John at Flagrantdisregard (a wonderful daddy blog I’m suprised I haven’t found before) posts a map of registered sex offenders in Southern California, the density of that map is quite creepy. Then to squick you even further, he posts a map of the registered sex offenders living near Disneyland.
After seeing this I went to the Florida registry and checked out Orlando. Almost a thousand registered sex offenders there, including numerous “Sexual Predators” (the Florida classification for those who prey on those under the age of twelve).
I wonder if Disney takes steps to prevent these people from having access to children in their parks.
I am amazed at the continues lack of rational thought by too many Americans these days, especially with regard tot he hysteria surrounding registered sex offenders “living near you!” Now someone is actually paranoid about those living “near” Disneyland, as though there proximity to the park makes the danger to your child within the park so much greater. Given the price of admission to the park, and that the overwhelming number of kids in there will be with a parent and closely supervised, not to mention the number of staff and cameras, I don’t think any pervert with that much premeditation would choose this as a place to find victims. Indeed, I wonder what the number of actual attacks within the park actually has been since the place opened, and of those, how many were residents of the local neighborhood, and of those, how many were registered sex offenders? If the answer to that question was Zero, would you feel any safer? I would, however I’d still be afraid of a malfunctioning piece of equipment or poorly trained ride operator. I’ll bet more people have been killed or maimed at the park than molested.
Do you people even stop for second of reflection before regurgitating a thought?
I’ll bet that a more frequent crime within the park is thievery – pick pockets, car break-ins, etc. That said, I’d be more interested in knowing who the thieves are that live in nearby and want to know what Mr. Eisner is doing to protect my money. I mean, he has a vested interest in making sure that if my wallet gets lifted, it’s by me when I take it out to pay for a $3 bottle of water, or $10 set of friggen mouse ears.
Let’s be rationale people. If you actually plan your vacations or days off around where the pervs might live, then you have deeper issues.
Comments welcome.
Signed,
A Registered Sex offender Living (Harmlessly) Near You
First of all, I think your comment is unnecessarily antagonistic. I find it hard to fault people for wanting nothing more than the safety of their children. Accussing people of having “issues” for being wary of sex offenders seems rather ridiculous in fact.
Regardless, I do agree that it is not necessary to worry about the safety of your children at Disneyland with regards to the concentration of registered sex offenders in the area. This isn’t due to the fact that Disneyland is in the area, it’s simply the dense population of Los Angeles County. It’s not as if these people moved to the place they did simply to prey on children going to Disneyland. Your children would be safer at Disneyland with the heavy presense of adults, employees and security than they would be on the school playground or at the grocery store. There is no reason to be extra vigilant at Disneyland because of the registered offenders in the area. You could examine maps of registered sex offenders in any major city and it would be the same as the Anaheim area.
It is also important to realize that the majority of child molestation cases happen WITHIN the family/friends circle of the child. It is far more likely that a child’s uncle, babysitter, family friend, etc. will sexually abuse the child than some random stranger on the street. One major issue I believe with the advent of Megan’s Law and the ability to view the locations of sex offenders in the area is that parents let their guard down to predators within their own family or friends.
“Ah, well, I checked the sex offender map and there are none in the area. Everything will be okay.”
For one, these maps only show people caught and convicted of sex crimes. These maps probably represent less than 10% of people that are capable of committing sexual crimes. The map may be a helpful guide if your child is going to visit a friend’s house and the address turns up on the map, also because sex offenders have a notoriously high recidivism rate, but it is not sufficient to let this be a guide to where your children can play or spend time.
Aaaaaanywho, I suppose my main point is that I agree in that you should not be afraid to visit Disneyland or similar places because of those silly sex offender maps, but at the same time people need to continue to keep their eyes open because someone that may abuse your child probably isn’t one of those little blue dots.
Ryan, I appreciate your comments and am sorry that you found my “issues” comment antagonistic – I certainly did not mean it to be. For a moment, consider the person who checks these SOR maps and plans his/her vacations accordingly. This person, in my belief, has deeper issues that should be addressed, such as unwarranted phobias, perhaps brought on by an earlier attack by a sex offender. The person who checks an SOR site before taking their child to a particular park is one thing, but to Disneyland? They lack the rational thought you demonstrated and harbor irrational fears – just because they (sex offenders) live in the area, does not mean they can sneak in the park’s backdoor to go on the prowl.
You are absolutely right about the vast majority of offenders being family, friends, etc. and people should not let their guards down because they know where the convicted offenders are. If I am blessed enough to have children, I will probably be more protective than most parents knowing what I know and having been where I have been. My case, by the way, did not involve a child.
My frustration and anger comes from the fact that I had a one time offense, served my time and have been free and productive for over 10 years. Now these web sites are, for lack of a better term, royally screwing me over. While I would never deprive anyone of the ability to protect themselves, I believe that the blanket posting of all offenders, past and present, is overly harsh and needlessly punishes those who have done their time and proven themselves rehabilitated.
PS – Disneyland is in Anaheim which is in Orange County, not LA.
I note your concerns and I am sensitive to your situation. But I feel that there is a lack of rehabilitation available–how does prison time change a person from one who can commit a sexual offense into someone with a changed outlook who will not again? I mean, due to the abnormally high recidivism rate for this particular kind of crime, I agree with posting the maps, but would also wisely warn parents–all parents, including those who have not been perfect themselves–to keep a watchful eye for those events not predictable by the use of a map, e.g., most events.
To sum up, I think people should be rehabilitated, not just mapped out.
Indeed, there is a lack of rehabilitation available in the US and California in particular. Around my 6th year of incarceration I was offered a chance to participate in a program for sex offenders at a state hospital. Given that I was a semester away from completing my BA through a great program at my then current location, I declined the offer. The decision proved a good one as the degree has helped me achieve a great career on the outside, not to mention the fact that I know in my heart of hearts I would not become a habitual sex offender.
As for what you describe as an abnormally high recidivism rate for sex offenders, I would ask that you cite your source for this information. The numbers vary from study to study, of course, but I have yet to see anything current indicating higher re-offense rates foro sex crimes.
The most recent studies I have seen indicate the sex offenders actually have a much lower recidivism rate than other criminals. It is tricky data to actually gather and parse, but I included a couple of links below for you to peruse.
You know, the whole time I was in prison I kept hearing that sex offenders had the highest recidism rate, information that strenghtened my resolve to be a success. I am so happy to now know that the opposite is in fact the reality.
http://www.csom.org/pubs/mythsfacts.html
http://www.sexoffender.com/sorecidivism_review.html
As far as rehab goes for sex offenders, they can’t, they don’t know how to not from a psychological stand point anyway. So what do they do when they can’t court order you into a rehab cendter like they do drug addicts and alcoholics? They set you free on society and do their best to keep an eye on you to make sure that you don’t reoffend. If you do then you are put in prison for longer, and more restrictions when you are set free.
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