There are 843,260 known convicted sex offenders walking around in the U.S., and even more have been able to get off of the list.

The country is still not doing enough to keep these offenders away from their choice of victim. Lately it is being discovered that some teachers have either been classified as a sex offender in the past, or have been molesting and raping their students. In addition to that, the policies on these offenders in the U.S. have become exceedingly lax. Although the U.S. Department of Justice has a sex offender search program for anyone in the public with access to the internet, most offenders get their crimes wiped clean after ten years. This presents a growing problem.

Starting in 2006, the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act” was passed, forcing offenders to register with the jurisdiction they are within and classifying them into three different “tiers.” The first tier applies to the assault of any person over eighteen, conspiracy ideas to commit the crime or specified crimes against children, military officials or people in a federal office. Rarely ever resulting in jail time for the offenders, this tier is the kindest of the punishments.

Adding to the lack of time in prison, the offenders also receive a ten year sentence of being listed on the Sex Offender Registry before having that part of their record wiped clean. Tier two is the middle ground of punishment for offenders. These are people who have taken part in sex trafficking, coercion and enticement, abusive sexual behavior, prostituting minors or child pornography. Punishments for a tier two offender are at least one year in prison and a place on the registry for 25 years. The third tier is considered the worst of the three. Offenders having sexually abused children under thirteen or kidnapped a minor without parental accompaniment, their punishment is listed as at least one year in prison and a lifetime place on the registry.

Within this act there are many problems that the government should identify. The first is dividing sexual offenses into categories of how “bad” they are. When a person is sexually assaulted by someone, there should not be a classification system for it. There is no one deed of rape or molestation that dominates others. Another problem is that these offenders are able to walk freely among people that could easily become their next victim, some being known as offenders, some not.

People who have done these such acts should not be allowed to get out of their crime with a slap on the wrist. The government seems to have no acknowledgement of the seriousness of these crimes and the effect it has on both family and the person who was attacked. The laws and acts addressing these people need to be of equal punishment and with more severity than what is being allowed. Sex offenders should not be allowed a chance to hurt more people either physically or psychologically.