On July 29, 1994, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl, Megan Kanka, was violently sexually assaulted and murdered by a twice-convicted sex offender who had moved in across the street from her family. The suspect, Jesse Timmendequas, lived with two other sex offenders in Hamilton Township, a small middleclass New Jersey town. He had been released from a prison/treatment center for compulsive, repetitive sex offenders. Timmendequas had constantly refused treatment during his incarceration. He had originally been sentenced to 7 1/2 years; however; he was released after only 6 years because he had earned good-time credits. This case generated public outrage.

During the trial, Megan's mother related how on a Friday evening in mid-July 1994, every parent's nightmare became a reality. Her husband and son were out ...