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January 17, 2007

My Neighbor Is A Registered Sex Offender, And I Can't Tell Anyone!

Did you know you can check online for sex offenders registered in your neighborhood? If you haven’t checked the website yet, you might be shocked to see just how many registered sex offenders reside near your home, or around your child’s school.

Have you thought about what you might do if you happened to check the registry and found out your new next door neighbor is a sex offender whose crime included lewd acts with a child? For most of us, our first thought would be to tell our neighbors and maybe even print up flyers for distribution within the neighborhood advising of this person’s presence.

Well, according to the California Megan’s Law website you may only use the information you found to protect a person at risk. Meaning you just can’t go around issuing flyers or telling your neighbors about the offender next door. 

The California Megan’s Law website posts the following:

Legal and Illegal Uses. The information on this web site is made available solely to protect the public. Anyone who uses this information to commit a crime or to harass an offender or his or her family is subject to criminal prosecution and civil liability.

The Megan’s Law website also includes on its FAQ page, the following:

I want to share with others the information I found on the Attorney General's Megan's Law Website. Does the law prohibit me in any way from sharing this information?
A person may use the information disclosed on the Attorney General's Web site only to protect a person at risk. It is a crime to use the information disclosed on the Attorney General's Internet Web site to commit a misdemeanor or felony. Unless the information is used to protect a person at risk, it is also prohibited to use any information that is disclosed pursuant to this Internet Web site for a purpose relating to health insurance, insurance, loans, credit, employment, education, scholarships, fellowships, housing, accommodations, or benefits, privileges, or services provided by any business. Misuse of the information may make the user liable for money damages or an injunction against the misuse. Before using the information disclosed on this Web site, you may want to consult with an attorney or merely suggest to others that they view the Web site for themselves.

So what can you do? Well here are a few suggestions from their site:

First and foremost, suggest to everyone you know that they check the site for themselves. Our site in California is http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/homepage.htm  

Additionally:
1.         Make sure you know where each of your children is at all times
2.         Make an effort to know the people with whom your child is spending time.
3.         Get to know your neighbors.
4.         Assume preventing sexual assault is everyone's responsibility
5.         Talk to your children about personal safety issues as they relate to child sexual abuse. Do this when you talk to your children about bike safety, crossing the street, or talking to strangers. It is, in many ways, just another personal safety rule about which children need to be aware.
6.         Organize neighborhood block watches, if desired by your neighbors.
The bottom line is to be informed and share the Megan’s Law website with everyone you know. Knowledge is your best defense in protecting you and your family.

Written by Maria Schweitzer

Posted by The Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer at 1:17 PM | | Comments (0)

January 12, 2007

New California Laws Against Child Abuse

Last year the California legislature was very busy enacting new laws designed to prevent child abuse.  The new laws that went into effect January 1, 2007, were designed to address some of the problems we have seen with the high profile cases over the past couple of years.  However, the actual effectiveness of these new laws in preventing child abuse is questionable. 

 1)  Employment restrictions on registered sex offenders

An amendment to Penal Code Section 290.95 requires disclosure of sex offender status when the person would be working in an accompanied setting and the work would require touching the children “on more then an incidental and occasional basis.”  

In addition, Penal Code Section 290.95(c) was amended to add that someone convicted of a crime against a child under 16 may not work as an employer or an independent contractor in a setting that involves direct, unaccompanied contact with minors “on more than an incidental and occasional basis.”

Comments:  These new laws are not likely to deter child molesters from obtaining jobs that require them to touch children.  After all, child molesters are very manipulative and are known to go to great lengths to fulfill their fantasies.  Remember John Mark Karr, the strange man who the police suspected may have killed Jon Benet Ramsey?  After being charged with child pornography, Mr. Karr reportedly fled the jurisdiction to take on multiple teaching assignments with various schools.  Would this new legislation have had any impact on Mr. Karr's behavior?    

2)  Confidential settlement agreements in civil actions based on sex offenses.  

Civil Code of Procedure, Section 1002 was added to our law, which precludes confidential settlement agreements in civil cases based on actions that could be prosecuted as felony sex offenses.

However, the new statute does not affect the ability of the parties to enter into an agreement barring disclosure of the amount of money paid in a settlement, nor does it preclude an agreement to keep the defendant from disclosing medical or identifying information about the victim.

Comments:  The Michael Jackson civil case must have been in the minds of the legislators who created this new law.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to imagine how this new law will deter individuals from preying on children or assist the District Attorney's office in prosecuting child molestation cases.  In most settlement agreements that I am familiar with, the defendant does not make admissions of wrongdoing.  Thus, preventing these settlement agreements from being confidential would appear to have no value to prosecutors.

3)  Sex offenses against children

Penal Code, Section 288.3 was added, which makes it a crime to arrange a meeting with a minor (or with someone the offender believes is a minor) for the purpose of lewd or lascivious behavior, or the exposure of either person’s genital or rectal areas, if the perpetrator was “motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children.”  The punishment varies depending on prior convictions and whether the perpetrator actually went to the meeting.

Penal Code, Section 647.6 was amended to add that it is also a violation of the statute to engage in sexual conduct (as specified) with an adult if the perpetrator was motivated by sexual interest in children and believed that the adult was actually under 18; the amendment also raised the fine for violations, and added that the statute doesn’t bar prosecution under any other law.  

Penal Code, Section 269 was amended to change the definition for aggravated sexual assault of a child by narrowing the age difference between the perpetrator and the victim (seven rather then ten years) and adding certain violations; the amended statute requires a consecutive sentence for each conviction if the crimes involved separate victims or the same victim on separate occasions.

Finally, Penal Code, Section 288.7 was added, which imposes a prison sentence of 25 years to life for an adult who engages in sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child who is 10 years of age or younger; the statute imposes a 15-years-to-life sentence for oral copulation or sexual penetration (as defined) with such a child.

Comments:  These new laws appear to be influenced by the MSNBC show, "To Catch A Predator," where child molesters are seen attempting to meet minors over the internet, and subsequently arrested in sting operations. 

Obviously, these new laws will be very helpful to the police and prosecutors in obtaining convictions and keeping child molesters away from children once they are arrested. 

However, none of the above-mentioned laws are proactive in nature.    As we have seen on the "To Catch A Predator" shows, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to catch a child molester.  Law enforcement is capable of capturing child molesters with little effort.  Child molesters are compulsive and leave evidence of their crimes lying around within their homes and workplace.  Indeed, because child molesters are so compulsive they are the easiest types of criminals to catch.  Nevertheless, we are always hearing about cases where a child molester has molested scores of children before getting caught.  

Obviously we are not committing enough money or manpower to go after these criminals before they offend.  What we really need to attack this problem are more sting operations and an army of cops searching the internet for these offenders.  After all, wouldn't our society benefit immensely if there was a significant reduction of child molesters roaming our streets? 

Remember, it is always easy to pass tough new laws that punish perpetrators severely once they have been caught.  But until our legislatures have passed new laws that create special task forces to arrest child molesters before they touch children, we are not seriously addressing this problem.

Written by Donald P. Schweitzer


 

Posted by The Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer at 11:38 AM | | Comments (0)

November 21, 2006

Website For Registered Sex Offenders

Have you ever wondered if someone living in your neighborhood could be a potential threat to your safety or the safety of a family member? To help California citizens locate this very information, Megan's Law was passed on August 24, 2004 and signed by the Governor on September 24, 2004. It required that the California Department of Justice create a website, by July 1, 2005, providing the public with internet access to detailed information on registered sex offenders. The site includes the names, addresses, and pictures of those who have been convicted of specified crimes, as well as their descriptions, criminal history (except unrelated crimes), and other relevant information. It is not required that the victim or the offender's employer be identified. Megan's Law is named after a young girl from New Jersey, Megan Kanka, who, at the age of seven, was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge. In light of the death of their daughter, her family sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area. All states now have some form of Megan's Law. The law is not intended to punish the offender, but rather to protect members of our local communities and their children. To view the website go to: http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/homepage.htm

Written By Maria Schweitzer

Posted by The Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer at 5:52 PM | | Comments (0)

November 8, 2006

Michael Jackson Trial: Day 12 Of The Prosecution Part 3 Of 3

 michael.part3

Criminal defense attorney Don Schweitzer provides legal commentary on the Michael Jackson molestation case involving the cross examination of the alleged victim and the corroboration of the boy's credibility. Part 3 of 3

Click HERE to watch the video.

Posted by The Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer at 2:41 PM | | Comments (0)

Michael Jackson Trial: Day 12 Of The Prosecution Part 2 Of 3

 michael.part2

Criminal defense attorney Don Schweitzer provides legal commentary on the Michael Jackson molestation case involving the cross examination of the alleged victim and the corroboration of the boy's credibility. Part 2 of 3

Click HERE to watch the video.

Posted by The Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer at 2:28 PM | | Comments (0)

Michael Jackson Trial: Day 12 Of The Prosecution Part 1 Of 3

 michael.part1

Criminal defense attorney Don Schweitzer provides legal commentary on the Michael Jackson molestation case involving the cross examination of the alleged victim and the corroboration of the boy's credibility. Part 1 of 3

Click HERE to watch the video.

Posted by The Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer at 2:17 PM | | Comments (0)

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