Toothless Tactics Are Not Acceptable
Don’t look now, but North Idaho rapidly is becoming a haven for convicted sexual offenders - 231 and counting, as of last fall. And their presence is causing disturbances from Hauser Lake to Benewah County.
Last weekend, Hauser residents staged protests after a 59-year-old pedophile quietly slipped back into his home, two houses from his former victim. Neighbors wondered why they weren’t told Mario Rios Sr. was back. They should be thankful, we suppose, that they spotted Rios - a man who admitted molesting 53 children - and know where he lives.
In Coeur d’Alene, Borah Elementary School parents aren’t as lucky. They learned a molester was lurking in their midst after a sharp-eyed mother spotted a suspicious man near the school and asked questions. But they don’t know who he is or his place of residence. Idaho law ridiculously prevents police from releasing that information.
When will Idaho quit protecting predators and start watching out for children? It’s past time to approve a tough law, similar to Washington’s, which requires police to notify neighbors, schools and the media when a high-risk offender gains freedom.
In fact, Washington’s law is chasing sex offenders from border towns into the Panhandle. Last year, a convicted sex offender moved from Spokane into a Post Falls apartment complex, filled with children, after getting out of a Washington prison. Spokane authorities learned of his whereabouts only after his landlord spotted his name listed on television as a Washington sex offender.
North Idaho legislators should have recognized two years ago that something ought to be done. At the time, parents from Prairie View Elementary in Post Falls were upset that they could find out little about a young sex offender rumored to be transferring from Spokane to their school. Judges could help by getting tough on molesters. Most pedophiles, even hard-core ones like Rios, are sentenced to an easy six months at a Cottonwood prison. Then, they land back on the streets on probation after successfully completing a sex offender treatment program. In Rios’ case, 1st District Judge Gary Haman continued probation after Rios failed a follow-up treatment program by, among other things, repeatedly contacting children and adult former victims.
Hauser residents would sleep better tonight if Rios had been sent back to prison to serve the remainder of his 10-year sentence.
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