Washington State Might Protect Sex Offenders. Proposal: No More Public Notices, Public Access to Registries

Washington state is preparing to let sex offenders roam wild and free by easing restrictions and sentencing guidelines for the rapists and perverts, a draft report from two state panels says.

Indeed, the report’s authors don’t even want parents to know if a sex offender is living next door. And leftist Governor Jay Inslee recently vetoed a notification bill on violent offenders, and even released dangerous sex offenders into residential neighborhoods.

That would make Inslee and other backers of leniency for sex criminals directly responsible for any crimes they commit. Not that they would be punished when the criminals they protect rape and molest.

Current Laws Undermine Safety

Uncovered by the Post Millennial scribe Ari Hoffman, the proposal to modify the law came from the state’s Sex Offender Policy Board and Sentencing Guideline Commission. It says restrictions and tough sentences on sex offenders must be rolled back because “these laws actually undermine public safety, the exact opposite of what lawmakers and the public so confidently assume they accomplish.”

The draft claims that “those convicted of a sex offense have some of the lowest recidivism rates compared to individuals convicted of a non-sex offense,” the website reported. And “this is also true for individuals convicted of sex offenses against children.” 

The draft document did not include data to back its claim that sex offenders are a low risk to reoffend, the website reported. In 2019, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that “released sex offenders were more than three times as likely as other released prisoners to be arrested for rape or sexual assault (7.7% versus 2.3%).”

As well, “released sex offenders accounted for 5% of releases in 2005 and 16% of arrests for rape or sexual assault during the 9-year follow-up period,” BJS reported.

“Recidivism rates for these offenses are as low as or lower than for other sex crimes,” the draft document insists. And although “sex offenses are ‘distinctively unsettling and injurious’ justifying exceptional prevention efforts … punishments like registration, public access, community notification, and residency restrictions conclusively do not reduce recidivism rates.”

Castration or the electric chair would certainly reduce recidivism, but that obvious fact aside, the document also recommends sending sex offenders into the community to reduce recidivism:

Reduced reintegration, social support, stable living, steady employment, all undermine rehabilitative efforts and may actually increase registrant recidivism.

Even worse, the draft policy suggests keeping the public in the dark when a pervert is released. Nor should anyone know where he lives. Such policies are useless because they don’t inspire folks to take “meaningful precautions to protect themselves.” 

And, the draft continued:

These systems create a false sense of security and divert attention from more significant sexual dangers, increasing risk to the public.

Instead, the document recommends registries for police use only and stopping community sex-offender alerts. It also claims that “registration laws are expensive to implement,” costing several “millions dollars per year.”

The two boards also fret that released perverts might go homeless. 

Sex Offenders Set Free

More frightening than the draft proposal, however, is what Hoffman revealed in February. Level 3 sex offenders, the most dangerous, were released to live in residential neighborhoods. “The inmates were called ‘the worst of the worst’ by the federal government and included convicted pedophiles who are the most likely to re-offend,” the Hoffman reported.

Level 3 offenders are the most dangerous, the Pierce County website says:

These offenders pose a potential high risk to the community and are a threat to re-offend if provided the opportunity. Most have prior sex crime convictions as well as other criminal convictions. Their lifestyles and choices place them in this classification. Some have predatory characteristics and may seek out victims. They may have refused or failed to complete approved treatment programs.

Worse still, Hoffman reported, Inslee vetoed a provision that would have amended the law so that the public is notified about violent criminals.

Bob Ferguson, the state’s attorney general, Hoffman reported, backs the effort to protect sex offenders.

In 2021, when “37 Republican and Democratic members of the National Association of Attorney Generals signed a letter in response to the proposals regarding the Modern Penal Code opposing similar rollbacks of sex offender regulations,” Ferguson didn’t sign.

“He is actually in favor of rolling back the laws as they apply to sex offenders,” Glen Morgan of watchdog We The Governed told Hoffman. “There’s no way that he’s going to ever be in favor of making things more transparent.”

Morgan said Ferguson and his backers not only “destroy public records at every turn” but also “want to keep secret from the public who these violent criminals are, where they are, where they’re going and they want to keep it secret. And the only outcome from that secrecy is more victims.”