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Cicero Changes its Sex Offender Law

The Cicero Town Board voted Friday morning to change its sex offender law, which was adopted in 2006. The law said convicted sex offenders could not live within one mile of a school or day care, and 1,500 feet of a park or playground.

Friday, the Town Board voted 3 to 1 to grandfather in any sex offenders who lived at their present address before November 2006. A convicted sex offender, who lived at the same address for 16 years, and would have been forced to move under the law.

What do you think of the move? Leave your comments below....
Published Friday, January 11, 2008 11:44 AM by shaunganley

Comments

 

jon ch said:

do all sex offenders have broken legs and arms; i think the rule is logical and practical in todays society. total isolation , segregated in a small community of offenders is ideal ,also with a chain link fence and guards ,but soft headed organizations wont allow this. most sex offenders are molested children; and turnover to normal behavior is very low. psychological issues in society should be dealt with and sheltered in clinical enviorments.
January 11, 2008 11:43 AM
 

kel said:

Well i think the new grandfatherlaw is wrong.  Apparently the law makers have never been sexually abused as a child.  I think they need to be as far away from children as possible.
January 11, 2008 12:16 PM
 

Bil Am said:

How do you think residency restrictions will help protect children. In 90% of the cases, it's a family member, a friend of the family, or someone the family knows.
In the past 2 weeks there have been 7 cases where teachers and one principal molested children, that I know of. Instead of worrying about the registered sex offenders, you need to start looking for ways to stop the 90% of sex crimes committed by people not on the registry.
January 11, 2008 12:41 PM
 

pco_01 said:

Move them OUT!!!!!  For what they did they do not deserve to live in normal society.
January 11, 2008 1:23 PM
 

Audra said:

Isnt Level 2 and level 3 for repeat offenders!! I believe that they do need to move. Have the people that voted for this ever been Raped or molested as a child I guess not. Its wrong that they are being allowed to live there. That is not protecting or children for a abuser. I can see if it wasnt a repeat affender ok maybe he or she did learn there leasson but for repeat offenders they didnt learn anything they need to be moved and not near our children.
January 11, 2008 1:53 PM
 

Bob said:

Funny how these guys always live near the schools and play grounds. I say kill them all because they are scumbags.
January 11, 2008 2:01 PM
 

Bob said:

And lets not forget the cicero cop who is being charged with this? What a looser and to think they allowed him a plea deal to a reduced charge. What is the DA thinking?
January 11, 2008 2:02 PM
 

cdeloff said:

I wish more communities had this.  I live in Hannibal and there are at least 3 within 1 mile of my house.  I have 4 small children and the thought of having these "people" on the loose to possibly prey of more children disgusts me.  It may be extreme but the ideal situation for me is to put them all on an island (fenced of course) where they can't harm anyone else.  Everyone cries for their rights but what about the rights of the victim, their lives are forever changed.  What is really sad is there isn't enough police officers to enforce the rules for these people.  There is one offender I can think of who is listed as having his residence in Syracuse, BUT HE IS FREE TO "SLEEP OVER" AT HIS GIRLFRIENDS HOUSE IN MY TOWN.  I called and made a complaint but of course nothing came of it.  There should be more regulations for these dirtballs and they should be enforced!!!!
January 11, 2008 2:56 PM
 

nk_rso@yahoo.com said:

Definitely unconstitutional
January 11, 2008 3:08 PM
 

David Kennerly said:

Well beyond unconstitutional! If that we had a U.S. Supreme Court with the guts to acknowledge it so.
January 11, 2008 3:25 PM
 

William Rights said:

Unfortunately Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders are NOT all  REPEAT offenders. That is the problem with all these new laws. The distinction between who is really a threat and who is not has vanished. In the eyes of the general public any sex offender is considered the worst possible predator. There are thousands of 1st time, non violent offenders who are being classified as Tier 3. In fact there are tier 3 offenders who do not even have a victim to their crime. Nobody is any safer today than they were 10 years ago. These laws have not accomplished anything and doing a little research on your own you would discover this truth, rather than the myths that politicians spew to look good in the publics eyes.
January 11, 2008 3:46 PM
 

Jean said:

I want my children and grandchildren to be well protected. For this reason I am against any kind of residency restrictions for any sex offenders. I have researched this issue and ALL the evidence indicates these kinds of laws cause our children to be less safe. Do not take my word for it. Look at all the evidence to see if these laws make our children safer. Lawmakers are using this issue to draw voter attention not protect children. They have not studied the facts or they would not be enacting such laws. They are doing more harm than good.
January 11, 2008 3:54 PM
 

ann said:

how about when a sex offender is proven guilty leave him/her alone in a room with the family of the child and let them take of the monster then we wont need to worry about were they live
January 11, 2008 4:02 PM
 

Jessie said:

As a victim of abuse myself, I think these sex offender laws get pretty dumb. As mentioned above, only a small percentage of these crimes are commited by strangers. Neither of the men who abused me were previously convicted, and neither are on the registry now (One was a realitive the family protected, the other was a rich classmate who bought his way out of it). I want to see REAL laws that help victims get treatment, that take victims seriously when they try to come forward, that keep abusers locked up for a long time, and maybe a way to get people with these desires help before they abuse anyone.

sure, these laws make some victims feel like they're punishing their abusers by proxy, but do they really help? Will a predator determined to abuse children be detured by having to drive 500 extra feet? Also, with all the people being labeled offenders for being a yound adult and dating a 16/17 year old,  or not closing the blinds all the way when they have sex, a lot of resources are being spread thin that could be used to track the really bad ones.

That, and the fact that the law puts people like the ones who abused me in the same catagory as a dumb teenager or a guy who took a leak somewhere in public offends me to no end.  How can they cheapen the experiances of the very children they're trying to protect like that?

Sorry, I rant.
January 11, 2008 4:12 PM
 

Nina said:

No level of sex offender, to me, has any rights. As one poster said they all should be put on an island to rot. I have seen personally the results of people who have been in the hands of one of these animals. True a good amount are family members or close family friends and most of the victims don't tell anyone. When they reach adulthood, some will talk about these horrific times, or something will spark a memory. It's unforntunate and so sad to see how fast they loose ground when remembering. Many don't make it, they are not only ashamed but in many instances they too end up being an offender themselves.  How many lives must be shattered and ruined because of these sick animals before 'community officials' reject the new Cicero decision? Send them ALL to an island like 'Papillon' was on, they have no place in our society.
January 11, 2008 4:40 PM
 

William Rights said:

Jessie, this country needs more brave, intelligent and rational people like you. The easy thing to do is say lock them up and throw away the key. For some I agree with that. But the vast majority of offenders do not fall into that category. Good for you for not playing the victim and for wanting to actually do something to PREVENT sex crimes, not just get retribution.
January 11, 2008 4:45 PM
 

William Rights said:

Nina, you should take a lesson from Jessie.
January 11, 2008 4:47 PM
 

Sheryl said:

I think that no matter how long ago a sex offender broke the law they should have to register. If they didnt want anyone to know what they did than they shouldnt have done it in the first place. Even if they did the time for the crime.
January 11, 2008 8:56 PM
 

Open Mind said:

People who would prefer sex offenders be murdered or hurt or cast out from society are no better than the sex offenders themselves.  Shame on you.  You make me embarrassed to be a citizen of the state of New York. These are human beings who have families - wives, husbands, parents, children of their own.  They deserve to live a life with dignity, just like you because they are America citizens who served their time in jail and were released into our communities.  They have the lowest recidivsm rate - the NY Dep of Corrections says only 2% are returned to prison for another sexual crime.  Moore (2006) found that more than 90% of new sex crimes are committed by someone who is NOT a registered sexual offender.  What is our government doing to protect us from them?  This law is not effective - sexual offenders who in the rare case are intent of committing another crime will do so even if they don't live in your neighborhood - they can walk, drive, or even jog if they so choose to your neighborhood you know.  Just because they don't live there does not mean you are inocculated (that means protected against) sexually based crimes.  This law will do nothing but open the town up to some lawsuits - ex post facto application of the law and denial of property rights - both unconstituational (Georgia already decided this).  
January 11, 2008 9:07 PM
 

Becky said:

Big hugs to you, Jessie. I walked both sides of that road, myself.  I was molested several times by one of my mom's ex boyfriends when I was young. It was great when I finally told my mom, she kicked his ass, and we got him thrown in jail. For a while I enjoyed hearing about these new laws cause I liked to think he was getting more of what he deserved.

Fast forward a few years and my little brother decides to hook up with a guy he met on myspace. Yes he's gay. so what I love him. The guy he met said he was 18 but turned out he was younger. The parents later found out, and the cat was a bit of a closet case so he didn't stand up for my brother or anything. Long story short, my bother has to register as an offender now too. I mean what he did was stupid, yes, but for the state to say that the guy who took great joy in degrading me and abusing me is the same as my bro who in all honesty thought he was meeting another adult pisses me off so much. It's an insult to both me and my bro.

That's why these laws are dumb. Is it really that hard to tell who's a pedophile and who's a dumb kid and separate the two?
January 12, 2008 12:18 AM
 

Willy said:

Why should you care that the constitutional rights of sex offenders are being violated by these popular but ineffective laws?

Because today it might be sex offenders.  Tomorrow it could be YOUR group.  Let's raise our voices to protect rights for everyone!

"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation. "    
- Adolph Hitler (Mein Kampf)


January 12, 2008 2:13 PM
 

Ron said:

Dumb question:

How many convicted sex offenders lived within the boundaries that are outlined with the new law when they committed their crime?

 Why do we think the new laws will make children any safer?

Why not take away their cars and bikes and roller blades and break one leg so they can’t go to areas children play?
January 12, 2008 5:33 PM
 

Chris M said:

Becky is exactly right. High level offenders are lumped together with the low level offenders and that isn't exactly fair at all. I recently heard the argument that all offenders homes should be painted red. Imagine the vigilante justice that would ensue.

If an offender is high level and dangerous to society with all kinds of restrictions placed upon them by the courts, then they should be watched more closely wether they are 1.5 miles from a school or 15 miles away. But a kid who messes up and gets an offender status is hardly in the same class in my opinion.
January 12, 2008 10:27 PM
 

ronald havener said:

i have a soution, life sentence for all felony crimes against children with no chance of parole.then we would no exactly were there are.i would prefer the death penalty but it doesnt work,its done behind closed doors,if were done in public and broadcast on the nightly news then it would be a very effective deterent.
January 14, 2008 5:26 AM
 

Joyce Cavanaugh said:

Child molesters are REPEATED SEX OFFENDERS and that is a well known statistic.  How many children must be sexually abused or murdered to get this through your heads? A sex offender was interviewed on a tv documentary and he told the interviewer he must not return to society because he knows he would abuse other children because he cannot control those feelings.  That is all the evidence I would need to keep them out of my community!  WAKE UP CICERO!  The children need and deserve our protection!
January 14, 2008 8:12 AM
 

MommaEseltine said:

I have young children one of who attends one of the elementary schools in N. Syracuse. It is sick that these people can actually be near my childs school etc. I guess instead of letting him ride his bike around the block during the summer, he will have wait for me to follow him in the car!!!
January 14, 2008 10:25 AM
 

Dave said:

If you are going to place all these restrictions on sex offenders why let them out of jail in the first place?  Once they are out the law enforcement agencies can’t keep track of them.  If they are caught in an area they don’t belong we put them back in Jail.  Let’s take away the chance for the second crime and keep them in jail or in a mental home.

On the other side of the coin – Do we let convicted bank robbers live near a bank, do we let convicted killers live near people, and do we let liars run for political office?

I guess we have more rules to make.
January 14, 2008 10:25 AM
 

facefurny said:

Do keep in mind that not every registered sex offender is a child molester - there are other classes of crimes that require registration as well.  That doesn't make thier offense any the less, nor the offenders less deserving of punishment, but stop lumping all of them together.
January 14, 2008 12:37 PM
 

tom f said:

HEY OPEN MIND, do you have any children; i hope not, because its your views that perpetuate sex crimes in america. sex crimes are haneous and violent; they remain forever with the victim; all sex offenders are usually victims as children; some of violence and sexual abuse, not all molested children are sex offenders . some just live with nightmares and suffer tremendous pain the rest of there life. [day to day] hardcore children molesters should be isolated from society for life whether its medical or prison; there is no cure for hardcore repeat offenders. i know all about this ; it happened to me when i was 7 to age 11 ; any haneous thing you can think of was done to me by adults and kids a long time ago before the information age and age of awareness.
January 14, 2008 2:50 PM
 

RoneL said:

Whenever I hear a news story about this subject and the residency laws like this I wonder if it's just me or if others get a bad feeling about it as well.  Its one of those things that sound sensible at first thought, but then one realizes how silly and wrong it really is.  It is true that sex crimes against children are among the most heinous of crimes.  It's also true that the vast majority are committed by an adult close to the child like a parent, relative, friend, teacher, minister, etc....a couple folks cited 90%. This law does not have any effect on this.  There is no way to know who is a threat.  Besides, I defy anyone to find a location within the county that is not within a mile from a school. Then what? What's next? It's refreshing to see there are many intelligent and sensible folks like Jessie, William Right, Becky, Open Mind, Willy, et al who see past the polital rhetoric and idiotic fear mongering.  
January 15, 2008 5:58 AM
 

Karen Venette said:

I agree.  I don't think they should be allowed to live anywhere childrenare going to be.  We have one near my house, he's about s houses away from the trailer park where I live, and he has sexually harrassed my niece and other kids in our neighborhood.  I live in Oswego County and it seems when these guys get out of jail they move here because they can live next door to our schools, parks, and wherever they please where they have access to children.  I believe they should have a community of their own and livethere, where their are no schools, parks or children nearby where they have access to our kids.
January 15, 2008 6:09 AM
 

Misty said:

I have read up on this because my now ex-husband abused my three kids.  There is a chemical inbalance in the brain cells that makes helps to cause them to offend.  Seems that is we know this there should be some medical help that can be done for the offenders as well as their victims since more than likely the victims become offenders.  I am very concerned about that myself.  If we know that the problem is an imbalance of seratonin or what ever lets fix it.  We have cures out their for other diseases well lets cure this one, because that is what this is.
January 15, 2008 3:13 PM
 

Bithch said:

shot the fucking sex offers    Nina  you are right these people have no rights so why should they have right to like in the us ?
January 15, 2008 6:58 PM
 

Ed said:

Bithch - what????
January 16, 2008 7:24 AM
 

Open Mind said:

Hey Tom F ... yes, I was sexually abused as a teenager.  By someone who had never been convicted of a sexual crime.  I recovered and have a very good life.  Blaming and punishing every person who has committed a sex crime for what happened to me would not/will not change what happened to me.  People who do that, as it seems you are, are angry and probably need additional therapy to recover and learn to forgive themselves and their own abuser so they can move on with their lives.  These laws perpetuate the cycle of violence, they do nothing to prevent it.  Sexual crimes have not decreased at all since the inception of these laws.  Retributional laws do nothing to help children.  They only spew ignorance and hate, as evidence by many posts on here.  
January 16, 2008 7:27 AM
 

tom f said:

E xcuse me, OPEN MIND, im sorry you were violated as a teenager; but that doesnt excuse the VIOLATER.  HARDCORE  'CHILD MOLESTERS UNDER THE AGE OF 12 , never stop ; these deep rooted disturbing behavior against children should never be in any proximity  of young children,EVERRRRRR. AS I BSTATED repeat offenders, please re read what i wrote. also, i dont carry hate toward my ABUSERS[PLURAL] ; BUT THESE GEMS OF SOCIETY SHOULD NEVER ALLOWED TO BE CLOSE TO CHILDREN. also, as i stated i was molested MANY TIMES, between the ages of 7-11; many years ago , apparently way before you were born. im sorry again for your own sexual abuse as a TEENAGER, but i never had a normal or haappy teenage moment in my life; i had therapy and im doing fine to a degree , but please label retribution and hate with prejudice  and unsubstanciated accusations ; as you said its still happening and we have no law that totally isolates these people from children.
January 16, 2008 10:28 AM
 

More Misinformation said:

I think its interesting that many believe Level 3 sex offenders are repeat offenders.  This is just not true.  Most Level 3's are not repeat OR violent offenders.  The level classification is based on a number of things, like age at time of alleged offense, involvement of alcohol, age of alleged victim, on/off probation, force used, etc.  Interestingly, this tooll/questionnaire has never been tested for validity/reliability (it has a  high rate of error - so some Level 3's should be Level 1's and vice versa).  The items they use to measure the risk for repeating offense have not all been shown to predict recidivism.  But, the government apparently doesn't care b/c they know of the flaws in the instrument and have done nothing to fix it.  Again, most level 3's are 1-time offenders.
January 17, 2008 6:55 AM
 

JWK said:

As mentioned recently on a PBS story about the law in California, the legislator behind the law stated that sex offender law are to make it so hard for sex offenders that they end up back in jail or prison.  Most sex offenders do not re offend.  The 10% to 15% that do have shown that they do not belong in society and should be given life without parole.  Those who do not re offend sexually should be given a chance to be part of society.
January 19, 2008 9:13 AM
 

bob said:

I live in this town and I know the guy who is a sex offender that they were trying to make move.  He did not even do what they said he did.  The laws are so twisted.

Also this guys not a scumbag, hes got kids and a wife and he's a normal guy like everone else.  Stupid girl acused him of something he did not even do and now everyone hates him.  Its a sad situation.  Also to the people who say sex offenders should die.

Well how about murders what do you feel about them.  Do you think they should die to.

Also when did God give you the right to decide who should die and who should not.  Your just another undeducted idiot running your mouth.  Grow up.

All these new laws are nothing but politicians trying to make a name for them selfs.

Here is an interesting fact there are 300 million americans in the united states.


Over 500,000 of us are registered sex offenders.  At the rate its going by the year 2,100 there will be Over 5,000,000 sex offenders with a population of around 320,000,000 americans.

That means 1 in every 64 people will be a registered sex offender.  Wow does that shock anyone.  Does that tell a story to how stupid and ignorant people are.  How could 1 out of every 64 people be a sex offender.  I dont believe it, just like i dont believe half of the people on that site should be there in the first place.
January 20, 2008 5:10 AM
 

annette mckenzie said:

hi i just found this board as i sit her so angry its unreal i just got a court day threw for my bf for smashing the beast's  window who abused my little girl OF 7 and also found out they wont be taking him to court for doing that i tell u what judge thinks a broken window is more of a case than a broken childhood of a 7 year old i feel like we need 2 start 2 speak up rise against this i am starting up a web site for people who want to make a diferents in cases where kids speak up only to not be heard i enclose my email pls email me and as parents survious of abuse witch i myself as i was abused as a child as well pls email me we can sit and say its wrong the laws ot right but lets not just say lets join and make a difference my email is govanlass@msn.com im annette im from glasgow
January 23, 2008 4:39 AM
 

Jesus said:

"Forgive them Father. For they know not what they do. " Also it has been often said that history repeats itself.  If we think about the Salem witch trials, lepers, fear or hatred of people of certain races(see Hitler), all it takes is a heavy portion of hate and a heavy portion of ignorance and fear to make this evil brew and repeat history. It is not the stranger or the foreigner who is harming us the most. It is our own families, our own lynchmob mentalities and our own polititians and other government figures  who will destroy us. We have always had enemies on the outside but most of the damage is done  from the inside. Inside our homes and inside our country. Many great civilizations have risen to the top of the world and then destroyed themselves. It's just a matter of time.Also , Jesus embraced lepers.
January 24, 2008 5:57 PM
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