By Hector Flores
More information about Level 2 sex offenders can be found at www.parentsformeganslaw.com .
With her voice cracking, Dympna Vernan, a deputy lieutenant with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, recounted for the first time publicly her own sexual abuse at the hands of a neighbor when she was 8 years old.
When Vernan was a child, sexual abuse was kept secret in most families. She didn't tell her parents that she had been molested until she was 11. "When I spoke out, the abuser no longer had access to me, but he remained a free man," Vernan said. "He abused his wife, but spent only one night in district court. He divorced and married again, and abused again."
Vernan wonders constantly what would have happened if she had told her parents sooner. Perhaps she could have saved her little sister from the same fate, she thinks. "My sister and I remained in fear for many years, and my parents had to spend thousands in counseling for us," Vernan said. "Now I'm trying to do something to empower victims. This is only a part of the puzzle, and there is so much to do. I will do my best to help."
Vernan's testimony and pledge of support were heard loud and clear during a July 20 forum on Megan's Law reform and civil confinement at the Merrick Firehouse. Assemblyman David McDonough, a Republican of North Merrick and vice chairman of the Assembly's Republican Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Women and Children, sponsored the hearing. In addition to Vernan, speakers included:
€Joseph Brucia Jr. of Bellmore, father of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, who was raped and killed by a convicted felon in Florida.
€Joy Watson, bureau chief of the Nassau County district attorney's office's Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Unit.
€Dari Schwartz, a Suffolk County assistant district attorney.
€Cynthia Scott, executive director of the Coalition on Child Abuse and Neglect.
€Rachel Kalish, volunteer coordinator for the Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk County.
€Robert Lloyd, executive director of Long Island Citizens for Community Values.
€Detective Lt. John Allen, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department's Special Services Squad.
McDonough said that the state's current laws protecting children and women from sex offenders must be upgraded at once. He pointed to the nationally televised case of Joseph Duncan, a convicted rapist and child molester in Idaho who was arrested for allegedly killing an entire family and then kidnapping two children, killing one and molesting the other.
Brucia, who met McDonough after his daughter's death became national news in February 2004, said, "I'm glad to be here today calling for civil confinement. This law is just another tool to protect our children. These predators are everywhere, and we need to know where they are." If civil confinement legislation were enacted, the worst sexual predators could be held past their sentences in secure psychiatric facilities for treatment.
Watson said, "As chief of the [Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Unit], I see day-to-day violence that happens to children and women, and [civil confinement] is a crime-prevention measure. Our children and the vulnerable need assistance, and this legislation will provide added protection."
Watson explained that sex offenders often plead to lesser crimes. "The public needs to know that there are offenders who are labeled at a lower level, but in reality committed higher-level crimes," she said. "We need to access information on all levels." Currently, registered sex offenders are labeled Level 1, 2 or 3 offenders, with Level 3 being the worst. Citizens can only access information about Level 3 offenders on the state's Sex Offender Registry.
Schwartz said, "Extending the statute of limitations [on sex crimes] would help us. In some cases, you cannot bring evidence of past crimes, but sexual offenders are different than others; they are repeat offenders."
Schwartz explained that in cases involving sexual assault of a child, often the only evidence is the child's testimony. "At times, this makes it difficult to get a conviction," she said. "But if that person had a prior offense and that was allowed as evidence, it could add credibility to a child's testimony."
Schwartz also said that there must be better supervision of sex offenders when they are released from prison. She said there was a recent case in which a sex offender was tracked with a Global Positioning System, but was unsupervised by a parole officer. He ended up baby-sitting and assaulting a child. "Not only do we need to know where these offenders are, we need to know what they are doing," she said.
McDonough said that many sex offenders cannot control themselves and desperately need treatment, which civil confinement would provide. "Some of these offenders are crying out for help," he said.
McDonough added that he recently received a letter from a Level 3 sex offender who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. The offender asked that the state Legislature build more facilities to treat sex offenders, who are often sex-abuse victims themselves.
"The offender had been abused by his father," McDonough explained. "And when his father was released from prison, he was returned to live with the offender. The father not only molested the offender again, but his younger brother as well."
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
