IT’S TIME TO MONITOR HOMELESS SEX OFFENDERS

The South Shore Press/Honorable Jack Eddington, Suffolk County Legislator

According to Parents for Megan’s Law, the average sexual offender is 31
years old, white and male.  Less than half (about 42 percent) report
having never been married.  Roughly the same percentages (35 to 40
percent) are repeat offenders.  Furthermore, fully 93 percent of sexual
assault victims know their attacker as either family members or
acquaintances. That means that only seven percent of sexual predators
are actual strangers, a fact that at first glance would appear to be
good news, but not really. In all, the statistics are unsettling,
especially when you consider that these numbers represent only the
predators that have been caught. It is our job to protect the most
vulnerable members of our families and communities and as chair of
Public Safety, I take that responsibility very seriously. For this
reason, I have written legislation to provide GPS monitoring of
homeless registered sex offenders in Suffolk County.  Monitoring
homeless sex offenders with a GPS ankle bracelet will help to
circumvent the loophole, besides being a cost-conscious alternative to
the trailers.
(New York)