Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller - Predator

If ever there was a child molester whose offenses demonstrate conclusively the need for improvements in the management and control of sexual offenders, that person would be Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller.

According to the June 17, 2005, Los Angeles Times story headlined Police Find Molester's 'Stunning' Records, Schwartzmiller has a history of child molestation dating back to February 1970 when he was first arrested in Juneau, Alaska. The Times article provides an abbreviated timeline of his extensive history of arrests and convictions for child molestation.

Schwartzmiller, who may also have been known as Dean Harmon, Dean Miller, and Tim Miller in Idaho and several other states where he apparently molested thousands of children (according to his own journals), is a dangerous predator by anyone's definition. There are others like him. He's not the only one out there.

Schwartzmiller's track record convinces me that we must commit the resources necessary to better identify, assess, classify and track sex offenders. We must also learn to differentiate between those offenders who can and ought to be treated and those who cannot be treated and must be forever locked up. These will not be easy tasks.

Needs:

• A federal sex offender tracking system to complement, not replace, state registration systems. When an offender relocates from state to state, require the offender to notify the losing state seven days before the relocation and provide the new residence address. Require the offender to re-register in the gaining state within 72 hours of his arrival and confirm his new residence address. Require the offender to obtain a driver's license or state identification card from the gaining state within five days of his arrival in that state. Require state sex offender registration system administrators to have databases that "tickle" the state's registration agent in the gaining county when any offender is scheduled to register. If the offender fails to register within the 72-hour limit, require the state agent to notify the US Marshal for that district. Require the US Marshal to immediately seek a federal arrest warrant for the offender and to immediately enter that warrant into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) network.
• Federal standards for sex offender classification systems administered by the states so that offender classification levels are the same from state to state. For example, a level III offender in Washington would meet the same criteria as a level III offender in Wisconsin.
• Federal and state fund commitments to more accurate, more complete, and more timely assessments of persons charged with sexual offenses. Initial assessment must occur when the offender is first charged, regardless of the crime for which s/he is convicted.
• Federal and state fund commitments to provide for periodic reassessment of convicted offenders. The objective is to identify those offenders who are not likely to reoffend, who have been successfully treated, and who should be removed from the registered sex offender registry. Once removed from the registry, state-funded assessment and monitoring would stop unless and until the former offender is accused of reoffending.
• In Idaho, elevate the importance of and funding for improved offender classification and assessment systems in the Governor's Criminal Justice Commission for Oversight of the State's Criminal Justice System. It appears from the Governor's executive order number 2005-01 that the Commission has been instructed to be more concerned with meth labs and reducing prison inmate populations than with accurate assessment and classification of offenders. Absent the best assessment and classification of offenders, more like Schwartzmiller will be released rather than confined.