SEXUAL PREDATOR PROSECUTION

Sexual Predator Prosecution

Sexual Predator Prosecution

Introduction

California has had no shortage of notorious criminals over the years. Often their crimes have exposed weaknesses in state and local law enforcement policy. The Onion Field murder, which involved the 1963 kidnapping of two Los Angeles police officers and the killing of one, led to changes in police procedures during traffic stops. The slaughter of seven people in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson helped marshal public support for the death penalty and inspired reforms in legal procedures.

Analysis

Several terrible crimes have involved sexual predators, notably Reginald Muldrew, the Pillowcase Rapist who committed about 200 sex crimes between 1976 and 1978, and the Hillside Stranglers, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, who raped and murdered at least 10 young women from 1977 to 1978. These crimes encouraged California voters to adopt the Victims' Bill of Rights Initiative in 1982, which included major sentencing and procedural reforms. The shocking 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas by habitual criminal Richard Allen Davis galvanized support for California's "three strikes" sentencing law (Cheryl Milloy, 2003).

The recent allegations that kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard had been held and sexually abused for 18 years in an Antioch neighborhood by habitual sex offender Phillip Craig Garrido now is raising questions about how California deals with these types of criminals. Sex offenders, particularly habitual rapists, child molesters and pedophiles, are different from most other criminals. While most criminals commit a wide variety of crimes, habitual sex offenders are often specialists who live unnoticed within law-abiding society (Jim Doyle, 2004).

They generally have jobs. Some are married, have children and appear to live normal lives. Studies have shown this class of offender to be more intelligent and deceptive than other criminals. Habitual sex offenders plan their crimes, sometimes for months. Like the general population, most are white. Usually, they will continue to pursue their fantasies as long as they are free to do so (Roxanne Lieb and Scott Matson, 1998).

While these differences make sex offenders difficult to identify and prosecute, California has been a leader in creating specialized investigative units within police departments and district attorney offices to identify and convict these criminals. Improvements in forensics and the treatment of the victims of sex crimes have become vital assets in this effort. This aggressive approach to sex crimes has helped drive down the rate of forcible rape in California to the level it ...