Texas two step
February 21, 2008 by MCA
On the Glenn Beck show, Tuesday February 19th, one of his guests was Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro from Plano, Tx. There is this description of some of her accomplishments on her website.
As a champion of children, she passed landmark legislation to protect against sexual predators. Her series of bills known as Ashley’s Laws, protects against, adjudicates, and punishes sex offenders whose victims are children. These laws, which began in 1995, were national benchmarks, and Senator Shapiro continues to dedicate herself to improving the safety and security of our children.
The legislation was enacted in 1995. It was named after after 7-year-old Ashley Estell of Plano who was abducted and murdered in 1993. Michael Blair was convicted of capital murder on September 28, 1994 and given the death penalty which has been appealing. On September 4, 1993, Blair kidnapped seven-year-old Ashley Estell from a park in Plano, Texas. Her half-clothed body was found the day after she was kidnapped. The cause of death was strangulation.
On the show, ahe made this comment regarding the debate over the Adam Walsh Child Safety Act in Texas and new mandates requiring anyone cinvicted with sexuakky offending a child under 12 years of age must register regardless of the offenders age.
SHAPIRO: Well, and I think the problem here is that what we have to recognize is that these are children. And in this society, which unfortunately has become very lax and very lackadaisical, we`re not giving them the proper attention that they need. But the statistics show that a juvenile sex offender with the proper treatment — and there is a proper treatment for juveniles — with the proper treatment has a very, very low recidivism rate. An adult sex offender has almost a third, 33 percent recidivism rate over a five-year period.
She didn’t quote her source concerning recidivism rates so it is unclear if it is a national statistic or specific to Texas.
Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment
Treatment of Sex Offenders - Recidivism Rates
The recidivism rates fluctuate among different types of sex offenders and are related to specific characteristics of the sex offender and the offenses.
