Editorial: Sexual Predators

With an ever-increasing concern about the threat from convicted sex offenders and sexual predators living among us, Cape Coral City Council has tightened rules on how far such people can live from schools, parks and day-care centers.

Council lengthened from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet, nearly a half-mile, the distance a sex offender is allowed to live from such facilities. Further, the rule makes it a crime to rent to a sex offender within those zones. The rule applies to residency choices from now on rather than retroactively.

The move is made from frustration. Such laws usually reflect public reaction to a problem instead of being a core solution.

With sex crimes making headlines seemingly on a daily basis, cases — including the incident where a convicted molester allegedly raped a child in Bonita Springs on Jan. 28 — spur citizens to cry out for authorities to take action. Any action.

This action happens to put Cape Coral a step toward a legal challenge sure to come when it or the next locale pushes the buffer zone further, then further still.

States need to tighten procedures on tracking sex offenders after they get out of prison, especially while they are on parole or under a court order to register as such wherever they live. Such tracking, as the Bonita Springs case spotlights, is doubly important when offenders move from state to state. Or, Florida and other states need to pump up the penalties for first-time offenders so their whereabouts are assured and our families are safer.

The 2,500-foot rule is not a solution, yet we have to appreciate Cape Coral's motive and mission. If the additional 1,500 feet makes a difference to save a single person from becoming a victim, then the law has served a purpose.

Cities such as Bonita Springs and Naples ought to keep the pluses and minuses in mind as they consider whether to follow Cape Coral's lead.