The shocking truth about the sex offender arrested for the murder of 11-year-old Irvin Harris last week wasn?t just that he was allowed to spend time with the boy; it?s that serious child sex offenders are allowed on the streets at all.
That is what Republican Del. Tony O?Donnell argues. He blames state house Democrats for “watering down” his version of a law passed in May requiring mandatory minimum sentences for child sex offenders.
O?Donnell?s version of “Jessica?s Law” would have imprisoned convicted first-degree rapists and child sex offenders for a minimum of 25 years and second-degree offenders for 20 years. The bill also eliminated parole. In contrast, the final version of the bill requires second-degree convicted offenders to spend a minimum of five years in prison, with parole allowed after half of the sentenced served for both first- and second-degree offenders.
“The Democratic majority forced parole on us,” O?Donnell said. “Originally there was no possibilityof parole, but they forced us to compromise. There is a school of thought among Democrats and some judges that mandatory minimums aren?t good, and thus they don?t like them at all.”
Some Democrats argue minimum sentences violate due process rights and prevent rehabilitation. But not all Democrats share that view. Democratic Attorney General candidate Doug Gansler supports 25-year sentences for offenders ? who are “by definition recidivists,” he says. “At a minimum, sex offenders should be civilly committed if they remain a danger at the time of their release,” said Gansler.
Jones, the suspect in Harris? death, owned a long criminal record dotted with sex offenses, including a 2002 conviction for a third-degree offense against a 15-year-old boy.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for that offense, but all but one year was suspended.
In 1990, Jones was convicted of sexual child abuse and sentenced to seven years, but all but seven months and seven days of that time was also suspended.
O?Donnell said that portions of Jessica?s Law may have applied to Jones, including increased monitoring, which could have prevented some of his contact with the boy.
But as Jones had not been convicted of a second-degree offense within the statute of limitations, the mandatory minimums would not have applied to him.
“The important thing is that even though we passed a much weaker bill than what we should have, this was still an incremental step forward,” said O?Donnell. “Before Jessica?s Law, there were no mandatory minimum sentences at all in Maryland for child sex offenses.”
In the aftermath of the Jones arrest, Maryland General Assembly members should examine whether child sex offenders need tougher sentences.
That includes debating whether recidivist offenders like Jones should be granted parole even without a second degree offense, as this maybe the only way to protect children from harm.
Tom Moore hosts the AES Tom Moore Show on AM 680 WCBM (Saturdays 10-11 p.m.). He earned his juris doctor in 2006 from the University of Baltimore Law School.
