The Story Behind The Story: EVERYONE HAS TO LIVE SOMEWHERE
EVERYONE HAS TO LIVE SOMEWHERE
Friday, November 04, 2022
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ November 4, 2022)--While researching one thing, I found another, and another and eventually found myself researching sexual offenders living in Gloucester City. I wondered how many there were, where they were living, and how the predatorpopulation in our city compared to other towns. All of this information is available on datauniverse.com and the NJ State Police Megan's List. I have to say, the State Police Megan's List isn't as easily available as it used to be. I don't know if this is another case of keeping information from the taxpayers or if the State Police have given Megan's List a lower priority over time.
There are 18 sexual predators in Gloucester City, the majority of which live between the railroad and the river. New Jersey categorizes predators in different categories, called Tiers. The first is Tier I, little chance of repeating. This category would include boys over 18 dating girls under 18. Often it is the girl's parents who file charges. Gloucester City has one person in this category.The next category, Tier II, has two levels within it. They are a) Moderate chances of repeating, and b) Moderate, Compulsive repeater. Gloucester City has 13 in the first category and 2 of them are compulsive. We have two people in Level III, High chance of repeating.While looking at addresses where the predators live, I found that most of them live in rentals, owned by people who live outside our boarders. Let's take a look:One of the owners is from Tuckerton, NJ. I'm very familiar with that town; it is about the size of Gloucester City. We have 18 predators; Tuckerton has three.Moving onto Cherry Hill. That town is much larger than we are and have a greater population than we do. However, we have 18 predators; Cherry Hill has 12.How about the Moorestown landlord? We still have 18 predators but lucky Moorestown, that town has none. Not a single one. Do you think Moorestown would bring our predator to their town and maybe live with landlord? Not a chance. The same is true of Glendora. That town sent their predator to us.The following towns have residents in their towns who own rentals in Gloucester City. Each has two predators: Monroeville (both Tier III - high risk,) Laurence Harbor (both Tier II - Moderate,) Swedesboro (both Tier II - Moderate.) Port Norris has four, all Tier II - Moderate.This is bad enough, but things can always get worse. In New Jersey there are 172 "non-compliant" predators. We have no way of knowing where these people are or even if 172 is an accurate number. What we do know where these people were before they disappeared from the radar. In Camden County there were 25 Moderate risk, 3 High Risk, and 3 Compulsive offenders. On the other hand, Gloucester County only has 3 offenders. all Tier II Moderate.A few years back I attended a Brooklawn Borough Council meeting. That week a man had been arrested for sexual assault. A woman stood and tried to get the other attendees to help her put this man's photo on telephone poles and deliver handouts door-to-door. The borough attorney was present, but no one chose to awaken him. So, Motormouth Philbin took the reigns, and explained that the man had been arrested, which is newsworthy. However, he had not entered a plea, been tried, or convicted. All of those events are newsworthy. However, posting his picture on telephone poles was harassement. These people were leaving themselves wide open for a lawsuit or worse. In the end the charges were dropped and another man convicted.The reason I bring up this story is there are rules which go along with Megan's Law. Here are some.After 15 clean years, the person comes off the list. Not everyone gets to know who is in their neighborhood unless you go onto the NJ State Megan's Law site. For Tier I, only the police are notified. For Tier II offenders, Schools, Religious and Youth organizations are notified. For Tier III offenders, members of the public are notified if they are likely to encounter this person. Have you ever been notified? No? Oh well, the law says that "no action can be brought against anyone for failure to investigate or disclose any information... " Read that again. I read this to say if you find out on your own, okay. But if you think that any law-enforcement agency is obligated to investigate a report of a sexual assault, you'd be wrong. I invite anyone and everyone to read this law and prove me wrong. I want to be wrong.National Hotlines - Rape and Incest 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)Domestic Violence 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)