America
60,000 Sex Off enders Go Missing
Sloppy record-keeping, lax laws, and state budget cuts are allowing violent predators to roam free. BY BILL HOFFMANN
A
newsmax investigation indicates that the whereabouts of more than 60,000 convicted U.S. sex off enders — rapists, sodomizers, and child molesters — are not known, despite laws requir-
ing them to register their new residences with authorities. Missouri state auditors reported in October that police
in the Show Me State are looking for 1,259 missing regis- tered sex off enders — about 8 percent of the 16,000 con- victed Missouri sex criminals. Of the missing sex off enders in Missouri, about 800 are considered so dangerous they are required by law to con- tact police every 90 days for the rest of their lives. Missouri state auditor Nicole Galloway called the
large number of missing sex off enders “disturbing and alarming.” Sex-off enders’ addresses are typically published in
online directories, so the public can be aware of potential dangers in their communities. But if the addresses pro- vided are old or incorrect, citizens might be unaware of dangers lurking in their own neighborhoods. “The sex off ender registry really provides a false sense of
security,” Galloway said. Galloway said local law enforcement’s lack of rigor in enforcing residency-notifi cation requirements is the No. 1 cause of the large number of missing off enders. But Missouri is just part of a larger national trend. News-
max has learned several other states have large numbers of missing registered sex off enders as well: California appears to be the worst state at keeping track of its convicted rapists and child molesters. It admitted in 2003 it had lost track of more than 33,000 convicted sex off enders. More current numbers are not available. Oregon has some 29,000 registered sexual off enders. But according to a 2016 report on KATU-TV, almost 98 per-
14 NEWSMAX | JANUARY 2019 5035.7 2255.5
ACCOUNTABILITY LACKING Alaska leads the nation with the greatest number of registered sex off enders per million residents, while Oregon has the fewest. In many states, however, authorities have lost track of
off enders who are required by law to register their current addresses. As many as 60,000 of them are missing and unaccounted for nationwide.
1054.7 202.9 3245.9 3550.7 3393.2
1483 Hawaii 2289.9
cent of them are not listed publicly — making it virtually impossible to verify how many of them have gone AWOL. Massachusetts offi cials determined last year the state lacks current addresses for 1,769 sex off enders. Alaska reports some 251 sex off enders have failed to fol- low the law. Authorities say they do not know where 75 of them are living. Illinois state police say about 600 sex off enders are “missing.” New Jersey has about 80 sex off enders with no registered address. Wisconsin reports it lacks current information for nearly 3,000 of its more than 25,000 registered sex off enders. Ohio had some 168 registered sex off enders designated “non-compliant” as of 2016. Washington state’s sex off ender database showed 387 registered non-compliant sex off enders.
M
issing offenders have been reported in other states as well. No one seems to know the precise
national total of how many are missing. An oft-published urban legend puts the number at over 100,000. Social researchers say 10,000 to 30,000 missing sex off enders is more realistic. Losing track of even one sex off ender can have devastat- ing consequences. In 1996, for example, 7-year-old Megan
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