FACTOID
see discussion | "nearly 798,000 children are reported missing -
over 58,000 of them are the victims of non-family abductions." |
FACTOID
See Discussion
| "1 in 5 girls, and 1 in 10 boys, are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood.
Less than 35% of those childhood sexual assaults are reported to authorities." |
MISLEADING | "The Department of Justice reports that 1 in 5 children, as young as 10 years old,
receive unwanted solicitations online." |
Response to comments made by: U.S. Sen. Frist in speeches and on Senate Floor |
| 3-3-2006 US Senate:
FRIST FLOOR STATEMENT ON PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM PREDATORS |
.I want to speak to my colleagues about an issue today that is shocking America: child sexual predators.
... Authorities believe that after kidnapping and sexually assaulting little Jessica, John Couey, a known sex offender, buried her alive. The Jessica Lunsford case riveted and shocked the nation. How could someone perpetrate such horrors, and against an innocent child? And how could the system have allowed a convicted sex offender to move freely and unmonitored, with no warning to the neighbors of the monster in their midst?
Every year, nearly 798,000 children are reported missing - over 58,000 of them are the victims of non-family abductions.
1 in 5 girls, and 1 in 10 boys, are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood. Less than 35% of those childhood sexual assaults are reported to authorities. ... ....
The Department of Justice reports that 1 in 5 children, as young as 10 years old, receive unwanted solicitations online.
CLICK (Word .DOC file) to read more of this speech and others, and press releases where he consistently makes these same comments about sex offenders.
| Discussion of Sen. Frist's Press Releases and Speeches |
To begin with, there is no question that the issue of "child sexual predators," (Internet Predators specifically, which Frist is focusing on in these speeches) is an issue that requires considerable thought to resolve, if it can be resolved. However, Sen Frist is citing statistics which have nothing to do with sexual predators to make his point. Here he misleads the public and worse.
Sen. Frist gives the public the appearance that, the problem is caused by registered sex offenders (RSO) (John Couey was a RSO). Sen. Frist's message places all RSOs in a false light before the public, and places RSOs and their families in danger, recently, in Maine and Washington, some have been murdered because of being on sex offender registries.
The misleading statistics:
The best way to understand the "missing children" quote is found on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) website (FAQ Page) regarding missing children:
How many missing children are there?
Answer: The problem of missing children is complex and multifaceted. There are different types of missing children including family abductions; endangered runaways; nonfamily abductions; and lost, injured, or otherwise missing children. The best national estimates for the number of missing children are from incidence studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
To date two such studies have been completed. The first National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART-1) was released in 1990, and the second, known as NISMART-2, was released in October 2002. According to NISMART-2 research, which studied the year 1999, an estimated 797,500 children were reported missing; 58,200 children were abducted by nonfamily members; 115 children were the victims of the most serious, long-term nonfamily abductions called "stereotypical kidnappings"; and 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) website is speaking about "Missing Children" and cites statistics for their topic. However, Sen. Frist is speaking about "Child Sexual Predators" and cites statistics pertaining to "Missing Children," this is wrong and endangers all RSOs and their families. Under this topic citing missing children makes it a factoid.
Next, the "1 in 5 girls, and 1 in 10 boys" quote. Searching the Internet for a source to this comment again leads one back to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) website (FAQ Page) where it states:
How big of a problem is child sexual exploitation? Answer: The sexual victimization of children is overwhelming in magnitude yet largely unrecognized and underreported. Statistics show that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood, yet less than 35% of those child sexual assaults are reported to authorities.
NCMEC states "Statistics show" but notice they cite nothing, no source, when normally they cite a source. Given the absence of any reliable source we must say this is a "FACTOID," an invented fact stated so often folks then think it is true. If anyone can give us a reliable source we will make adjustments.
In a few of Sen. Frist's speeches he makes this comment: "There are more than 100,000 unregistered convicted sex offenders, placing too many children at risk." That is a factoid, and one needs to read the story behind that comment to extensive to put here. One additional comment about "unregistered offenders," if the laws become such that they cannot live under registration then they will stop registering. Recent developments in Iowa have proven that to be true.
Effectively these speeches are dangerous because they mislead the public, they make life more unbearable for RSOs, and ultimately they may be pushed over the edge and commit further crimes. Who is to blame then?
What is happening here with Sen. Frist, and many others too, is likened to something that happened in Rhode Island in 2005 and 2006. Politicians and other public figures were also citing misleading and false statistics about Rhode Island's "Drunk Driving" problem. See ACLU Press Release: New Report Challenges Rhode Island Drunk Driving Statistics (1/9/2006)
The Rhode Island ACLU prepared its own report citing the correct and truthful statistics: see BLURRED VISION: A SOBER RE-EXAMINATION OF RHODE ISLAND’S DRUNK DRIVING “CRISIS”.
What happened thereafter is not important here. What is important is to show that what is being done is misleading and at times false. Maybe the ACLU will take up the issue here?
eAdvocate
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All NISMART-2 reports: National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview or their other studies: Children Abducted by Family Members: National Estimates & Characteristics -or- Runaway/Thrownaway Children: National Estimates and Characteristics -or- Nonfamily Abducted Children: National Estimates & Characteristics these studies would have alerted folks to the truth and what they can do to prevent the problem.
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