Parents nervous as courts weigh sex offenders' rights

In the last few months, some Norfolk parents have been watching their children a little more closely as word spread about the growing number of registered sex offenders in town.

At a recent neighborhood meeting, one woman said she was nervous about sitting in her backyard, which is near a halfway house now home to two sex offenders. Another worried about her family using their swimming pool. A mother said she's been so anxious, she started accompanying her four children as they wait for the school bus.

''I can't believe they put this house in an area with so many children," said the mother, Beth Carloni.

But sex offenders live everywhere that children do. And the Norfolk situation is just one example of how communities and law enforcement officials in the western suburbs have to balance the desire for safety among residents with past offenders' rights to privacy and peace.

Yes, there are more convicted sex offenders living and working in urban areas, but they're in the toniest suburbs, too. Weston, Lincoln, and Norfolk each have a handful.

And the numbers are expected to rise across the state as the state Sex Offender Registry Board clears its backlog of cases by classifying all convicted sex offenders currently before it.

Offenders are not added to a community's count until they are classified by the board according to the danger they are deemed to pose and the likelihood they will reoffend. A Level 3 offender is considered a high risk, a Level 2 is considered a moderate risk, and a Level 1 is judged a low risk.

The board does not consider just the type of offense in determining levels, said board spokesman Charles McDonald, so it seeks information on whether offenders are in treatment and how that is progressing, how old they were when they committed their first sex offense, whether violence was used, and their current family support system.

As of now, McDonald said, the board has classified 6,089 sex offenders statewide, a process that began in 2001. The vast majority of those classified have been convicted of rape or molestation of a child. The board hopes to finish hearings on another 2,000 this summer, McDonald said.

But there are thousands who have had no contact with the board, McDonald said, which has led local and state law enforcement officials to track them down.

For example, a couple of large sweeps through Framingham by state and local police have netted 15 unregistered offenders this year, according to Framingham Lieutenant Lou Griffith.

Since November, after media reports highlighted the prevalence of unregistered sex offenders, State Police have ramped up their efforts, dedicating the Violent Fugitive Apprehension section to the search full time. They have been all over Massachusetts with similar crackdowns, according to Detective Lieutenant Kevin Horton.

In November, there were 10,631 unregistered statewide, he said, and by last month that number was down to 5,529.

''We're getting a handle on it," Horton said. ''There's still a lot of work to be done. We've put a big, big dent in it."

At the same time, there is a debate over how easily the public should be able to obtain personal information about registered offenders.

How can the state and local police departments balance the rights of concerned residents against the rights of a sex offender who has paid a debt to society and may be trying to make a new life?

That's a question the courts will continue to contemplate in coming months, as a lawsuit over Internet postings works its way through the legal system, probably all the way to the Supreme Judicial Court.

Currently, the Sex Offender Registry Board only posts on its website the number of Level 2 and 3 offenders who live and work in the state by community. But it is fighting to also provide names, addresses, photos, and criminal histories of Level 3 offenders.

On April 2, a Suffolk Superior Court judge lifted an injunction that has prevented the more specific information from being posted. But public defenders filed a notice of appeal last week, so for now the board is still posting just the number of offenders in each city and town.

Carol Donovan, a lawyer for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state public defenders' office, has been fighting on behalf of five sex offenders to keep the information off the Internet.

''What we've observed," she said, ''is once the information is out there, these offenders lose their jobs just about invariably. . . . If they're renters, they suddenly find their rent contract is up. They end up essentially homeless and without jobs, and in many cases, there has been harassment against offenders."

That sets up a situation in which they are more likely to reoffend, Donovan argued, which makes Internet postings a detriment to public safety.

''It isolates people; it makes them angry," she said, rebutting the notion that sex offenders have a higher rate of recidivism than other criminals. ''You know, 'What am I supposed to do? I did my time. I complied with my parole. Where am I supposed to live? Where am I supposed to work?'"

The Internet aside, anyone can get the more specific information now by going to their local police department, filling out a form, and presenting identification.

The police provide the names, work and home addresses, and photos of any Level 2 or 3 offender. (Only police have access to personal information on Level 1 offenders.) In addition, the state asks police to actively disseminate information on Level 3 offenders by putting up posters in town halls or other public places -- even broadcasting it on local cable access channels.

Some communities have pushed the envelope with their own forays onto the Internet.

Waltham was sued last year for posting Level 3 offender details on its website. A Middlesex Superior Court judge ruled against the city and in favor of the same public defenders' group earlier this month.

Bernadette Sewell, an assistant city solicitor for Waltham, said she was planning to file a motion for reconsideration this week. Meanwhile, the information has been taken off the site.

Sewell disputed a contention by Donovan, who is also trying the Waltham case, that broadcasting offender information leaves them open to persecution.

''It goes to who we're trying to protect," Sewell said. ''I think vulnerable people -- it's in our best interest to protect them -- children, the elderly, women."

Earlier this month, Framingham set up a new feature on its website -- a detailed map showing where Level 2 and 3 sex offenders live and work -- that might also be testing the limits of the law. Visitors to the site can also obtain specific Level 3 information via e-mail, a departure from the practice in other towns where information is given out only after a request made in person.

''I think in Framingham we've made great strides in community notification," Griffith said. ''[Sex offenses are] certainly getting more attention in the media, and when you have a situation that arises like Woburn, it intensifies the spotlight, if you will, on this particular problem."

He was referring to the Woburn mother and daughter killed last year, allegedly by a man they knew who, unbeknownst to them, was registered as a sex offender in Lowell. Relatives of the victims have pointed to the case in arguing for a statewide Internet site on sex offenders. McDonald says the best way to protect the public is to have the information as readily available as possible.

''You cannot cure a sex offender," he said, noting that they can, however, prevent another offense by learning to avoid certain triggers, such as Little League games and children's television shows.

Meanwhile, Norfolk neighbors planned to hold another meeting tonight. Unlike at the previous gathering, they are expected to have a chance to pose questions to state officials, questions many others are asking.

Lisa Kocian can be reached at 508-820-4231 or lkocian@globe.com.