Sex offenders without addresses throw notification system for a loop

OLYMPIA – Washington’s long-standing policy of notifying neighbors when a high-risk sex offender moves in has spawned a growing number of homeless sex offenders who are much harder to track, a sex-crimes expert told state lawmakers last week.

As legislators re-examine sex offender laws in the wake of the Joseph Duncan case in Idaho, police and victims’ advocates are calling for more public education about the real risks posed by offenders in stable settings versus the risk from transient, jobless, desperate offenders.

“You cannot do community notification without community education,” Seattle detective Robert Shilling said. “To do so is like smoking a cigarette while standing in a puddle of gasoline. It’s just that volatile.”

Recently, a man posing as an FBI agent reportedly visited three Level 3 sex offenders living in a home in Bellingham. Hours later, when one of the three returned home from work, he found his two roommates shot to death. Police are searching for the alleged FBI imposter.

In 1993, when sex offender Joseph Gallardo got out of prison and planned to move to his family’s home in Lynnwood, someone burned the home down.

Police can reduce the fear and anger by taking the time to educate neighbors about the risks and by answering their questions, Shilling said.

“When we give people the good, hard, honest facts, they listen, they do what’s right, and we don’t end up with the vigilante-type action,” he told lawmakers.

The state’s law on community notification hasn’t been updated since 1997, he said. Some police agencies publicize the exact home addresses of sex offenders, rather than just a block number. Some officials have sent the fliers home with schoolchildren, he said – a move guaranteed to upset parents.

The frequent result, he said, is that sex offenders who have served their sentences find it very difficult to find housing. And without an address, it’s very hard to find a job.

“They feel like they are caught in a whirlwind. They have no control over their own life,” Shilling said. So “they take power and control over somebody else’s life, and we have another victim. We end up creating the situation that we’re trying to avoid.”

According to the state Department of Corrections, 771 sex offenders were released from prison in the year ending June 30. Of those, 167 said they were homeless. Another 126 were categorized as transients, meaning they were temporarily staying in motels, missions or shelters. The agency was unable to immediately provide data for previous years, spokesman Veltry Johnson said.

Locally, the number of homeless sex offenders is much smaller: 52 out of 1,308 in Spokane County. But the number seems to be rising from year to year, said Sgt. Jeff Tower, with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s sexual assault unit.

It’s far from certain that all those offenders are really homeless or transients, police said. Sex offenders have also learned that they can avoid the notifications – even if they have a home – by telling police they are homeless. The only difference is that homeless sex offenders are supposed to check in with the county sheriff once a week.

“They’ve got six and a half days where they can be anywhere they want, and we don’t know” where they are, Shilling said.

Tower said he knows of several local sex offenders who probably have steady addresses but have registered as transients to avoid publicity.

Also, “transient” sex offenders aren’t affected by “community protection zones” and other limits that prevent them from residing close to schools, day cares or other victim-rich environments.

“What do we do if the person registers as homeless? It’s a big problem,” said Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood.

Although recidivism rates are high for sex offenders, Shilling said that many will never re-offend.

“I am no bleeding heart for sex offenders in any way, shape or form,” he said. “But I think what’s fair is fair, what’s right is right. We are painting them all with the same broad brush.”

This week’s hearing was the first of several. A final report is due to the governor and Legislature in December. Among the recommendations so far:

“Push for federal legislation requiring other states to give Washington information when sex offenders move here. San Bernardino County detectives just requested psychological reports and other records for Duncan, as part of their investigation into whether the alleged murderer and kidnapper molested a child there.

“Yet in Idaho and California, neither one of those agencies would have been able to reciprocate and give us the same information,” said Snohomish County detective Joseph Beard.

“Provide more sex offender treatment: Shilling called it a “travesty” that there are more than 3,000 sex offenders in state prisons, but only 200 slots available at a sex offender treatment center at Twin Rivers Correctional Center. Many have asked for help and can’t get it, he said.

“Launch a state “sex offender management board” to standardize community notification procedures and have the final say on what threat level is assigned to an offender. Some sheriff’s offices routinely declare all offenders to be high-risk Level 3s, Shilling said, in hopes of spurring them to move on.

“Consider allowing offenders to get their risk level reduced over time, if they’re working, productive citizens who have a trouble-free record for at least five years.

“Study whether offender-free zones really help. At least half a dozen states ban sex offenders from living close to a school or daycare, according to Suzanne Brown-McBride, with the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs. In Iowa, the zones are so broad that offenders are barred from entire cities, she said. But that’s forcing them into rural areas, where there are fewer police and treatment counselors.

Communities rightly don’t want sex offenders in their midst, she said.

“The problem, though,” she said, “is where do they live?”