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TOPEKA, Kan. -- Concerned parents rallied together Thursday before a legislative interim committee to urge lawmakers to impose requirements on sex offenders that would protect children.
The parents all live in Scarborough, a neighborhood in southwest Olathe where a convicted California child sex offender moved this spring. After serving a 120-day sentence in California for sexual battery of a 13-year-old girl spending the night with his daughter, _____ and his family moved to a house 208 feet from the Scarborough Elementary School.
Scarborough parents alarmed by the situation also discovered that Kansas has no restrictions on a registered sex offender living near a school and does not require sex offenders moving from another state to notify new neighbors of their criminal history.
Many of those parents Thursday urged the Joint Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight to recommend to ask the full legislature for measures such as restricting where sex offenders can live, limiting their participation in school or church functions, and requiring neighborhood notification when a sex offender moves into an area.
But according to committee chair Sen.Pete Brungardt, a Republican from Salina, many of those issues were already put to rest in 2007, when lawmakers decided that restricting were a sex offender can live was unrealistic, because cities don't have the authority to draw broad zones where sex offenders can and cannot live.
Instead, the committee approved preparing a report for the full legislature in January, when the session reconvenes, that recommends pursuing restricting the ability of convicted offenders to go to places such as parks, bus stops and other places children are likely to be, as well as the idea of electronic monitoring.
Brungardt said the plan is to keep convicted offenders away from situations where they might be tempted to harm a child.
The committee also reviewed the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, a national agreement among all 50 states concerning the transfer of sex offenders from one state to another. In the case of _____, the California man who moved to Olathe after being released from prison, his name was never put into the Compact system by the state of California. Therefore, the state couldn't give notice to Kansas when he moved. The state of Kansas had no way of knowing that _____ was a sex offender except for the fact that he registered himself after he moved.
Brungardt said the failure of California to enter _____ into the Compact system was a case of "judicial discretion or oversight."
In the meantime, the parents of the Scarborough suburb say the cul-de-sac where _____ lives was once a place where kids ran freely and toys were scattered about the community area. Now parents are scared to let their children play like they once did.
Ultimately, the group of parents, who call themselves Kansas Rights 4 Kids, are afraid that because Kansas does not have the same laws restricting the movements of sex offenders like neighboring states, such as Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri do, Kansas will become a safe haven for sex offenders.
"I'm highly concerned that Kansas is surrounded by states with child sex offender residency restrictions, and that the lack of restrictions here in Kansas could lend to a huge influx of child sex offenders from other states," said Wichita City Councilman Jim Skelton, who provided written testimony for the committee.
But Brungardt pointed out that sex offenders have already served their sentences, and that cases should be judged on an individual basis, with restrictions tailored to particular individuals.
"sex offender" "sexual offender" "sex abuse" "sexual abuse" Kansas Olathe Topeka Residency Restrictions Sheeple "Child Sex Offenders" "Child Sexual Offenders" Church School Daycare Busstop Scarborough "Pete Brungardt" Salina "Jim Skelton"
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Sex offender sparks debate in Olatheby NBCActionNews440 views
If the offender is THAT dangerous, they shouldnt be out of prison. its like letting loose a wild lion and then handing out flyers to alert the public. Flyers dont save lives.
Dreambro1 1 month ago
Sex offenders are treated more like monsters, than people making decisions, whether good or bad. I do believe in a registery, but it should be limited to predators and people who have established a pattern of Conduct, and not everyone whos ever looked at a 17 year old, got drunk at a party and kissed a 16 year old ( why 16 at at a after hrs) or peed in public or layed naked in their own back yards.
Dreambro1 3 months ago
What a crock of crap 80% (do not) re-offend get your facts straight...
lovemyson85 1 year ago