ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) — A father is calling for changes in New York State law.
It comes after a plea deal was accepted in Albany County Court on Monday involving James Yerdon.
He pleaded guilty to child sex abuse crimes and still has other cases pending across the state.
Those incidents came over 20 years after he was charged with another sex crime.
The father of one of the victims is speaking out after learning Yerdon was never on a public sex offender database.
“Even if we had wanted to look him up, we couldn’t. That is a failure on the state side,” said the father.
Yerdon’s pending case in federal court involves child pornography.
He also has a conviction from 2004; in that case, he was given 10 years probation but released after 3 years.
As a level one sex offender, his name wasn’t added to a public database.
“There should be no reason that anyone who would do such a terrible thing to children shouldn’t be able to be found,” the victim’s father added.
Reporter Emma Quinn spoke with the founding partner of Tully Rinckey LLC, Greg Rinckey, about level one sex offender laws.
Emma asked: “Is there a reason why level one is not publicly available?”
“I think it’s because there’s a lower risk of re-offending and they do understand that there is a substantial stigma with being registered as a sex offender and also with notification and being on the web,” Rinckey said.
We also asked Rinckey to explain how the system works now.
“Level one offenders do have to register, but it’s not made public. The public can call the Department of Corrections to figure out if someone is on the list, but it’s not publicly listed on their website,” said Rinckey.
After 20 years and good behavior, a level one offender’s name will be removed from the list. The list is separate from a person’s probationary sentencing.
Rinckey says there are risks with the level one database, but it’s also a balancing act.
“If you’re a level two or three, oftentimes local law enforcement will go out to schools. Even post photos that somebody is moving into your neighborhood or that a sex offender lives within X number of feet. But if you’re a level one, there is none of that,” said Rinckey.
The family says it has been a long year since Yerdon was first arrested.
“We’ve had rough patches, but through the support of our family, friends, the START Center, and the ADA’s office, we are doing much better,” added the father.
