Albemarle County Police: $5,439.44 for Child Safety Records
October
18, 2007 -- Crime Victims United of Virginia issues a Freedom
of Information Act request to the Albemarle County Police
Department for information on child safety records in the
county.
October
26, 2007 -- the Albemarle County Police Department responds,
demanding an unreasonable sum of money ($5,439.44) to provide
information that should already be easily accessible to
the community.
View the Freedom
of Information Act request for information.
View
the Albemarle
County Police Department response.
CVUV
believes that transparency and accountability in government
is essential. We'll keep you posted on Albemarle County
Police Department's reluctance to make information regarding
crimes against children open to the public.
Charlottesville
School Board
The
following question has been formally submitted by CVUV to
all Charlottesville School Board members and Candidates.
Answers are due in 48 hours. We'll keep you posted here:
This year, Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) introduced and
successfully
passed a
law which prohibits convicted sex offenders from entering
school property. The law has certain exceptions, one
being that a
court order could be issued to allow violent sex offenders
access to school
property even when children are present.
We understand
that the school board will be taking this issue up soon
in hearing. Any decisions of the local board will likely
impact local
court decisions which could result in convicted violent
sex offenders and sex offenders having direct access to
children on school property.
QUESTION:
Should there be any allowable exceptions to this law and
if so, what circumstances would justify such an exception?
According
to the American Prosecutors Research Institute and The National
District Attorney's Association risk assessment tests like
the Abel
(ASSI) should only be used to determine treatment options
after an offender has been found guilty. These tests can
not be used to determine guilt or innocence or risk of re-offense.
According to The American Prosecutor's Research Institute
Update - Volume 11, Number 5, 1998
"Structuring
Charging Decisions, Plea Negotiation and Sentencing Recommendations
for Sex Offenders in the Wake of Sexual Predator Statutes
By Brian K. Holmgren"
"Appropriate
management of sex offenders can only occur if prosecutors
and judges have an appreciation for the offender's dangerousness
before critical dispositional decisions are made. Unfortunately,
few jurisdictions have structured programs that do comprehensive
assessments of offenders prior to sentencing. Research suggests
the so called "first-offender" often has other
undiscovered victims and sex offenses,9 and intrafamilial
offenders often offend outside the home.10
9
See e.g., Gene Abel et al., Self-Reported Sex Crimes of
Non-Incarcerated Paraphiliacs, 2 Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 3-25 (1987); Groth, A.N., Longo, R.E. & McFadin,
J.B., Undetected Recidivism in Rapists and Child Molesters,
28 Crime & Delinquency 450-58 (1982); Freeman-Longo,
R. E., Incidence of Self-reported Sex Crimes Among Incarcerated
Rapists and Child Molesters. Unpublished Manuscript. Correctional
Treatment Program, Oregon State Hospital; Mark Weinrott
& Maureen Saylor, Self-Report of Crimes Committed by
Sex Offenders, 6(3) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 286-300
(1991).
10
Weinrott, & Saylor, supra (offenders self-reported a
high degree of cross-over in offense types with rapists
also offending against children and incest offenders also
offending outside the home)."
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