Sex Offenders Evading Megan's Law

Megan's Law is designed to keep tabs on sexual predators. They're required to register with police in their communities.

But, reports Tracy Smith in part two The Early Show series "Broken Promise," sex offenders often find it relatively easy to evade authorities, which frequently has tragic consequences.

In some states, such as Nevada, officials say there just aren't enough resources to keep track of all the sex offenders, Smith points out.

She looked into one case in that state in which a convicted child molester moved into a neighborhood full of kids. And police, Smith observes, were the last to know.

Las Vegas isn't all 'Sin City,' Smith notes. A few blocks from the big hotels, and glitz and glitter of "the strip," Las Vegas looks about like any other town, with quiet, middle-class suburbs where children play, oblivious to harm.

"When we first went into the (mobile home court)," says Don Dinardi, "we saw kids running around on their bicycles, scooters, everything, and we said, 'This is a really great place.'"

The court was thought to be a safe place where dozens of children, including Dinardi's 9-year-old daughter, could play undisturbed.

But, Smith says, living in the same neighborhood where kids rode their bikes and played on the playground was a convicted sex offender.

He lured the 9-year-old into a laundry room, where he raped her and gave her $10 not to tell.

But she did.

Dinardi, a Vegas cab driver, was on duty at the time of the attack.

"I got a radio call saying, 'You have to go home. Your daughter's been raped.'"

What went through his head?

"No!" Dinardi responded.

Seen behind a screen to protect her identity, Dinardi's daughter told Smith, "My dad was at work. Then Dad came home with his cab; drove me to the hospital, with Mommy."

A medical exam confirmed the worst, and police were called.

Police say convicted predator William Neel warned the girl he'd kill her if she told anyone what he'd done.

"It's a lifetime of torment for some of these victims," says Christopher Darcy of the Las Vegas Police Department. "I mean, that child is going to live this every day for the rest of her life."

Megan's law is supposed to stop the likes of Neel, Smith says. But Neel found a way around it."In this case, (Megan's Law) forced (Neel) to register," Darcy says. "We were able to get information on him. It didn't prevent him, however, from moving to a different location and committing another sexual offense."

And Neel isn't alone, Smith reports. In every state, sexual predators routinely skirt laws designed to contain them.

"In your experience," Smith asked Russell J. Shoemaker of the Las Vegas police, "how many of these guys do we release into society, only to have them re-offend?"

"Out of the 3,000 or so sex offenders that we know of in Clark County," Shoemaker responded, "we arrest one a month for re-offending."

"A convicted sex offender who did it again?" Smith tried to clarify.

"That's correct."

Smith wanted to know what Dinardi would say to other parents about whether Megan's Law is working. "Forget Megan's Law," came the reply. "As parents, let's stand up and be parents. Let's take care of the situation."

To Don Dinardi, that means working to keep predators away from kids. Permanently.

"I think they need to get life in the penitentiary, without the possibility of parole," he tells Smith.

Not surprisingly, his daughter feels the same way. She says a man like Neel should "go to jail…until he dies."

But convicted sex offender Jake Goldenflame fears mandatory life sentences could make an ugly problem even worse: "You're going to make it so terrible for the sex offender, he's going to be afraid to recover, he can't recover, he's afraid to get caught, and in his desperation, he's going to kill the children. We're going to make him the man with nothing left to lose, the scariest man there is. We're going to make him that way."

Still, Dinardi is satisfied his daughter's attacker got the sentence he deserved: life plus 20 years.

"So he's in for good?" Smith asked Dinardi.

"He'd better hope he is," Dinardi shot back.

Next year, Smith cautions, Megan's Law turns 10 years old, and because many offenders only have to register for 10 years, some analysts predict that up to half of the nation's 550,000 registered sex offenders will drop off the radar screen.