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04/21/2006: "Pedophiles in Spokane"

Yes, folks, its still going on.

priest has resigned as director of a Roman Catholic-run home for troubled boys that is being sued by former residents who claim he abused them during the 1970s and '80s.

And here's a fun little story out of the Gonzaga paper. Note how this co-ed states that she "wasn't surprised" at the high concentration of registered sex offenders in Spokane. Wow. Why would anyone send their son or daughter to Gonzaga, EWU or Whitman when the conditions are this dangerous?


The first week 21-year-old senior Natasha Seidl searched the number of sex offenders in her neighborhood, she "swore off walking anywhere." She and her four other roommates had already lived in their house for five months before one of her roommate's professors gave them a Web site to search for registered sex offenders in their neighborhood.

"I wasn't surprised," Seidl said, "but I was creeped out."

Within the 99207 ZIP code, there are 10 level II sex offenders and three level III sex offenders, according to a search conducted on "The Washington State Sex Offender Information Center" Web site (http://ml.waspc.org/searcharound.aspx). Level III sex offenders are the highest-level sex offenders. Many of them were convicted on multiple charges of molestation and the rape of minors.

Currently, if Seidl must walk to campus alone, she makes sure it is during the day. If it is early morning, she goes with a friend or drives.

"At night, I only drive," Seidl said. She also carries a "huge thing of pepper spray" wherever she goes.

Seidl works downtown on the 800 block of West Riverside and sometimes walks the Centennial Trail to and from work. "I walked to work on the trail just fine," Seidl said.

Another search conducted on the same Web site for the 99201 ZIP code returned 54 registered offenders with a valid address and 39 more without a valid address, including those who are transients and have recently moved. Although Seidl is disgusted by the number of offenders within the same area that she works, she said that knowing this information will not affect whether she will continue to walk home by herself.

"I have to do what I have to do," she said. "I guess I am guilty of thinking it won't happen to me if I take these precautions. On the other hand, I think there are sick things that happen no matter where you are."

Last year Seidl lived in the Chateaux apartments off Boone Avenue and Washington Street. When she moved, she said she hadn't thought to research her new area because she needed housing. She said that even though the apartments were nice, she feels safer now living on East Nora. Seidl thinks the apartments were isolated from campus, and that at least on Nora, there are dozens of houses of students who live around her that she knows, particularly on her block.
link

Spokane knows it has a problem, thats why the state is passing new laws preventing registered sex offenders from coming anywhere near a child.

SPOKANE -- Being a sex offender in Washington is about to get a whole lot more difficult, thanks to nearly 20 bills signed into law by Governor Chistine Gregoire Monday.

One of the new laws makes it illegal for sex offenders to hang out where children do, and its the first of its kind in the country. It creates a new crime, criminal trespass against children, making it illegal for level two and three sex offenders to hang out in places children do - like parks, pools and community centers.

The member services director of the YMCA says it gives his staff more control over who comes in and out of their facility. They will have to rely on community notification fliers and the county website to identify the sex offenders.

Criminal trespass against children is a Class C Felony. link

But even this isn't enough, so some of the local citizens are taking matters into their own hands.

Coeur d'Alene's Tamara Cougar is fed up.

Fighting for what she believes in, Cougar brings to mind such crusaders as Spokane's Shannon Sullivan, who mounted the effort to recall Spokane's mayor after it was revealed he offered city posts to gay men he met on the Internet.

Like Sullivan, Cougar is a single mother. And she's taken on a formidable opponent: child molesters.

Cougar had the unpleasant task of explaining to her daughter, who was in third grade with Dylan Groene – a boy who was kidnapped from his home and later allegedly killed by a convicted child molester – why Dylan wasn't coming back. Then, after attending the Groene funerals, Cougar took a stand.

"I can't teach my kids to always do what's right if I don't do it myself," she said. "As a mother, I just felt in the pit of my stomach that something had to be done."

Cougar abandoned a career in mechanical engineering to build a nonprofit organization to protect children called Strong Mothers Against Child Molesters, or SMAC'M.

"We can teach children how to be less vulnerable, and teach parents how to keep their children safer," she said.

Cougar has put messages on coffee cups, T-shirts, billboards and bumper stickers. But perhaps her most potent weapon, about to be launched, is SMAC'M's Web site.

In addition to listing registered sex offenders, SCAC'M's Web site will provide information on parental fears, a section for hurt children, how and where to get help, and monitoring of sentences given by local judges to child molesters, among other invaluable information.

"Soon, we'll add a safety page," Cougar said. "As our programs develop, we'll add more."

Cougar has had valuable assistance from those on the front lines.

"The police and prosecutors have been very helpful, telling me what roadblocks keep them from getting convictions and decent prison sentences."

One roadblock is judges who Cougar said let offenders go free rather than send them to prison. What's more, Idaho has no mandatory minimum sentences for first-time sex offenders. SMAC'M will not only monitor sentencing, but also report on Kootenai County judges who it feels are too lenient.

Other problems include offenders who declare homelessness to avoid registering addresses, and a lack of key personnel, Cougar said.

"Area police departments used to have state funding, through ICARE, for a special interviewer for child victims of abuse," Cougar said. "Their funding was cut about a year ago, although the interviewer is desperately needed."

Cougar has support from many in the community, such as Angela Vietri, a former Boise School District teacher.

"I met Tamara and thought, 'Wow, here is a person that's actually taking action.' So many of us hear about child predators but are left with only a feeling of outrage and helplessness. SMACM is changing that by giving the average person a vehicle to make a real difference."

SMACM can be found here. The Spokane County Sherrif's Sex Offender database can be found here. The Spokane County Sherrif's office goes so far as to publish a separate list of the "Level 3" sex offenders. On 4/17/2006 there were 129 names on this list.

These offenders pose a potential high risk to the community and are a threat to re-offend if provided the opportunity. Most have prior sex crime convictions as well as other criminal convictions. Their lifestyles and choices place them in this classification. Some have predatory characteristics and may seek out victims. They have refused or failed to complete approved treatment programs.