JUNE 2022:
A federal judge has determined the punishment for a man from Eagle Butte convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.
45-year-old Elliot Robert Blue Coat was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison, five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Blue Coat, a person required to register as a sex offender by reason of a conviction under federal law, knowingly failed to register and update his registration between July 16, 2021, and September 16, 2021, while living in Mobridge, South Dakota.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Mobridge Police Department, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, the Corson County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.
NOVEMBER 2021:
A 45 year old man from Eagle Butte has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.
Elliot Robert Blue Coat pled not guilty.
The Indictment alleges that Blue Coat, a person required to register as a sex offender by reason of a conviction under federal law, knowingly failed to register and update his registration between July 16, 2021, and September 16, 2021, while living in Mobridge.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is ten years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, a lifetime of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The investigation is being conducted by U.S. Marshals Service, Mobridge Police Department, Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, Corson County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook is prosecuting the case.
Blue Coat was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial.
Rules/laws are made to be followed, or there will be consequences. What I am no reading about Blue Coat is that he committed another sex crime, which the public is most concerned about. The cost of incarcerating someone on the Sex Offense Registry, who failed to register but has done nothing that would be a crime for other people, along with the cost of 5 years of supervision is not based on research. There do need to be consequences but let’s have society pick one that are more cost effective.
There is a wealth of research showing that the registry and all the accompanying state laws and municipal/county ordinances that go with it are ineffective for most people on the registry:
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/law-law0000135.pdf
The Washington Post: “The Big Lie About Sex Offenders”, by Radley Balko
“Why Sex Offender Registries Keep Growing Even as Sexual Violence Rates Fall”, by Steven Yoder
National Affairs: “Rethinking Sex-Offender Registries”, by Eli Lehrer
“Does a Watched Pot Boil?”, by Jeffrey C. Sandler
Check out the video produced by the California Sex Offender Management Board at casomb.org.
Additionally, 93% of child victims know their perpetrator, making the “stranger danger” a myth that has been debunked by research. (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens)
Approximately 90% of FUTURE sex crimes will be committed by people NOT on the registry, as documented in the articles that I have already stated above.
Costs to maintain the registry are estimated to be anywhere from 10 to 40 billion dollars per year in this country. (Grand Challenges: Social Justice and the Need for Evidence-Based Sex Offender Registry Reform, by Jill S. Leveson, pages 15-16)
The registry has grown into a huge money-making industrial complex for some groups while doing very little to subdue future sex crimes. What research has shown would help is to use empirically validated risk assessments to monitor only the truly high-risk registrants. Then more money could be used for prevention and education: Education and awareness are the key to prevention. Preventive programs should be offered in schools, colleges, workplaces, and other public venues to stop the cycle of abuse, raise awareness of the consequences, identify support resources, and ultimately restore families.