February 19, 2013 - USA FAIR, Inc. (Families Advocating an Intelligent Registry) today demanded that Laura Ahearn, Executive Director of Parents for Megan's Law, immediately retract a statement she made to "Riverhead Local" reporter Denise Civiletti that Shana Rowan, USA FAIR's Executive Director, is a member of the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). The accusation was made in an article published Friday, February 15th regarding the recent $2.7 million sole-sourced contract awarded by Suffolk County to Parents For Megan's Law to help monitor the more than 1,000 former sex offenders residing in the county.
When asked to respond to USA FAIR's concerns about the propriety of a private victims’ advocacy group being granted quasi-policing authority and its lack of law enforcement or sex offender management experience, Ahearn responded that Rowan was "part of NAMBLA." When Ahearn was asked for proof, she responded, "Just search her name on the Internet."
"The allegation that I am an advocate for man-boy love would be laughable, if it weren't so slanderous. I have never been part of NAMBLA. I find pedophilia to be repulsive and I have always supported age of consent laws. For Ms. Ahearn to take an accusation made on an anonymous hate-site on the web and repeat it without any independent verification only underscores why USA FAIR believes she is unqualified to administer the Suffolk County contract. Monitoring former offenders requires objectivity and placing a high value on evidence, neither of which Ms. Ahern has demonstrated by her unfounded personal attack," said Rowan.
"Rather than respond to our legitimate concerns about Parents for Megan's Law's qualifications to have been awarded this contract, Ms. Ahearn chose to repeat a lie about me and to tell a half-truth about my fiancé, stating that he "raped a six year old child". Yes, his offense did involve a six year old child, but Ms. Ahearn conveniently left out that he was 12 at the time and also the victim of sexual abuse. To Laura Ahearn, context does not matter if it fails to serve her cause," concluded Rowan.
Rowan became active in sex offender law reform when she became engaged to a longtime friend she first met in high school who is on the registry.
Meadow Lane
That's two doors down that way >>>
As for Miss Ahearn, that is totally unacceptable behavior for ANY spokesperson, let alone one in her position & the organization she stands for. Miss Ahearn sounds to me like she is nothing more than a bitter & immature woman, drumming up false accusations against those who's views don't match hers for her own personal agenda. She should be immediately replaced at her post with a person qualified & mature enough to handle it...
Mr. Massaro: You're free to have whatever opinion you like about my fiancee. However, you should also know that voluminous empirical evidence supports the idea that juvenile sex offenders a) rarely offend for predatory/pedophilic/sexual gratification reasons, and b) have even lower recidivism rates than adult sex offenders. You may find his crime unforgivable, but he is living in the community and will continue to do so just like every other person released from prison. Seeing as research supports him being an extremely unlikely threat to children - and he has a steady job, a loving fiancee, and an extensive support system - is it really worth it to you to endanger his, my and our family's well-being for the sake of revenge? Secondly - if a 12 year old was "raped" (in quotations, because he did not "rape" anyone) by a much older adult, I'm guessing you'd find that deplorable? If a 12 year old is capable of understanding the long-term ramifications of inappropriate sexual behavior, how can they possibly also be a victim who doesn't understand the long-term ramifications of sexual activity? Lastly, these are press releases posted on behalf of USA FAIR, not my personal opinion or blog. Hence the third person. Frank T: major media outlets have covered "the other side" extensively. Google it.
You need to relax, Shana. Despite the fact that I think you're a wee bit on the unstable side, I do however agree with you concerning Ms. Aherns actions & the fact that Meghans Law needs reforms to it's classifications...
Considering that the predictable outcome of Steve Bellone's plan will be to deprive the authorities of the knowledge of where these sex offenders are actually living, one might have expected Ms. Ahearn's group to object to it. It hasn't. Since there will be no sex offenders resident in county homeless shelters for it to monitor, it will have to find another use for the $2.7M.
"Her fiancé, Geoff, served four years in prison after being convicted of sodomizing and inappropriately touching his six year old step-sister while he was a teenager" There's really something wrong if you're knit-picking between "sodomizing" and "rape". And you can't say with 100% certainty that any of these people who commit these heinous crimes WON'T do it again, so I don't know about you, but I'm not ok with giving someone who has already victimized someone the benefit of the doubt. They don't deserve it. http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Feedback-Woman-Fights-for-Rights-Of-Sex-Offenders--Families-147190125.html
Level 2 - Moderate risk of repeat offense. As I stated before, I do believe the classification of who is a sex offender as opposed to who is a sexual predator needs to be worked on, I still believe there is no reasonable excuse for rape or sodomy, regardless of the past history of said registrant.
The national organization attributes much of its growth to the late Tom Reeves, a founding member of the ""North American Man/Boy Love Association"" NAMBLA. Reeves, who also went by "Alex Marbury", died of heart failure on Feb. 19. He was 72 years old. Shana Writes: I have agreed to be the Facebook page admin and "manager" for the"" NY chapter of RSOL!""" I am very excited and have some ideas, although I am sure that there is a lot I haven't thought of, either. I just created it a little while ago, and plan to really get going on it tomorrow (right now it's just the logo and basic information). Do I hear a duck quackin Shana????