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145 registered sex offenders live in Niles; info available online
Published 12:21am Thursday, June 23, 2011By KATE STONE
Niles Daily Star
There are approximately 553 registered sex offenders who reported living in Berrien County this year, and that number continues to fluctuate. Of the offenders in Berrien County, 145 of them are currently living in Niles.
When an offender moves to a new home, they are required to notify law enforcement within 10 days. Offenders must report any changes in address, employment, enrollment status, Internet service providers along with user names and e-mail accounts and purchase of a motor vehicle.
Offenders must annually report where they live. If an offender is classified in tier 1, he or she only has to register once at the beginning of each year. Offenders classified in tier 2 must report twice a year, in January and July. Tier 3 offenders are required to report four times a year, in January, April, July and October.
“There are no rules for notifying current residents of a neighborhood when a sex offender moves in or when a current resident becomes an offender,” said Chief Ric Huff of the Niles Police Department. “The only residential rule for sex offenders is that they cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school.”
Information about the offenders can be found online on a public website, www.mipsor.state.mi.us. This website includes the offender’s legal name, aliases, summary of convictions, current address, registration status, type classification, physical description and registration number. Visitors may also sign up to receive e-mail notifications when a convicted sex offender moves into a new neighborhood.
Victim information is not available through the website. The offender’s Social Security number, arrests not resulting in conviction, travel and immigration documents, instant message and e-mail addresses and license numbers are also unavailable to the public.
Failure to follow the registration obligations is a felony offense and can be punishable as a Class E felony, while second convictions may be punished as a Class D felony.
Not all sex offenders are pedophiles or sexually violent offenders. In some cases, the offender was in a relationship with the underage victim and they were only a few years apart in age. Offenders on the registry have been convicted of crimes including: kidnapping with intent of sexual acts; sexual battery; rape; drugging with intent of sexual acts; prostitution; sodomy, child pornography; and many other related offenses.
If there is an error on the Sex Offender Registry website or an offender has moved and has not changed addresses, submit a tip to the website and contact local law enforcement.
Victims of sexual assault or abuse are highly encouraged to seek help and report the crime to the local law enforcement agency.
For more information about sex offender requirements, the registry or offenders in a specific area, visit www.mipsor.state.mi.us.
The registry has no other outcome other than a loss of safety and/or security and the taking of Constitutional Rights without due process of law.
Michigan cannot point to any registry law and show a positive public safety outcome. Michigan has passed all registry laws ex-post facto and continues to add any restriction they like, regardless of justice or public safety.
When a person is forced to choose between their safety and/or security and following the law, it is called a, Morton’s fork (a choice between two equally unpleasant choice, jail or safety) the laws in question become illegitimate.
It is axiomatic that illegitimate laws do not have to be followed and can be fled from in any way possible.
The State takes email addresses and internet identifiers for only one purpose, and that is to give to internet websites in order to scrub them from their sites. This includes all free speech sites, such as Facebook, and 100′s of other sites.
The tier system is supposed to predict whether a person is likely or not to re-commit a crime. It does not do that. What it is, is a relitigation of a crime already served and specifically does not predict reoffense levels. However, it does put the community to a panic, does not allow for the submission of evidence of non-dangerousness and does not allow any challenges to this evaluation.
There are residency restrictions, and work restrictions, harassment, homelessness, estrangement and fear that this registry produces. Nobody can show any public safety outcomes.
Do you really think because a registry feels good, it has to be followed?
OR, Rudy101, you could just NOT commit the crime, then there would be no consequences. Duh.
@Rudy101- Wouldn’t you want to know whether or not a child molester moved in next door to you and your family?! I know I would want to know! I check the registry often, and I have never harrassed anyone or put up posters or anything, I just want to know who my neighbors are for the sake of my childrens’ safety! If the offender(s) feel the registry is an infringement on their rights, maybe they should think twice before committing the crime! They certainly infringed upon their victim’s rights when they committed the crime against them!