MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, Nov. 9, 2015
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
In most of the world, kids are even more vulnerable to predators than they are in the US. That’s why we hope the Supreme Court will uphold laws requiring convicted sex offenders to notify authorities when they move to a foreign country.
Two Kansas City men – Lester Nichols and Robert Lunsford – were convicted of sex crimes in unrelated cases and later moved – separately – to the Philippines. Neither of them updated their sex offender registrations. The question is: can or should they be required to do so?
We think so. For the safety of kids, we hope the justices will side with the vulnerable over the guilty. Sex offender registries aren’t panaceas. We believe they are legal, fair and effective, and should be restricted with great caution.
There’s must to be said for our society’s growing zeal to reduce prison populations and the burdens on ex-criminals. Still, however, because the harm they inflict is so egregious and their chance of re-offense is so high, we believe child molesters should be imprisoned and monitored with utmost care.
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