Sex offender registry backlog creates concern for victims

BOSTON — With a backlog at the Sex Offender Registry board, many people are concerned about how long the process is taking.

As FOX25 Investigates reported last week, hundreds of sex offenders are being reclassified and have, for the time being, been removed from public lists.

One family told FOX25's Bob Ward they are concerned, because the man convicted of victimizing a child has not been classified for more than a year.

The man is 53-year-old James Lennon, most recently of Brockton.

Documents obtained by FOX25 show that he pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, three counts of open and gross lewdness, and three counts of providing obscene matter to a minor.

He's on the streets wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor, but is still not registered as a sex offender.

"I think it's terrible. I think it's about the worst thing that could possibly happen. It's re-victimizing us all over again," the victim's step mother told FOX25.

A week after Lennon's conviction, the Sex Offender Registry Board sent a letter notifying the victim it was starting the classification process.

Three months later the board sent the family a letter saying that Lennon had been classified, but because he was challenging that classification he is not listed on any public registry.

That won't change until he gets a new hearing, and a Supreme Court ruling from last year allowing sex offenders to appeal their classification has caused a large backlog.

"It's my understanding he is simply in appeals process. So nothing. To us it means nothing," the victim's step mother said. "He knows where we are. He knows where our child goes to school, where our child lives because he has a stay away order."

FOX25 reached out to the registry board and was given the following statement.

"The SORB's Victim Services Unit has been working with the family involved in this case and has pushed to schedule this hearing as soon as possible. ... The SORB cannot, by law, confirm whether a new hearing has been scheduled in this case."

FOX25 also reached out to Lennon's lawyer but has not received a response.

Cox Media Group