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Ankle monitors gone for hundreds of sex predators in Georgia
Credit: Bigstock
Key Points
- 600 sex predators off ankle monitors across Georgia by year’s end.
- No legal fix from state lawmakers nearly two years later.
- Police rely on registrations and house checks for predators.
Many of Georgia’s most serious sex predators live in local communities across the state, now without ankle monitors they were required to wear for life until recently.
Roughly 1 in every 450 people in Georgia is a registered sex offender, according to data from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Of those, 1,230 have been classified as sexually dangerous predators, meaning they pose the highest risk of committing future crimes.
Sex predators live in communities across the state, mainly in the Atlanta, Savannah and Columbus areas. All but a fraction of Georgia’s 159 counties host at least one predator listed on the state’s sex registry, on top of thousands more sex offenders convicted of less-severe crimes.
Due to a recent Georgia Supreme Court case, state officials expect about 600 predators to be freed from their ankle monitors by the end of this year. Since then, state lawmakers have let nearly two years slip by without passing a legal fix suggested by a state Supreme Court justice, who recommended giving judges more leeway to include lifetime ankle monitors as part of a predator’s sentence.
In this five-part story, State Affairs explores how some sex predators were required to wear lifetime ankle monitors, what local sheriffs are doing to track predators without the monitors, and concerns from many sex-victim advocates caught off guard by the court ruling.
Our story
Part I: Celebration in the sheriff’s office
Joseph Park will never forget the round of applause he received on the day he went to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office to have his ankle monitor removed.
Part II: Lawmakers slow to act
A bill to pass a legal fix for ankle monitors has stumbled twice during legislative sessions in Atlanta in the roughly two years since the Georgia Supreme Court’s ruling in Park’s case.
How Georgia classifies sex offenders as predators came under sharp scrutiny during Park’s case, echoing legal challenges to ankle monitors that have occurred in several other states.
Part IV: ‘Peace of mind’ for sex predators
Many sheriffs and district attorneys in Georgia say they’ve come to grips with the loss of ankle monitors, noting the need to balance privacy rights with public safety.
Part V: Long road for survivors
The increasing removal of ankle monitors in Georgia has shaken advocates and survivors who already face an uphill battle in court to secure plea deals or guilty verdicts against predators.
What else would you like to know about sex-related crimes and the judicial system in Georgia? Share your thoughts/tips by emailing [email protected].
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