Sex offenders face tougher penalties

Louisiana lawmakers turned up the heat on convicted sex offenders living in the state in 2008, adding a slate of requirements offenders must meet to avoid returning to prison and paying fines.

Lawmakers have also written bills for the current session of the state Legislature ending June 23 adding further requirements offenders must fulfill.

Sex offenders have long had to register with the sheriff’s office of the parish where they live.

“As of Jan. 1, ’08, there have been a few changes made,” said St. Mary Parish Detective A.J. Jackson. “A lot (of offenders) have come out of the woodwork. They come in to register and ask, ‘What do I need to do?'”

Beginning this year, offenders who have committed aggravated sex crimes – those involving weapons or especially severe force – need to register for life in person every 90 days, said detective Lieutenant Cher Pitre, who heads the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office’s sex offender and domestic violence unit.

Prior to 2008, people committing aggravated sex offenses registered for 10 years.

“Every 90 days, we have to make sure where they’re living, where they’re working and who they’re living with,” Pitre said.

Most forms of rape and sexual assault on people having infirmities trigger registration for life every 90 days. Offenses that are aggravated requiring lifetime registration include crimes against nature, incest and kidnapping a child.

Three other new requirements, Pitre said, were added to Louisiana law this year: the amount of time sex offenders are allowed to register with sheriff’s offices was reduced from 10 days to three business days and offenders now have to register with the sheriff’s office of the parish where they work, if they reside in another parish.

“If you live in Lafourche but work in Terrebonne, you have to register in Terrebonne,” your place of employment, she said.

And beginning this year, the length of time to register for people committing sexual offenses against minors was increased from 10 years to 25 years. Those offenders have to show up at the sheriff’s office every six months.

All four new bills were authored by then-state Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads, who was elected last week to the U.S. House from the Baton Rouge area, and signed into law by the governor.

Cazayoux said the new laws help to bring Louisiana into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, entitling the state to receive more federal dollars.

Longtime provisions

In addition to the new requirements, sex offenders have to be fingerprinted yearly by the sheriff’s office, send postal notification to nearby residents, publish their photo in a specified newspaper for two days, notify the school board and recreation department of the parish where they reside and pay an annual $60 fee to defray processing costs. Landlords also need to signify approval with the sheriff’s office.

If they move out of the parish, offenders have to notify the sheriff’s office and the Louisiana Department of Corrections that they are moving, then register anew where they are living with the sheriff’s office and the department.

At least once a year, offenders are also sent a registration card by the Louisiana State Police, who are notified when offenders register at sheriff’s offices.

Expenses associated with these requirements often are a problem for sex offenders after their release from prison, said Bill Nuell, a specialist who handles sexual and violent offenders with the Houma sub-office of the Probation and Parole Division of the state Department of Corrections.

“People coming out of prison don’t have money to get that done,” Nuell said. “It’s okay after they solve the financial part. Most abide by the rules.”

“The problems come not with reoffending,” he said. “They come with using drugs and alcohol or they don’t notify us. Not registering will not be tolerated. They have to tell us before they move, they have to register in the other parish, have their picture in the newspaper, notify the schools again.”

“If they don’t register, there’s a new charge,” he said.

(A first conviction for failing to register carries a two- to five- year sentence. A second one can carry up to 20 years.)

The state places the phrase “sex offender” on their driver’s licenses in orange. Pitre said offenders often cover up the phrase using a black marker or try to scratch it off the license.

Tracking offenders

Probation and Parole’s main office covering Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes is in Thibodaux. The office assigns five sex-offender specialists to Terrebonne and two to Lafourche. St. Mary Parish is part of the division’s New Iberia office.

Officers read the sex offender contract to the offender, informing him that he cannot live within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, daycare facilities and youth centers. He also cannot live in the same residence with the victim of his crime.

“We have to approve the address,” Nuell said. “If we don’t approve it, he stays in jail until we do.”

Sex offenders in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes must attend counseling sessions at the Thibodaux office or see approved private counselors. Offenders must also report once a month to the Houma or Thibodaux office.

Nuell said the division will eventually attach ankle bracelets to all sex offenders, but law enforcement officials in the Tri-parishes have not indicated they are experiencing any real increase in problems keeping track of sex offenders.

Sheriff’s offices communicate with each other regularly to track offenders.

“There are a lot of people coming in from out of state because of Katrina,” Pitre said. “It’s hard because they can just pick up and leave.”

“We have to know where they are,” she said. “They have to let us know they are moving, then it ends. I verify with the state or parish that they have moved there. I spend a lot of time with Lafourche verifying if they are registered there.”

“When sex offenders do leave another jurisdiction and move into Lafourche, the sheriff’s office is usually notified by the state,” said Sergeant Dennis Gordon, director of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Sex Offender Accountability Program.

“And sometimes the jurisdiction the sex offender is leaving will inform the sheriff’s office that they are moving in and we just follow up on it that way,” he said.

“But if someone takes off for another jurisdiction, changes their identity or what have you, you really don’t know where they are,” he said. “They can go anywhere. Until they pop up back in the system, you just have to wait.”

In St. Mary Parish, Jackson has been the sole officer handling sex offenders for the sheriff’s office, but more officers are expected to be assisting him soon.

“To keep up with the work is difficult,” he said. “I go through the requirements with (offenders), they sign a packet. If they miss a date to report, I explain the consequences. So far, everyone’s cooperating.”

Jackson works out of the sheriff’s office in Franklin and at substations in Centerville and Morgan City. Sex offenders register at the Centerville office.

“When a sex offender notifies me he is moving, I send the information to the parish or county (where he is going),” he said.

Sheriff’s offices also relay information concerning sex offenders to the Louisiana State Police, the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and vice versa.

Lawmakers want more heat

Gov. Bobby Jindal is urging lawmakers to place further penalties on sex offenders in Louisiana during the current regular session of the state Legislature – especially Internet solicitation – and so far they seem to be complying.

State Sen. Jody Amedee of Gonzales has faced no opposition to a string of bills he sponsored increasing restrictions on offenders.

By far the most wide-ranging one would make all sex offenders register for life, but Amedee has pushed through several other weighty bills.

One proposal doubles to 2,000 feet the distance that offenders have to maintain away from schools.

The bill applies to those convicted of offenses against children 13 years old and younger. Another increases the minimum sentence for offenders molesting 13 to 18 year olds from one year to five years.

Two bills deal with computer-related sex crimes against juveniles. One raises the minimum penalty for computer-aided solicitation of minors and another prohibits adults from contacting minors by telephone whom they have solicited online. The Governor’s Office says no state law exists outlawing that conduct.

All of Amedee’s bills passed the Senate 38 to 0 or 36 to 0, except the one increasing the distance to 2,000 feet, which still needs to be voted on by the full senate. The bills are currently in the House Criminal Justice Committee.

Lafourche Parish state Rep. Jerry Gisclair wants to use polygraph tests on sex offenders to try to prove they have not gone near schools and playgrounds. However, other state lawmakers have questioned the reliability of the tests.

The measure was approved by a House committee and will proceed to a House vote.

Terrebonne has a higher number of sex offenders living in the parish than Lafourche and St. Mary. The TPSO’s Web site lists 428 sex offenders (.41 percent of the parish’s population) living in Terrebonne. A Louisiana State Police Web site lists 300 (.29

percent of the population). St. Mary Parish contains 120 registered sex offenders (.22 percent of the population) and Lafourche has 164 (.18 percent).