Offender registry not in compliance

The state board that determines the potential danger of released sex offenders has only one licensed psychologist, despite a law requiring the board to employ at least three.

The state Sex Offender Registry Board's work has become increasingly important as communities use its decisions to pass ordinances determining where released convicts can live and work. The current seven-member board includes a former prosecutor, a probation officer, and a state finance expert.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Governor Mitt Romney, said, ``All the members currently serving on the board are well-qualified and they have done an excellent job."

But in an e-mail, he acknowledged, ``We are keenly aware that the next two appointments have to be either a psychologist or a psychiatrist."

Carol Donovan, special litigation director for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, said the lack of qualified members calls the board's work into question.

``I think there is a notion out there generally that this board is being run by a group of people who know everything there is to know about this and are being ever so careful." she said. ``The reality is . . . the board doesn't serve that function."

Donovan is challenging the board's methods before the state Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of a New Bedford man who lost his job after his employer learned he was a sex offender. Donovan said the man served a year's probation for his crime, a 1992 charge of indecent assault and battery involving a girlfriend.

Currently the only member of the board with a background in psychology is Doreen Fay, a licensed psychologist who has been a member since 2001. The other members include chairwoman Jennifer Franco, a lawyer who has served on the board since 2001; Shawn Jenkins, former budget director for the state's Executive Office of Public Safety; Thomas A. McPhee, a former Suffolk probation officer; Alicia Henry Walsh, a lawyer who was assistant chief of staff to governor Paul Cellucci; and Vesta Nuon, a victims' advocate.

Fay and Franco did not return phone calls requesting interviews.

Charles McDonald, a spokesman for the board, defended its work but would not elaborate. ``The Sex Offender Registry Board performs its demanding tasks very well," he wrote in an e-mail.

Board members, who get paid at least $75,000 a year, have the power to determine the futures of more than 15,000 convicted sex offenders listed in the registry. Board members classify sex offenders into one of three categories, based on how much risk there is that the offender will commit another sex crime.

The classification process works like this: An analyst fills out a table that includes the date and type of offense, in addition to other information that helps the board calculate a person's risk of re-offending. That information is then assigned to one of the seven board members, who can approve the classification or amend it.

A high-risk offender gets a Level 3 status, while a person at low risk of committing another sex crime would be a Level 1. A person who disagrees with the classification has 20 days to appeal.

Once an offender's classification is final, the information is given to police in communities where the person lives and works.

Police must notify residents and groups likely to encounter a Level 3 sex offender, and provide that person's address. Local police, who are required to inform the public about Level 3 offenders at least once a year, are allowed to put the information in newspapers and on television. Also, the state posts photographs and information about high-risk offenders on its website.

Residents can go to local police to request information about Level 2 sex offenders. Information about Level 1 offenders is not made public.

Romney will soon consider a bill, passed by the House and Senate, that would tighten the registration, classification, and monitoring of sex offenders. It would increase the number of convicted sex offenders required to wear global positioning system devices after their release and bar the most serious sex offenders from living in nursing homes. The measure would also require lifetime parole for high-risk offenders who fail to register.

Some cities and towns impose restrictions on sex offenders that go beyond state law. This year, Fitchburg and Revere passed regulations banning convicted sex offenders from living near schools and day-care centers. Middleborough selectmen voted to put the names, addresses, and photos of sex offenders in the town's annual report.

Shrewsbury police Chief Wayne Sampson, president of the state association of police chiefs, said he had no criticism of the state board's work but noted that he would like more information.

``From a law enforcement perspective, there is probably no greater need than for us to be able to respond in an appropriate manner based on hard facts," he said.

That need became apparent last year when a group of residents in Shrewsbury became so outraged about a Level 3 sex offender living in their subdivision that they posted photos of him and threatened his employer. Sampson said he worried about vigilantism and called a neighborhood meeting. The problems stopped only after the man moved.

The turmoil drew the attention of state Representative Karyn E. Polito , a Shrewsbury Republican who sponsored legislation earlier this year toughening laws pertaining to sex offenders. One of her proposals created ``predator-free zones" that bans Level 2 and 3 offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or place where children congregate. The bill died in a committee, but Polito said she would push it again next year.

Polito said she was not aware that the board was not in compliance with the statute on the number of psychologists.

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at woolhouse@globe.com.