Sex Offenders in Oklahoma

A Clarification of Sex Offender Classification From: sexoffendersoklahoma.com Herein lies the problem in the majority of the communities in Oklahoma. The lack of sufficient : ENFORCEMENT-- REGISTRATION --IDENTIFICATION--AND NEIGHBORHOOD NOTIFICATION There is a major sense of false security and misunderstanding parents have in regards to their child's safety and protection against the pursuit of sexual predators. Coupled with the fact that in the main law enforcement, including our elected city, county and state officials collectively, lack a thorough understanding of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Constitution. Title 57 places restrictions on all convicted sex offenders. These restrictions are levied according to the severity and frequency of the offence adjudicated by a court of law be it a judge and/or jury. Inform your state and local elected officials or police department that as a citizen, taxpayer and voter you want to be able to see on the web a picture of any sex offender who has moved into your neighborhood and personally be informed of same. Under state law, Title 57 of the Oklahoma state statute says you as a citizen have the right to be informed by your local police department in any manner they deem appropriate. Community notification is not required in Oklahoma. If a sex offender resides within the city limit of a given municipality Oklahoma law requires that all cities use their law enforcement personnel to record and maintain a record of the predator for a period of 10 years. This is assuming the predator of his own volition reports to the police station and completes the necessary forms as prescribed by law. A sex offender living outside a given municipality comes under the jurisdiction of the county sheriffs office. The law applies equally between city and county law enforcement officials. Presently inorder to locate an individual sex offender in Oklahoma requires searching 77 counties and an untold number of both large and small cities. The reason being each entity can independently display sex offenders on the internet. They may not display a predator outside their city limits or county jurisdiction. At present there are only 12 city and 2 county sheriffs departments with websites that display and provide sex offender information. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections website does an outstanding job of displaying sex offenders. They show sex offenders that have been classified as habitual or aggravated. This is only the tip of the iceberg. For this reason it is the purpose and intent of sexoffendersoklahoma.com to become the focal point for gathering and displaying sex offender information. Our goal is to provide parental education, child abuse and sex offender awareness statewide in order to protect and guard our children against sexual predators. Ultimately, you Mr. & Mrs. Citizen, with the click of a mouse will be able to see the picture of and identify all sex offenders residing in your neighborhood. Oklahoma has 3 classifications; at present they are: 1. (habitual) This sex offender has been convicted of more than one sex crime. Somewhere in this country, a predator attempts to abduct a child every 4 1/2 minutes! 2. (aggravated) This sex offender has been convicted of one sex crime. It was of a violent nature. Therefore the word aggravated is used. "Seventy-four percent of the children who are kidnapped and later found murdered are killed within the first 3 hours after being taken." Deborah J. Daniels, Assistant Attorney General and National AMBER Alert Coordinator. 3. ( All Others) These Sexual predators have been released from prison and/or paroled or both. They are not considered aggravated or habitual, these are the predators that roam our neighborhoods, parks, church and school activities undetected. They feel free to prey on our children, teens and even adults. Better than 85% of all sex offenders will strike again. There are over 5,000 sex offenders residing and preying on young children in the State of Oklahoma. 60% are released from prison with no supervision. 11% of the 5000 are in non-compliance of the law. Oklahoma, with its title 57 as a part of the state's statutes, has strict laws on the books in regards to sex offenders. It's a matter of : ENFORCEMENT-- REGISTRATION --IDENTIFICATION--AND NEIGHBORHOOD NOTIFICATION Excerpts from Title 57 of the Oklahoma Constitution. The Legislature finds that sex offenders who commit other predatory acts against children and persons who prey on others as a result of mental illness pose a high risk of re-offending after release from custody. The Legislature further finds that the privacy interest of persons adjudicated guilty of these crimes is less important than the state's interest in public safety. The legislature additionally finds that a system of registration will permit law enforcement official to identify and alert the public when necessary for protecting public safety. STATE OF OKLAHOMA All sex offenders, as defined in 57 O.S. Supp. 1997, Section 582, have a duty to register with the local law enforcement authority having jurisdiction in the area where the person intends to reside or to stay for more than seven days in accordance with Oklahoma State Statute 57 O.S. Supp 1997, Section 583. If a sex offender changes address, the offender shall notify the appropriate agencies in writing no later than three days before the offender establishes residence or is temporarily domiciled at the new address. OUT OF STATE If the sex offender changes address to another state, the offender shall register the new address with the appropriate agencies in the new state not later than 10 days before the offender establishes residency or is temporarily domiciled in the new state, if the new state has a registration requirement. ___________________________________________________ If we save just one child's life or reduce the number of children that are being violated by predators this whole project will have been worthwhile. Don