Megan’s Law not deterrent, study says

TRENTON, N.J. -- A federally funded study examining sex offenses in the state where Megan's Law was created concluded that the law hasn't deterred repeat offenses.

The report released Thursday found that registering sex offenders in New Jersey makes them easier to find when they are accused of crimes but does little to alter the sex crimes committed or the number of victims. The study also suggests the costs associated with the laws might not be justified.

The study estimated the cost of implementing Megan's Law in New Jersey at $555,000 in 1995. By 2007, annual costs of maintaining the programs was about $4 million.

New Jersey was among the first states to enact laws requiring community notification and sex-offender registration. The laws, now in all 50 states, are named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and killed in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender who lived near her home.

Megan's Law requires law-enforcement agencies to notify the public about sex offenders living in their communities.

When the most dangerous offenders move to a neighborhood, police go door to door to notify citizens and past victims.

Those considered to have a lower risk of re-offending are listed on a public Internet registry. The lowest-risk offenders must register but aren't subject to notification laws.

Megan's mother, Maureen Kanka, said the laws never were intended to alter the behavior of sex offenders.

"It was to provide an awareness to the public, which it has done," Kanka said yesterday. "We never said it would stop them from going somewhere else and sexually abusing. Would having that knowledge have made a difference for my daughter? Absolutely. She'd have been alive and well."

But Kristen Zgoba, a lead author of the report and a research supervisor for the state Corrections Department, said increased awareness alone doesn't result in safer communities.

"There's no other way to increase safety other than to decrease the likelihood of these crimes taking place," she said.

A public defender, Michael Buncher, said the money spent on Megan's Law would be used better for improved supervision of sex offenders and sex-offender therapy in prisons.

The report is among only a few to use hard data to evaluate the effect of the laws on the crime rate. Recent studies in New York and Arkansas have come to similar conclusions. Other studies used mostly anecdotal evidence to support the laws.

The New Jersey study was done by the Department of Corrections with help from Rutgers University. It was funded by the National Institute of Justice.