Sexually based crimes strike at the very core of the human spirit. In the wake of sexual violence are scarred victims, shattered lives, disrupted families and frightened communities. Media accounts of previously convicted sexual offenders committing new violent sexual assaults have become commonplace. A new approach to dealing with the offender and protecting citizens was in order.
The genesis for this new approach was guided by four Federal acts. They are named after the victims of violent/sexual assaults. These are the victims' stories:
In July 1981, Adam Walsh, age 6, was watching other children play videogames in a Florida department store while his mother shopped in another area of the store less than 75 feet away.
In October 1989, Jacob Wetterling, age 11, bicycled home from a store with his brother and a friend in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
In September 1990, Houston real estate agent, Pam Lychner prepared to show a vacant residence to a prospective buyer.
In July 1994, Megan Kanka, age 7, accepted an invitation from a neighbor in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, to see his puppy.
As they went about their daily routines, Walsh, Wetterling, Lychner, and Kanka could not have known they were fated to become crime victims, or that their names would become synonymous with Federal laws mandating more stringent control of sexual offenders....
