Megans Law and the making of the US Online Sex Offender Registry System

Megan's Law became active in 1996. This law put the burden of sex offender registration and community notification square on the laps of the State, not the federal government. Although community notification is demanded by Megan’s Law, it is up to each state to determine the criteria for the level of disclosure they want to reveal to the general public.

The United States currently has sex offender registries in all 50 US States. This is primarily due to Megans Law and the evolution of registration requirements and the goal of effective community notification. Although states like California had their own sex offender registry long before Megans Law was passed, it lacked proper notification and therefore effectiveness. Even though California has been tracking sex offenders within its borders for over 50 years, it still was difficult for the public to find out any details on these sex offenders. The main reason for this is that you couldn't just load up your computer and search for offenders online, like you can do today. Back then sex offender information could only be accessed by making a non-toll free phone call or actually going to the police station or sheriff's department yourself.

Each state is now required to maintain a database of sex offenders registered in their respective state. Some of these sex offender registries are stricter than others but all of them include high-risk offenders and individuals who have been convicted of, found guilty of or plead guilty to committing or attempting to commit sexual offenses. The offender list contains child molesters and predators that have abused children and have a high propensity to do it again.

The national sex offender registry system has its origins from Megan’s Law and the Jacob Wetterling Act of 1994. It was the unconscionable rape and murder of little seven year old girl Megan Kanka that created widespread national public demand for neighborhood and local community notification and awareness of registered sexual predators living within striking distance of kids and young teens. Megans Law is the term that has been coined for victimization of children by sex offenders, most notably repeat offenders. It is also used in describing the creation and current status of the national sex offender registry system within the USA.

Megans Law has helped generate sex offender awareness and the creation of the national sex offender registry in the USA. Since Megans Law, there have been further additions and amendments to the legislation surrounding sex offender registration and community notification within the United States. It still isn’t a perfect system, but does help families and communities protect their children better. It is still a good idea as a parent, guardian, school, community leader, organization facilitator etc., to perform sex offender searches proactively to protect those under your care.

Placing an offender search today is easy and can be done online in minutes. CriminalBackgroundRecords.com has been giving this free sex offender search with each criminal background check order for years and still continues to do so today.

If a child does not tell anyone about the abuse, it is because he or she must have consented to it.

False. Children often do not tell for a variety of reasons including the offender's threats to hurt or kill someone the victim loves, as well as shame, embarrassment, wanting to protect the offender, feelings for the offender, fear of being held responsible or being punished, fear of being disbelieved, and fear of losing the offender who may be very important to the child or the child's family.
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Most men who commit sexual offenses do not know their victim.

False. 90% of child victims know their offender, with almost half of the offenders being a family member. Of sexual assaults against people age 12 and up, approximately 80% of the victims know the offender.
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Most sexual assaults are committed by someone of the same race as the victim.

True. Most sexual assaults are committed by someone of the same race as the victim. An exception to this is that people who commit sexual assault against Native Americans are usually not Native American
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Most child sexual abusers use physical force or threat to gain compliance from their victims.

False. In the majority of cases, abusers gain access to their victims through deception and enticement, seldom using force. Abuse typically occurs within a long-term, ongoing relationship between the offender and victim and escalates over time.
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Most child sexual abusers find their victims by frequenting such places as schoolyards and playgrounds.

False. Most child sexual abusers offend against children whom they know and with whom they have established a relationship. Many sexual assaults of adult women are considered "confidence rapes," in that the offender knows the victim and has used that familiarity to gain access to her.

The above Facts about Sex Offenders came from the Office of the Attorney General, Department of Justice on the State of California’s Website on the webpage: http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/facts.htm - please visit this web address for the full list of Sex Offender Facts.

We would like to recognize The KlaasKids Foundation website for our readers that are looking for rich online content related to Megan’s Law and the current state of the USA National Sex Offender Registry. A substantial amount of contributing information for this article was found on the KlassKids Foundation website found at: www.klaaskids.org - The Foundation’s mission is to stop crimes against children

Megan's Law & Sex Offender Registry

Megan's Law