7269 - 1,800 sex offenders missing
Mar. 29th, 2005 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottobearThe kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford has raised new concerns over how to track the more than 30,000 registered sex offenders and predators living in Florida.
One month before a registered sexual offender allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, Florida law enforcement agencies had lost track of at least 1,800 other sexual offenders statewide, according to a review of Florida's Sexual Offender/Predator Registry.
John Evander Couey, the man who would confess to killing Jessica, was not even listed as one of them because no one knew he wasn't living at his reported address and was staying near the Lunsfords.
The fact that Couey wasn't marked as missing raises questions not only about how aggressively the state tracks offenders known to be on the lam, but how many others have absconded and aren't noticed at all.
Couey was supposed to be living more than five miles from the Lunsford residence in Homosassa. Officials at the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said they discovered he was staying less than a block from the Lunsford's in his half-sister's mobile home -- only after they began interviewing sex offenders as part of their investigation into Jessica's disappearance.
Police found Jessica's body buried nearby after a three-week search.
''We can't do anything about Jessie's death now, but in the future we have to figure out a better way of knowing where these guys are,'' said Archie Lunsford, Jessica's grandfather.
The Herald obtained a copy of the sexual offender database in January and found 800 of those who were missing had committed lewd or lascivious acts against children while another 130 had been sentenced for sexual battery against minors under 16. Nearly all the remaining 870 committed sexual crimes against adults or teenagers over the age of 16.
Among those who fled: George Gonel, 46, a Broward County man who in 1991 was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts and sexual battery against a child. Also missing: Frederick Campbell, 45, of Miami-Dade County, who was sentenced in 1996 to 10 years supervision after attempting to sexually batter a minor. He absconded two years later and has yet to be found.
Mary Coffee, the supervisor of FDLE's Sexual Offender/Predator Unit, which maintains the registry, said the database is supposed to be a tool to alert residents of potentially dangerous people living in their neighborhoods and to assist law enforcement agencies with criminal investigations.
''It is absolutely a partnership between the state, the community and local law enforcement agencies,'' Coffee said. ``The registry is not something that is going to eliminate all sex offenses.''
But breakdowns in the system conjure up memories of other heinous crimes committed by sexual offenders who were supposed to be closely monitored.
Howard Steven Ault was a registered sexual offender on probation when the father of an 11-year-old girl in Lauderdale Lakes reported Ault tried to sexually assault her on New Year's Eve, 1995.
He wasn't arrested in that case until November 1996 -- and only after police brought him in to answer questions in yet another case: two missing sisters, age 7 and 11.
While in custody, he confessed to strangling the two sisters and hiding their bodies in the attic of his Fort Lauderdale apartment. Ault, 38, has been on Florida's Death Row since 2000.
The Herald spot-checked addresses given by more than a dozen registered sexual offenders in Miami-Dade County and found much of the information was accurate. But not all of it.
BAD ADDRESS
For example, José Lohuis, 40, of Miami, sentenced to five years in 1993 for sexual battery on a minor, kidnapping and robbery, is supposed to be living at 1780 SW Fifth St. -- an address he gave in March 2001.
But residents at the duplex said they've never heard of Lohuis.
According to the registry, a block away from Lohuis should be the home of another sexual offender, Pedro Gonzalez, 64. He is listed as living at 1834 SW Fifth St. But the address does not exist.
Most of the 15 addresses checked by The Herald were accurate, however. Angel Luis Pabon, 23, shares a small cottage behind a home in Little Havana with his family.
Pabon said his neighbors know of his criminal record. He was convicted of sexual battery on a victim under 10 and is on probation until 2014.
''My neighbors know I'm on probation. But finding work is hard,'' said the unemployed Pabon, who lives at 1537 SW 10th St.
Couey had a long criminal record that spanned nearly three decades. He has been arrested 26 times, including once in 1991 for exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl.
On Dec. 2, nearly three months before Jessica was abducted, a Citrus County judge issued a warrant for Couey's arrest because he failed to report to his probation officer.
NO ONE LOOKED
The officer sent a letter to the same address listed in the state's sexual offender database asking Couey to report for probation. He never responded. But when the judge issued the warrant, no one went looking for Couey -- or informed FDLE that a child sexual offender had absconded.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said the warrant was one of hundreds they have to work through every day.
In the aftermath of outrage over the state's failure to track Couey's movements, victims' rights advocates and state lawmakers are calling for changes to the way the state tracks sexual offenders.
''We've been pushing for lifetime supervision for these guys,'' said Laura Ahearn, director of Parents for Megan's Law, a national victims' rights organization focused on child sexual abuse. ``That way these people are monitored, and we'll know if something is wrong or if they aren't where they say they are.''
Under that scenario, most sexual offenders would have to report to a probation officer for the rest of their lives.
Rep. Charles Dean, a Citrus County Republican, plans to introduce legislation in the House that would require sexual offenders to wear a tracking device like an ankle bracelet.
''There is a loophole, a breakdown in the system,'' said Dean, who was the sheriff of Citrus County for 16 years. ``We must know where these people are and make sure that we enhance our ability to track them and be accountable for them once they are convicted of a sex crime.''
As the first state to post information and photographs of sex offenders on the Internet, Florida is considered a national model for its registry. Maintained by FDLE, the database contains more than 30,000 sexual offenders and predators.
But a database is only as good as the information in it. Even if the Lunsfords had checked it in the weeks before Jessica's disappearance, they wouldn't have known Couey was in the neighborhood. As far as law enforcement officials were concerned, he lived across town.
Because FDLE checks the whereabouts of sexual offenders only once a year, months could go by before the state discovers offenders like Couey -- who last verified his address on July 7, 2004 -- have skipped out.
WHO FLED
Sexual predators, who are violent or repeat offenders, are checked four times a year, while offenders on probation are supposed to be monitored by the Florida Department of Corrections. Still, 800 of the absconders in The Herald's review were on probation when they fled.
When FDLE discovers an offender has gone missing, they are supposed to contact local law enforcement agencies, which are responsible for chasing down absconders. Those who fail to register or remain at their registered address commit a third-degree felony.
But the sheer number of people in the registry can make that task daunting. In 1997, the year the Florida Legislature passed the Public Safety Information Act, which expanded the use of the registry and made it available online, there were fewer than 10,000 offenders on the list. Since then, the number has tripled.
Because most sexual offenders stay on the list for life, the registry will only continue to grow.
''The common denominator in all of these cases is you have a system with huge holes in it,'' said Attorney General Charlie Crist, who is helping push legislation that will give judges the power to re-incarcerate violent offenders who repeatedly violate probation. ``It seems to me one of the obvious solutions is to re-incarcerate these people.''
from here -
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/11254114.htm
One month before a registered sexual offender allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, Florida law enforcement agencies had lost track of at least 1,800 other sexual offenders statewide, according to a review of Florida's Sexual Offender/Predator Registry.
John Evander Couey, the man who would confess to killing Jessica, was not even listed as one of them because no one knew he wasn't living at his reported address and was staying near the Lunsfords.
The fact that Couey wasn't marked as missing raises questions not only about how aggressively the state tracks offenders known to be on the lam, but how many others have absconded and aren't noticed at all.
Couey was supposed to be living more than five miles from the Lunsford residence in Homosassa. Officials at the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said they discovered he was staying less than a block from the Lunsford's in his half-sister's mobile home -- only after they began interviewing sex offenders as part of their investigation into Jessica's disappearance.
Police found Jessica's body buried nearby after a three-week search.
''We can't do anything about Jessie's death now, but in the future we have to figure out a better way of knowing where these guys are,'' said Archie Lunsford, Jessica's grandfather.
The Herald obtained a copy of the sexual offender database in January and found 800 of those who were missing had committed lewd or lascivious acts against children while another 130 had been sentenced for sexual battery against minors under 16. Nearly all the remaining 870 committed sexual crimes against adults or teenagers over the age of 16.
Among those who fled: George Gonel, 46, a Broward County man who in 1991 was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts and sexual battery against a child. Also missing: Frederick Campbell, 45, of Miami-Dade County, who was sentenced in 1996 to 10 years supervision after attempting to sexually batter a minor. He absconded two years later and has yet to be found.
Mary Coffee, the supervisor of FDLE's Sexual Offender/Predator Unit, which maintains the registry, said the database is supposed to be a tool to alert residents of potentially dangerous people living in their neighborhoods and to assist law enforcement agencies with criminal investigations.
''It is absolutely a partnership between the state, the community and local law enforcement agencies,'' Coffee said. ``The registry is not something that is going to eliminate all sex offenses.''
But breakdowns in the system conjure up memories of other heinous crimes committed by sexual offenders who were supposed to be closely monitored.
Howard Steven Ault was a registered sexual offender on probation when the father of an 11-year-old girl in Lauderdale Lakes reported Ault tried to sexually assault her on New Year's Eve, 1995.
He wasn't arrested in that case until November 1996 -- and only after police brought him in to answer questions in yet another case: two missing sisters, age 7 and 11.
While in custody, he confessed to strangling the two sisters and hiding their bodies in the attic of his Fort Lauderdale apartment. Ault, 38, has been on Florida's Death Row since 2000.
The Herald spot-checked addresses given by more than a dozen registered sexual offenders in Miami-Dade County and found much of the information was accurate. But not all of it.
BAD ADDRESS
For example, José Lohuis, 40, of Miami, sentenced to five years in 1993 for sexual battery on a minor, kidnapping and robbery, is supposed to be living at 1780 SW Fifth St. -- an address he gave in March 2001.
But residents at the duplex said they've never heard of Lohuis.
According to the registry, a block away from Lohuis should be the home of another sexual offender, Pedro Gonzalez, 64. He is listed as living at 1834 SW Fifth St. But the address does not exist.
Most of the 15 addresses checked by The Herald were accurate, however. Angel Luis Pabon, 23, shares a small cottage behind a home in Little Havana with his family.
Pabon said his neighbors know of his criminal record. He was convicted of sexual battery on a victim under 10 and is on probation until 2014.
''My neighbors know I'm on probation. But finding work is hard,'' said the unemployed Pabon, who lives at 1537 SW 10th St.
Couey had a long criminal record that spanned nearly three decades. He has been arrested 26 times, including once in 1991 for exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl.
On Dec. 2, nearly three months before Jessica was abducted, a Citrus County judge issued a warrant for Couey's arrest because he failed to report to his probation officer.
NO ONE LOOKED
The officer sent a letter to the same address listed in the state's sexual offender database asking Couey to report for probation. He never responded. But when the judge issued the warrant, no one went looking for Couey -- or informed FDLE that a child sexual offender had absconded.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said the warrant was one of hundreds they have to work through every day.
In the aftermath of outrage over the state's failure to track Couey's movements, victims' rights advocates and state lawmakers are calling for changes to the way the state tracks sexual offenders.
''We've been pushing for lifetime supervision for these guys,'' said Laura Ahearn, director of Parents for Megan's Law, a national victims' rights organization focused on child sexual abuse. ``That way these people are monitored, and we'll know if something is wrong or if they aren't where they say they are.''
Under that scenario, most sexual offenders would have to report to a probation officer for the rest of their lives.
Rep. Charles Dean, a Citrus County Republican, plans to introduce legislation in the House that would require sexual offenders to wear a tracking device like an ankle bracelet.
''There is a loophole, a breakdown in the system,'' said Dean, who was the sheriff of Citrus County for 16 years. ``We must know where these people are and make sure that we enhance our ability to track them and be accountable for them once they are convicted of a sex crime.''
As the first state to post information and photographs of sex offenders on the Internet, Florida is considered a national model for its registry. Maintained by FDLE, the database contains more than 30,000 sexual offenders and predators.
But a database is only as good as the information in it. Even if the Lunsfords had checked it in the weeks before Jessica's disappearance, they wouldn't have known Couey was in the neighborhood. As far as law enforcement officials were concerned, he lived across town.
Because FDLE checks the whereabouts of sexual offenders only once a year, months could go by before the state discovers offenders like Couey -- who last verified his address on July 7, 2004 -- have skipped out.
WHO FLED
Sexual predators, who are violent or repeat offenders, are checked four times a year, while offenders on probation are supposed to be monitored by the Florida Department of Corrections. Still, 800 of the absconders in The Herald's review were on probation when they fled.
When FDLE discovers an offender has gone missing, they are supposed to contact local law enforcement agencies, which are responsible for chasing down absconders. Those who fail to register or remain at their registered address commit a third-degree felony.
But the sheer number of people in the registry can make that task daunting. In 1997, the year the Florida Legislature passed the Public Safety Information Act, which expanded the use of the registry and made it available online, there were fewer than 10,000 offenders on the list. Since then, the number has tripled.
Because most sexual offenders stay on the list for life, the registry will only continue to grow.
''The common denominator in all of these cases is you have a system with huge holes in it,'' said Attorney General Charlie Crist, who is helping push legislation that will give judges the power to re-incarcerate violent offenders who repeatedly violate probation. ``It seems to me one of the obvious solutions is to re-incarcerate these people.''
from here -
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/11254114.htm
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 04:30 pm (UTC)****30,000*** in Florida alone!!
I keep meaning to write a post about why sexual freaking preds is such a big deal to me. One of the the biggest things that angers me, is how many parents I have told they need to WATCH their children & WHY..and they're surprised. Hello? 30,000 freaks in Florida *alone* that I would like to punch out.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 04:34 pm (UTC)I'm just glad that florida lets you look people up and check things out at will... New York, a Hive of Sexual predators if there ever was one *CHARGES* to research your area, and then, you have to have the name of the person... you can't just put in your zip code.
Since there's no cure for Sex Preds, they have to be monitored, and *cannot* be allowed anonymity.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 04:36 pm (UTC)has a good map search of the texas area.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 04:43 pm (UTC)Do you have any idea of why there are so many in New York??
Really? Is there truly now cure/rehab for them? I've heard people complain about how it's so horrible that we let people sit in jail for life, instead of rehabilitating. I'm not seeing how it could be proven that someone has been successfully rehabilitated. Looks like he/she has been..they say they are fine after rehabilitation...but then they quietly raping or molesting someone, who doesn't ever come forward.
Geez..if there are that many in Florida, I wonder how many are in Gigantimo Texas.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 06:06 pm (UTC)some good resources here, too
http://www.sexualpredators.com/Folder%20of%20States/Texas/index.html
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 06:13 pm (UTC)predator and offenders vary in definition by state. preds in florida are designated as such by particularly heinous crimes... child pornography, rape of children under the age of 12, multiple offenses.
Offenders can fall into a more lightweight catagory like indecent exposure or solicitation of a prostitute.
a judge usually will make a call on if the guy is a real danger to society or if he's just a perv.
There is no known cure for pedophiles.. at least not in the USA where "cruel and unusual" punishment is concerned. we don't have a massive form of social reprogramming available.
You really can't change a pedophile any more than you can make a truly gay man straight or a truly straight man gay. it's a question of stimuli.
I especially like curvy women between the ages of 25 and 40. nothing will really change my tastes... a pedophile might like little boys aged 3-6.... and he would probably think my interests are as distasteful as I find his.
This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-29 08:42 pm (UTC)Bruce and I don’t let Hannah walk by herself in a store. She has to hold our hand if we let her walk. Otherwise she is in the cart where we have at least one hand on it at all times. I see parents let their kids walk almost a whole row behind them, or the kid is in a cart but the parent is no where to be seen. I have also seen a little two year old in the middle of a busy row and you know that there parents are not anywhere in sight because just 5 minutes ago they were being carried by someone calling them mom and that mom is no where in sight. I have even sat and watched to make sure nothing happens to the child and waited five min. (I timed it) before the mom came in sight from a row that there was no way that she could have seen the child. And acted as if there was nothing wrong. They would just go on their way. This is how kids get stolen from stores all of the time.
Bruce and I have talked about it several times Hannah is a very cute little girl, and we need to be careful and watch her. We don’t want anything to happen to her.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 01:50 am (UTC)Re: This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-30 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 04:24 am (UTC)Re: This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-30 07:20 am (UTC)I tell people because it just kills me this stuff continues to happen on a large basis...and I always *hope* it will help someone with their child. Luckily you're already being vigilant in stores with her. Most parents I talk to don't believe it happens. I'm not kidding. Many of them also say "My kid would tell me if something happened." - or they worry for a bit, but forget again the next time we're in a store together and I see their kid walk off constantly again - while they focus on what they're shopping for.
I had two toy department situations happen to me when I was a kid. As well as other situations, even in my teens.
- Age 6 - One got his hands in my pants by telling me he was store security & that he needed to make sure I wasn't stealing toys. He said not to tell my mom, because he would see me if I did. I didn't tell her.
- Age 11 - Again in a toy department. Saw a guy watching me, & I was afraid he was store security, and worried that he thought I was stealing. Gee - wonder why. He knocked me to my knees in the middle of the toy aisle, told me to suck something (ick..just writing that), but I got away after pushing and hitting him. I did tell my mom about that one.
- Toddler age - My uncle babysat me and had me do something to him. I didn't tell my mom, probably because I was a toddler. Make no mistake about the age, though...I remember every bit of it.
The other 3 situations, luckily didn't have physical contact, but they sure tried.
- Age 13 - In church when I walked alone to the restroom while my mom was listening to the service.
- Age 13 - My mom had me walk my paper-route alone one day, because she was busy. Usually she did go with me. She said it would be safe this once because it was just our street & the next street over. Within minutes of leaving the house, it was suddenly no longer safe.
- Age 18 - Walking along a busy street, in broad daylight on my way to college classes. It occured to me to say no, and keep walking..but it didn't occur to me to run.
- Age 18 - Fight with the boyfriend who demanded that I find my own way home at night. I had no quarter to use the pay-phone {*despite* my mom telling me to make sure I had a quarter for years}, there weren't any pay-phones around for that matter - and & no stores to ask for a free phone call. When something did happen, I banged on a door and asked them to call 911. The house occupants were scared of ME - refused to answer the door. When the guy took off, I continued walking home alone, because I had no choice.
For whatever reason, I was a magnet for this stuff, despite others telling me they wandered off as a kid, too.
Re: This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-30 01:16 pm (UTC)You'd think i today's world of hidden cameras and recording that prredators would have a tougher time of things, but it seems that they've worked around the system.
Being a boy, I haven't had to deal with that situation nearly as much as girls do, and it upsets me greatly that there's a hidden undercurrent of dangerous, uncurable, broken people out there to hurt (primarily) women and children.
Re: This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-30 03:34 pm (UTC)Growing up I knew more then my share of friends who had been raped, either by family members, strangers, or date rape. I grew up in a small town and it happened there just like in bigger towns. Nowhere is safe.
I had a friend growing up who was molested by her grandfather. Her mother was adopted and he molested her when she was too. I can’t believe she would take her three daughters back into that house.
Going to camp in high school (a Christian camp) I knew three girls who had been raped and I had a counselor who had been raped.
Before I went to college I went to Minnesota with a friend of mine. We went up to visit some guys we met the summer before. They had a party and one of the guys at the party put something in my drink. We know he did, I wasn’t just drunk because. He made my friend and mines drink. Christina never could drink as much as me. We made our first drink and he made our second. I started feeling weird but didn’t think much about it at the time. The guy found out that I love to play darts and told me he live just a couple blocks away and he had a dart board. (Our friends said it would be safe we could trust him) The whole walk there I was getting dizzy and every thing was getting blurry. When we got to his house I could barely hit the board or stand up for that matter. The next thing I remember is waking up on a bed and he was just getting off. Well I helped him get off me. I ran out and tired to make my way back to my friend’s house. I had the hardest time trying to get back to the house. Everything was still very fuzzy and moved around a lot. My friend Christina had two more drinks that night and was fine. But I couldn’t see straight. To make matters worse when I got back to the house the doors were locked and I had to sleep on a couch that was on the front porch. I was cold and scarred. It took me almost three years before I told my friend what happened that night.
In college I heard of a lot of girls being raped. There was two rapist on campus during the two and half years I lives there. For six months I lived in a target area. My roommate stayed at her boyfriend’s apartment. My house was not exactly the safest house around, It would have been so easy to brake in. To this day I think that my saving grace was my roommates dog. He stayed in my room at night. One of my best friends was rape in college too. I met her a year after it happened.
I have seen more then anyone should. I don’t know how you feel about all the terrible things that happened to you. I just know I don’t want it happening to my daughter, any of my seven nieces or any one else for that matter. It makes me sick to know that there are so many sick people out there. And scarred for the kids and adults who are affected by such a sick and terrible evil.
Hi
Date: 2005-03-30 03:49 pm (UTC)Re: This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-30 04:45 pm (UTC)Some have told me by the time their parents felt someone could prey on them because they were maturing, someone had already preyed on them at an earlier age. Sometimes, it was other family members & not always an adult family member.
Yeah..I think there is a displacement of crime with cameras. But better than nothing to me. Though here, I blame it on not having enough of them, & people knowing that. I would be happy with the mass scale of surveillance cameras they have in Monaco. Privacy means literally zero to me compared to the fear of being hurt in some way. I'm sure it stems from what's happened repeatedly...and not everyone could understand that.
Pick pockets still work right underneath Vegas Casino cameras. But security on top of a guy within 30 seconds of putting his hand in James' pocket pretty much rocked! I know cops can't make it that fast to all corners of a normal city, though...
The Vegas *strip* (not the city itself), is the one and only place that I feel about 95% free from fear, thanks to the cameras. I literally feel like strutting when I'm there. :0)
Re: This subject scares me
Date: 2005-03-30 05:58 pm (UTC)Rock on Pickpocket cops!Leave it to the big criminals to know how to round up the little fishies.
cameras
Date: 2005-03-30 11:12 pm (UTC)