Sex Offender Brouhaha

There is a whole lot of wailing going on about displaced sex offenders. Guys and gals who hauled ass during the Katrina and Rita unpleasantness. I'v read articles from all over the US, complaining about sex offenders and rightfully so. One example is here, from the Monroe News-Star.

BATON ROUGE — Law enforcement officers nationwide are trying to track down at least 300 sex offenders who fled southern Louisiana during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But so far, authorities have had little success.

We need to find those offenders, no doubt about it. However, the legislature of the state of Louisiana did a good thing when it wrote the sex offender law. It forbade moving without registering. Even in the midst of a hurricane, a sex offender is required to register. From RS 15:542 (b)

If any person required to register pursuant to this Section moves to a new parish, or is temporarily displaced from his residence and establishes any temporary residence for a period of not less than ten consecutive days following the issuance of an evacuation order or declaration of emergency issued by the governor or the local governing authority in accordance with law the person shall register with the sheriff in the new parish and the police chief or, if the residence is within a parish with a population in excess of four hundred fifty thousand, the police department in such parish, within ten days of establishing the new residence. The person shall also send written notice, within ten days after the change of address in the new parish, to the sheriff and the police chief or, if the residence is within a parish with a population in excess of four hundred fifty thousand, the police department with whom the person last registered. Within thirty calendar days from receipt of this written notification, the sheriff and the police chief or, if the residence is in a parish with a population in excess of four hundred fifty thousand, the police department shall send written notification of the offender's address change to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Then the sentencing provision: F.(1)

A person who fails to register as required by this Section shall, upon first conviction, be fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned with hard labor for not less than two years nor more than ten years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

It's a felony to move and not let the Sheriff know about it.

R.S. 15:544 defines the duty to register for a period of ten years following incarceration. For example, if you get a five year sentence, and you serve your whole sentence, you still have to register for ten years. I could show other examples in other places in the law that deal with sex offenders, but they would be redundant. Article 895 of our Criminal Procedure levys additional requirements for those sex offenders placed on probation.

When I was a parole officer I supervised sex offenders. One of the reasons I chose to retire was supervising sex offenders. In sex offender cases, the Parole Board would routinely impose a curfew. Lets say that the curfew in a particular case was from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Invariably, the offender would ask me what he should do in case his mother was ill and he had to take her to the hospital.

I'd ask the question, "Who would take her to the hospital if you were in prison?"

Or, the question would be: "Suppose my house burns down in the middle of the night?"

I'd answer: "Then I expect you to be sitting in front of the smouldering remains when I come by to check on you the next morning."

Every sex offender in the State of Louisiana was told about the law before they were released from jail. Their signatures reside on a form somewhere in the Department of Corrections. Their parole officers have signatures. Their probation officers have signatures. They were told not to move without permission. They were told that even in the event of a natural disaster, they had a duty to register. By that ommission, they are felons.

The Louisiana Sex Offender Registry has been in existence since 1992. We have the records of offenders who were arrested, tried, and convicted. The vast majority of those offenders are under supervision. It should be a simple matter to check the records, make a few phone calls, and get warrants for those sex offenders who are not where they are supposed to be.