Mom Weighs Megan's Law, 10 Years Later
By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer

It was soon learned that Timmendequas had a prison record for assaulting another child.
New Jersey enacted what came to be known as Megan's Law, and other states followed suit. In 1996, President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) signed a federal version of the law, which allows the public access to certain information about high-risk or serious sex offenders, including where they live.
The 10 years since Megan's death have gone by in a blur, Maureen Kanka said: coping with the grief, raising two older children, running the foundation named after Megan. After years of counseling, the family has remained together. Mrs. Kanka and her husband, Richard, will celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary in August.
Maureen Kanka takes anti-depressant medication and says that working nearly every day with the Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation is a constant reminder of the tragedy. But she takes comfort in the fact that her daughter will forever be remembered through Megan's Law - and that potential offenders are on the defensive.
"Pedophiles and rapists don't like me much," she said.
Kanka believes the law could be stronger if it were uniformly enforced nationwide. Currently, the law is enforced differently in each state, with some laws tougher than others. She was horrified to learn that pedophiles often research which states have the weaker laws.
She wants New Jersey's Megan's Law re-examined to toughen its risk assessment requirements, guidelines which determine if a sex offender's name is made public. Mrs. Kanka also is pushing for an advisory board that would oversee the state's Internet registry site.
"I know that we've made an impact," she said.
But there are still regrets.
"We lost out on so much with our other kids, just going through the grief process and just the loss," she said.
The tenth anniversary will be marked privately by the family with a visit to Megan's grave, and then to the small park that was built when Timmendequas' home was purchased by the local Rotary Club and then razed.
"The park is like a double-edged sword - I'm grateful that I at least don't have to physically see the house, but it's very hard because that is where she was killed," she said.
Timmendequas was sentenced to death in 1997. He remains at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. Timmendequas declined to be interviewed, and his attorney, Bill Smith, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
With Megan's Law enacted and the trial over, her family focused inward. In 1998, Maureen Kanka sought counseling; her husband and son followed. Her daughter just began her counseling sessions.
Maureen Kanka credits the help and her faith for getting her through these 10 years.
"After Megan died I became very spiritual because I really had a contact with God," she said, adding that she also finds comfort in the numerous ceramic angels on display in her home that her daughter and strangers gave her after Megan died.
Her work with the foundation keeps her focused. She doesn't know how long she will work with the foundation, but says she doesn't know what she would do instead.
"How do you go from doing something that you know has made an impact and has changed the lives of people and has really been a benefit to doing something routine?" she said. "How do you do that?"
She also continues her speaking engagements, which are limited to New Jersey these days. She speaks on how to keep children safe, stressing to parents the importance of talking constantly with their children about issues such as "stranger danger" and "good touch/bad touch."
"It's constant reinforcement, I tell parents that's being a nag," she said. "That's a label I wear proudly, I would wear it across my forehead. That's the sign of a caring parent."

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