Juvenile sex offenders: what the public needs to know

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 46-6507-46-6507
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Sex Offenders ◽  
The Public

scholarly journals No Child Left Behind: The Adam Walsh Act and Pennsylvania Juvenile Sex Offenders

2008 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal F. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Juvenile Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Crimes ◽  
White House ◽  
The Public ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Television Shows ◽  
President Bush

At a White House ceremony on July 27, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. At the ceremony, the President hailed the Walsh Act as being comprehensive and an important part of the “solemn responsibility” of lawmakers to protect children. Indeed, the Walsh Act is the latest in a series of federal legislation, dating back to the 1980s, which aims to protect the public, and children in particular, from becoming victims of sexual crimes. The public’s fear of the rapist and the child molester led to a great increase in the criminal penalties for sexual crimes throughout the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the imposition of federal laws focusing on these crimes. And at a time when television shows such as “To Catch a Predator” receive millions of viewers, it is clear that the nation’s fear of those who would commit sexual crimes against children, and the desire that they be brought to justice, remains at a fever pitch. By passing the Walsh Act, Congress and the President responded to a national outcry that children were not safe from sex offenders.

Public Opinions on Applying Adult Sex Offender Legislation to Minors Convicted of Sex Crimes

2021 ◽  
pp. 088740342110463
Author(s):  
Calli M. Cain ◽  
Lisa L. Sample
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Juvenile Sex Offenders ◽  
Public Parks ◽  
Sex Offender Registry ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sex ◽  
Adult Sex Offenders

A controversial part of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) mandates that states require minors adjudicated of certain sexual offenses to be on the sex offender registry, but not all states have complied. Our article examines how far the public in one Midwestern state that has not complied with the AWA is willing to go to manage juvenile sex offenders. We use a statewide survey of adults to examine attitudes toward applying adult sex offender penalties to minors adjudicated of a sex crime (residency restrictions, prohibitions from public schools, school zones, public parks, and social networking sites). Results indicate more than half (60%) of participants agreed that juveniles should be on the public sex offender registry. However, there was less consensus on how punitively juveniles should be treated compared with adult sex offenders. Results indicated which demographics in this state were more likely to hold punitive views toward juvenile sex offenders.

Distinguishing Juvenile Sex Offenders From Non-Sex Offenders

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Crooks ◽  
Michael Crooks ◽  
Frank C. Dicataldo
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Sex Offenders

scholarly journals The War on Sex Offenders: Community Notification in Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Kathleen Daly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Campaign ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Naming And Shaming

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of “naming and shaming” sex offenders. Community notification laws, popularly known as Megan's Law, which authorise the public disclosure of the identity of convicted sex offenders to the community in which they live, were enacted throughout the United States in the 1990s. A public campaign to introduce “Sarah's Law” has recently been launched in Britain, following the death of eight-year old Sarah Payne. Why are sex offenders, and certain categories of sex offenders, singled out as targets of community notification laws? What explains historical variability in the form that sex offender laws take? We address these questions by reviewing the sexual psychopath laws enacted in the United States in the 1930s and 40s and the sexual predator and community notification laws of the 1990s, comparing recent developments in the United States with those in Britain, Canada, and Australia. We consider arguments by Garland, O'Malley, Pratt, and others on how community notification, and the control of sex offenders more generally, can be explained; and we speculate on the likelihood that Australia will adopt community notification laws.

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