There's more to protecting children than saying we should

If you've made it past the name of my blog, I'm glad you're here. To my faithful readers and those who are truly interested in learning, please disregard the following. To everyone else:

I don't support sex crimes. 
I don't support crimes against children, sexual or not.
I believe that diagnosed pedophiles and individuals who show high risk of re-offense need intense treatment and management.
The person I love is not a rapist, a pedophile, or violent. 

Sex crime laws don't protect children or the public.  Here's the simple formula:


- Children are 93% more likely to be sexually abused by someone they know who is not on the registry. Over a third of those children will be abused by a family member or relative. 
SOURCE:  http://theparson.net/so/Levenson.pdf


- Recidivism among sex offenders has been shown to be somewhere between 3.5 - 8.5%. The average of all other felonies' recidivism is about 41%. 
SOURCES:
http://www.sexoffenderrecidivism.com/
http://www.csom.org/pubs/recidsexof.html
http://dpca.state.ny.us/pdfs/somgmtbulletinmay2007.pdf
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1136

Not all sex offenders are pedophiles, have child victims, or are violent. A quarter of sex offenders on the registry are juveniles. 
SOURCES:
 https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227763.pdf 
 http://www.solresearch.org/~SOLR/rprt/LookNow.asp


Why should you care?
To vastly abridge, because there are no effective measures in place to prevent sexual abuse. The registry is nothing more than a list of people who, at one time, have committed some type of "crime" deemed sexually deviant by the judicial system. However, research has very clearly shown that these individuals almost always do not re-offend. How useful is a list, and related legislation, that focuses all of its attention, resources, and money on those least likely to commit a sex crime? 

Effective legislation begins with education and awareness - in this case that means allowing yourself to accept facts that are contrary to what many lawmakers, politicians, and media outlets will have you believe. It does not make you a bad person to ask for sex crime legislation reform. It simply means you have taken the time to learn about a subject that rarely gets debated - and one that directly effects public safety, your friends and your families, and YOU!

It might not be popular or easy to not join in when everyone else is crying death to pedophiles, or when someone twists your awareness of sex crime legislation ineffectiveness into your supporting sex crime. But having read the information I've provided above, which is not my opinion by any means, but proven fact - how can you ignore it? That was what I said to myself when I first began to realize, while researching, how off-base our legislation is. I can't "un-know" this information. It's out there and it's not going away until enough people stand up and shout it. 

That is my challenge for everyone reading. Allow yourself to learn and don't be ashamed to accept a fact that might contradict what you've always thought or what you've been told. Don't let the ignorant, weak or otherwise hateful masses quiet the truth. 

I love a sex offender and I'm proud of it. I want effective legislation that truly helps people and I'm not ashamed. Tell your legislators, write your newspapers, contact your news. Do more than just say you want to protect children - DO it.