How do you track sex offenders? NY county hires ex-cops
Since 2013, Suffolk County has paid the nonprofit group Parents for Megan's Law about $780,000 a year to run the program, resulting in 8,700 home checks and 104 people charged with violating the registry law.
County officials have deemed the program, which also includes counseling services for crime victims, a success and want the nonprofit's three-year contract renewed, but some are questioning whether the checks amount to harassment and whether a private entity should be performing duties that traditionally have been the purview of law enforcement.
A registered sex offender claimed in a federal lawsuit filed last year that he was "the target of two harassing investigations" by Parents For Megan's Law.
A judge ruled last month that despite its status as a private organization, Parents for Megan's Law could be sued for civil rights violations in its role as a "state actor."
Dr. Bill O'Leary, a forensic psychologist and longtime critic of the program, said intense scrutiny of convicts is a poor use of resources because 95 percent of sexual abuse occurs between a victim and a known acquaintance, not a stranger living down the street.
According to Suffolk police, two people on the registry who would have been subject to the checks have been arrested for new sex crimes since 2013.