Southern Maryland: In looking at Maryland's Sex Offender Registry, I wonder why we even need such a list, at least for people convicted of sexually abusing children. Shouldn't this crime carry with it a sentence of lifetime imprisonment? I don't know what motivates these offenders, but I do know that they can't be trusted once released back into the community.
Fran Henry: People commonly believe that sex offender treatment does not work and that people cannot be released into the community, but the definitive study (to date) on sex offender recidivism shows that 17% will recidivate without treatment and that treatment drops that rate to 13.4%. Although it is tempting to want to lock people up after one offense, it is more important to pay attention to the more than an estimated 90% who are never detected because children do not disclose the abuse--therefore they are not getting help and they are in our communities able to abuse more children.
