Mr. Lunsford:

I can certainly understand how the loss of your precious child has focused your attention on those dangerous persons who demonstrate predatorial intent on those with no power.

I cannot imagine the pain your family has endured but I am quite certain you can relate to the pain of a family whose 19 year old son committed suicide because of being labeled a sex offender for a Romeo and Juliet relationship.

We can better protect the public and especially children from sexual abuse and assault. It requires a hard look at where Florida's public policy is lacking, specifically the development and implementation of a tier level/risk assessment system. A tier system would allow quality monitoring by law enforcement of those 2% of the 37,000 "offenders" deemed extremely dangerous to our children. If the tier level system had been in place one year ago, it is quite probable that John Couey would have never met Jessica-because he (as a career criminal) would have been better monitored by law enforcement as a high level offender. Implementation of a tier system would reveal those predators who are a danger to our children, those who currently hide behind so-called offenders who have been convicted for victimless "crimes" such as a Romeo and Juliet teenage relationship, public urination, consensual teenage sex, or have chatted online with an undercover officer

Mr. Lunsford, the intent of my letter is to ask your support of a tier level/risk assessment that would restructure the Florida Sex Offender Registry. At this time, the truly dangerous hide behind the countless numbers of low level offenders that have become ensnared by Florida Statute 943.0436-automatic registration regardless of judicial discretion. Only 2% of those 37,000 currently registered are deemed dangerous predators....these are the persons law enforcement should be monitoring extremely closely.

Most offenders are persons who have made stupid choices and will never and have never, demonstrated predatorial behavior towards children. The entire Florida registry system creates huge numbers of persons registered in order to continue to receive federal funding as automatic registration regardless of judicial discretion is required under Florida Statute 943.0436. The "net" has been cast too wide regarding the definition of offender and law enforcement, as indicated by statements to the House Criminal Justice Committee by Public Defender Bob Dillinger of Clearwater, will agree to that statement. (Mr. Dillinger indicated a better way to keep tabs on sexual predators is through monitoring as required by the Jessica Lunsford Act rather than burden police with trying to determine how far their homes are from schools and other places).

The Florida Sex Offender Registry, as currently designed, simply does not work. Privately and off the record, politicians and law enforcement will indicated the Florida Registry as ineffective, but to admit so publicly, in their minds, would result in political suicide. We need to have the political will to end the "feel-good" and "knee-jerk" victim-named laws that are doing precious little to actually protect anyone. It's time to be proactive about the entire offender issue. As the general public becomes more and more educated about the scheme the offender registry has become, as the method the State implements to label a person an offender becomes common knowledge to everyday citizens, as parents across the United States want to know what more can be done by law enforcement to better protect their children from PREDATORS, the quick, sound bite cry of residency buffer zones will fall on the ears of those now informed.

I refer to three of the four goals listed on your website: Fight to change legislation.2. Provide a grassroots awareness and continuous support base. 3. Search, locate and help law enforcement apprehend absconder pedophiles. We both share those same goals-protecting all Florida's children from exploitation-and that includes those children of registered offenders who, as non-offending family members, are suffering banishment and exploitation due to the now popular, feel-good residency buffer zones now sweeping through Florida like wildfire.

You can be the voice needed to give Florida politicians permission to introduce the tier level/risk assessment system as the best way to identify the truly dangerous from those offenders caught "in the net". We can restructure the Florida Sex Offender Registry to be the quality law enforcement tool Megan Kanka's family intended.

We are all on the same side-the side of protecting Florida's children from the truly dangerous predator.