Do tough sex laws help or hurt?

State's crackdown easier to apply to strangers; 93 percent of offenders know victims
October 20, 2007, DIANE JENNINGS and DARLEAN SPANGENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

"...As a sexual abuse survivor, the Dallas woman understands the emotional appeal of harsher sentences for child abusers. But she says the new get-tough Texas laws promise more than they can deliver because they won't affect the vast majority of sex offenders. "We're focusing on stranger danger," she said of the crackdown, which includes 25-year minimum sentences and the death penalty for some child rapists. "That's not who's molesting the vast majority of our children."" ...

"According to federal statistics, juvenile sexual assault victims know their perpetrator a staggering 93 percent of the time. Often, it's a family member. Frequently, it's another child. Rarely is it a stranger. " ...

"...it's actually very rare that that kind of political reaction [harsher penalties] makes for good public policy." ...

"Crimes in which a child is snatched by a stranger are extremely unusual, despite public paranoia. Of almost 800,000 missing children in a one-year period, just 115 were victims of a stereotypical kidnapping, and half of those involved sexual assault, according to the Department of Justice."...

""The new laws are "sheer demagoguery," said veteran Dallas defense lawyer Vincent Perini, noting that long sentences were already available."...

"...A third of all sexual offenses are committed by juveniles, according to the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment." ... "Legal challenges: Child-on-child sex crimes are incredibly difficult to deal with, said Shannon Edmonds, director of governmental relations for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. "Oftentimes, they occur within families. And the problem is trying to weed out the ones who are a danger vs. the ones who are just playing doctor." full story