Sex offender registry has unintended consequences: Women Against Registry

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The Women Against Registry organization holds a meet and greet for Pennsylvania legislators at the state Capitol east wing Rotunda, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The group's mission is to "...present compelling evidence of the dangers and damage to American society caused by excessive, unconscionable sexual offense registries." Dan Gleiter, PennLive.com

Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

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By Barbara Miller | bmiller@pennlive.com
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on May 18, 2016 at 2:53 PM, updated May 18, 2016 at 3:04 PM

Theresa Robertson of York County said "pariah" is the word most people think of when the sex offender registry is mentioned, and she and the group Women Against Registry feel that needs to change.

Women Against Registry seek change in sex offenders list Theresa Robertson of York County, a member of Women Against Registry, and Vicki Henry, president of the group, advocate change in sex offender registry programs.

"The collateral consequence of what happens is devastating for these people as well as their family," said Robertson, a member of Women Against Registry, a Missouri-based group that manned a display at the state Capitol Wednesday.

There are about 850,000 people on the sex offender registry nationwide, and three million family members are affected, said Vicki Henry of Missouri, WAR president.

The sex offender register is not effective and difficult to supervise, Henry said. WAR believes sexually violent predators should be required to register, with the savings from fewer people to track being better used for sex abuse prevention programs.

Robertson said her family member, convicted of having sex with a teenage girl and posting a video of it on the Internet, had trouble getting a job and can't see his children for several years as consequence of Pennsylvania's sex offender laws.

Originally he was to be on the list for 10 years, but it was extended to lifetime when Pennsylvania adopted the Adam Walsh law in 2011, which expanded the list of offenses from the state's 1995 Megan's Law.

"We've lumped everyone together – 90 percent of the people on the list are not sexually violent predators or pedophiles," Robertson said.

"People think it's the dirty old man – that's not the case," Henry said, with offenses such as sexting and urinating in public sometimes landing people on the list.

Most abusers of children are a family member or friend or someone who has access to the child, she said.

Offenders' families' suffer the consequences, Henry said. "Children are beaten up, houses are burned, people are asked to leave churches," Henry said. "If you get rid of the ones on the list who are not a public threat, then you have more time to focus on the ones that need to be monitored."

Kristen Houser of Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape cautions against the public's over-reliance on the registry, since many sex offenders have never been charged.

"But by no means is it purposeless," Houser said of the registry

Sex offenders rely on anonymity in perpetrating their crimes, Houser said.

"The registry is one tool that makes it difficult for them to do that and gives law enforcement an idea of where people area," she said.

Houser agrees there are unintended consequences of the registry for families affected.

"But the people to be angry with are the people who commit the crimes, not the people trying to protect others," Houser said.

One area she agrees with WAR on is that more funding is needed for prevention programs.

Regarding Pennsylvania's reform of sex crime laws to extend the statute of limitations, Henry said it can be "a double-edged sword. I'm not saying people shouldn't be adjudicated, but memories can get foggy over time."

WAR is planning a class action lawsuit in the Eighth District in St. Louis, Mo. on behalf of families with members on the sex offender registry. Henry said they aren't releasing specifics on the suit yet, but said it relates to change in the program.

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