Megan's Law: AB 488

Megan’s Law-AB 488

HOW IT WAS BEFORE MEGAN’S LAW
Sarah *(fake name)

Little Sarah, 5-years-old, decided to finally break her silence and when she did, her parents didn’t believe her accusations. Sarah told her parents that her best friends uncle was touching her in places that made her uncomfortable. Sarah then spoke to her teacher, searching for solace; once again her parents excused her accusations and apologized to her teacher for Sarah’s comments.

This story is about Little Sarah who had horrific experiences with a predator, a child molester. At age 5, her and her family moved to Fairfield, that is where her best friend’s uncle who babysat and violated her. He called his game, “playing house”, he would put the other children “to sleep”, make Sarah his “wife”. Sarah said, “ he would gain our trust” and then molest her.

At 8-years-old, Sarah realized the games they played together didn’t feel right. And when she decided to reach out and speak to someone about his games, everyone ignored her and punished her for lying.

Shortly after Sarah started junior high school, one day her dad came into her room and apologized to her for ignoring her accusations. He told her he had been called to testify against Gail* (No last name for confidentiality), the nanny/child molester who had victimized more than 60 young girls. “They couldn’t do anything and he only received 5 years in prison”, said Sarah. “The court couldn’t prove much because they didn’t have any DNA and it was after the fact.”

THE LAW:

In February 2003, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Fresno, helped pass Assembly Bill 488, a law, which requires sex offenders to register where they reside, the crimes they committed, any identifying scars/tattoos and aliases they’ve used.

Assembly Bill 488 requires the Department of Justice to continually compile specific categorized information regarding any person that has been convicted as a sex offender, with specific crime to be registered with the Department of Justice.

The name for Megan's Law comes from a 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge. This web site was the result of the California Assembly BIll 488.

Any person worldwide has access to the Megan’s Law website, which is published by the Department of Justice. Other resources include, “900”, which lets people call to find out where sex offenders live by requesting information over the phone for a $4 fee per sex offender information you request.

The California Department of Justice said through the Megan’s Law website there is more than 63,000 registered sex offenders’ information available, which include over 33,500 specific addresses.

The Department of Justice was not available for comment, but their website said information regarding approximately 22,000 other sex offenders is not included on the website, but it is known by law enforcement personnel. The website also said, family, friends and or acquaintances of the victims according are the most common offenders.

HOW LAW WORKS NOW:

Sgt. Charlie Spruill, a Solano County police officer for over 15 years, said 12 of his years on the force, partnered with the FBI, were dedicated to working with sex offenders in Vacaville. “I don’t think Megan’s Law has helped. For our team there wasn’t a positive or negative effect,” said Spruill.

Prior to Megan’s Law people knew who the sex offenders were, but the public didn’t have access to more information, including where they live. Spruill said, “We team up with the FBI, state parole, police departments and Solano County.”

According to Spruill, there are many restrictions a sex offenders must follow depending on the state, county and city where they live. By 6 p.m. a sex offender can’t leave his home, the only exception is if there is an emergency. There are at least 150 different conditions a sex offender has depending on the category of the offense(s).

Offenders can’t live within 2,000 feet near a school, daycare or park. Once a sex offender has been convicted, the next step sending them to counseling classes, a department of the Vacaville police works with Liberty Health Care to provide appropriate classes. In Liberty Health Care, they offer services, which include psychiatrist, psychologist, police, attorneys, nurses, doctors and counseling services. They work together with the police department and monitor sex offenders’ lives. It is known to be an expensive program to maintain, but the state of California keeps up with it.

Almost 99 percent of the time when a sex offender goes to court it is most likely they will be deemed a sex offender for life. Spruill said, “as long as Megan’s Law exists and stays in effect, I’ve never seen sex offenders that is not declared sex offender for life.”

Patty Ortega, a Yolo county resident, is one of those who have been indirectly affected by Megan’s Law. Ortega has to see her youngest brother on the list and has to live with that for the rest of her life. Ortega explains that her brother was 19-years-old he was dating a girl that was 17. When she became pregnant, her parents reported Ortega’s brother after the law had been an effect only for six months.

Margarita Ochoa, a Woodland resident, wasn’t aware the law existed. A mother of three, all under age said if she had known about the site, she would have checked it before she purchased her home. “It worries me that my neighbor could be a sex offender, my family or friend. Now that I know about the law I want to check the website out,” said Ochoa.

Because of the Megan’s Law regulations, Realtors are required by law to disclose if any sex offenders reside in the area in which the home is being purchased.


Assemblywoman Parra said that the goal of Megan’s Law was achieved. “The law has given more information to law abiding citizens in deciding where to locate or re-locate.”

The reason was Parra decided to propose this law was that Megan’s Law database provides the public with an offender’s name and aliases, information on physical identifying traits and registered locations.

ADVOCATES AGAISN’T MEGAN’S LAW:

Advocates against Megan’s Law are in the minority. Since sex offenders are seen as predators who pose a threat to the public, it is rare to find people that defend the sex offenders.

Mark McDowell is a previously convicted sex offender who speaks out against Megan’s Law, suggesting it violates the rights of those who have to register as sex offenders. “Megan’s Law is ‘knee-jerk’ politics and should be abolished,” McDowell said. “It does no good and is completely unconstitutional.”

As an advocate, McDowell runs a website called pedophileophobia.com. It mentions his case and examines several pedophilia issues. “Anyone who has served his sentence should be allowed to have those convictions ‘set-aside’ and have his or her life ‘normalized,’” McDowell said.

McDowell has relocated to Asia because he had trouble finding gainful employment in the U.S. after losing his California teaching credentials. He has suffered psychologically from protocol he had to comply with as a registered sex offender. “Before I left the country, I had to go into a police station and register, which I found to be traumatizing,” McDowell said. “I even had to wait in a cell.”

McDowell was convicted on misdemeanor charges but was not required to publish his information on the database. He says that if sexual offenses are misdemeanors in California the offender can petition that all information be removed from the site. Since he left the country he is not listed on the public database.

Assemblywoman Parra does not think that Megan’s Law website is to invasive of the sex offenders lives. Sgt. Spruill read McDowell’s website and said, “I read the information on this site. If the writer believes so much in what he/she is writing and wants to stand up for his or her rights, then why is he or she hiding behind the system. IF he or she is so proud then let he or she stand up and be counted.”


On the contrary, Assemblywoman Parra does not think the Megan’s Law website is too invasive of the sex offenders lives.

McDowell’s life has shown that the implications and impacts of Megan’s Law. In California there are problems with unemployment and eventually forced relocation, in his case to Asia. “I committed no crime. A pat on a knee, the shaking or a hand and engaging in some frivolous sex talk that didn’t even involve the so called victims, hardly constituted a crime. I believe I was falsely convicted and deserved no punishment,” McDowell said.

Luciano Vargas, owner of the Acacia Garden Apartments complex in Yolo County is aware of Megan’s Law and as a family member he thinks Megan’s Law is a great way of keeping families safe. I’m the owner and I feel responsible of everyone who lives there Vargas said, “I will not rent my apartments to criminal, drug addict, or sex offender.”

In the end, Little Sarah, now a grown adult, will definitely take 100 percent advantage of Megan’s Law and the site. If it hade only been around when she was a little girl, she wondered if she would have been traumatized. Sarah has been happily married for over 3 year. Unfortunately, the wounds are still prevalent, she is afraid of having children as a result of what happened to her. “I would die if someone touched my kids, and I would fight like my parents didn’t.”