All Ohio counties will list juvenile and adult sex offenders to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Gov. Ted Strickland has signed state enforcement and funding laws into effect.
Of 16,066 registered offenders in Ohio, the Lake County Sheriff's Office lists 124 adult offenders, including 33 classified as sexual predators.
The Lake County Sheriff's Department notifies neighbors by mail or Internet.
It also will notify neighbors if any of 93 such prison inmates are ever released.
For juveniles and adults, such notification will be provided to neighbors, children's service agencies, school districts, day-care centers, colleges and volunteer organizations in contact with minors.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann forbids sheriff's departments from publicizing all details about juvenile sex offenders.
But he is reviewing that order now that the Adam Walsh Act requires highly detailed listing on the federal registry and Ohio's Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law.
The new federal law is to be in effect by 2009, and will require sheriffs to publicly list teenagers 14 to 18 years old nationally if they are legally declared as sex offenders.
To get the federal law into effect and funded, state legislators passed Ohio Senate Bill 10.
The measure was introduced in Columbus by state Sen. Steve Austria, D-Beaverbrook, a Senate Criminal Justice Committee member.
The bill was passed unanimously by the Senate and by all but four votes in the Ohio House of Representatives before Strickland signed it into law.
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The local six juvenile sex offenders, five of whom are white and one black, are all males.
Of the six monitored by the sheriff, four are habitual sex offenders, one is a predator, and one is a child victim offender. Their neighbors have been notified.
Deputy Sheriff Mike Perry, who works in the department's sexual offender registration office, said he cannot provide much information because of their age. But three are 15. The fourth habitual defender is now 21, but was 17 when last arrested.
The fifth registrant, who is the predator, is 18. He was arrested at age 15 for "gross sexual imposition with the likelihood of recurrence," Perry said.
Lake County Prosecutor Charles E. Coulson said the
sixth is now 20 years old, but is registered as a "child victim offender."
The registrant was 16 in 2003 when he committed a sexual act while committing another offense, the prosecutor said.
Geauga County has no registered juvenile sex offenders.
Of 66 Cuyahoga County juvenile sex offenders now listed based on crimes committed when they were 14 to 18, 65 are males and one is a female.
"This happened in Summit County in 2005, when she was age 16. The victim was a 15-year-old male. Then she moved to Cuyahoga County," sheriff's Sgt. David Synkowski said of the female sex offender.
Synkowski said he understands why some youths make the sex offender registration list.
"If a juvenile is convicted for sex offenses or for something like burglary or stealing a car, statistically, the juvenile does not typically re-offend," he said.
"But if he does repeat, get him registered as a sex offender."
The Lake County Sheriff's Office and county commissioners expect to be prepared early enough to qualify for "bonus" money in federal and state funds to help them be fully ready by July 2009.
"The Adam Walsh Act will put all their names on the federal registration Web page, and we will use it," Perry said. "We're trying to put it all together now for the juvenile sex offenders and notification, which includes everything from the photo, date of birth and any marks like scars and tattoos.
"Right now, there is no money in the Sheriff's Department for it. It will all be paid by the county commissioners, I guess."
Coulson and Lake County Juvenile Court Judge William W. Weaver aren't surprised that registered juvenile sex offenders' records will become far more public.
Coulson wouldn't comment specifically on Lake County's current six registered juvenile sex offenders, except to say that they are part of a trend.
"I can tell you that I do believe sexual crimes are becoming more violent," he said. "I have noticed a substantial trend of an increase in the severe violence of crimes committed by juveniles, and that goes for the sexual offense."
Romeo & Juliet
The new law might enable some teenage sexual offenders to stay off the registration list in some states.
That would fall under "Romeo and Juliet" traditions or laws in some states. Many juvenile court judges don't order such offenders to become registered if the victim in the case is:
* Between 14 and 17
* A willing participant in the sexual activity
* No more than four years younger than the offender.
Coulson favors the current six youths being registered as offenders. He views them as "scarlet" offenders, as in the Webster's dictionary definition of "grossly and glaringly offensive" and involving "sexual immorality."
"I am in favor of sexual offender registration. It is the Scarlet A," he said. "History has shown it is a horrific crime. Sexual offenders usually repeat their crimes. But I also think that judges are very careful before labeling such juveniles. If there is no evidence, including psychiatric tests, for potential repeat offenses, most judges won't order them registered. If he doesn't find the evidence, he is not going to label them."
Weaver doesn't use the Romeo and Juliet comparison. But he does say that most such youths don't approach rape if brought into his court.
"Each of the six registered as sexual offenders, definitely including the predator, went through this court. I ordered them to be registered, and the Sheriff's Department does all the work," the judge said. "In each case, it is one juvenile less for such a violent crime if they are registered. Most of the registration was done under Megan's Law."
The judge favors the Adam Walsh Act requiring far more public notification than Megan's Law does.
Megan's Law went into effect in 1991 to require registration of offenders. It was named after Megan Kankas, who was raped and slain at age 7 in 1991 by a 33-year-old man in New Jersey.
Megan's Law limits the times when community notification can occur and who in the community is entitled to that notification.
The Adam Walsh Act - named after "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh's son, who was killed at age 6 by a rapist - prevents Romeo and Juliet defendants from being registered. But the Adam Walsh Act, unlike Megan's Law, permits expanded registration of adult and juvenile offenders.
The new law allows anybody to see such information, with more details than name only.
The age factor
State Sen. Tim Grendell,
R-Chester Township, chairs the Ohio Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where Austria's bill was introduced.
Grendell, who is an attorney, favors full notification of adult and juvenile sex offender registration.
"If the nature of the offense constitutes a felony, the purpose of notification is to protect people. There is no reason not to notify a juvenile offender's neighbors and the public," the senator said. "When working on the legislation, we saw several examples of 16- and 17-year-olds committing serious sex crimes. If there are several and the likelihood of repeat offenses, I don't know why the age of the offender makes any difference in notifying the public about the threat."
State Rep. Kenny Yuko, R-Richmond Heights, who sits on the Ohio House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee, voted for S.B. 10 and agrees with Grendell.
"It was a jam-packed House when we heard testimony. It was a feel-good bill that people will support," Yuko said. "Juvenile sex crime is not so widespread. But one case is too many, and if you can save someone, then you should approve the bill. One can only dream that you cannot only save one child, but many children."
