Comments on: New legislation designed to keep sex offenders off of MySpace http://www.bloggernews.net/113052 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:51:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Mica http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-191111 Mica Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:18:43 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-191111 Completely missing from all this coverage of registered sex offenders on My Space is the amount of victimizing of children by offenders. Merely saying registered sex offenders are on My Space does not mean they are contacting children. My Space is used for many things. No 2: being a registered sex offender can mean anything nowadays from a stereotypical child molester who DOES contact children or teens through the internet all the way to the older teen who has sex with a younger teen and is forced to register. Do they post the same risk? No. Should society be banning low risk offenders? No. An anology to this is saying that a woman who kills her abusing violent husband because he has been beating on her is the same as a serial killer. Again, hardly. These politicians - and I include attorneys general, as they are elected - as politicians out of the demonizing and hysterical lawmaking and allow the experts to propose sensible policy. Completely missing from all this coverage of registered sex offenders on My Space is the amount of victimizing of children by offenders. Merely saying registered sex offenders are on My Space does not mean they are contacting children. My Space is used for many things. No 2: being a registered sex offender can mean anything nowadays from a stereotypical child molester who DOES contact children or teens through the internet all the way to the older teen who has sex with a younger teen and is forced to register. Do they post the same risk? No. Should society be banning low risk offenders? No. An anology to this is saying that a woman who kills her abusing violent husband because he has been beating on her is the same as a serial killer. Again, hardly. These politicians - and I include attorneys general, as they are elected - as politicians out of the demonizing and hysterical lawmaking and allow the experts to propose sensible policy.

]]> By: Rick http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-190525 Rick Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:50:41 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-190525 I agree 100% for the need to educate parents and kids on how to be safe online and for parents to know what their kids are doing online. However, as I stated above, no law will be able to deter someone who is determined to break that law. But now in CT if Scott Shefelbine is a registered sex offender and is on MySpace using a fake e-mail address, there is a penalty of I believe 10 yrs. If you know that he is still on MySpace, please contact local law enforcement so they can arrest him. However, if he were living in Indiana, there would be nothing law enforcement or MySpace could do to keep him off the site which is why the legislation is necessary. I agree 100% for the need to educate parents and kids on how to be safe online and for parents to know what their kids are doing online. However, as I stated above, no law will be able to deter someone who is determined to break that law. But now in CT if Scott Shefelbine is a registered sex offender and is on MySpace using a fake e-mail address, there is a penalty of I believe 10 yrs. If you know that he is still on MySpace, please contact local law enforcement so they can arrest him. However, if he were living in Indiana, there would be nothing law enforcement or MySpace could do to keep him off the site which is why the legislation is necessary.

]]> By: Trench Reynolds http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-189918 Trench Reynolds Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:29:22 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-189918 Except that these laws do not deter registered sex offenders from using MySpace. There is a story that I've been following at MyCrimeSpace about a Connecticut man by the name of Scott Shefelbine. Even after being arrested for his first offense while out on bail he committed several more offenses. The best defense to keep children safe on social network sites is to educate parents on how to keep tabs on their children's internet usage. Except that these laws do not deter registered sex offenders from using MySpace. There is a story that I’ve been following at MyCrimeSpace about a Connecticut man by the name of Scott Shefelbine. Even after being arrested for his first offense while out on bail he committed several more offenses.

The best defense to keep children safe on social network sites is to educate parents on how to keep tabs on their children’s internet usage.

]]> By: Rick http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-189632 Rick Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:29:18 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/113052#comment-189632 Similar laws have been passed in 10 other states and are just beginning to be implemented. Yes, it is easy to "circumvent" this law, but all laws are easy to circumvent (speed limits, theft, murder, etc.) But laws are meant to be a deterent with penalties once caught. This law is no different. There are over 600,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. Even if only 20% of convicted sex offenders comply (it will most likely be much higher), that is 120,000 convicted sex offenders that can be blocked from joining social networking sites. If each of the 120,000 blocked sex offenders are kept from contacting just 10 kids, that is 1.2 million kids that will not be contacted by these individuals. It is true that this law would not address the "sex offenders who have yet to be caught," but what law does. "Minority Report" was just a movie. No technology or law can prevent a crime from occuring by those determined to do so which is why we have prisons. Is this law a cure all? No. Is it another tool for social networking sites and law enforcement to use to protect younger users? Yes. Similar laws have been passed in 10 other states and are just beginning to be implemented. Yes, it is easy to “circumvent” this law, but all laws are easy to circumvent (speed limits, theft, murder, etc.) But laws are meant to be a deterent with penalties once caught. This law is no different. There are over 600,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. Even if only 20% of convicted sex offenders comply (it will most likely be much higher), that is 120,000 convicted sex offenders that can be blocked from joining social networking sites. If each of the 120,000 blocked sex offenders are kept from contacting just 10 kids, that is 1.2 million kids that will not be contacted by these individuals. It is true that this law would not address the “sex offenders who have yet to be caught,” but what law does. “Minority Report” was just a movie. No technology or law can prevent a crime from occuring by those determined to do so which is why we have prisons. Is this law a cure all? No. Is it another tool for social networking sites and law enforcement to use to protect younger users? Yes.

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