State Committee to Discuss Sex Offender Registry

Senator Bill Diamond, D-Cumberland County, announced on April 20^th that the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, April 25^th, at 1 p.m. to get an update on the ongoing investigation of the Maine sex offender registry murders. As with all legislative committee meetings, it will be open to the public.

Stephen Marshall of Nova Scotia is suspected of killing two Maine residents who were listed on the registry. According to police reports, Marshall looked up 34 sex offenders on Maine’s on-line registry before he shot and killed two men who were on the list. Marshall later killed himself when confronted by law enforcement on a Boston bus.

The committee will start discussions regarding the various categories and groupings of sex offenders as they appear on the registry. It will review current practices and identify anything that needs to be address immediately. If need be, it is prepared to meet over the summer to continue the review and discussion regarding the registry, according to Diamond, who called vigilantism ‘a very serious problem’ but cautioned against overreacting to the situation, which, he said, could only make matters worse.

The Portland Police Department’s sex offender registry was removed from the department’s website several months ago at the behest of state officials.