Matthew 25 Ministries

Being raised with an alcoholic father and an abusive mother, his childhood was not a happy one. He received no formal sex education, but his playmates introduced him to pornographic material at age ten. It was then that he learned what it meant to be sexually aroused and how to give himself pleasure through masturbation. Being shy and withdrawn he spent many hours in these activities. When he was fourteen, he performed oral sex on his little sister, age eight. He felt such shame, that he didn’t ever violate her again. His father had died two years earlier and the abuse at the hands of his mother became greater. When he was seventeen he left home with a tour in the Army that landed him in Germany. It was then that his drinking, which had started a year earlier, became a problem. Getting high on alcohol helped him overcome his feelings of inferiority and made him feel like a man. Upon his discharge from the Army, he met and fell in love with a young lady. Early in their relationship they became sexually active. Although only fourteen, she was very mature for her age. He was now eighteen. She became pregnant, and they wanted to get married, however when the authorities were made aware of the situation, he was charged with sexual battery with a child under 16 and given a fifteen-year prison sentence. He served 12 years of this sentence and was released with 10 years probation along with the designation “Sex Offender.”

Early in his incarceration our subject attended a chapel service, and heard that Jesus had paid the penalty for his sins. He called upon the Name of the Lord and became a new creature in Christ. He became a regular at the chapel services and began attending a support group that helped inmates overcome addictions to alcohol and drugs. He was able to stop drinking (although alcohol and drugs are contraband, they are found in prison), and was even able to quit smoking.

Now it gets hairy, for while he was in prison, television newscasters determined that the sensationalism of sex crimes increased their ratings. Politicians jumped on the public’s interest, and passed laws that place heavy restrictions on sex offenders.

Upon his release he was given $100 dollars and told he must report to his probation officer and have a place of residence within 48 hours. He was going to live with his mother, but because she lived close to a playground he couldn’t (sex offenders are not permitted to live within 1,000 feet of any place where children congregate). He had friends looking for housing for several months prior to his release, but none could be found.  The only place they found that didn’t get eliminated due to the 1,000 foot rule wouldn’t rent to him because of the notoriety the landlord would be subject to for renting to this sex offender (his place of residence would be recorded on the sexual offender registry on the Internet, along with a notice placed in the local newspaper. Sometimes the sheriff’s department will hand out flyers with the offenders photograph to the neighbors).  In addition to these restrictions, he is required to report each month to his probation officer, and he must attend weekly sex therapy classes, with polygraph testing. There are heavy financial costs involved with these mandatory conditions.

His first day of freedom is taken up with his need to register at the driver’s license office, and the sheriff department, then with his probation officer. Since each of these places are in different parts of town, he is fortunate in that a friend agreed to take a day off work and transport him to the various agencies. His probation officer informed him that he would not be permitted to leave the county without his permission and then only for employment purposes. He will not be permitted to leave the state for any reason. Not even if there is a death in the family. Since he has not been able to find a place to live that qualifies under the 1,000-foot rule, the probation officer tells him of a motel where he can spend the night. He pays $56 for the motel room and finds he now has $22 of his $100 left. He told his friend goodbye and went to a nearby restaurant to get a bite to eat. Returning to his motel room, the enormity of his problems hits him like a ton of bricks.  He is broke, without a job, and no place to live. He only has another 24 hours to find a place to live or have his probation violated and return to prison. Although never having been involved in criminal activities, he begins to have thoughts as to how he can steal some money and a car and hit the road. He knows he will need to get out of the state, maybe even out of the country. He will need to establish a new identity and live as a fugitive from justice.  What other choice does he have?

Saved, in the nick of time.  A friend calls him to let him know of Matthew 25 Ministries, a ministry that helps ex-offenders overcome the obstacles they face upon their release from prison.

Although we are there to help some ex-offenders, what is going to happen to thousands of former prisoners that do not have this kind of support group to assist them? It is very difficult for many ex-offenders to start over again, but for those who have served their time for having committed a sexual crime it is becoming intolerable. Are they permitted to lead a normal life upon their release? Not hardly! These days, all convicted sex-offenders must serve years of probation following their prison sentence and are in danger of having their probation violated for any number of reasons. We know of incidences where men have been violated for being asleep and not answering the door when their probation officer came to their house to check on them. One of our graduates had to spend two months in jail before he was cleared on that very technical violation. Our legislators are constantly passing new legislation further tightening the noose on sex-offenders. Unfortunately, they haven’t done their homework to see if these laws will make our communities safer. A major problem is that for the most part there is no real plan in effect to properly classify the degree of risk of each offender. When you throw all sex-offenders into the same fish bowl, you make it difficult for law enforcement to monitor those who pose the greatest threat. When you treat people like animals and make them wear monitors, many will become frustrated and act like animals. If you treat someone like a monster, the danger is they will become a monster.

I have only listed a few of the conditions sex-offenders are facing. There are others that also make it extremely difficult for them to make a successful transition back into our communities. I submit that these strong arm methods are not helping to keep these men from re-offending but driving many into despair, making them more likely to re-offend. Rather than making it easier to monitor their activities, we are forcing many of these men to abandon their attempts to conform to these oppressive conditions and go underground. When that happens, we have defeated the purpose for which these laws were passed. We have lost the ability to monitor their activities.

A few years ago we would hear accounts of how communist governments had become police states that monitored every movement of their citizens. We were appalled. Is what we are doing to this segment of our society any less oppressive?

According to the recently passed Jessica Lunsford Act, anyone committing a sex crime against a child 12 years of age or younger will receive a life sentence, 25 years mandatory, and a convicted sex offender who commits any type of sex crime will also receive a life sentence, 25 years mandatory.  Sounds good doesn’t it?  If we could be sure that everyone accused of these crimes is guilty, and is the pervert they are made out to be, these stiff sentences might have some merit, but all too often this is not the case. Those charged with sexual crimes are already receiving longer sentences than for any other type of crime.

The hysteria that has caused our legislatures to pass this and other recent laws dealing with sex offenders has a downside. Consider the conditions now facing those who have completed their prison terms and are released on probation (all sex offenders have years of probation tacked onto their sentences). When they are released from prison they must comply with the restrictions of not living within 1,000 feet of anyplace where children congregate, including school bus stops. This has made a revolving door situation. Within 48 hours of their release many are violated and are on their way back to prison. This, in spite of the fact that there is absolutely no evidence that shows that restricting where a sex offender may live has proved to be a deterrent to one bent on attacking children.  Couple this with those studies that show that 97% of sex offenders do not go on to commit new sex crimes and you can see how we are doing a grave injustice to those who have paid for their crimes and want the opportunity to live as law abiding citizens.

How is this going to effect our prison population?  How many times have you heard those running for public office make this statement; “If elected I vow to protect you the people for I’m going to get tough on crime”?  This has always been a proven vote getter.  Has our “getting tough on crime” made our streets safer?  You be the judge! Not only are our streets not safe, we have created a prison system that keeps growing and growing creating a tax burden that threatens to engulf us. It took our nation 200 years to incarcerate 1,000,000 of its citizens, but only 10 years to reach the second million back in 1975. Since that time we have continued to swell our prison population with a 5% increase each year. In recent years we have passed laws that are going to greatly increase our prison population. It used to be that a convicted felon could get out early for good behavior. Now he must complete 85% of his sentence before becoming eligible for probation. New sentencing guidelines are causing judges to give stiffer and stiffer sentences for many crimes. Nowhere is this truer than for those who are convicted of sexual crimes. Consider that many are now given life sentences. Will this swell our prison population even more rapidly? Absolutely! When they pass these laws, I don’t think they project the cost to our taxpayers 10 or 20 years down the road. Direct and indirect cost of crime in America is now costing taxpayers a staggering $550 billion … Would you like to see that figure double in 20 years? When will we find a way to stop this runaway freight train?

With our policy of getting tough on crime by giving longer sentences we have not only swelled the ranks of those that are in prison, but we have developed a ticking time bomb. More and more un-rehabilitated prisoners are completing their sentences and will soon be released. With longer prison sentences we have seen a reduction in crime statistics, but what is going to happen when this flood of prisoners who have completed their sentences are released upon an unsuspecting society?

We believe that prison ministry has some solid answers. Not just ministry to prisoners, but to their families as well. Ministry to correction officers and their families, and ministry to the victims of crimes. Last but not least, a ministry to released prisoners that helps them maneuver that rough road of integrating back into a society where they have yet to learn how to live as law-abiding citizens.

After many years of working with alcoholics, drug addicts and ex-offenders, we have learned what it takes for these men and women to put their lives back together and become a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.

Our Prison AfterCare Training Centers (P.A.C.T.) provide a compassionate recovery program for those who are willing to learn how to make viable choices, take responsibility for themselves, and strive to achieve future success. We provide a family like atmosphere where love, respect, and discipline are practiced. We deal with issues of anger management, healing .of damaged emotions, establishing boundaries and recovery from all life controlling addictions.”