Megan Kanka
1994 ~ Megan Kanka is kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a convicted sex offender, which led to "Megan's Law" requiring sex offender registration and notification of when a sex offender moves into a neighborhood.
This was a tragic crime and it is understandable that parents would want to know the location of sex offenders in their neighborhood. However, the fact is, is that the chances of a child being killed by a crazed violent pedophile is less than being killed by lightning -- about about 100 Americans are struck and killed by lightening each year, of which (according to Florida statistics) one-third are children; whereas, only 9 other children in the U.S. were killed in a similar circumstance in the same year Megan Kanka was killed. The chances of a child being killed by a pedophile are even less than being killed by a vending machine: "13 People Are Killed Each Year By Vending Machine's Falling On Them." Divulging people's crimes and living locations is a clear violation of their right to privacy. How in the world can putting a person's name, photograph, address and crime on the Internet not be a violation of one's privacy? Very few people convicted of sex crimes are anything like the killer of Megan Kanka. Megan Kanka's killer should be executed, and all violators of the law should receive appropriate punishment and rehabilitation. Offenders who are considered violent sexual predators should not be released from prison until they demonstrate they are cured. Megan's Law is overkill and simply not justified by the facts. Sex offenders themselves have been located through sex offender registries and been killed. Human rights begin with the individual, and this is what makes our country unique and honorable. Ignoring human rights will only make things worse.
Megan's killer had been twice convicted before, and served nearly 7 years in prison. If you're going to notify people of the location of a sex offender in their midst, then this is the type of person where notification would be warranted -- a violent felon. No school teachers who give pats, or young men who had consensual sex with their own, but underage, girlfriends should be viewed in the same way as a felon who already served 7 years in prison. Only offenders with particularly serious prior offences should be required to register. This law did not come into being because of misdemeanor sex offense activities, or even non-violent felonies. It is just common sense that only the type of person that inspired the law should have to register.
Ted Koppel had this to say on Megans' laws:
"Good laws are almost never produced in the cauldron
of public passion. The fact of the matter is that
when we are angry, when our primary motive is
punishment, we are impulsive and very rarely smart.
The Sicilians have a wonderful line which captures
the essence of that: "Revenge," they say, "is a
dessert best eaten cold." Passing a piece of
legislation with a particular victim or, for that
matter, criminal in mind is bound to prove less than
satisfactory over the long haul.
Megan's Law may be trying to do too much. So much,
in fact, that it's turning out to be unenforceable.
That's neither fair to the convicted sex offender
who's done his time and now has his sickness under
control, nor is it providing any real protection to
the most vulnerable among us. It needs to be fixed
on both counts." Ted Koppel, ABC Nightline, 2-5-04
Nightline: Address Unknown: Well-Intentioned
Legislation Doesn't Always Produce Good Laws!"
God bless this sweet child and may she be honored for her valiant fight against her attacker (her teeth marks were found on the perpetrator). However, tormenting people who would never do such a thing is just another crime and no solution.
The Victim:
Megan Kanka
Megan Nicole Kanka (December 7, 1986 - July 29, 1994) was a young girl who was raped and murdered by her neighbor Jesse Timmendequas in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Timmendequas was already a convicted sex offender.
Kanka's death resulted in the New Jersey Legislature passing Megan's Law, which requires notification when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood. The law is now Federal.
She was kidnapped on July 29, 1994. Kanka had approached Timmendequas' house and he told her that he had a puppy, but it was too young to come outside, so she had to go inside the house. She agreed, but found there was no puppy.
After raping her, Timmendequas killed her by slamming her head onto a dresser and putting a plastic bag on her head. He then strangled her with a belt. He later raped her body in his car. He discarded the body in a toybox and dumped it into a park. A jury later convicted Timmendequas of Kanka's rape and murder and sentenced him to death.
The Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation was founded in her memory.
The Killer:
Jesse Timmendequas
In 1979, Timmendequas had pleaded guilty to the attempted aggravated sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl in Piscataway, New Jersey. He was given a suspended sentence, but, failing to go to counseling, he spent nine months at the Middlesex Adult Correctional Center. In 1981, he pleaded guilty in regards to the sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl and was imprisoned, at Avenel, for six years.
Conviction
Evidence including blood stains, hair, and fiber samples, found outside Timmendequas' home, as well as a bite mark matching Kanka's teeth, on Timmendequas' hand, led to Timmendequas being found guilty of kidnapping, four counts of aggravated sexual assault, and two counts of felony murder. Prosecutors argued that Timmendequas lured the girl into his house, across the street from hers, offering to show her a puppy. After raping her, he slammed her head onto a dresser, put a plastic bag over her head, and strangled her with a belt. He raped her post-mortem after putting her in his car after he drove off. He then stuck her body into a toy box and left it in a nearby county park. A day later, he had led police to the body in the park.
Congressman Dick Zimmer stated, "I believe he is exactly the kind of predator that the legislature had in mind when it enacted the death penalty."
The court sentenced Timmendequas to death. He remains on death row, waiting for the sentence to be carried out.
Defense
Timmendequas' defense maintained he was coerced, by police, into confessing. The defense further argued that Timmendequas' roommates, also convicted sex offenders, were involved in the slaying. The three men had met at Avenel.
Magen's Law
The
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against
Children and Sexual Violent
Offender Registration Program,
enacted in 1994, provides a
financial incentive for states
to establish registration
programs for persons who have
been convicted of certain sex
crimes. Currently, all fifty
states have implemented some
form of a SOR system.
Megan's Law, enacted in May
1996, amends the Wetterling
Program with regard to the
disclosure of information
collected by a state SOR
program. The law gives states
broad discretion to determine to
whom notification should be made
about offenders, under what
circumstances, and about which
offenders.
Sex-Offender Laws
History
Prior to 1994 only five states
required convicted sex offenders
to register their addresses with
local law enforcement. As
recognition of the severity of
this problem grew, Congress
passed the Jacob
Wetterling Crimes Against
Children and Sexually Violent
Offender Act, 42 U.S.C.
§§14071, et seq. (“Wetterling
Act”). This requires state
implementation of a sex-offender
registration program or a 10
percent forfeiture of federal
funds for state and local law
enforcement under the Byrne
Grant Program of the U.S.
Department of Justice. Today,
all fifty states have sex
offender registries.
The realization registration alone was not enough came after the tragic murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a released sex offender living on her street. The public outcry created a call for programs to provide the public with information regarding released sex offenders. In 1996 Congress passed a federal law mandating state community notification programs. Megan’s Law, section (e) of the Wetterling Act, requires all states to conduct community notification but does not set out specific forms and methods, other than requiring the creation of internet sites containing state sex-offender information. Beyond that requirement, states are given broad discretion in creating their own policies.
There are currently 566,782 registered sex offenders in the United States.
