Let’s talk about one of those Elephant in the Room subjects that no one wants to talk about. I’m referring to the issues of sex offenders and the local church. Fortunately in recent years we have begun to discuss it, but there’s a long way to go). Early in my career in the field of Criminal Justice I spent several years working with exclusive sex offender populations. It was during those years that I realized that Sex Offenders were one of the few populations behind the walls of a correctional institution that were treated differently. I have since concluded that this is true for both behind the walls of a prison and on the streets of society.
Let’s be honest, sex offenders are definitely not treated nice in prison; as they are considered the lowest of the low. And many times they are treated equally as bad by their neighbors/society when they are released. Their names are placed on a sex offender registry for the rest of their lives and neighborhoods can pass out fliers and post signs notifying the entire neighborhood that a sex offender taken up residence in their neighborhood.
The neighbors don’t generally sit around and sing the Mr. Rodgers theme song: ”It’s a beautiful day in the neighbor hood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood… Won’t you be my neighbor!” It’s more like: “Not In My Neighborhood, I Don’t Think So or I Know He Didn’t.” There seems to be a heightened sense of awareness with the recent release of corruption at Penn State, aka Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
RELATED: Does Your Church Have a Background Check Policy?
We have come to understand that sex offenders are be treated differently in society and behind prison walls. The real question is “Should sex offenders be treated differently by the church and faith communities?” Research reveals that sex offenders have a high propensity to re-offend, which tends to put everyone on red alert. Again, that’s why sex offenders are all in a national database and are required to register upon their release.
