The media coverage of Anthony Sowell has left me angry, though not for the reasons you might think. It was almost 30 years ago when I first entered the world of serial killers who rape and serial rapists who kill (yes, there is a difference). I have interviewed the perpetrators, their families, their victims’ families and the handful of survivors.
ALLEGATION: Somebody should have warned the neighborhood that a sexual offender was living in its midst. FACT: Somebody did warn the neighborhood — all neighborhoods. For several years, the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s office web site has provided a complete list of registered sexual offenders like Sowell. You can type in the city, the offender’s last name or your zip code. You will have pictures of every registered person and their known addresses. Some fail to report moves, but Sowell had been in full compliance for years. Familywatchdog.us, which I find difficult to use, covers the nation.
The primary duties of law enforcement do not include visiting to alert you that someone who has served his or her time lives in your neighborhood. You have to take responsibility for checking. You also have to remember that these are individuals not currently wanted for any crime.
ALLEGATION: The smell of decaying flesh permeated the neighborhood, led to countless calls to government officials and turned the street into a real-life version of the last scene of Poltergeist. FACT: When a handful of reporters finally began demanding accountability from the councilman, police and health-department officials, it turned out that there were almost no calls made in the last two or three years. Those that were made could not list a specific address (leading to speculation that the source was a nearby sausage factory). Investigators smelled nothing because decaying flesh is not disgusting for long. That’s one of the reasons cadaver dogs are used to find bodies.
