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Sex Offender Management

Posted 7/2/2010 8:38am

After the Imperial Avenue case unfolded in Cleveland, sex offender management has especially been on the minds of public officials, media representatives and citizens.

Read The Plain Dealer's analysis of Sex Offender Management in Cuyahoga County here.

Cleveland Rape Crisis Center offers the following position statement on sex offender management:

States and communities are developing measures to manage sex offenders in order to increase safety for victims and the public. Sex offender management policies and programs include measures such as registries, residency restrictions, and GPS monitoring. The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (CRCC) supports sex offender management policies that are victim-centered, comprehensive, increase offender accountability, and have the goal of truly keeping the community safe.  CRCC believes that in order for policies to be truly effective they must be based on fact and research; and:

• Focus on the prevention of future victimizations. Treatment should not take the place of the criminal justice response, however it should be included as a component of offenders’ sentences.  Studies show that the overall effect of well-designed treatment programs include significant reductions in future sexual offenses (without treatment the recidivism rate is approximately 17% and with treatment it drops to approximately 12%).

• Allocate resources for victim treatment.  In addition to addressing the management of offenders, policies must also address the needs of victims.  Studies tell us that victims of childhood sexual abuse are twice as likely to be victimized as adults, so funding for counseling and crisis intervention is imperative.  Currently in Ohio no state resources are allocated for rape crisis centers to provide these services.

• Focus on treatment and reintegration.  Over 95% of offenders will eventually re-enter society.  Studies show that sex offender treatment decreases recidivism and that offenders are much less likely to re-offend when they have stable housing, employment and social support.  It is imperative that resources be dedicated toward treatment and successful reintegration of offenders.

CRCC believes that many current and proposed sex offender management policies can be problematic and are largely ineffective because they fail to address the realities of sexual violence, perpetuate myths, and create a false sense of security.  Specifically, sex offender management policies often:

• Focus on ‘stranger danger.’  In reality, victims are far more at risk to be offended by someone they know (approximately 90% of child cases and 80% of adolescent/adult cases).   

• Do not differentiate between types of offenders. Some offenders pose greater risk of re-offending than others and require more intensive, specialized interventions.  Policies that are ‘blanket’ in nature are largely ineffective and can actually impede safety of society.

• Focus on convicted sex offenders. Sex crimes are grossly underreported, which means that convicted sex offenders only represent a small portion (approximately 5-10%) of the possible sex offenders in our society.   

Effective sex offender policies require the active involvement of partners from many backgrounds and disciplines.   CRCC hopes to work alongside partners of different disciplines and policy makers to ensure that developing sex offender management policies are as effective in keeping victims safe and reducing sexual violence.  CRCC also advocates for conducting research to determine the efficacy of sex offender legislation. 

CRCC believes that in addition to sex offender management policies must also be created to allocate significant resources to prevent violence before it occurs.  The public health approach to ending sexual assault includes vigorous public education campaigns targeted for parents, caregivers, schools, community members and the media to change norms and behaviors that lead to sexual violence.

References and Additional Resources:

Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) – www.atsa.com

Center for Sex Offender Manager (CSOM) – www.csom.org

National Alliance to End Sexual Violence – www.naesv.org

Stop it Now! -  www.stopitnow.com

Texas Department of State Health Services – www.dshs.state.tx.us