Megan's Law

Megan's Law

Okay, so you live in the suburbs in a nice house. You've got it all, the hot doctor

husband (or wife), perfect kids - As in all their subjects and little Billy just made the soccer team, Annie's more of an artist though - and of course you can't forget the golden retriever and white picket fence. Oh yeah, and the brand new Benz parked in the driveway, minor detail though, really. In a nutshell, life rocks. Then the next door neighbours put their house up for sale, and being that you live in a great area - top choice private school around the corner, a huge park, great ice cream place, etc. - the house gets sold pretty quickly. The new couple moves in and they seem pretty nice. Things are normal, but you always get this sneaking suspicion that the husband's kind of creepy. No, he's not checking you out (or if you're a guy, that hot wife of yours), but rather, he's taken quite a liking to Billy and Annie. You tell yourself that you're just being crazy, come on, great neighbourhood, remember? Yet you still can't shake off the feeling that there's something weird about him. Hello, we're in the year 2005, just Google him. Or better yet, log on to your province's, or state's, Sexual Offender Registration Site. Whaddya know? There he is, convicted of molesting young children, not unlike your own. In many cases, the local authorities will notify you and your community if an offender is moving into the area, but depending on the crime, and state laws, this is not always necessary or enforced.

Consider yourself lucky that you have resources such as registration sites and information available to you. This wasn't the norm even twenty years ago. While this report is focused on Megan's Law, it's important to also give information on Jacob Wetterling Crime Against Children's Act and Sex Offender Resitrastion Act, which was a precedent setting case. The aforementioned Wetterling Act was created in 1989 when a then 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was riding home from a video store in St. Joseph, Minnesota on his bicycle. It was then that he was abducted by a man, purportedly wearing a nylon mask. It was only after this incident that investigators discovered that unbeknownst to local law authorities, there were halfway houses in the area housing sex offenders upon release from prison. A law was then passed, requiring states to establish registration programs for convicted child molesters and other sexually violent offenders. This was merely the beginning of a long battle to ensure children's safety from sexual offenders.

On July 27th, 1994, yet another child's life was lost as a result of such unthinkable acts. Seven-year-old Megan Kanka of Hamilton Township, New Jersey, was lured to her neighbour Jesse Timmendequas home under the guise of seeing his new puppy. Once inside his home, he raped and murdered the young girl. He then dumped her small body in a nearby park. It was only after this that the Kanka family learned that Timmendequas was a twice-convicted pedophile who, during his stay in Avenel prison, had continuously refused treatment for his deviancy. Apparently he was a good boy while he was there however, as he was sentenced to seven and a half years, but got out after six because he earned "good time" points. This could be compared to Frequent Flyer Miles, rake them up and get a free flight, or go to jail for molesting young girls, and obviously you can't do that in prison, so you can't do anything bad. So congratulations, you get out early!

Not wanting another family to suffer the same tragedy, the Kanka family decided to do something about the problems with sex offenders and the lack of public awareness.

They fought to have local communities warned about sexual offenders in the area. Their home state of New Jersey legislature passed Megan's Law in 1994. (it also