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SEXUAL PREDATOR LABEL COULD BE PLACED
ON TEENS AS YOUNG AS 14
Article ID. 0111180139
Published on November 18, 2001 - The Blade (Toledo, OH)
Teenagers as young as 14 could be labeled sexual predators next year when changes in Ohio’s version of Megan’s Law go into effect.
Beginning Jan. 1, sex offender labels reserved for adults will be extended to 16 and 17 year-olds who rape or commit other sex-related crimes involving children. The law gives judges discretion on whether to require the labels for 14 and 15 year-olds who are first-time sex offenders. The labeling of teenage sex offenders stems from a state Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Jay Hottinger (R. Newark). The bill was signed into law last month by Gov. Bob Taft.
The law puts youngsters who commit adult-like crimes on the same level as adults in attempting to stop them from committing future crimes, said Susan Wittstock, a spokeswoman for Senator Hottinger.
Ohio is among 28 states that have enacted similar legislation.
“It is a matter of community safety. If you have a juvenile who rapes another juvenile living next to you, you want to protect your daughter or son from that,” Ms. Wittstock said.
Adults convicted of sex offenses have been required since 1979 to register with the sheriff. Currently, the addresses of only the worst offenders, those labeled as predators and habitual sex offenders, are sent to victims, neighbors, local police, school superintendents, and day-care administrators.
Offenders labeled sexual predators are required to register for life. Habitual sexual offenders must register with authorities for 20 years.
Sex offenders who are classified as being sexually oriented have to register for 10 years. Information about their addresses is kept confidential and not distributed to community members.
However, the new law will require that all adult sex offenders convicted after Jan. 1 will be treated the same in regard to distribution of addresses. The addresses of juveniles will not be made available to the public.
The movement to register sex offenders began in 1994, when Congress passed a law named after Jacob Wetterling, a Minnesota boy abducted in 1989 by a masked man. The law required states to set up offender registration laws or lose federal grants.
Ohio’s law is modeled after a law in New Jersey called Megan’s Law, named after 7-year old Megan Kanka, who was reaped and murdered by a previously convicted sex offender and neighbor.
Some states and sheriff’s departments in Ohio post the names and addresses of sex offenders on the web sites. An amendment written into the new Ohio law restricts putting information about juvenile sex offenders on the Internet.
Lorin Zaner, a Toledo defense attorney, said labeling juveniles has the potential of branding youths for life for a problem for which they could be treated successfully and rehabilitated.
“I think the law is outrageous. You are putting kids in a position that is the same as adults. The whole propose of the juvenile court system, which doesn’t allow the same constitutional rights that adults have, is supposed to be for rehabilitation,” Mr. Zaner said.
John Tuell, juvenile justice director of the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, which represents more that 1,000 social service organizations, agreed.
“The labeling of youngsters in sex cases could be a further blurring in the separation of the juvenile court system and the criminal court jurisdictions. I would be opposed to that,” said Mr. Tuell, adding that, nationally, sex-related crimes involving juveniles are declining.
Mr. Tuell said he is concerned that a high school student who fondles another student in the hallway of a school could be convicted on a sexual imposition charge and then be ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years to life.
“I think it is a bit reckless, “ Mr. Tuell said, “Once you label someone for a lifetime, you are clearly diminishing that person’s ability to provide employment for themselves and be a productive member of society.”
Lucas County court official said an increase in sex-related offenses involving juveniles warrants concern.
Last year the court adjudicated 95 sex cases, including 30 rapes and 34 gross sexual impositions. That is up from 1999, when the court adjudicated 68 juveniles on sex charges, including 14 rapes and 28 gross sexual impositions. In 1998, the court handled 50 sex cases.
“We have been seeing a significant increase,” said Dan Pompa, administrator of Lucas County Juvenile Court.
The Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission recommended the labeling of juveniles in a plan for revising how juvenile courts sentence youthful offenders. That plan included blending a juvenile sentence and a suspended adult sentence and longer sentences for crimes in which guns are used.
Though the labeling of 16 and 17-year-old offenders will be mandatory, those adjudicated in sex cases will be able to petition the court every three years to throw out the offender designation.
Lucas County Juvenile Judge Joseph Flores said he has mixed feelings about the new law.
“In abstract and in theory, it is probably good because it is consistent with adults,” Judge Flores said. “But little by little we are losing distinction between juvenile court and adult court.
“I hate to see the distinction being chipped away. I think juvenile court should be a creature by itself and adult court should be a creature by itself as well?
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