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News & Noteworthy ©
Featured Issue 9-27-05 |
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"People don't necessarily want statistical analysis. They want security for their children - real or imagined," he [State Rep. Jim Clements, R-Selah] said!
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9-27-2005 Washington:
Task Force Debates Sex-Offender-Free Zones |
.OLYMPIA - Restricting where sex offenders can live may not stop a lot of crime, but the practice is still valuable because it makes Washingtonians feel safer, some members of a state task force believe. A law that took effect in July bars offenders convicted of certain sex crimes against children from living within 880 feet of schools while under state Department of Corrections supervision. The ban sunsets after one year. The measure's sponsor, state Rep. Jim Clements, R-Selah, said Monday that such sex-offender-free zones will supplement a public notification system that may not always fulfill its obligations.
Others said more public education and prevention efforts are a better solution. But that message is not likely to reassure frightened constituents, said Clements, a co-chairman of the Legislature's Sex Offender Management Joint Task Force. "People don't necessarily want statistical analysis. They want security for their children - real or imagined," he said. The panel discussed so-called "community protection zones" on Monday, including an effort by Issaquah city officials to further restrict where sex offenders may live.
In August, the city declared that two classes of registered sex offenders considered the most likely to reoffend could not live within 1,000 feet of schools and day-care centers. The Issaquah ban has been challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union, which believes the law is unconstitutional and could worsen efforts to track sex offenders by driving them to homelessness, attorney Aaron Caplan said. Some task force members agreed that sex offender notification practices are inconsistent, but said the state should improve that process rather than expand sex-offender-free zones.
"To me, community protection zones are almost a step back into that ignorance-is-bliss" mentality of the past, said Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, the task force's co-chairwoman. Lindsay Palmer, a victim advocate for the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, told the task force that restricting sex offenders' homes is too easy, and could allow community leaders to ignore the problem. "One solution is not going to create safety," she said.
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: by KOMO Staff & News Services
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9-28-2005 Washington:
Will state get even tougher on sex offenders? |
.The wrenching story of North Idaho's Shasta Groene — her mother and brothers murdered, allegedly by a man known to be a violent sex offender — provoked a rage last summer that may be familiar to longtime Washingtonians. Fifteen years ago, the sexual mutilation of a 7-year-old Tacoma boy by a serial predator prompted similar reaction — and a new law-enforcement campaign against sex offenders unprecedented in its aggressiveness and cost.
The campaign got results. Since 1990, prison sentences for sex crimes have doubled. Hundreds of the most predatory go straight from prison to a locked treatment center. Home addresses for thousands more are easily retrieved from a state Web site. But when two sex offenders in Bellingham were killed last month, allegedly by a man who found their address on that Web site, police feared Washington would retreat. Instead, the rage over the Shasta Groene case is driving Washington to get even tougher on sex offenders.
Sex offenders are likely to be a central issue in the legislative session in January, with bills already being drafted on everything from "one-strike" life-sentence laws to GPS monitoring. The hottest debate will likely involve an ordinance that the city of Issaquah passed a month after 8-year-old Shasta Groene was found with her alleged abductor, Joseph Edward Duncan III. The ordinance forces sex offenders to live in specific areas in the same way that strip clubs must cluster in red-light districts.
It's strange that Washington feels the need to be so aggressive, said Seattle Police Detective Bob Shilling, one of the nation's foremost experts on sex-offender management and a sex-crime victim himself. "I do trainings all over the country and world, and I can tell you there is no state or province that has tougher sex-offender sentencing laws than the state of Washington," said Shilling.
Legislators should be cautious in tinkering with sex-offender laws, he said, lest they drive sex offenders to stop registering their addresses and become homeless. "Because we've had a particular bad case, let's not throw away what we've done in being a leader in the U.S. I think there's a risk of that right now." Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, supported a one-strike law last session. "Let's face it, 100 years ago you'd get hung. So we shouldn't feel too bad about getting tough on sex offenders."
"Stranger danger" vs. reality:
Much of Washington's approach — which has since been replicated around the country — was aimed at preventing highly publicized cases of so-called "stranger danger" like that of Duncan, the man charged with killing Shasta's family. But the real public risk looks much different, said Scott Matson, a research analyst with the Center for Sex Offender Management in Silver Spring, Md. "There's got to be a way of getting through to the public that not all these guys are monsters who snatch and grab your children," he said.
Research has shown at least 80 percent of sex offenders victimize someone they know, such as a relative or neighbor, and are most likely to be first-time offenders. Last month, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, the Legislature's research arm, reported a surprising fact: Sex offenders have the lowest rates of recidivism among all felons. The study found 13 percent of sex offenders were convicted of a new felony within five years, less than half the rate of other felons. Child molesters had the lowest recidivism rates among sex offenders.
One reason for the low recidivism may be the longer prison terms. Suzanne Brown-McBride, head of the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, which represents 42 rape-crisis centers, said those rates are so low due in part to improvements in the treatment of sex offenders. "Sometimes the bar for the public seems to be whether you cure it or not," she said. "The treatment community has gone from calling it 'treatment' to 'management.' Treatment connotes fixing, while management connotes something the offender will have to manage the rest of their lives."
Sex-offender registry called "a fragile statute"
The 1990 law forced sex offenders released from prison — nearly 19,000 so far — to register their addresses with police, information that is now available on a statewide database. That law has been a critical tool for police and the public, but in August, an ex-convict named Michael Mullen said he used Bellingham's registry — which listed specific addresses — to find and kill two released sex offenders. Police fear the case will force the registry to be weakened or even eliminated. Bellingham Police Chief Randall Carroll changed his department's Web site to list block-level addresses, as do most other municipalities statewide.
"The registry law is a fragile statute," said Carroll. "If people target sex offenders for retribution or assault or homicide or property damage, there is a risk we'll lose the law." No chance of that, said Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace. "People would go nuts," said the retired Seattle police sergeant and chair of the House criminal-justice committee. "They don't think the system is tough enough." Since 1996, the state's "two-strike" law for sex offenses has sent 60 men to prison for life. An additional 500 sex offenders are on lifelong parole, under a law passed in 2001.
O'Brien has more get-tough proposals, including expanding the list of offenses that qualify for two-strike sentencing, and he's talking to the governor about allowing other cities to duplicate the Issaquah ordinance.
Issaquah's law: a model? (See also: Issaquah Lawsuit)
Among the most likely additions to sex-offender laws during the next legislative session could be so-called "community protection zones." Washington already has a version of the law, passed last year, which limits sex offenders from living within two blocks of a school. The city of Issaquah in August went much further, limiting offenders to a swath of mostly industrial land and a total of 260 housing units. The ACLU has since filed suit against the city. At least seven other cities are considering similar laws, raising concerns among police and treatment providers of a confusing patchwork of local laws. "It would force sex offenders into communities that can't afford attorneys and PR" to uphold such zones, said Brown-McBride of the rape-crisis coalition.
Wayne Tanaka, the Issaquah city attorney, acknowledges that could be a problem and is a good reason for a statewide ordinance. "The state had not taken action, and my client had an immediate crisis to deal with," said Tanaka. O'Brien said taking Issaquah's solution statewide will be a tough sell, in part because of a rising number of homeless sex offenders. "We have to react to soothe the nerves of the citizens in the wake of the Joseph Duncan case, but we also have to approach it with the knowledge we have and to act intelligently," said O'Brien. "It seems like a contradiction, I know."
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: by Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times staff reporter
News & Noteworthy ©
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Featured Issue 8-28-05 UPDATED 9-16-05 |
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Developing Story: Washington Sex Offenders Murdered, Registry Used to Target Them
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9-17-2005 Washington:
Mullen pleads not guilty to sex-offender slayings |
.A week-and-a-half ago, Michael A. Mullen told Bellingham police that he murdered two sex offenders. A day later, the 35-year-old Whatcom County man told a judge he wanted to plead guilty and that he didn't want a lawyer. Now — perhaps because of a quirk in state law or a change of heart — Mullen says he's not guilty.
At his Whatcom County Superior Court arraignment yesterday, Mullen, with two public defenders at his side, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, a charge that carries either the death penalty or life in prison as the only possible sentences. The not-guilty plea may have come as a surprise to some, considering how Mullen previously proclaimed his guilt in letters to news outlets, including The Seattle Times, and in Web postings. Mullen said he killed Victor Vazquez, 68, and Hank Eisses, 49, on Aug. 27 because he wanted to protect society from sex offenders.
"Guys in this situation often do change their mind," explained Tim Ford, a defense lawyer who has handled death-penalty cases. Even if Mullen did not change his mind, however, state law says a defendant charged with aggravated first-degree murder may only plead guilty with the consent of prosecutors during the 30-day period following arraignment. That's the time frame during which prosecutors decide whether to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
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: by Maureen O'Hagan, Seattle Times staff reporter
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9-16-2005 Washington:
Letter tells killer's reasoning for slaying 2 pedophiles |
.The man who confessed to the execution-style slayings of two Bellingham sex offenders says he didn't kill a third man that day because he expressed remorse for his crimes. Besides, Michael A. Mullen wrote in a letter to The Seattle Times, "... I wanted one alive to spread the message that 'we' will not tolerate 'our' children being used and abused."
Whatcom County prosecutor Mac Setter said Mullen's references to his victims' lack of remorse as a reason for killing them was just self-serving justification. He said Mullen planned to kill the men all along. Mullen writes he killed Victor Vazquez, 68, and Hank Eisses, 49, because they "blammed [sic] their victims — they showed NO remorse."
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: by Mike Carter, Seattle Times staff reporter
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9-16-2005 Washington:
Bellingham killer wants vengeance against Duncan 'in afterlife' |
.BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The man accused of killing two registered sex offenders in Bellingham has written letters to newspapers and TV stations. In his letter from jail to The Seattle Times, Michael Anthony Mullen says he shot the two men because they showed no remorse for raping children and blamed the victims.
Mullen also wrote that he wants to be executed as soon as possible so that he can wait in the afterlife to take vengeance on Joseph Duncan, who has been charged with killing three family members in their home in Wolf Lodge Bay east of Coeur d'Alene. He's also accused of abducting and molesting two children from the home, killing nine-year-old Dylan Groene; Dylan's sister Shasta Groene was rescued and Duncan arrested at a Coeur d'Alene restaurant on July 2nd.
Mullen is accused of looking up the address of sex offenders in Bellingham, going to one home posing as an FBI agent and shooting the two men. Both were convicted child rapists and registered Level Three offenders.
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: by Associated Press
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9-6-2005 Washington:
Suspect Surrenders In Slayings Of Bellingham Sex Offenders |
.BELLINGHAM - A man has turned himself in the killing of two sex offenders, saying he picked the victims from a Web site, police said. Michael Anthony Mullen, 36, who gave no fixed address but has lived in Whatcom County most of his life, called 911 to claim responsibility Monday and was contacted by officers, who said he gave information that only the killer would know, according to a police news release. He was jailed for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder.
Mullen said Hank Eisses, 49, and Victor Vasquez, 68, convicted child rapists, had both been shot in the head Aug. 27, gave the caliber of the gun and said a briefcase had been taken to the scene, according to the police statement.
He said he took some time to plan the killings and targeted at least one of the two men after checking the county sheriff's Web site on July 13, according to the police statement.
As is typical throughout the state, the Web site includes the residences of sex offenders who are required to register with local authorities.
Mullen said he mailed letters about the killings to several news outlets last week, police said. As of Tuesday no report on such a letter had been published by The Bellingham Herald, the daily newspaper in this college and mill town of about 71,000. Eisses and Vasquez were both Level III sex offenders, considered the type most likely to reoffend.
Their bodies were found by a roommate, also a sex offender, who said a man wearing a blue jumpsuit and a cap that said FBI on it came to the place the three shared, told them he was an FBI agent and said he wanted to discuss their status as sex offenders. The man told the three that one of them was on a "hit list" on an Internet site, police said.
The roommate said he left while the FBI impostor was still there and found the bodies when he returned about four hours later. Neighbors told police the man was at the house about two hours, according to police.
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: by KOMO Staff & News Services
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9-5-2005 Washington:
2 child predators slain, and more deaths promised Killings renew debate on offender registry |
.BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- The three men who lived in the light green house on Northwest Avenue seldom spoke to neighbors, but the neighborhood knew all about them: their names, backgrounds and crimes. The men were registered sex offenders. Police had notified residents when the first of the men moved into the quiet Columbia neighborhood, north of downtown, about three years ago. Schools handed out fliers warning students of their presence.
Late Aug. 26, two of the men were shot to death in their home while the third was at work. The killer, still at large, had knocked on their door claiming to be an FBI agent warning of an Internet "hit list," police said. On Wednesday, the local newspaper received a letter from someone claiming responsibility for the slayings and threatening to kill all Whatcom County sex offenders designated as Level III, considered the most likely to commit similar crimes again.
Now, as Bellingham police investigate what appears to be a case of vigilantism, local leaders and activists have renewed the debate over the 1990 state law requiring sex offenders to register their addresses. The victims' address had been posted on the city's Web site. "If this is a case of revenge or vigilantism, then it brings to light the question, `Are there unintended consequences of this well-intentioned law?'" said Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson, a lawyer. [snip]
While many databases provide the general location of sex offenders, but Bellingham and Whatcom County Web sites provide exact addresses, with photos of the offenders and descriptions of their crimes. [snip] Eisses owned the house on Northwest Avenue and rented rooms to the other two. "Everybody knew they were there, but they didn't talk to us and we didn't talk to them," said Angel Gonzalez, 16, who lives two houses away. It was a quiet Friday night about 9 when a white man in his late 40s and wearing a blue jumpsuit and black baseball cap with an FBI logo knocked on the door of the house, according to police. [snip]
The man said he was there to warn the three about the hit list. Soon after, Russell left for work. When he returned about 3 a.m., he found Eisses and Vasquez dead of gunshot wounds. Police have discounted Russell as a suspect. Neighbors also reported seeing the man with the FBI cap at the house. Eisses and Vasquez had committed their crimes in Whatcom County, and some city employees speculated that one motive could be revenge rather than random vigilantism. Police have refused to disclose more details of the case.
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: by Tomas Alex Tizon, Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
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A Reporter in Denial: Subtle Vigilantism is Underground with Hurricane Effects! Fueled by Political Agendas. |
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8-31-2005 Washington:
Vigilante incidents still rare |
.I had been a reporter for all of a month when a horrific sexual predator moved into Auburn, the city I was covering. It was 1990. The state had a new law requiring sex offenders to register their addresses so police — and the public — could track them. My gut reaction was: Aren't we pinning a scarlet letter on someone who served his time? Then I read the case file. The man was an Episcopal priest who used his ministry to befriend four teenage boys, ply them with drugs and rape them. He pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, yet served less than three years in prison. He got no treatment. The state said he likely would reoffend. And here he was, loose in Auburn. [snip]
Whatever imperfect balance was struck seemed to work in that case. There was no violence. People in Auburn said they just felt better knowing, though they didn't plan to do much about it. And so it has gone for 15 years, as 16,000 sex offenders have moved into the state's communities. Inciting virtually zero vigilantism. [snip]
If it's true that two sex offenders were targeted and killed in a vigilante action last weekend in Bellingham, it's chilling. Let's catch the vigilante and lock him away. But it doesn't change the fact that over the years the public has handled this incendiary information with far less hysteria than predicted.
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: by Danny Westneat, Seattle Times staff columnist
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8-29-2005 Washington:
Two sex offenders killed in Bellingham |
.A man, claiming to be an FBI agent, is suspected of shooting and killing two registered sex offenders between Friday night and early Saturday morning at their home in Bellingham. The double murder was reported to Bellingham police around 3:10 a.m. Saturday by the two men's roommate, officers said. He had last seen his roommates around 9 p.m. Friday and found their bodies upon returning home to the 2800 block of Northwest Avenue, police said.
Police on Saturday withheld the names of the victims pending notification of their families. Investigators said they suspect a man seen by the roommate and neighbors at the home may have had something to do with the slayings or have information about the incident.
The suspect spent about two hours at the home after he told the occupants he was a member of the FBI, officers said. The suspect also discussed the three occupants' status as Level 3 registered sex offenders and reportedly told one of the men that he was on an Internet Web site "hit list." The suspect wore a black ball cap with an FBI insignia and a dark blue jumpsuit with a white stripe down the legs. The suspect is in his late 40s and appeared to be athletic or fit. He is between 5-foot-9 and 6-foot and weighs about 190 pounds.
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: by Skagit Valley Herald staff SEE ALSO Hank Eisses, 49, and Victor Vasquez, 68, both convicted child rapists
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