When Andrew McDaniels, a convicted sex offender, was interviewed by a parole office in September, he faced something new. The parole officer had a laptop computer receiving data from skin sensors on McDaniels. When the parole officer noticed a blip, he asked more pointed questions. Soon, McDaniels acknowledged he had been around boys near upstate Watkins Glen. The parolee was accused of violating a condition of his release that requires him to stay away from children and he remains in Schuyler County Jail until a hearing this week. New York is the latest state to require paroled sex offenders to answer questions while hooked to a lie-detecting computer. Sex offenders on parole will now be subjected to random life detector tests to ensure they are complying with the conditions of their release. A dozen specially trained parole officers armed with the laptop computer polygraph tests will ask each paroled sex offender a series of questions dealing with their lifestyles and activities.
(Albany, New York)