Why Megan's Law Is Getting An F

(CBS)  It seems like, every day, there's a story about a child abused by a convicted sex offender, even though there's a federal law that is supposed to keep track of them.

So is there something wrong with Megan's Law?

The Early Show takes a closer look this week in a special series called "Broken Promise." Correspondent Tracy Smith offers the details.

Megan's Law was written with the best of intentions, but a growing body of evidence suggests it may not be living up to its promise.

Mark Lunsford rarely comes home these days.

"I'm just not here," he says. "I'm either at work or I'm out. I don't come home anymore."

The murder of his daughter, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, haunts him. Her alleged killer, John Couie, a registered sex offender arrested 24 times, lived right next door to their Florida home.

Lunsford says he believed he lived in a safe neighborhood.

He says, "Maybe a lot of us are just ignorant to it, not knowing that it could happen to any of us."

Six weeks after Jessica was killed, the body of Sarah Lunde, 13, was found. The cops believe she was choked to death by her mother's old boyfriend, also a registered sex offender, also in Florida.

These two horrifying murders direct the public's attention, once again, to the broken promise of Megan's Law.

Asked if Megan's Law worked in the Lunsford case, Florida Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsey says, "Apparently, this guy went undetected into the community. Nobody knew that he was there."

Megan's Law was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, brutally murdered in 1994 by a two-time sex offender who lived directly across the street.

The law requires states to register convicted sex offenders and to notify neighborhoods when offenders move in.

Laura Ahearn says, "The spirit of Megan's Law is, that if a predator moves in next door to you, you will be notified. That's just not the case."

Ahearn runs Parents For Megan's Law, a watchdog group that examines how strictly states adhere to the law.

She notes, "We did a 50-state survey and what I found is that across the country, most states are failing, so I would give Megan's Law an F."

Ironically, Florida, the home of Jessica Lunsford and Sarah Lunde, received an A+ for its tough guidelines, and still offenders easily got around the law.

Ahearn says, "We have two tragedies in Florida that demonstrate that Megan's Law is certainly not enough.

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