Flawed sex offender tracking leads to wrong door

Las Vegas Sun ^ | 18 nov 07 | Abigail Goldman

[rellimpank]

It's worse during the holidays. Christmas, New Year's, Halloween. That's when they really start knocking. Calling him out in the middle of the night. Showing up at his stoop in angry packs.

"Christopher," they wheeze through the front door, "Christopherrrrrr - we know you're in there ... "

Christopher Risdon is a 35-year-old sex offender who was busted for child porn. But Risdon doesn't live at this Tropicana Avenue apartment. Hasn't for years. So when the curious (if that's really all they are) come calling, they're now ringing the wrong doorbell. Despite what sex offender-tracking Web sites say, this apartment belongs to Harry Berlin, 71 years old, frail and, frankly, petrified.

"I'm a nervous wreck," he says, holding out his hands. They quake like palsy.

[Graybeard58]

the fact that information online isn't 100 percent accurate

I'm so disillusioned.

[Clint Williams]

"even one address incorrectly listed as the home of a sex offender is a grave problem, one that exposes Metro to serious civil liability and, more important, suggests the Web site is fundamentally flawed. ...
.. the Web site comes with a disclaimer that the information should not be used to harass or terrorize anyone, he said.

So what's the big deal? It's not like anyone's ever been murdered, their houses torched, or cars vandalized because their address appeared on one of these websites.

Oh wait...

[Ronin]

It sucks that his address is mistakenly still on the website, but heck, if its that frigging bad, why not MOVE?

[rellimpank]

—and it sure fills one with confidence that “government” should be doing everything for us when this has been going on for two years-—

[rellimpank]

--why can't the effing government fix the error???

I'm not one for lawyers, but this calls for a suit and punitive damages against the idiots that let it go on---

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

“It sucks that his address is mistakenly still on the website, but heck, if its that frigging bad, why not MOVE?”
Absolutely wrong. The guy has no obligation to move. ALL the burden of responsibility is on the agency that posted wrong information.

[tbw2]

Especially when they’ve had YEARS to update the database. Even telemarketers update the DMA list in a matter of weeks.

[js1138]

It sucks that his address is mistakenly still on the website, but heck, if its that frigging bad, why not MOVE?

I'm sure you would move rather than assert your rights as an American citizen, but what about those who didn't volunteer to live in a police state?

[muir_redwoods]

Harry needs a 20ga. shotgun. If the pile of bodies outside his home gets deep enough the government might decide to correct the problem.

BTW, who the hell wants to go harass sex-offenders any way. As the old folk wisdom so eloquently suggests, the more you stir it, the more it stinks.

[Clint Williams]

I'm sure you would move rather than assert your rights as an American citizen, but what about those who didn't volunteer to live in a police state?

I don't remembering hearing anybody opposing these laws -- which effectively amounts to volunteering to live in a police state. Folks just always thought someone else would have to live with the downside. And for the most part, they've been right; this guy is one of the exceptions.

[Clint Williams]

Harry needs a 20 ga. shotgun. If the pile of bodies outside his home gets deep enough the government might decide to correct the problem.

I'm sure long about the time the first body hits the floor the government will be preparing new housing for Harry.

[muir_redwoods]

I have no idea about Nevada law but if he’s being threatened by a violent break-in, in most states he’d be on pretty firm ground.

[Clint Williams]

"(Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopechne is walking around free)"

Pretty good!

[Slump Tester]

Hey, that’s a good tagline!

[js1138]

And for the most part, they've been right; this guy is one of the exceptions.

Well I suppose it's better for innocent people to suffer than to let one guilty person go unharrased. That is the motto for our justice system, isn't it?

[ricks_place]

Any error in a sex offender data base should invalidate protection of the vulnerable...NOT! Morally, if not in law, the offender, Christopher Risdon, should update his address, employer, email, phone numbers, and so forth.

[goldstategop]

The opposite side of sex offender address registration is that innocent people can be wrongly targeted. Sex offenders can and do lie about where they live.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

Screw you! Why should I have to move from my home for something I DIDN'T DO? In America, I shouldn't have to prove I'm NOT a sex offender to be taken down from a Megan's List.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

Sure he, will. You'd expect a felon in effect, to paint a bulls-eye target on his back, right? That defies everything we know about human nature.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus