Tribune Staff

When Megan's Law first came into play in 1996, it was obvious the intentions were good. Several years later, however, we are beginning to see that the execution of the plan has its flaws.

Federal legislation was enacted

in the wake of the death of Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994 by a paroled sex offender.

Each of the 50 states has its own version of Megan's Law. In Ohio, for example, the law requires the sheriff's office of each county to maintain a registry of people living in or moving to their county who have been convicted of sexually oriented crimes.

Convicted sex offender's are required to report their whereabouts to law enforcement officials. They are supposed to let them know if they are planning to move, and to where. As it turns out, many of these individuals have failed to report their situations on a timely basis and have moved about without anyone knowing their location.

Call us cynics, but we are more surprised when a criminal abides by the law than when he or she breaks it. It doesn't surprise us that these sex offenders are not meeting the requirements of their parole and probation. Criminals will be criminals -- some will be rehabilitated and get back on the right track, but many will continue to break the law.

Failure to register is a felony punishable by prison time, but enforcement is the problem. What we need to do is beef up law enforcement, and actively track sex offenders who fail to register. Law enforcement agencies admit they don't have the resources to seek out sex offenders.

Does this mean that we should throw in the towel and do away with the registration system? No. The system is not perfect, but with a little fine tuning it could still be an effective way to keep track of these offenders.

As parents and citizens, we must always be on the look out for our children. A great percentage of sexual abusers are known to their victims, and may not ever turn up on a registry. Education and common sense are our best allies in the fight against these predators.