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Tragically, there is little we can do to help the innocent children who already have been victimized in this horrible, horrible way, but, we can-and we must-do everything possible to prevent that horror from happening to other children. Pennsylvania s governor, Tom Ridge, said this while talking about the horrible crimes of child molestation. There have been many cases in this country of these types of crimes, and unfortunately, no one had made any effort to make laws to help protect our children from the pedophiles, or child molesters, in this world until it was too late for some. Megan s Law is an effective way to help protect our children, and this law and others likes it need to be used throughout the country to get the full benefit. Jesse Timmendequas had been convicted of two other sex offenses toward a child, once in 1979, and again in 1981, both times for assaulting a female child less than seven years of age. After his second conviction, Timmendequas was sentenced to six years in the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Angel, New Jersey.
After he was released from Angel, he and to other convicted pedophiles moved into a house across the street from the Kanka's in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. Megan Kanka was seven years old when Timmendequas and his two roommates moved in across the street. Her family had no knowledge of their new neighbors past sexual convictions, at least not until it was too late. Megan saw Timmendequas outside playing with his new puppy one day not too long after Jesse and his roommates had moved in.
Timmendequas used his puppy to lure Megan into his home where he then started to molest her. Megan started to scream and tried to fight back, but Timmendequas wrapped a belt around her neck and strangled her to death. Jesse Timmendequas defense lawyers tried to lessen his crimes by saying that Timmendequas had lived through a very difficult childhood because his father was very abusive and had caused him to become mentally ill. His lawyers said that because of his father, Timmendequas now suffered from a mental illness called pedophilia, and that he had not meant to kill Megan but only meant to quiet her when she started to scream and did not have the mental capacity to stop himself from strangling her to death. Pedophilia is a psychosexual disorder essentially characterized by the act or the fantasy of engaging in sexual activity with pre pubertal children as a repeatedly preferred of exclusive method of achieving sexual excitement.
The defense even had a videotape to show the jury of Paul Timmendequas, Jesse s brother, testifying that their father had raped and molested Jesse at least three times a week throughout their entire childhood. The prosecution had contradicting documented interviews with Paul admitting that he lied about the boys father, and that he had made up everything about their father molesting and raping Jesse. Prosecutor Kathryn Flicker said in her closing statement the magnitude of Timmendequas crime outweighed any abuse he might have endured. The jury agreed with that statement because Timmendequas was found guilty of all charges brought against him. The jury decided that while he had probably been abused both sexually and physically as a child, it did not account for his raping and murdering Megan Kanka. On May 30, 1997, Jesse Timmendequas was convicted of intentional murder, rape, solely, kidnapping, and felony murder.
On June 20, 1997, Judge Andrew J. Smithson ordered that Timmendequas was to be put to death on August 1, 1997 because there were two aggravating circumstances that were enough for the death penalty. These two circumstances were that he killed Megan Kanka to eliminate a witness, and also that he did so while committing another felony. This crime, and others like it throughout the country, got sex offender notification laws put into effect. These laws are commonly called Megan s Law, in respect to the death Megan Kanka. Megan s Law says that convicted sex offenders have to register with local law enforcement agencies, and then these agencies release relevant information to the right places, and whenever necessary, to the public.
The purpose of these laws is to help protect communities by providing information about convicted sex offenders. With this information cities and towns can take steps to prevent further harm from taking place. In 1994 the anticrime law required that all states police departments register and track convicted sex offenders, and that the law enforcement agencies notify the each other when an offender moves from one community to the next. This anticrime law allows, but does not require, that law enforcement officials notify the public of high-risk offenders. All states needed to have set up some form of notification laws by September 1997, or the state would lose some of its federal anticrime funds. In 1996, most states had laws about registering or tracking released sex offenders, but only 15 of these states require public notification of the location of these offenders.
States now have to classify pedophiles on how likely they are to repeat the crimes they have previously committed and how dangerous they are to the community, not just on how severe their original crime was. County prosecutors evaluate the offender to determine his risk level and how dangerous he could be. Some of the things that help the prosecutors determine the risk level are the status of his therapy or counseling, criminal background, degree of remorse for his criminal acts, substance abuse, employment or schooling status, psychological or psychiatric profile, and history of threats or of stalking places where children are. States now have to provide relevant information to the community, depending on the offender s risk level, or tier level. States classify pedophiles in a tier system, which has three classifications. A tier three, or high risk offender, means that law enforcement officials have to notify all the neighbors of the convicted sex offender moving into their neighborhood, as well as community organizations that have to do with children.
A tier two, moderate risk offender, means that the law enforcement officials have to notify registered community organizations that involve children or victims of sexual abuse, schools, day care centers, and summer camps. A tier one, low risk offender, registers with local law enforcement agencies, but the public is never notified of their previous convictions. There are some variations from state to state in their notification laws. For example, some states notify the public by having the local police hand out handbills with all the information needed on them; other states have a CD ROM disc it all the relevant information that anyone who wants to can come look at it, but it is up to the public to come see it. States also have different versions of Megan s Law. In Pennsylvania a repeat child molester will be sentenced to life in jail.
Defendants also have to prove they aren t sexually violent predators before they are released. Their law not only requires offenders convicted of sex crimes against children, but offenders convicted of sex crimes against anyone to register with local police agencies. In California, if a law enforcement official thinks that a child is in danger, then he can release the needed information to the school district in which the child attends. Also, information is released whenever needed about the pedophiles, but there will never be any information about the pedophile s victims released. It is good that states have some form of notification laws, but every state needs to have the same law for everyone to really be protected. There are many different offenses that would require registration.
These offenses would be aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child by engaging in sexual conduct which would impair the morals of the child, luring and enticing and kidnapping a child, criminal restraint, and false imprisonment. Any one who is on parole for a sex crime, or has ever been convicted of a sex crime, has to register no matter when their crimes are committed. Some pedophiles have to register every year, while others have to register every 90 days. The State Departments of Corrections and Human Services notify the county prosecutors of a soon to be released sex offender, who then has to determine the offender s tier level and the risk of the offender repeating his crime. The offender can challenge his tier ranking to a judge if he thinks that it is unfair. After the judge issues his order, the county prosecutor informs the local law enforcement in the area that the offender is to live.
Local law enforcement officials can then personally notify everyone in the community that needs to be notified depending on the offender s ranking. In all three levels, a description, picture, address, place of employment or school, description of their car and license number, and a brief description of their offense about the offender is given out whenever needed. Some communities have a CD that has all the relevant information about the convicted offenders that is available to anyone in the community that would like to view it. Information that is included on the CD ROMs is a color photograph, birth date, a physical description, and the charges that the particular person was convicted of. There are no addresses, but their zip codes are included.
If someone is notified about a convicted pedophile that is moving into their neighborhood, they should take that opportunity to teach children about strangers, and the dangers of talking or going with them. One should also check with the local schools and day cares to see if the proper precautions are being taken. School districts are not required by law to notify parents or the community about offenders in the area when they are informed. Schools have to decide whether or not to inform the students and parents within their school. According to the Libertarian Party, one half of child molesters have a close relationship with their victims.
One third of them are even the children s parents or relatives. Only 20 percent are complete strangers to the children they abuse. Some think that Megan s Law and other notification laws give parents a false sense of security because these laws cause them to stop looking for child abuse by people who are close to their children. There are people that think that Megan s Law and other public notification laws are unconstitutional. Some say that they violate the constitution because everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and once someone commits a crime of sexual nature he is thought to be guilty for the rest of his life. Judge Shad Connelly, a federal judge in Pennsylvania that ruled Megan s Law unconstitutional, said, The law wrongly assumes that a repeat offender is a sexual violent predator Judge Connelly ruled that Pennsylvania s version of Megan s Law was unconstitutional based on this reason.
The Libertarian Party believes that Megan s Law punishes people twice for the same crime, making it double jeopardy. They, along with other opponents of this law, think that the law forces a second punishment on the offenders who have already served their time for the crimes that they have committed. By making released offenders register with law enforcement agencies, the law promotes harassment and vigilantism from the community that the offenders live in. Steve Dasbauch, the Libertarian Party chairman said: In other words, child molesters get to spend three or four extra years roaming your neighborhood instead of serving out their full jail terms. Forget Megan s Law: Wouldn t Americans feel safer if these criminals were behind bars, instead of living next door? Many registered offenders have been victims of vigilantism and other acts of violence done by the people in their own communities who are trying to get revenge against them.
Vigilantism is crimes like vandalism of property, verbal or written threats of harm, or physical violence against the offender, his family, or his employer. Some people think either the pedophiles are dangerous criminals and should be put in jail for the rest of their lives, or they are not dangerous after they are released from prison, in which case they should be given back their full civil rights. They should not have to go through the rest of their lives having to register every time they want to move. Megan s Law and other notification laws have had a few difficulties in some federal courts. Some courts have withheld certain people from having to register with local police departments. Other courts have ruled that the registration is a second punishment, which makes it very unconstitutional.
Yet other courts still have ruled that these laws are unconstitutional because they require released sex offenders to register even if they were convicted and served their sentence before the law went into effect. A judge in Philadelphia banned all notification to communities in 1996. What his ruling meant was that convicted sex offenders still had to register with local police departments, but the police departments could not release any information to the public, no matter how much the offender was said to be a risk to the community. There were a few problems with Megan s Law when it first was established, but some amendments have been made. For example, one amendment that has been made is that if someone is convicted for a second time of a serious offense against a woman or a child, they can be sentenced to life is prison. There has also been an increased sentence for people who are convicted of violent crimes against a minor, a senior citizen, or someone ho is mentally or physically disabled.
An amendment that should be made to help cut-down on acts of violence committed against the offenders is to add something about consequences for people who try to get their own revenge on the offenders in their communities. These laws also need to be the same throughout the country, or not everyone will get protected that needs to be. Other courts have ruled in favor of Megan s Law. The New Jersey State Supreme Court ruled that Megan s Law and other notification laws were constitutional as long as the offenders had a chance to question their classification ranking before it was released to the law enforcement agencies. The U. S. 3 rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ruled that Megan s Law was constitutional because informing neighbors of a convicted sex offender that has moved into their neighborhood does not constitute as a punishment, therefore these laws are not punishing people twice for the same crime.
A national bill based on Megan s Law was enacted in Congress on May 17, 1997. The House of Representatives passed this bill with a vote of 418 - 0 on May 7, 1997. Then the bill was passed in the Senate by a voice vote on May 9, 1997. President Bill Clinton signed the bill into the legislature in a White House Ceremony on May 7, 1997. Megan Kanka s parents, along with other child molestation victims families, attended the ceremony when the President signed the bill.
This bill requires state officials to notify the public and public organizations of a convicted sex offender that lives in the area. Representative Dick Zimmer, of New Jersey, said that they were now putting the rights of children and their families above the rights of convicted sex offenders. Supporters of Megan s Law say that to help protect the communities and their children. Communities have descriptions and addresses of all the tier three, or high risk, offenders that live in their area, that way they can protect their children better. It is thought that if a community has knowledge about the sexual offenders in their towns, then they will be able to protect not only the children, but themselves also. Governor Tom Ridge, of Harrisburg Pennsylvania, said that Megan s Law balances the need to protect our children with the civil rights of others.
Megan s Law and other public notification laws have been ruled constitutional in many federal courts because they say these laws are not a second punishment for the same crime. If every state had the same version of Megan s Law that they enforced, the country s children would have a better chance to be protected, and pedophiles would be stopped from hurting more innocent children. Megan s Law and other notification laws are a very good way to keep children safe and protected from convicted sex offenders. These laws have been proven in court to be constitutional, even Congress has passed a bill based on Megan s Law. These types of laws have the potential to be very effective, but for that to happen, every state has to use and enforce the same laws. Maureen Kanka, Megan s mother, once said, We need uniformity across this country to successfully protect our children from pedophiles.
Maybe if someone had put some form of notification laws into effect earlier, Megan Kanka would be alive today. Endnotes
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