Young Sex Offenders Might Join Registry
Md. House Bill Targets Those at Least 13

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Prompted by the case of a 13-year-old Bethesda boy who sexually abused two young boys in his care, Maryland lawmakers are considering legislation that would remove the protection of privacy for juvenile sex offenders.

The bill would require juveniles to be listed in Maryland's sex offender registry if they were at least 13 when they committed their crime. In a departure from the judicial practice of guarding the confidentiality of young offenders, judges would be allowed to unseal the juvenile's criminal record for police and other law enforcement authorities with the goal of disclosure to the community.

The measure is one of several the General Assembly is considering this year to crack down on sex offenders after the passage last year of a broad law that enhances penalties for and monitoring of convicted adult offenders. Lawmakers who sponsored Jessica's Law -- modeled on a Florida law passed after a 9-year-old girl was killed by a convicted sex offender -- are back this year with a proposal to restrict mandatory minimum sentences by denying parole in the most egregious cases.

This year, the abuse of one of Jim and Michele Hunter's children prompted them to begin a legislative mission. A 13-year-old neighbor they had entrusted to babysit for their three young boys pleaded guilty last year to sodomizing and molesting their youngest child, who was 3 when the abuse started. Later, the babysitter was convicted of abusing another neighborhood boy.

In emotional testimony, Michele Hunter, 42, told the House Judiciary Committee in explicit terms yesterday how her son revealed the molestation during a casual conversation in the family car in 2005, six days before Christmas.

"Our child had been abused right under our noses," Hunter testified.

Current law would require that the abuser's record be wiped clean when he is released from the residential treatment center where a Montgomery County juvenile judge sent him last fall.

"The judge told us: 'This is a case that warrants punishment,' " Hunter said. " 'But my hands are tied. If this was an adult, we would be looking at 55 years in prison.' "

Del. Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Montgomery), the bill's House sponsor, called the measure a "major departure from how we handle juvenile cases." She noted what she said is a conflict between the juvenile system's goal of confidentiality and rehabilitation with the need to disclose a sex offender's identity to a community, no matter the offender's age.

Dumais said 32 states, including Virginia, have similar laws.

"Should we open that door? If it's a violent sex offense, yes," Dumais said. Several of the Hunters' neighbors testified that although their children had not been abused by the teen, they were aghast to learn that the only way they could find out that the neighborhood babysitter was a sex offender was through the Hunters' revelation.

"The rest of us in the neighborhood had no way to know there was a rapist in the neighborhood," Rena Godfrey testified.

Several committee members asked Montgomery prosecutors why they did not seek to have the boy, who was almost 15 when the case went to court, tried as an adult. The delegates were told that because it was his first offense, a judge would not have agreed to remove him from the juvenile system.

But a few delegates said they were concerned that by exempting the confidentiality of one category of juvenile crimes, the path would be opened to excluding other crimes.

"What about crimes of violence?" Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Montgomery) asked. "Or identify theft? Where do we draw the line?"

Karla Smith, chief of the family violence division for the Montgomery state's attorney's office, responded that because sex offenders victimize children and are not obvious criminals to the public, they should be held to a different standard than juveniles who commit other crimes.

A panel of public defenders opposed the bill, saying juvenile offenders are less likely than adults to abuse again and should not be on a registry. "If you want to do something to make sure these children are not dangerous, offer better treatment," said Brain Dento, district public defender for Prince George's County.

Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's) suggested that the bill be amended to limit its scope to juveniles a judge concludes are pedophiles, unlikely to be rehabilitated, and that such an amendment might increase the bill's chance of committee approval.

Other bills would designate sexual abuse of a minor younger than 14 a "crime of violence" that would prevent child sex offenders from early release.

Another would prevent convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school, playground, swimming pool or day-care center. Registered offenders would be required to update their photographs when they have a substantial change in appearance.