Value of violent offender database debated
Alonzo Irelan will have a watchful eye on him once he’s released from serv
ing 17 years in prison for twice attempting to kill his estranged wife.
Irelan will serve five years of post-release control once he gets out of state incarceration in 2035. After that, he will be required to register at the county sheriff ’s office for another five years under the new requirements of Sierah’s Law, which establishes a violent offender database primarily to aid law enforcement.
The law went into effect on March 20. Those sentenced and t hose being released from prison with qualifying offe nses will have to provide to sheriff ’s offices specific information — address, vehicle information, place of employment or education, a description of scars or tattoos. The law was signed in December by then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich, which honors the memory and tragic death of Sierah Joughin, 20, of Metamora.
Ms. Joughin was ambushed by James Worley on July 19, 2016, as she was riding her
bicycle on County Road 6 in Fulton County. Her remains were discovered three days after her disappearance in a shallow grave in a cornfield along County Road 7, one road over from where she was abducted. Worley, who was previously convicted and sentenced for abduct
ing then 26-year-old Robin Gardner on July 4, 1990, has been sentenced to death for Ms. Joughin’s killing.
While Irelan’s defense attorney certainly understands the motivations for Sierah’s Law, he is concerned that Irelan, who was sentenced this month, and others will never truly be released from the criminal justice system. Failure to comply with post-release
control or violent offender database requirements can result in additional prison time or new charges.
“At the 22-year mark, he will have fulfilled his debt for the crimes he committed,” his attorney, John Thebes, said. “It’s a heck of a thing for people in his position when any crime pops up to be one of the first ones targeted by law enforcement. I hope that’s not the situation and I don’t believe they will be [targeting registered
violent offenders.]”
Worley may have been ‘questioned sooner’
After Ms. Joughin went missing, investigators first looked to the sex offender registry. If a violent offender registry were active during the time of her daughter’s disappearance, investiga- tors would have been able to see if violent criminals were living in the area, said Ms. Joughin’s mother, Sheila Vaculik.
“We really felt that in our situation, had we known that Worley had done this previously and that he lived only five miles from our house — that he may have been questioned sooner,” Ms. Vaculik said.
That is the idea behind
Sierah’s Law. Anyone convicted of aggravated mur
d er, murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, second-degree felony abduction, or attempt or complicity-related charges to those offenses, will be required to register at their local sheriff’s office for a total period of 10 years following their term of confinement.
Lucas Co u nty Sheriff Office officials say access to such a database is long overdue.
“It puts everything together for us. It creates a specific database looking for the most serious violent crimes that we are aware of,” Lucas County Sheriff ’s
Captain Tricia White said. Sierah’s Law pertains to five violent offenses, though Ohio’s crimes of violence is a laundry list from involun- tary manslaughter to feloni- ous assault to arson.
“I think people assumed that we were like, ‘Oh, we passed Sierah’s Law and everybody’s going to be safe and we’re going to live in this rainbow and roses land’ — that’s not the case at all,”
Ms. Vaculik said, adding the database provides residents knowledge about people living in their area.
While operationally similar to the sex offender registry — which can be pub
licly searched — the violent offender database is to be used by law enforcement and is not readily avail- able to the public because it includes personal iden- tifying information of former inmates. Residents may request information on vio- lent offenders in the area from the sheriff ’s office.
“I think the sex offender registry was truly intended for the value people saw in it — that they can look up and find if there’s anyone in their neighborhood that’s committed certain degrees of sex crimes. That becomes a lit
tle more challenging when it’s not available publicly,” said Evy Jarrett, deputy chief of the Appellate Division of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.
Ms. Jarrett said she believes it will take some time to see what effect it actually plays in terms of officers’ use of the database.
But Sheriff John Tharp sees it as another tool for investigators to do their job more effectively.
“If you’re a detective and you’re working on a homicide, a robbery ... and you’re able to just plug the location in and you’re able to see who’s in a mile or two radius of that area. If you had no leads whatsoever, that could give you an avenue, a place to start, and people to start interviewing, and neighbors to start interviewing about individ- uals who live in that area. It
opens up an entire investigation for them,” he said.
Legislators pandering ‘to a fearful public’
Others worry those in the database will be easy targets for law enforcement.
Tarius Washington was convicted of murder in Cook County, Illinois, in the early 1990s. He was released in 2017 and he has since moved to Toledo with his wife, but he was required to enroll in June as a violent offender.
Wash i ngton doesn’t believe he should be included on the vi o lent offender registry, especially because the requirement to register was not part of his Illinois sentence and the law was not active in Ohio at the time.
“So now this is how I see things, I did my time, leave me alone. I’m still fighting it also. I’m still fighting because I didn’t do it,” he said about his conviction.
Washington is one of the seven individuals — six males and a female — registered in Lucas County, though one of those individuals is still
incarcerated, according to Captain White.
As of July 12, the Bureau of Criminal Investigations had 104 violent offenders statewide who have been released from the Department of Rehabilitation and
Corrections. The law is retroactive, meaning anyone being released from prison after the March 20 date will be required to register. The county court may
extend a defendant’s enroll- ment period if the offender violates a condition of his or her sentence or if the defen- dant commits another felony or misdemeanor crime of violence during that 10-year period.
Additionally, if a defendant fails to enroll, re-enroll, or notify the sheriff of a change of address during the 10-year enrollment period, it is considered a fifth-de- gree felony.
University of Toledo professor Renee Heberle, who also coordinates the Inside/ Out Prison Exchange Proj- ect and activities relating to prison education at the Toledo Correctional Institution, says it’s unjust for law enforcement to target such individuals.
This type of legislation, she says, continues to stig- matize individuals who have served their time and may be rehabilitated following incarceration.
Ms. Heberle said she faults legislators for advocating for such a bill that will not help families in the end.
“I think this is a classic legislators pandering to a fearful public. I don’t fault the families. I wish this would help them, but it won’t,” Ms. Heberle said, adding the law is not responding to the actual problem of violence
but is instilling fear of random abductions.
In Ms. Joughin’s case, Worley would not have been included on a violent offender database at the time of her disappearance because he was convicted nearly 25 years prior, the professor said.
Former state senator and current chancellor of higher education Randy Gardner, who sponsored Sierah’s Law, said the requirements of the law are not stringent.
“This is not a difficult burden. There are no fees involved. It’s not something you have to register for every month. I would argue there is no significant burden,” Mr. Gardner said.
Too soon to tell
Those in the legal community say it’s difficult to say what effect Sierah’s Law has at this point because it is so new. There have been no challenges or case law relating to the new legislation, said Michael Loisel, the criminal chief of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.
Lucas County Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Dean Mandros said the judges reviewed the change in law, though he noted it was quite similar to requirements of a sex and arson offender.
“... Generally it’s nothing new to the court other than
it’s just another list that the state creates and we have to advise the defendant of his or her registration obligations,” Judge Mandros said.
The logistics of the program creation — like the software for the database — was initially delayed, but it went live on July 15, according to an Ohio Attorney General’s Office spokesman.
Mr. Loisel said he does not believe the registry will ultimately affect how cases are resolved in Lucas County. If it can prevent one instance in Ohio similar to what happened to Ms. Joughin, Mr. Loisel said his office is all for it.
“It’s nice to be able to tell a victim’s family that this person is going to be monitored if and when they ever get out of prison. It’s something that may help a victim’s family get through a horrible situation knowing that the offender will have additional restrictions or law enforcement will have addi
tional knowledge,” he said.