over 30 states in the U.S., with New York included, managed to earn a grade of a D or lower when it comes to actively protecting children from registered sex offenders. Of the 30 states, 25 made a grade of an F for failing to meet the minimum standards required by Megan’s Law, a federal act that sets forth minimal standards for protection from known sex offenders.

According to a national report card released by Parents for Megan’s Law, a child advocacy and Megan’s Law watchdog agency based on Long Island, eight states earned a D, 13 states earned a C, three earned a B and Wisconsin earned an A, while only Florida received an A+. New York State received a grade of D in the national survey that compared sex offender registries and community notification programs for when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood.

“I’m not surprised New York State earned such a low grade,” said Laura Ahern, Executive Director of Parents for Megan’s Law, during a press conference on Monday. According to Ahern, the difficult legislative process, along with the Assembly leadership, makes it difficult to put in place and implement a more severe form of Megan’s Law. “In New York State and nationally, every issue becomes politicized and egos along with other issues get in the way of protecting our children.”

New York State is not alone, however. With 25 states failing and 21 earning grades of a C or lower, the Megan’s Law report card found that 24 states have incomplete Internet registries that don’t include all registered sex offenders while most internet registries lack the details necessary for prevention efforts, such as address, phone number and occupation of offender. In addition to this, Ahern stated that many states, including New York, practice what is known as risk assessment, where sex offenders are categorized on three levels based on the severity of their crime, with three being the most severe.

“States are making the attempt to predict the dangerousness of sex offenders,” she said. Using the example of Wendy Hatchers, a former nanny who is categorized as a level one offender despite digital evidence of sexual molestation to a little boy in her care, Ahern pointed out the level assigned can vary depending on the representation a sex offender can afford. “This is a woman who used her position of trust to commit crimes….as a level one offender there’s nothing stopping her from becoming a member of a church and offering her babysitting services.”

The Megan’s Law report card found that 22 states are not requiring door to door active community notification for violent sexual predators. “Most communities are under the false impression that if a sex offender moves in the neighborhood, law enforcement would knock on their door, but that’s just not the case.”

Despite the failing national average and New York State’s low grade, Nassau and Suffolk counties are actively engaged in upholding Megan’s Law beyond the minimal standards, since lobbying has produced a change in the local laws, according to Ahern. Community notification and Internet registration of sex offenders are actively executed in Long Island communities, while elementary schools, working with Parents for Megan’s Law, are holding workshops to teach kids how to protect themselves from sex predators. With a new set of students coming in every year, however, Ahern stated that unless these workshops are part of the school curriculum, a large number of kids will fall through the loop when it comes to education on the issue.

Educating parents is also a major objective for Parents for Megan’s Law, particularly since most sex crimes are committed by those who are in a trusting relationship with children. “Many parents still believe that protection from sex predators is telling your kids to don’t talk to strangers,” said Ahern. 

Parents for Megan’s Law is currently lobbying federal lawmakers to improve federal policies by raising the federal minimal Megan’s Law standards. “Megan’s Law alone is not going to stop sex crimes,” said Ahern, “but it can work to prevent the opportunity for a caught sex predator to re-offend.”