Protecting Our Kids From Sex Offenders

Protecting Our Kids From Sex Offenders
Rep. Boozman's Column for the Week of October 3, 2005

Discussing Fire Safety With Children at His 2003 Homebuyer's Fair in Fort Smith

Washington, Oct 3 - Last week, Fort Smith police asked for the public's help in finding a local man who was posing as a hurricane victim. Authorities believe that he is taking advantage of local relief efforts to receive services. While this may not be the only case of a "bad apple" taking advantage of Arkansas' support for Hurricane Katrina victims, what is particularly alarming about this man is that he is a known sex offender.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there are close to 5,900 registered sex offenders living in Arkansas. That is a rather large number for our small state and it only reflects known offenders. There is no way to know for sure how many predators are actually in our state as over 100,000 sex offenders in the national database can't be located because they have failed to register in their communities.

The fact of the matter remains that we don't know where these sex offenders live, work or go to school. We don't know if they are hundreds of miles away or next door. We don't know if they are leading productive lives or sitting on the park bench by the jungle gym preying on our kids as they play. It's a frightening reality that we must address.

We took steps last month in Congress to address this when we passed the "Children's Safety Act of 2005." This comprehensive bill makes improvements to the National Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program to ensure that sex offenders register - and keep current - where they reside, work and attend school. It also requires states to have a uniform, public access sex offender registration website so that Americans can educate themselves on who is in their communities. In addition to expanding the registration process, the "Children's Safety Act of 2005" also puts teeth into the enforcement of registration by creating a new criminal penalty of mandatory minimum of five years to maximum of twenty years for sex offenders who do not abide by the registration rules.

Federal action is required to solve the increasingly dangerous and widespread problem of violence against children. Other measures designed to protect America's youth have met with great success, and the "Children's Safety Act of 2005" will add to their efficacy. For instance, the Amber Alert program has saved numerous children from abduction and Megan's Law has greatly increased the knowledge that residents have about their communities. Operations to entrap child pornographers via the internet have met with great success, and incarcerated those who use technology to exploit innocent children.

Parents choose to raise their children in Arkansas because of the many wonderful tight-knit communities that exist in our state. Our communities enjoy low crimes rates, dedicated teachers and great atmospheres to raise our children in. However, with nearly 100,000 unregistered sex offenders roaming the country, our children remain at risk even our safest communities. This most be changed and the "Children's Safety Act of 2005" will help protect our communities from predators on the loose.

http://www.boozman.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=35206