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Lorin Zaner
Attorney at Law
Articles 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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