Parallel Universes

 May 19,2006 -PHOENIX, AZ  If these "sex offenders" are all dangerous with hundreds of victims in their wake which are guaranteed to re-offend as some proclaim, why don’t we just round them all up and ship them off to some deserted island somewhere? Surely there is nothing any of them can offer to society, IF it is true that none of them can change.

Operationawareness.com presents two very different, real life stories. Each has been carefully documented and verified. It is the story of two people from opposite sides of the country. Their lives and lifestyles differing in every way imaginable, except for one. Both of these individuals wound up as registered sex offenders. One, a career criminal, turned out to be a killer who currently awaits trial for the murder of 9 year old Jessica Lunsford.  The other, an outgoing and devoted married mother of four whose criminal history consists of a single misdemeanor conviction 14 years ago. These two stories exemplify the unequivocal disparities, inconsistencies and injustice with the sex offender registries and the public's perception of who is on them. The latter individual's story is one that we never hear about on the evening news, but stories like hers, can be found all over the country in alarmingly high numbers. What is the price of lumping everyone ever convicted of a sexually realted crime together?

MEET JOHN EVANDER COUEY

John Evander Couey, born September 19,1958 confessed to kid-napping and killing 9 year old Florida girl Jessica Marie Lunsford ,on Friday March 18,2005. Sometime in the days before murdering Jessica, while high on crack cocaine, marijuana and alcohol, Mr. Couey let himself into his neighbors’ unlocked trailer and convinced little Jessica to follow him outside and across the way to his sister’s trailer, where he was temporarily living. He kept her there alive for several days, sexually assaulting her before wrapping her in a trash bag and burying her alive in the back yard just a few feet from her own home. An utterly insane, brutal and senseless tragedy.

John Couey, registered sex offender and every parent’s worst nightmare. Although he was registered as a sex offender he had stopped notifying the authorities of his whereabouts. Not surprising given his incredible history.

His reasons for murdering Jessica are unclear as of this writing. We know he was a drifter. Moving around Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. A man of small stature at 5 foot 4 inches and weighing 120 pounds. The only skills he seemed to possess are those which involved the commission of crimes.

He was unemployed, and heavily abused drugs and alcohol. The most amazing thing about Mr. Couey is undoubtedly his extensive criminal history. There can be no doubt that this man thought only of himself and respected nothing. There was a time during one of his previous arrests by Florida authorities, where he asked for help because he "didn’t want to do this anymore". Still, he was released. Again and again. I can find no record of Mr. Couey getting any of the help he so obviously not only needed, but desired at that time. It is also puzzling why this man hadn’t been locked up for decades or even life, without any chance of early release. Clearly, he was a menace to society.

Mr. Couey’s criminal career began in July 31, 1977. He was arrested for a burgalry charge, two counts. The case however, was dismissed. The following day he was arrested again for burglary charges, 3 counts this time. Two dismissed, one adjudication with-held. This time he got 3 years probation. Exactly one month later he was arrested, yet again, for larceny. He was convicted this time and served 6 months in jail.

Upon release he managed to keep out of trouble for four whole months before being arrested yet again for burglary. This time, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was paroled just 2-1/2 years later. This scenario is played out over and over again with new charges being added for weapons charges and D.U.I.

On May 27, 1987 Mr. Couey was arrested for Indecent exposure, resisting an officer, and failure to appear. He was sentenced to 3 days in jail.

There are two more D.U.I arrests and convictions after this in less than a weeks time. Followed three years later by a disorderly conduct charge.

On April 8,1991, Mr. Couey was yet again arrested. This time for fondling a child. He was convicted of a reduced charge of attempted lewd acts on a child. For this he receive 5 years in prison and 1 year probation, which, not surprisingly he violated. A warrant was issued, he was arrested and served less than 2 years. Once out he immediately resumed his criminal career.

Forgery, narcotic equipment and marijuana possession are added to his criminal credentials. All in all Mr. Couey racks up 27 charges spanning 18 years. Clearly he has zero respect for law or authority. He does what he wants, regardless of the consequences. Unfathomable to most, including myself, until his criminal career finally and fatally ends with the murder of 9 year old Jessica Lunsford. He now sits behind bars awaiting trial for capital murder and several other related charges.

For now, not much else is known about Mr. Couey.

MEET JANE MARIE DOE

Jane Marie Doe (not her real name).The middle of three children. Pretty and petite, she was 5 foot 3 and weighed just 105 pounds.

Jane Marie plead guilty in 1992 of one misdemeanor count of sexual conduct with a minor. It is important to note that it was a consensual act. Also bear in mind that  Megan's Law nor any type of community notification had been concieved of at that time.

Jane Marie was 22, the minor, a male, age 15 with whom she had been living, along with his adoptive Father. A single mutually consensual sexual encounter with the minor who, along with her, had been abused by the father severely for an extended period of time. Jane Marie had been very depressed at the time and even considered suicide. She had known nothing other than alcoholism and abuse since the age of 11 at the hands of her own father. She had no friends,no family or support system of any kind since moving across country to Arizona from Massachusetts with the two, six months earlier. She and the minor were seemingly all each other had. They were very close and would come to one anothers aid when one or the other was being assaulted, usually only to be assaulted themselves as well.

Jane Marie served one year probation of a three year probation sentence. Her probation was terminated early as her supervising probation officer felt her supervision in the community was no longer warranted. The court concurred.

Jane Marie has no other criminal record prior to this conviction nor has she committed, nor been convicted of, any additional crime in the 15 years since.

Shortly after her conviction, Jane Marie had her first child and married. Having a child brought her great pride and willingness to be a responsible person. She became active in her community, forming a neighborhood block watch for which she was the Captain. She solicited and received from local politicians grants for neighborhood improvements. New playground equipment and additional lighting for the local park, as well as additional street lighting for the neighborhood to reduce vandalism which had been on the rise in the area. She organized block watch parties and brought her neighbors together, forging friendships that have lasted to this day.

Jane Marie had taken some college courses and got her medical assistant’s certificate. But her desire to be a stay at home Mom rivaled any need for her to be a career woman.

In the spring of 1994, when Jane Marie was 5 months pregnant with her second child, she heard a story on the news about a little girl in New Jersey named Megan Kanka who had recently been brutally murdered by a neighbor. The man had just been released from prison for a crime involving another little girl which he grabbed off the street, drug behind some bushes, molested her and then strangled her. He had believed he had killed her, and left her for dead. The girls survived and was able to help authorities obtain his conviction.

Megan Kanka’s mother was in a rage. Lobbying congress for new laws which would notify neighbors if a registered sex offender was living in their community. Jane Marie was horrified and panicked. As part of her conviction she was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life. At her sentencing the judge had told her that the only requirement of registration was to notify the Sheriff whenever she changed addresses and that the information was confidential. Indeed, that was how the law read in 1992. She located the telephone number of her old probation officer and called her immediately. She asked her if her neighbors were going to be notified. "Oh No" said the probation officer. Don’t worry Jane, they cannot go back and apply that to you. Jane Marie was very relieved and her mind was put to rest. Jane Marie continued on with her life in a positive direction.

Eventually, Jane Marie had a third child and by 1997 she had resumed taking a college course at night. Shortly after finishing the course she re-entered the work force, becoming an Office Manager for a local construction company.

Her marriage was not doing well at this point however, as her husband had been a drinker. Jane Marie felt it was best for her and their children to get out of the relationship. Jane-Marie’s father was an alcoholic and her childhood had been very difficult. She had been placed in a foster home during her teen years. It was then that she had made a promise to herself that if she ever had any children of her own she would give them a better life than she had. Her greatest fear was having her children grow up thinking that alcoholism was normal and did not want her daughters to know the pain of being married to an alcoholic. So in 1999, Jane Marie and her three kids moved out.

It was a very difficult time for Jane Marie and her children both emotionally and financially. Jane Marie’s husband refused to pay any child support and even quit his job of 11 years to avoid doing so. Even worse, the children all began getting ill with respiratory problems and bouts of pneumonia. Eventually it was discovered that the apartment which they had rented had been flooded several times and there was a terrible problem with black mold. It grew all over the mattresses, bathroom walls, laundry, photo albums, everywhere. The doctor advised Jane Marie to move her children out of the apartment as soon as possible.

Jane Marie immediately went out to look for a new apartment. She filled out an application and was told she had been accepted and began packing. A few days later, at work, she received a telephone call from the new apartment manager’s assistant. She said there was a problem. She told Jane Marie she had run a background check and that it came back showing that she had a Felony conviction for child molestation (which at that time Arizona law meant the minor was under the age of 12). The information was inaccurate. Jane Marie went down to the credit bureau which had been erroneously reporting the information and had them correct it. She then went to the new apartment manager’s office with the paperwork. She never got a chance to show it to him or explain what had happened. He immediately began screaming at her, wanting to know WHY she was not on the website? Was she hiding? Did she need to check in with probation once a month? Jane Marie was floored, humiliated and angered all at once. She was so unnerved that she withdrew her application and left. She found another apartment which was a lot less nicer, in a poorer area and she and her kids, being desperate, moved there. Jane Marie shook off the experience and again resumed her life.

Several years passed. Jane Marie eventually re-married and had a fourth child in December of 2003. Life was good. She and her husband had bought their first home. The children were happy.

All seemed well until the following February when Jane Marie received a call from her best friend, now living outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Her friend was frantic. She had been watching her local news sation the evening before. The station ran a segment entitled "The Face Of Danger". "Your picture was on there four times"! She exclaimed. "They were talking about violent sexual predators and putting facial recognition cameras in public schools".

Her friend was outraged. Not because of Jane Marie’s past because Jane Marie had long since confided in her friend about her past mistake. Her friend had seen all of the court documents. The news broadcast was a sham.

Jane Marie slipped back into depression. She had suicidal thoughts and now suffers from panic disorder and anxiety. She is reclusive. A homebody. Her path to being a "productive citizen" terminated. Not because of anything she herself had done, rather, because of the passage of Megan's Law and others like it.

Ironically, the laws that have passed and affected her have put her back mentally and emotionally to a similar place she was at, at the time of her crime 14 years ago. Her "reward" for leading a law abiding life and trying to give back to the community.Gone are her desires to further her education as the new laws now state she would have to inform the school about her past. She constantly fears what will happen next. What new laws will be passed and applied "retroactively" to her. She waits for the day when her neighbors are notified and her and her families’ world falls completely apart. The promises made by the court a decade and a half earlier of confidentiality now gone, it’s no longer a matter of if, but when. She struggles to understand why this is happening. After all these years of living a good, honest, and quiet life raising her family. She cannot understand how it is possible to share the same label as that of John Evander Couey for the rest of her life. What legitimate reason does the state possibly have for continuing to keep her, or people like her on the registry indefinitely? At what cost, not only to her and her family, but to the taxpayers and the community as well?

In a country that prides itself on charity, forgiveness, generosity, and freedom from oppression, life, liberty and the pusuit of the American dream it is ironic that the oppression now seems to be coming from within. Violations and complete disregard for longstanding laws against due process, expost facto, privacy rights and many others. Laws which once stood as the foundation for a great country.

If we can "bend the rules" for sex offenders, we must ultimately ask ourselves, who will be next? It is a slippery slope whose dangers have barely begun to rear their ugly heads.

Who will be next to have their rights violated under the guise of public safety? All our government must do to curtail any of our rights is to state that they have a "legitimate" public interest. Whether it is legitimate or not.

Amanda Rogers

Senior Staff Writer

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