brokeninoz
06-18-2005, 10:58 AM
Posted on Sat, Jun. 18, 2005http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifhttp://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Registered offenders to get visits
The state suspects many convicts required to register aren't keeping their addresses current.
BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle
TOPEKA - Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline Friday ordered a detailed audit of the state's registered offender program to determine how many people on the list are in full compliance with the law.
In a joint news conference with Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Larry Welch, Kline said he planned to ask local law enforcement agencies to make face-to-face contact with a sample of the 3,757 offenders to make sure they are living where they say they are.
"It's fundamentally important that we do all we can to notify parents of the dangers in their neighborhood," he said.
The offender registry includes people who have been convicted of sex crimes, murder and manslaughter.
Welch, whose office maintains the offender registry, said it appears that nearly a tenth of the offenders are not complying with a law that requires them to maintain their current addresses on the registry.
"Nine to 10 percent at any given time are not where they're supposed to be," he said.
The KBI tracks the offenders by sending them registered letters every 90 days, Welch said. When a letter cannot be delivered, he said, local law enforcement agencies are notified. If the offender is later found, charges can be filed in District Court.
Kline said failing to register is a low-level felony that carries a sentence of probation in most cases. Because the penalty is so light, he said, there is little incentive for prosecutors to file charges in offender-violation cases.
Kansas began its sex offender registration program in 1993 and, after several court challenges, it has become an established public safety tool. The list was expanded in 1996 to include those convicted of murder and manslaughter.
The Eagle reported in January that nearly 90 percent of the people on the registry are sex offenders, and that 70 percent of that group committed crimes against children.
First-time offenders must stay on the list for 10 years, and second-time offenders must stay on the list for life.
Kline, who is co-chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General's Sex Predator Task Force, said Kansas would be one of the first states to join what will soon become a national sex offender registry.
He said he was particularly concerned about offenders who commit sex crimes against children. It's becoming more common, he said, to see cases in which pedophiles have used the Internet to make contact with victims.
"We have a mobile society, and predators have a very serious network," he said. "These are not children going to porn-dot-com. These are predators going to Disney-dot-com.
"Their sophistication, their organization, is incredible. It's a very serious issue."
The audit will be conducted in late July, when law enforcement officers will verify the address, employer and driver's license information for a sample of 150 offenders.
Registered offenders to get visits
The state suspects many convicts required to register aren't keeping their addresses current.
BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle
TOPEKA - Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline Friday ordered a detailed audit of the state's registered offender program to determine how many people on the list are in full compliance with the law.
In a joint news conference with Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Larry Welch, Kline said he planned to ask local law enforcement agencies to make face-to-face contact with a sample of the 3,757 offenders to make sure they are living where they say they are.
"It's fundamentally important that we do all we can to notify parents of the dangers in their neighborhood," he said.
The offender registry includes people who have been convicted of sex crimes, murder and manslaughter.
Welch, whose office maintains the offender registry, said it appears that nearly a tenth of the offenders are not complying with a law that requires them to maintain their current addresses on the registry.
"Nine to 10 percent at any given time are not where they're supposed to be," he said.
The KBI tracks the offenders by sending them registered letters every 90 days, Welch said. When a letter cannot be delivered, he said, local law enforcement agencies are notified. If the offender is later found, charges can be filed in District Court.
Kline said failing to register is a low-level felony that carries a sentence of probation in most cases. Because the penalty is so light, he said, there is little incentive for prosecutors to file charges in offender-violation cases.
Kansas began its sex offender registration program in 1993 and, after several court challenges, it has become an established public safety tool. The list was expanded in 1996 to include those convicted of murder and manslaughter.
The Eagle reported in January that nearly 90 percent of the people on the registry are sex offenders, and that 70 percent of that group committed crimes against children.
First-time offenders must stay on the list for 10 years, and second-time offenders must stay on the list for life.
Kline, who is co-chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General's Sex Predator Task Force, said Kansas would be one of the first states to join what will soon become a national sex offender registry.
He said he was particularly concerned about offenders who commit sex crimes against children. It's becoming more common, he said, to see cases in which pedophiles have used the Internet to make contact with victims.
"We have a mobile society, and predators have a very serious network," he said. "These are not children going to porn-dot-com. These are predators going to Disney-dot-com.
"Their sophistication, their organization, is incredible. It's a very serious issue."
The audit will be conducted in late July, when law enforcement officers will verify the address, employer and driver's license information for a sample of 150 offenders.