Do Sex Offender Laws Really Work?

An Ohio Mother Is Fighting The Residential Restrictions For Sex Offenders; Critics Say Laws Are Backfiring

(CBS)  A jury is set to hear closing arguments in the trial of John Couey, a convicted sex offender charged with murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Stories like hers have inspired cities and states around the country to pass laws restricting where sex offenders live.

These laws are designed to keep the estimated 600,000 sex offenders in the United States away from children. But Ohio mother Margie Slagle is one of a growing group of critics who say these laws unfairly lump lesser offenders in with the worst criminals — and that they may actually be backfiring.

Slagle was 40 and a divorced mother of three and when she decided to go to law school. Her first case as a law student shocked her: She defended a sex offender.

"As a mom, I was terrified of sex offenders — to me, (that) means child molesters," she told Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith.

But the biggest surprise came after Slagle met 33-year-old Dion Burge, a registered sex offender — and found herself vigorously taking up his cause.

"He was not a child molester," Slagle said. "He had consensual sex with a woman who was not old enough to consent — and that was a crime."

But what Slagle calls a "woman" was a teenage girl nearly a decade younger than Burge. The girl was living by herself, and Burge says he thought she was 18. He pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor and served a year in prison. He registers every year as a sex offender. It was his only offense.

"He's a great father," Slagle said. "He loves children. It's ridiculous to lump him in with as a child molester and as a threat to the community."

Only about 10 percent of abused children are targeted by strangers, and some critics say too many resources go into worrying about strangers when more of the focus should be on preventing abuse from people kids know. Critics fear that as more and more communities enact these laws, offenders will tire of moving and end up not registering at all.

Since Burge's conviction nine years ago, new sex offender laws were written prohibiting him from living within 1,000 feet of school property. Burge has moved three times — away from his own children

"It's been a nightmare for him; he's already been forced to leave the kids," Slagle said. "He's been taking care of the kids while his wife works third shift."

"It just didn't seem fair to make them move for something I did, basically. before they were even born, and I didn't want to uproot them," Burge said.

Now the sheriff's office wants him to move again because he's within 1,000 feet of a football field that's owned by a school.

"I thought it was a mistake, honestly, because I've lived here all this time and I've never heard of this," Burge said.

The 1,000-foot distance is measured as the crow flies. But there is a river in between and Burge would have to walk nearly 3,000 feet to get to the field. Slagle is fighting the crow fly measurement in court.

"I was confused. Why are they making this person move?" Slagle said.

For prosecutor Gary Nasal, the reasons are clear:

"Certainly he is a sexually oriented offender, and certainly, I would classify him as a child molester," Nasal said. "He did, in fact, groom this child and pursue her."

Nasal says the river is immaterial.

"You can't expect the legislature or the police for that matter to calculate and compensate for every manmade and geographic anomaly that may appear in the way," he said.

But for Slagle the question became not whether the offender is dangerous, but whether the residential restrictions actually protect children?

"The law doesn't prevent anyone from going to the school and sitting in front of a school all day, Slagle said." It just prevents people, offenders, from sleeping within 1,000 feet of the school."

Nancy Sabin of the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, which fights child exploitation, said research shows laws that restrict where sex offenders can live are "pretty ineffective."

In fact, 15 states are struggling with residency restrictions. In states like Iowa, many fear sex offenders are going underground.

"They've actually had less compliance on the sexual offender registry," Sabin said. "They've got sex offenders living in the cars on highway number signs along the freeway, so their compliance is poor, their supervision has deteriorated. There's a lot of downsides."

But parents tend to agree with the law, which will make it difficult to change.

"I definitely think that they have to move 'em away from schools and protect the children as much as they can," father Don Hubbard said.

Slagle will continue to fight against these laws and for a man she says she'd trust with her own children.

"Hopefully we can help him and make this end," she said, "so he can go on and live his life."

[hermit22]

jolsonbear, don't embarrass your great grandparents with their exceptional and FINE 79 year marriage by comparing them to lowlifes who just practice their wares on underage girls.

[hermit22]

student Margie Slagle is a complete idiot.

what is it, 73% of the African American babies born are illigitamit and she is trying to insure there will be more of them suffering thru that?

if these clods don't remember marching down the aisle with the woman they don't need to think they are entitled to get into bed with her.

drag out the statutory rape laws and use them!

[christianbr1]

I am first of all amazed at the special treatment that most *** offenders receive but also the slant that the media puts on these stories. I work at a federal correctional prison complex that houses over 4000 inmates. Only a small % of the inmates are *** offenders. The majority are on drug related charges. The *** offenders who are primarily white men only receive around 3 yrs and probation, as opposed to an average of 10-15yrs for drugs and rightfully so. I don't justify their wrongdoing. It amazes me that when reporting the story a black man is shown when they represent the minority when it comes to *** offenders. When listing statistics on *** offenders, generally young men perhaps 19 or so who engage in *** with a 13-16 yr old, are lumped with the(primarily white men) senators, doctors, lawyers, business professionals. This is a play on the mind set of society. Bottom line is that too many important people(who are probably uncaught *** offenders) have jobs in the judicial system and help keep their co-workers and others from serving long sentences. No wonder the % of white men compared to black men in prison is so lop-sided.

[jolsonbear]

When my great grandfather was 22, he took $40 and two goats to his neighbors house and offered them to her father as dowery in exchange for my great grandmothers hand in marriage. She was 15 and her father (my great great grandfather) noted that it was "about time" as he feared she was about to become an old maid. My great grandfather died in 1972 just a few days before their 79th anniversary. If these events happened today there would be one man in jail as a *** offender, one man in jail for child abuse and one girl in a state home.

[jebby_one]

all good reasons why we don't want our universal healthcare with the government metering out healthcare services.

Why can't a crime be just a crime? turning *** offenders into a special class of monsters only inhibits the process of healing from the crimes and hampers our abilities to move on with lives.

If every *** offender in America was outed then one in eight Americans would be in jail and another 2 in eight Americans would be living on a Freeway island, 1,000 feet from everything.

MOST cases of *** abuse are committed by family members. They don't get reported because victims don't want to see GrandPa's or Uncle Ted's picture splashed on the nightly TV news and they don't want to responsible for sending GrandPa or uncle Ted to jail for 100 years. And, they surely don't want to look forward to all the not-so-do-gooders proclaiming that the poor child has been ruined forever and will likely also grow up to be a child molester.

[dkangel1260]

tell the bunsford family gose out to then .my daughter knew their daughter and would love it when she would come into the waffle house where she worked at the time.
now as for him gettin death or life in preson. well i think he should get life so that he can suffer like he made her suffer. also when the inmates find out what he is there for they will take care of him and make him suffer just like he made jessica. and then when they get tired of it he will be a dead man cause one of them that has nuthin to loose will kill him.

[dkangel1260]

i think killin him is to good for him . i think he should be im preson for life cause when the inmates find out what he is there fort they will take care of him and when they have their fun with him they will kill him at least the one that has nuthin to live for cause he is there for life anyway. i hope u will let the family of jessie lunfort that my heart gose out to them. and also let them know that my daughter knew their daughter cause she works at waffle house and would love it when ever jessie would come in there when she was at work.

[knyghtwolf]

A few years ago, I had a guy in one of my college classes who had a brother that got married at 20 to his girlfriend who was 16 just two days before she was 17. The girl had her mother and father's consent because both families knew that they were going to be married since they had been dating since kids and grew up together as families. In their apartment complex, there was an incident that required the police to do an apartment search. When they got to my friends brother's apartment, they asked if they were okay, and did they notice anything unusual, the reply was no. One police officer asked if they were married and they replied yes. Upon showing the license, all legal and good, the police officer STILL insisted on pressing charges against my friends brother for having *** with a minor!!! The officer arrested him & booked him. It cost him about $7500.00 in lawyer fees and expences to get it dropped & he almost had to plea no contest & get labeled but the Supreme Court of Texass dismissed it & threw it out because he and his wife were legally married with family consent. This is why I spell Texass the way I do, also in honor of ole' dubya.

[yhendrex]

Something has to be done to catorgorize sexual offender crimes and reviewing of punishment where it would fit the crime. My 20 yr old son & GF filmed her friends having consensual *** & went on website that stated "we buy wierd, bazzare videos, paying up to $800". It was a sting. Emails from cop bascially convinced him to trade tapes for other porn. Son not aware kiddy porn. Not aware of ages of people he taped. Arrested for sexual exploitation of children. Because of probation technicalities, now serving 2 yr prison sentense. Life is ruined.
Laws are in place for people who hurt children - and should be in place. But young adults making wrong choices are labeled as monsters for the rest of their lives, paying emotionally & financially,not to mention how the families have suffered. Lawmakers - take heed. Something needs to be done!

[xfredmenzies]

Well done, mjv2944, you have the reading comprehension skills of a piece of toast!

[123erw]

Are yall aware that Mark Lundfords gave conflicting testimony at the John Couey trial in his sworn testimony ????? told law enforcement the day jessica was abducted, that he came home early morning to find the door wide open and jessica gone. In trial, he states he was home that night! is mark "hiding" something or trying to present himself as a great father? only mark knows the REAL truth!

[mjv2944]

Put them away for life! I could care less if they put 10 to a cell and they had to standup to sleep. There is only one kind of abuser, BAD, they will never be cured. Any child under age that is abused, the abuser should never see the outside of a prison cell again, or in the case like the one that killed Jessica, DEATH.

[bobgee_1999]

jwilsonte: The word is "strict" not "strick." Secondly, you don't go to Hell for committing a crime, only a sin. The idea that it is wrong at 11:59 at the age of 17, but ok at midnight at the age of 18 is obviously stupid. Having said that, I'm also in favor of the death penalty for molestors of children under the age of realistic---not legal---consent, but this doesn't apply to Mr. Burge. People need to be responsible for their gonads, it really isn't that hard. I've been sexually active for over twenty years and I've never raped anyone, impregnated anyone, contracted a disease or done anything with a minor. Control yourself, people.

God bless you Margie Slagle for getting involved with this subject. I know it isn't popular to speak out in favor of the men that are labeled "sexual offenders" but somebody has to. The people that make the laws have to come to grips with the fact that not all should be labeled a child molester for the rest of their lives. Some should be, but not all. We have to stop lumping them all together like they are all monsters that we should be afraid of.

[melcarnahan]

8 homes were burglarized and 12 people were found murdered but Bill Clinton walked within 1000 feet of a nunnery.

[kmom1-2009]

But by the grace of God my ex-husband could have been arrested as a child molester - We started dating when I was a freshmen in High School, he is 9 nine years older than me. As the mom of two daugthers I agree that when a young man is arrested for these types of crimes, the girls should get a similar punishment. Young people don't have the maturity to say no, when it is offered on a silver platter. Boys are not the only ones with *** on their minds!!

[joy053]

Hi, I wanted to say thanks to everyone, who beleives this new law for residency, should apply to real child molesters, not young people who make mistakes, in reading the story by car63-2009, I felt I was reading my sons story, he has had to register as a sex offender for the past 18 years, because of a relationship with a younger girl when he turned 20, even though it was stupid to see her. he did, and now pays for it the rest of his life.My son is not a child molester, nor has he ever been, he grew up around his half sister and her friends, with never 1 incident. The laws here in california just keep changing and destroying lives of many people who are not child molesters, I do not support the new laws because, first of all to have a law it should make some kind of sense, is is really protecting anyone.First we should be able to tell the difference between a real child molester and someone who may have been young and stupid.

[car63-2009]

Hello,
Thank you for running this segment about *** offenders.My Wife and I recently watch our son fall victim to a 13 year old girl who went after my son while visiting his mom. She had been propositioning him for 3 years,This is a girl who before him had *** with older men and went as far as sending nude pictures of her over the internet.Well this time she climbed in bed with him and started to rub him sexually ,and what 19 year old boy would have the common sense to run.Well the next thing you know he is in jail.Never been in any trouble an honor student going to college.The girl wrote in her diary her intentions to have *** with my son.But the District Attorney would not even look at it.When arrested my son did not lie about what happened and even after two top therapist examined him,one appointed by the court ,said he was not a predator,but a 19 year old young man who made a mistake.Soon he will be coming home and have to deal with people thinking he is a freak.Thank you for this story it gave me and my wife hope to all of us who fall victims to this law ,We need to change the interpretation to help good people who make a bad choice in there life.I would like to be involved in anyway we can change the laws .

[azman80]

Honestly, JUST in this type of situation, to where a young girl lied about her age, JUST in this situation, if a guy gets in trouble and has to register as a *** offender for being with an under age girl, they need to create a derogotory section for these girls to where they have to register as *** offender causers and lose the same rights as these guys do. Their lives need to be miserable for the cr@p they cause. They should not get away with garbage like this. My opinion.

[jkeyf]

THANK YOU. You should be commended for standing up for Mr. Burge and all the men who fit this category. The law doesn't seem to look at the big picture when it comes to this subject. My son was wrongfully accused and jailed for the same thing as this man. The girl was in trouble with her parents for going out after being grounded (son didn't know until after she was under 18)and was going to be sent to a boot camp. She accused my son of rape to take the attention off of herself. There was NO DNA, nothing....but he spent 3 1/2 years locked up. Now, he will pay for it the rest of his life, the same as Mr Burge. Within 6 months of his release, my granddaughter who was 17 and looks 20, picked up a guy in a bar and *** with him. She thought that she was seen with this man by another family member. She told her parents that she had been raped. She had NOT been, and had absolutely no remorse that this man would have been imprisoned for years, she was simply worried that she was going to be in "trouble". I am very familiar with both sides of this subject. I believe that there should be a distinguised difference in these guys and the actual rapists and pedifiles. Bless You and continue working for what is right.

[eljta]

My son had just turned 18 and his girlfriend was 15 years and 11 1/2 months old. He found out she was running around with other boys so he broke up with her and two weeks later he was arrested. he never had intercourse and touching. He had a plea bargin for 1 year in county. The judge so no way and sentenced him 2-15 years in prison. He is 22 now and is still there. He has been up for parole 2 times and they keep saying that the girl got pregant but we keep telling them she did not. But they say he is not owning up to what he did. He says I did touch her but did not have intercourse. The parole board does not even listen It is not fair that he will have to register for 25 years after he gets out. The laws about this issue need to be changed!!!!