Evening star., 1947-08-19
To Curb Potential Killers

The disclosure that United States Attor-
ney Fay is drafting a proposed new law
to protect this community against sex
offenders should be welcomed by the
people of the District
AS pointed out last week by The Star,
the laws of the Nations Capital provide
little better than no protection against the
type of degenerates from whose ranks
come depraved killers such as the man
who recently stole three year-old Chi
cago boy from his bed and strangled him
because he had a terrific urge to squeeze
something"
The most tragic aspect of this sort of
thing is that these potential sex murderers
could be spotted in many cases before they
develop homicidal tendencies. In the
Chicago case, for example, the killer had
a record of previous sex offenses. But
they had been treated as being of little
consequence. On at least two occasions
he had been jailed for short periods, but
under the existing law serious view OF
his case was not taken until he turned to
murder. Nor was that an isolated case.
The same thing has happened time and
time again.
Just last week in this city two men were
found guilty of the offense of indecent
exposure-not' too serious in itself, but
the kind of thing which often leads to
serious criminal acts. And each OF
them had been convicted previously of
similar offenses. Yet the maximum
penalty which could be imposed on them
under existing law was imprisonment for
ninety days or fine of two hundred and
fifty dollars. AS it happened, the Judge
elected to fine these offenders rather than
Jail them for ninety days, and since they
could not pay the fine 1t became possible
But if either had been able to pay the two
hundred and fifty dollars he would have
walked out of the courtroom free man.
The deplorable inadequacy of such a
penalty, considering the nature Of the
offense and the psychological disturbance
which underlies it, hardly requires elabo-
ration.
Mr.. Fay began his study of this situa-
ton some time ago. To his surprise, and
the people of Washington, he found that
the laws of At States give more protection
against sex offenders than does the law in
the Nations Capital. Some of these State
laws are inadequate enough. But the
District, with the exception of Vermont, is
the worst of the lot.
The United States attorneys office, be-
cause of the jurisdictional setup in Wash
ington, is not responsible for the prosecu-
ton of offenses such as indecent exposure.
This latter offense comes within the prov
ince of the corporation counsel, which
fact of itself, is indicative of the woeful
failure of the law to recognize the poten-
tial menace of this type of offender.
Even in the sex offenses which fall
WITHIN his Jurisdiction, however, Mr.. Fay
has found the existing law to be danger
ously inadequate. In certain cases he can
prosecute for sodomy, but in those cases,
as a matter of law, it is extremely difficult
to obtain a conviction. For the others, he
has to fall back on charge of simple
assault, which is misdemeanor and for
which, even upon conviction, the penalty
is hopelessly inadequate.
In his effort to draft new statute which
would adequately cover this neglected
phase of our criminal law, Mr.. Fay should
have the support of the people of Wash
ington and their representative organize
tions. If he gets that support he can
reasonably hope to secure the statutory
protection which the city ought to have
If he does not get 1t, and if the law cover
ing sex offenders Is not strengthened, we
can be quite sure that Washington will
not escape the shocking crimes which have
occurred in other cities.