Stranger Danger or creepy Uncle Joe?

Last week I read a story about two convicted child molesters that were murdered in Bellingham, Washington after their names were found in the state sex offender database. I was curious about what sort of information Illinois provides about sex offenders living in my state. I looked in the Illinois Sex Offender Database to see where these offenders lived. They are scattered throughout the towns I looked at. My hometown where my parents still live has 4. The college town where I did my undergrad work has 42. The town where I work has 10. The town where I currently live has 9. One of them lives in the apartment building next to mine.
My reaction to a sexual predator living next door was so quick I don’t know which thoughts came first: worry for the kids in the neighborhood, apathy because I have no children or sympathy for the offender. His crime is listed as aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under the age of 13. I am torn between the horror of the unknown details of his crime, and the sad state of criminals who have already served their time. People who have paid their proverbial debt to society are supposed to be able to make a new life. They find someplace to live, find a job and become a productive member of society. Often they are victims of NIMBY, or “not in my back yard”. No one wants to be the one to have to live next to someone convicted of a crime but everyone needs a place to live. Many states have passed laws that restrict how close an offender may live near a school, day care or any place where children congregate. Offenders are left with few choices in what housing is left in the areas where they are allowed to live.
In their September 5th issue Time reported on state and local regulations that are leaving offenders with no where to live. Bruce Winick, a professor at the University of Miami, said, “By socially ostracizing these people and making it next to impossible for them or find a job or have educational opportunities or otherwise forge necessary social ties, what do we expect is going to happen with them?”. The article in Time continued with the story of a 23 year old sex offender in Iowa who was “convicted at 19 for having nonforcible sexual relations with a 14-year old”. The offender is considering moving to another state to escape Iowa’s new law that will force him to move out of his current residence which is too close to a day care center.
The story of the 23 year old reminded me of how many people I knew in High School who dated people older or younger than them. A four year age difference doesn’t seem like much, just a freshman and a senior. Generations of parents have found fault with who their kids dated, but age differences in high school dating continue. In a day of sex registries that require registration for life, is statutory rape charges the best way to deal with your child’s dating habits and sex life? In Illinois the age of consent is 17, and on paper a girl magically becomes able to make her own decisions her junior year of high school simply by blowing out the candles. That one day of difference could ruin a young man for life; possibly leaving him ostracized from society with no where to live in his own hometown.
Each day on when I come home I see children under fourteen playing on the sidewalk. They are often in playing in groups with no adults nearby. Have their parents told them about good touch bad touch? Do their parents know that 90% of offenses are commited by a family member or friend of the child than a stranger? Somehow I doubt the parents would be interested in that statistic. It is so much easier to plan for that 10% than to believe that Uncle Joe might be up to no good at the family barbeque. If and when I have children, they will know all that I can teach them about avoiding danger, rather than just fear for the world around them.