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I would like a facility where they can live and go to work and a have a life but away from a residential area.

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We live in a nation of laws and punishments for each individual offense. However, plea bargins and back room deals, that are made all the time, seem to take the punch out of the punishment, so to say. Until we uphold the law and uphold the appropriate punishment, sex offenders as well as drug dealers, rapists, theives and murders will be allowed to re-enter society perhaps before they have not only fullfilled their 'time' but also perhaps before they have been rehabilitated (if that is possible).

And let me say again, that when ANY incarcerated individual is released from prison, by law, they are allowed to re-enter society and live a full FREE life. I believe that it is truly unconstitutional to place additional restrictions on any criminal/offender when they are released into society. If a person being released from prison is STILL considered a threat to society...then OBVIOUSLY, there needs to be a longer prison sentence. The laws clearly need to be re-examined, re-thought and perhaps re-written.

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    Residency Restrictions

    Among laws targeting sex offenders living in the community, residency restrictions may be the harshest as well as the most arbitrary. The laws can banish registrants from their already established homes, keep them from living with their families, and make entire towns off-limits to them, forcing them to live in isolated rural areas. For example, former sex offenders in Miami, Florida have been living under bridges, one of the few areas not restricted for them by the residency restriction laws of that city.

    There is no evidence that prohibiting sex offenders from living near where children gather will protect children from sexual violence. Indeed, the limited research to date suggests the contrary: a child molester who does offend again is as likely to victimize a child found far from his home as he is one who lives or plays nearby. A study by the Minnesota Department of Corrections found that individuals who committed another sex crime against a child made contact with their victim through a social relationship.

    Moreover, the laws apply to all registered sex offenders regardless of whether their prior crimes involved children. It is hard to fathom what good comes from prohibiting a registered offender whose victim was an adult woman from living near a school bus stop. Stories of the senseless impact of residency restrictions are legion. For example, Georgia’s residency restriction law has forced a 26-year-old married woman to move from her home because it is too close to a daycare center. She is registered as a sex offender because she had oral sex with a 15-year-old when she was 17.

    Some lawmakers admit to another purpose for residency restriction laws. Georgia State House Majority Leader Jerry Keen, who sponsored the state’s law banning registrants from living within 1,000 feet of places where children gather, stated during a floor debate, “My intent personally is to make [residency restrictions] so onerous on those that are convicted of [sex] offenses … they will want to move to another state.”5 Yet people who have committed sex offenses must live somewhere. For those who do pose a threat to public safety, they should be able to reside in communities where they can receive the supervision and treatment they need, rather than be forced to move to isolated rural areas or become homeless.

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SCHENECTADY
Man charged with sex abuse of child under new law Measure strengthens assault penalties
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.net.

   A city man charged this week with sexually abusing a 6-year-old child faces up to life in prison if convicted under a new law, authorities said.
   Jose A. Cabrera, 33, of Yates Village, was charged with one count of predatory sexual assault against a child.
   He is the first person charged in Schenectady County under the law, which was enacted last year, prosecutor Andra Ackerman said.
   Cabrera is accused of having sexual contact with the child early on Sept. 8, according to papers fi led in court. He also faces charges of first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
   The charges were elevated under the new predatory sexual assault law due to the age of the child, Ackerman said. The statute can be invoked if the victim is younger than 13.
   The statute provides a new tool for prosecutors, Ackerman said.
   Previously, the most suspects could face was 25 years in state prison. The new law carries a maximum of 25 years to life.
   “This criminal charge provides us with much more leverage in protecting children,” Ackerman said. “These defendants know that if they’re convicted after trial, they could face life in prison.”
   Papers filed in court indicate that Cabrera was charged based on statements from a witness and from Cabrera that identified him as committing the crime.
   Ackerman confirmed that Cabrera is not on the state’s sex offender registry.
   But records show that he has been charged with injuring a child before. Cabrera was charged in 2006 with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was accused of grabbing his girlfriend’s 15-month-old son by the wrists, breaking his left arm, according to papers filed then. That case is pending, officials said.
   Cabrera remains at the Schenectady County Jail without bail.  

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But records show that he has been charged with injuring a child before. Cabrera was charged in 2006 with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was accused of grabbing his girlfriend’s 15-month-old son by the wrists, breaking his left arm, according to papers filed then. That case is pending, officials said.

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Keep up the fight vs. sex offender law

   Re the Glenville Town Board’s September meeting, my concern is with the changes to the “sex offender law” passed by the county Legislature Aug. 23.
   While I protested against this law at the Legislature’s Aug. 22 meeting, I can no longer enter a legal protest because I am not someone who has received a legal notice to move. However, I can advise anyone who receives such a notice that they do have a right to enter a legal protest, and if they have a lawyer who is a member of the ACLU, the ACLU can also file a lawsuit on behalf of the person.
   I have been informed that such a lawsuit will take at least a year or more before it is settled, which will be after the next election. Current officials who voted for this law may not be re-elected, and the law may be changed again.
   I would also call your attention to the excellent op-ed column of Sept. 2, “Due process is the victim now,” by Edwin D. Reilly Jr. In the same section that day was a column by Gazette Managing Editor Tom Woodman, “Sex offender law residency issue tiresome, debate necessary.”
   I recommend both of these commentaries for your immediate attention. And since this new mandate also applies to the Scotia Village Board, I also advise it of my objection.
   REV. WILLIAM L. GRAY
   Scotia  

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Man possessed child porn, state police charge
   CLIFTON PARK — Karl K. Westphal, 31, 62 Appletree Lane, has been charged with one count of possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child, a class E felony, punishable by one to four years in jail.
   Westphal, who
was arrested by
state police in Clifton Park Wednesday, allegedly possessed videos and photographs on his personal computer that depicted children under the age of 16 engaged in sexual activities, police said.
   Authorities said they were alerted to Westphal’s alleged activities when an unidentified person became aware that the pornography was on his computer,
   Westphal, who is divorced and works at General Electric in Schenectady, was released on an appearance ticket and scheduled to be arraigned on the charge at 4 p.m. Sept. 20 in Clifton Park Town Court.