From the Files of Public Pulse: Think About It! The “Gray” Area

Oregonians have much to learn and understand when it comes to the seemingly endless array of problems connected to sex offenders and public perception.

(SALEM) -

The subject of color comes up in many ways. Racially it is in the color of skin, in nature the color of a sunset, or in our personal choices the color of dress or shirt we are going to put on before starting the day.

It is the combination of two colors, black and white, which gives us “gray” and becomes a metaphor to our legal system and laws it produces, which has become the concern of this citizen. It is this area that you or someone you know could possibly get caught up in during your lifetime.

I am not specifically pointing fingers at any elected officials or at any law enforcement agency or social service agency, as they only abide by the rules, regulations, and laws that have been passed by our legislature right under our noses - usually with our blessing. Why? Because we have failed to truly understand what we voted into law!

The issue I am going to refer to this week is “sex offenders.” Now, didn’t that raise the hair on the back of your neck? Didn’t that make you want to just say “hang them all!” Well unfortunately when I recently started talking to people about this subject that is exactly the words and attitude I got.

All they could think about when the term “sex offender” is used was predatory rapists, pedophiles, child internet stalkers, child killers and anyone else that hurts the weaker more vulnerable in our communities.

To make it clear as to what I am writing about, take into consideration the following scenarios:

A young man 19 years of age is dating a 17-year old girl. They are in love. Their feelings become paramount and they soon start having sex. They talk about marriage, having children, starting a live together, but they are young and soon realities of life catch up - they break up. There are angry feelings and the girl feels rejected and hurt and the parents, trying to vindicate their little girl, report to the authorities that this 19-year-old man has been having sex with their underage 17-year-old daughter. Now they are angry and not really thinking about what they have just unleashed, but the authorities, by law, have to respond to this. The young man is arrested. He admits to having sex with this under-aged girl but that it was agreeable by both parties. He has locked his fate from that point on. He will go to jail. He will become a registered sex offender and this will follow him the rest of his life.

You are a single dad and you are sleeping. It is very early on a Saturday morning. You are dressed down to your under shorts because it is hot weather. Your six-year old daughter wakes up from having a bad dream and she crawls in bed with you and snuggles up. She goes to sleep, feeling safe. You don’t even wake up, until you roll over and your hand touches something, waking you up with a start. You realize your little girl has crawled in bed with you and upon checking you find out she had wet her bed, taken her night clothes off, and crawled in bed with you. You smile. She looks so cute. No biggie. You just cover her up, go into the kitchen make coffee, and get on with the morning activities. A week later a detective from the local law enforcement agency is knocking at your door, a child services protection agent is with him. Your first grader’s school had reported to the authorities they had been told by one of your daughter’s classmates that your daughter had told her she woke up in bed with her daddy with no clothes on. Try to explain that in this day and age. You are arrested, because by law they have to take you in. Guess what? You are now on the road to becoming a registered sex offender.

Now, I know you are saying those are exceptions, but are they reality. There are such “gray” areas in our laws regarding sex violations that any one of us is subject to getting caught up in if the right kind of situation happens.

No way am I trying to invalidate the victims of sex crimes or trying to make excuses for predators that stalk and hurt our children or others on the streets or on the internet. No way am I saying the ruthless rapists who attack because of wanting to enforce their “power” over vulnerable victims should be patted on the head and told, “Oh, poor guy.” The victims need their rights absolutely protected, but we really need to take a look at our laws and make sure our system is being fair, that people who maybe made poor judgment decisions, like the 19 year old having sex with a 17 year old, or accidents the dad who had to face a terrible misunderstanding, are not falling through the cracks.

As the producer and director of Public Pulse, a series on our local access station, CCTV, here in Salem, I just completed taping a show that will air October 2nd through October 14th, on the Comcast cable area, channel 23.

The panelists on the show represent professionals who work with sex offenders while in the system and when they get out. They are Marilyn Callahan, LCSW, BCD, a therapist who works with sex offenders when they are released; Fay Ann Gentle, training and transitions coordinator with Oregon Corrections who works with offenders while in the system; and Charity Hobold, supervisor of the Deschutes County Adult Parole and Probation, who monitors offenders for release.

They are three professionals who work in this “gray” area and know that more education, treatment, and rehabilitation programs need to be in place for the offenders, especially when they are released from prison.

We feel this subject is important enough to do a mini series about it. We feel the public needs to become educated on the different levels of sex offenders and to understand the differences of the myths and misconceptions of pedophiles, predators, and rapists. Who are the most dangerous and need a strong legal system to keep track of them, or who, after completing therapy and rehabilitation, no longer pose a threat to society. We need to understand the importance of having realistic goals for them before they are put out on the streets, with little money, no place to live, and no resources for medicine or means to get them.

We really need to understand the laws that are in place right now. Can they be changed or fixed?

If we want to keep our community safe, we need to be aware of what happens when someone our system has deemed a danger is released from a prison environment and expected to somehow survive in a hostile community who denies them the tools to try and correct a very bad wrong they inflicted on a very venerable victim.

This education program, titled “S.O.S. on Sex Offenders – An Awareness Journey” hopefully will bring an awareness and understanding concerning a very complex sensitive issue.

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Lela September 5, 2006 6:45 pm (Pacific time)

Hi SOSNet4u. Thank you for your response to my article. I am so happy to have people comment who understand what we are trying to say. This week Marilyn Callahan, therapist for sex offenders, and a social worker for over 50 years, was interviewed by our local newspaper. It was a good article and very informative as to what we are trying to inform the public about concerning the myths and misconceptions surrounding sex offenders. Exactly what you said. Unfortunately there were some people who obviously didn't get that from the article and were very hateful in their comments, not only about the issues but about Marilyn. The team of professionals we have put together to do the mini series will try to dispel the myths, inform about the laws, and educate people as to what happens in our legal system and what happens when an offender's time is up and they are released from prison. It will be an awareness program that hopefully will help people understand that when individuals who come out of the system do not have a safe place to live or are not given the opportunity to begin to repair their lives then an added burden is put on society, again. If they are classified as a low risk, have successfully completed their time and needed programs, and want to pay back to society what they have taken away then they need the chance to do this. Also, the ones who have served their time but are still deemed a high risk need to have a place to live so they can be closely monitored by the system. If this doesn't happen, then where do they go? On the streets where it is more difficult to monitor their whereabouts? This series is hopefully going to educate the viewing public as to the need their is for this particular issue in order we can make our communities a better and safer place to live. I think a National Sex Offender Public Policy Forum would be a wonderful way to begin this awareness journey. Thank you, again, for your very informative input.

sosnet4u September 1, 2006 9:59 pm (Pacific time)

The original intent of sex offender registry and community notification laws were designed for law enforcement to track the most violent and predatory offenders. What is the difference between Jerry Burke Inman, John Evander Couey or Joseph Edward Duncan III and over 90 percent of the folks on a Sex Offender Registry? These three were intentionally absconding from the system at the time of their most recent crimes. The conditions of their release did not matter to them. They wanted to offend and should be incarcerated for the rest of their lives, end of story. Men like Timothy Lee Boggs should be monitored without a doubt. We can only hope he has benefited from therapy as so many others have and will not re-offend. The public needs to be more concerned about absconders, not low risk offenders, or even higher risk offenders who are working hard to comply with their court and therapy guidelines. Many have paid their debt to society, and are on the Sex Offender Registry by law. Under our current system, law enforcement spends precious resources tracking low risk offenders, instead of high-risk absconders and predators. If the registries were working, why are we seeing an 8% increase each year in the number of registrants? The politicians, and some in the media, want you to believe in the stranger danger myth. The fact is that, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, American Psychological Association, the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and other experts; children are abused by a family member or someone trusted by the family in around 90 percent of all the cases. According to the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, most sex offenders live in an area due to its proximity to their family or therapy provider. Chasing them away from therapist and family support network is not in the best interest of public safety. Why must those who are deemed a low risk of re-offending register (some for life) as a sex offender? They have paid their debt to society and have been living offense free for up to twenty years in some cases. Why are they the only class of citizens who are demonized by the media, politicians, and citizens based on the actions of a few? Does that make anyone feel safer? What has not been publicly discussed is the impact of registration on those low risk registrants and specifically their families and children - many times (DOJ stats show 40%), the offender is under 18, and the victim is a younger friend or sibling. These victims are doubly victimized when their family, older sibling or friend is humiliated and ostracized. There are countless stories of children beat up at school after school, and losing all social support structure that is so crucial for healthy development. Does this sound like justice to you? According to our legislators, it is. How can anyone look into the eyes of a child and tell them that they somehow deserve to be homeless, harassed, beaten, humiliated, stigmatized, and made a pariah. Whose children are worthy? Only those of others, do the children of registrants even count? According to our legislators, they do not. We must have more faith in ourselves than in government to solve the problem. Citizens, communities, journalist, media personalities, and legislators should demand a National Sex Offender Public Policy Forum to address this issue. Then state and local governments can better formulate workable, cost effective laws that protect the rights of all citizens. Forums should include mental health professionals, jurist, law enforcement and corrections personnel, victims and their families, offenders and their families. The offender’s families are secondary casualties of ill-conceived laws. In lieu of fostering a fearful witch-hunt mentality for election year sound bites, legislators should step up to this societal challenge. They should strive to dispel the myths and create the environment for policy and subsequent legislation to succeed, creating a safe society for all children. Educate yourself, protect your children, visit http://sosnet.bravehost.com/index.htm

Lela August 31, 2006 2:18 pm (Pacific time)

Jay, since this show will be produced by PEG access equipment at our local television access station, CCTV, the Salem Comcast cable area is the only area for it to be viewed. Sorry. But, once the series is completed, there will be copies given to the State of Oregon and to the Oregon Corrections Department. You can contact them to see if you can have them send you a copy. As producer of the show I am donating the show as a training/educational/orientation video to be utlized for those areas. Please wait till December as all the copies will be completed by then.

Jay August 31, 2006 10:02 am (Pacific time)

Not living in Oregon, I was wanting to know if there is a way to view the show(s)? Thanks

AM in the PM August 29, 2006 4:20 pm (Pacific time)

Thank you Lela for your efforts in consciousness raising.

Albert Marnell August 29, 2006 4:01 pm (Pacific time)

People in law enforcement are one of the largest groups of sex offenders and sexual predators. You don't believe me? Go to www.badcopnews.com

Lela August 29, 2006 3:00 pm (Pacific time)

Thanks, Wise Woman, for your response. I appreciate it. I am hoping that awareness and changes can happen where the laws can become more sensitve to individual cases. Also, I asked Tim to delete a comment received as it pertained to promoting sexuality between an adult and a child. Now, I don't like censorship but neither do I like this important issue being downgraded to fulfil someone's sexual fantasies or promotion of consenting sex between an adult and a child. No way should a child be subjected to any kind of sexual overtures from an adult. So, getting that off my chest, I am just letting anyone else who wants to use this forum to elicit sympathy for their sexual desires for children, just forget it!

Anonymous August 29, 2006 9:18 am (Pacific time)

Tell them not to charge 200 or more a month for treatment and I bet you would see a lot more offenders completing treatment.

WiseWoman August 29, 2006 1:51 am (Pacific time)

Thanks Lela for trying to reach some middle ground. There are many victims when someone is labeled a sex offender- the familes of all involved- and in Oregon it's permanent. Even if it's a first offense, the trauma affects everyone in it's wake. Yes, the offender needs to be punished, and probably treated (not that treatment is available in Oregon prisons), but if we're not sensitive to each case by case situation, we'll end up with an entire society full of "bad people". Is that the goal? Truly, we can do better. Parents, take note... your kids CANNOT make mistakes today. Measure 11 gives your attorney little or no flexibility in expressing a special situation. It's maximum penalty, regardless. This doesn't just regard sex offenders, it's almost every "first degree" offense. And that means YEARS in the joint. Where's the common sense, or "democratic" way of thinking there? I don't believe most people had a full understanding of what they were voting for back in 1994. I didn't. I'm anxious to see what your guests have to say. This law is broken and we must fix it, unless more prisons is really the economic stability we're looking for. It's something like building your house upon the sand... Go Lela Go

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