FIGHTING CRIME: Sex-offender law now being used

      CARSON CITY -- In an effort to keep paroled sexual predators from preying on women and children, the Legislature and Gov. Bob Miller enacted into law their version of Megan's Law on June 16, 1995.
      Megan's Law -- now adopted throughout the country -- creates community notification programs that compel local police to tell residents when a serial rapist or pedophile is paroled into their neighborhoods.
      But only now, 21 months later, are police in Nevada starting to notify people when these sexual offenders are paroled.
      Regulations were not approved until Nov. 15. They require that sex offenders submit to psychological risk evaluations by three state employees about 120 days before their releases.
      As a result, about 20 Nevada sex offenders so far have fallen under the dictates of the law, named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was killed in 1994 by a twice-convicted child molester who moved across the street from the child.
      In New Jersey, 3,500 former sex offenders now fall under the purview of Megan's Law.
      Sen. Mark James, primary sponsor of Megan's Law in Nevada, was concerned by the delays in starting the program because of statistics that show the average child molester has 350 victims in his lifetime.
      "We basically let sex offenders out of prison unrehabilitated, uncured and untreated to go right back to their lives of violence," said James, R-Las Vegas.
      None of the released offenders has been pronounced by review panels as a high-risk, or "tier 3," offender whose background necessitates that police notify nearby residents of his presence.
      "A tier 3 offender is someone with several victims, who hasn't sought help and who continued to display improper behavior while in prison," said Toni Gillen, operations supervisor for the Division of Parole and Probation. "We have people tell us, 'If you let me out, I'll do it again.' "
      Neighborhood residents are told only when the highest-risk offenders move into their areas. Schools, day care centers and other organizations are notified for both the high- and medium-risk offenders.
      Media outlets may be given pictures and backgrounds of high-risk offenders only when they move from a residence without notifying police authorities.
      Las Vegas police Lt. Stan Olsen said volunteers may be used by his department to notify people of the presence of sexual offenders.
      "With the tier 3, we will probably go door to door," he said. "It is important for the public to have knowledge of a dangerous person in the community within the framework of the law."
      About 1,000 of the 8,000 inmates in Nevada prisons are people convicted of sex offenses.
      But just 42 were paroled from Nevada prisons in 1995. Another 102 left after serving out their sentences. The latter are not included in the notification procedures.
      Deputy Attorney General Thomas Patton, who prepared the community notification guidelines, said generally only low-risk offenders will be released. Parole boards must judge these offenders as safe in the community before they can be freed.
      James wants the current Legislature to expand Megan's Law so ex-convicts who move into Nevada from other states are brought under its dictates. And he wants the community notification program to cover inmates who serve out their sentences.
      "Those who expire their sentences now can go on the streets with no tracking whatsoever," Gillen said.
      Renata Cirri, director of Community Action Against Rape in Las Vegas, is not convinced the community notification programs will prevent recidivism.
      "Community notification is a good idea, but we are not dealing with reputable people," she said. "It is an impossible task. You would have to baby-sit them seven days a week."
      But Gillen said parole officers intensely supervise sex offenders.
      "Sometimes they will have contact every day, or two or three days a week," she said.
      Patton hopes the offenders do not become pariahs, shunned away from their neighbors.
      "It's in the community's interest to keep them stable and productive, not to terrorize them and intimidate them," he said. "We want to make the person's transition back to the real world a success, rather than getting them in a paranoid state where they may reoffend."