But listing offenders is not going to solve the problem of
childhood sexual abuse or sexual violence as a whole, she said.
“The vast majority of people who are perpetrating sex crimes
are not on Megan’s Law and never will be,” Houser said. That’s because sex
crimes are often unreported, and the statute of limitations renders many cases
unprosecutable by the time they are reported.
Since Megan’s Law is only for people who have been
convicted, by the time those people end up on a list they’ve already done harm,
Houser said. Her goal is to prevent sexual violence, which can’t be done by
relying on a list.
“We have an over reliance of thinking that list is there to
keep us safe,” Houser said. “That list is one tool to keep us safe. … If we are
depending on the sex offender registry to keep our neighborhoods safe, then we
are going to fail.”
Houser supports abolishing the statutes of limitation for
civil and criminal cases of sex crimes, and adopting a retroactive window for
civil cases.
But even that isn’t going to stop sexual violence against
children, she said.
“If we want to be serious about ending sexual assault and
protecting each other, we have to think bigger,” she said. “We have to get
comfortable about learning about things that make us uncomfortable.”
Parents have to recognize the bigger danger to their
children is the person who already has their trust – whether a family member, a
friend of the family or a caregiver like a coach or teacher – and whom the
children trust, who are grooming children for sexual abuse or are already
sexually abusing them, Houser said.
“We have to stop saying ‘John wouldn’t do that. Mary
wouldn’t do that,’ ” Houser said. “John and Mary do do that, that’s how you end
up with a grand jury report.”
Instead, parents have to get comfortable talking to their
children in age-appropriate ways, about sexual violence. They have to know
where their children are and with whom, and ensure they aren’t in situations
that would allow them to be violated, and if such a situation arises, they need
to disrupt that, Houser said.
Parents need to hold their schools and youth organizations
accountable for their policies and practices that could leave children at risk.
The last thing Houser wants people to do is use the list of
names provided in the grand jury report or those offenders listed by Megan’s
Law to give them a false sense of security. The people who are listed are the
“low-risk category,” Houser said.
“You don’t want to go through life paranoid,” she said, but
you also can’t go through life with blinders on. “The reality is this stuff
happens, and it happens close to home.”
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1 comment:
Thanks for the shout out!
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