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	W.Va. Predator Watch Site Tracks Sex Offender Cases By Kathryn Gregory Sunday Gazette-Mail March 21, 2010 http://wvgazette.com/News/201003210325 CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Nearly 800 accused sex offenders are awaiting trial in West Virginia, and one local organization is hoping to make it easier for the public to find out who those people are. West Virginia Predator Watch, a watchdog service operated by Warriors Actively Against Sexual Predators, hopes to raise community awareness about those accused but not yet convicted of sexual crimes with online postings of published news stories and public court documents. It also plans to provide public updates on the status of each case, such as plea agreements, trial dates, verdicts and sentencing. Mike Lewis and David Mullins, first cousins and sex abuse victims, decided to start the Web site (www.wvpredatorwatch.org) to make sure the public knew who was living "across the street." The site aims to keep tabs on all accused sexual offenders in West Virginia, from their arrest until sentencing, Lewis said. "Everything is public information," he said. "We're just putting it in one place." To get around the legal -- and moral -- issue of pointing a finger at accused sex offenders who have not been convicted, Lewis is linking only to current news stories and public documents. Once an accused sex offender trial comes to an end, West Virginia Predator Watch will update the accused offender's page and then remove the story after seven days, regardless of outcome. Lewis, 30, said one of the most important parts of the site is making sure those who are accused but acquitted are taken down in a timely manner. The last thing he wants to do, he said, is pass judgment on someone who is innocent of a crime. "We're really committed to posting fair and accurate information on each case," he said. The driving force behind the site, he said, was Lewis' and Mullins' own sexual abuse encounter. Charges were filed against their abuser, former pastor of Shrewsbury Church of God Sandy Martin Cook, but Cook was allowed to continue to pastor almost 17 months before his trial started. "That's absurd," Lewis said. "If that community had known what he had been arrested for, do you think he would have been allowed to pastor?" Cook was sentenced in February 2009 to 20 to 60 years in prison on multiple counts of third-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or a custodian. Often, those who are accused of a sexual crime are released on bond and allowed to return to the community without anyone knowing about the charges, Lewis said. Many times, the accused continue their crimes. According to the West Virginia Division of Corrections, 13.4 percent of sex offenders who were released back into the population in 2004 and 2005 committed the same kind of crime again. As of June 30, 2009, 927 prisoners were incarcerated for forcible sex crimes, making up almost 15 percent of the total jail population. Even more frightening, Lewis said, is that there are already more than 3,000 registered sex offenders who have served their time and are back in the communities, according to the West Virginia Sex Offender registry. "It's a huge number of offenders for a small, small state," Lewis said. The site doesn't allow comments on the various stories, nor does it ask viewers to pass judgment on the accused. Although the site's main goal is to expose the potential dangers of having accused sex offenders in the community, its secondary goal is to put pressure on lawmakers for their action, or inaction, against sexual offenders, he said. "It's sad, but the only way to get things done is with pressure," Lewis said. Recently, House Bill 2616, which died in the Senate judiciary committee, would have increased the penalty against those who fail to report suspected abuse. Lewis, a Kanwawha County resident, said he was "shocked and saddened" that the bill didn't pass. "Is there a numbing medicine you're given when you get to Charleston?" he asked. "Are our children even a priority?" Lewis hopes the Web site, the only one of its kind in the country, is just the beginning and will not only branch out with county-specific sites, but also go nationwide. "The beautiful thing is that through all the tragedy we have come from, we're taking those ashes and embers and trying to make the journey to justice a little easier for victims of sexual abuse," he said. Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.
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