(HOST) Commentator and psychology professor Sharon Lamb is currently teaching a course at Saint Michael’s College on Abuse and Victimization. She attended the first of 5 public hearings held by the judiciary committee on the state’s sex offender policies. The last hearing will be held this Thursday in Burlington.
(LAMB) With a trembling voice, 12-year-old Evangeline asked Vermont legislators on the state judiciary committee to "…please pass Jessica’s law," a law that would give sex offenders mandatory minimum 25 year sentences. She said she’s now afraid to walk the streets of her home town. To her, it seems sex offenders are everywhere.
And so it has gone in the public hearings responding to the murder of Brooke Bennett.
Professionals, and even the chair of the judiciary committee, asserted that over 90% of sex offenders are known to the child victim. Yet those who advocated for Jessica’s Law kept referring to "strangers." One citizen suggested that "…Vermont has held out the welcome sign," to too many "outsiders" who don’t have the state’s best "interests" at heart. A conservative radio talk show host said we need to give a message to "outsiders" – "If you come to Vermont, (or if you live in Vermont)," he added quietly, "and rape our children, you will go away for a very long time."
But most often it’s not the outsider, it’s us. Sex offenders are people kids know. And they were once kids themselves – kids that 12-year-old girls hung out with.
That’s right. Future sex offenders may be the boys and girls who’ve been messed with but haven’t gotten therapy and don’t have a protective parent to disclose to; kids exposed to porn and R-rated violence way before they can understand it; or rejected kids who’ve never established empathic and attached relationships to others. The seeds could be planted in those who have never had a proper sex education, one that looks at values as well as health. Almost every high school student has watched a prostitute murdered on Law and Order, but not many of them have discussed prostitution in their social studies class – let alone sex ed class – if they get one.
Yup, some of these kids are at risk for becoming future sex offenders. So we need to focus less on LAW and ORDER and short-term reactions, and more on prevention.
A twelve year old girl is much more likely to be harassed by a boy in her school or even a 20-something guy in the neighborhood than to become a victim of a sex crime. But if that boy is emboldened – a word supporters for Jessica’s law like to use to argue for stiffer sentences – he may indeed go on to more serious offenses
Protecting 12 year old girls and others begins with looking at the actual world they live in and responding with the right kind of education and prevention efforts.
Before legislators jump to spend millions to put away a few sex offenders for life – and research shows that Jessica’s Law will put away only very very few – we need to bring all types of good people together to address how to stop creating sex offenders in the first place, on behalf of Brooke, Jessica, and all our children.