But while that law, properly utilized, will guard against the highly stylized stalking of pedophiles who use employment or volunteer activity as cover, it will have no effect on the anonymous predator living in a dense urban environment who pounces without warning. It's not only politicians who fear the media. Prosecutors do, too, especially those prosecutors who are politicians in disguise. But the truth can be found in the length of his original sentence. When the predator moves on, he takes his cloak of anonymity with him.
Sex offenders are no more entitled to privacy than stalkers are to camouflage.
We must begin to attack the enemy at both ends of the continuum. If there is one compelling theme in the backgrounds of sex predators, it is early, chronic, intense child abuse. The connection between today's abused child and tomorrow's predator is ignored at our peril. Child protective services are the front line of the war against predators, but still we continue to send the troops out with inadequate training, supervision and support. Child protection is crime prevention.