Sex registry under fire

Angela Ray Andrews, 37, recently was convicted of murdering her 10-year-old stepdaughter. Her additional charge of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child was reduced to a second-degree felony. The charge could have been dismissed in exchange for her guilty plea, but because it wasn't, she will be on the sex offender registry.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said he accomplished two things in prosecuting Andrews' case: the possibility that she may never get out of prison and that she may be on the registry for the rest of her life, starting within the next 60 days as she begins her long stay in lockup.

Who should be on the registry?

"We need to err on the side of public safety," Rawlings said. "We need to use good judgment."

And that, he added, may depend on the type of crime committed.

In the meantime, state lawmakers will be deciding how to interpret the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act that the U.S. Congress passed last year. States have three years to come into compliance with the minimum requirements of the new federal law, which creates a national system for registering sex offenders.

Mike Haddon, Utah Department of Corrections deputy director over administration, helps lead a committee currently looking into overhauling the state's registry, using the Adam Walsh Act as a "backdrop."

Haddon figured that to implement everything outlined in the law could cost about $1 million, mostly in staffing and overtime costs. For the state to opt out of some areas of the act would cost Utah about $200,000 in federal funding.

The federal law would require states to hire more staff to handle the requirement for offenders to register more frequently and to verify that the information being given is accurate. As it is, Haddon said, Utah doesn't have the staff to check up on everyone on the registry.

Haddon said he hopes his committee will come up with draft legislation that will improve the current registry process.

People like Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham and Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, a state legislator, are keeping a close eye on just how strict or loose Utah will be with its interpretation of the act. One of the changes the law may inspire in some states is how they handle who qualifies for their sex offender registries.

If it was up to Whinham and Greiner, Winget and those like him would be put on Utah's registry.

"Communities should know they're there," Whinham said.

It would be similar, he added, to knowing where a potentially dangerous dog lives in the neighborhood. "Wherever Sean is and people like him, communities should know they're there."

Greiner said Winget should "absolutely" be monitored in some way. "The basis of the crime was due to a deviant sexual desire," he said.

A community's concern