A pair of unknown villains for Registered Persons: Former Reps Nancy Elizabeth Johnson and Michael Newbold Castle

Nancy Elizabeth Johnson (née Lee; born January 5, 1935) is a lobbyist, former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing the 6th district of Connecticut, and later the 5th District of Connecticut, after reapportionment. In September 2007, Johnson began lobbying for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC in Washington, D.C. She ran a failed reelection campaign in 2006 despite running a slew of negative TV ads, which accused her opponent, Chris Murphy, of "coddling sex offenders and drug dealers."

Michael Newbold Castle (July 2, 1939 – August 14, 2025) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 69th governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992.

But why am I calling these two people “unknown villains” when Johnson has been out of office for almost 20 years now, while Castle has been dead for a decade?

Because they are responsible for the law preventing Registered Persons with lifetime registration requirements from obtaining Section 8 housing.

Under 42 USC §13663 prohibits Registrants with lifetime registration requirements from obtaining Section 8 housing. That came about through a sequence of events spanning a year during the 105th USCongressional session (1997-1998).

In 1997, H.R. 2, the Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act, was introduced but contained no such ban. By the time it passed the House on 5/14/1997, it had the ban. Nancy Elizabeth Johnson (née Lee), R-CT, introduced Amendment No. 33, which added the Section 8 ban against "Sexual Predators.";  it was consolidated "en banc" with a number of other amendments unrelated to the ban and introduced and passed on 5/6/1998 as H.Amdt.56, via a voice vote. HR 2 did not advance in the Senate; the next year, however, all of the provisions of HR2 (1997) was added to H.R.4194 – Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Housing & Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 as H.Amdt.739, and passed on 7/17/1998 by 230 - 181 vote (Republicans largely voted Yes, and Democratics largely voting no); it was codified as Public Law 105-276 (10/21/1998).

The following exchange is from the Congressional record which introduced what they called the Johnson/Castle/Foley amendment to HR 2, which was later amended into HR 4194:

There are several of these amendments that speak to that ability, and  particularly that of the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson],  amendment No. 33, which prohibits the admission of sexually violent predators to public housing. I am sure she will be speaking to that. It is a very important amendment. I wish we would have thought about it earlier, but I compliment the gentlewoman for having done it.

That is a description, generally speaking, of the amendments, 11 all told, offered by Members on both sides of the aisle, that I think again strengthens and enhances this bill and will allow us to move this bill forward from the strongest possible posture.

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last  word.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment, which has been included in today's en bloc amendment, would ban violent sexual predators from public housing in this country. These are people who have been convicted of the worst crimes imaginable, and who have been identified as likely to repeat the offense. It is simply wrong for taxpayer dollars to be used to allow people who have stalked and attacked women and children to live where the majority of tenants are children and single mothers.

At a public housing project in Chicago recently, according to press reports, a previously convicted sex offender was charged with assaulting and molesting a 9-year-old girl who lived in the same building.

First, he allegedly abducted her as she was walking upstairs. Then he  took her into an apartment, molested her, choked her until she was  unconscious. He poured poisonous liquid down her throat and left her.

(MY NOTE: This is known as the “Girl X” case and it is one of many cases in which a person may have been wrongfully accused based on a faulty ID and bias against a person’s prior record. See: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2001/04/11/archive-manual/team-protess-sykes-wrongfully-convicted/)

Mr. Chairman, my legislation will not eliminate violence against  children. I wish it were that easy. But it will send a clear message that Congress is not going to use taxpayers' hard-earned money to provide subsidized public housing to people who have committed  unspeakable acts of evil against children.

H.R. 2 for the first time gives housing authorities access to State information on registered sex offenders, and allows public housing officials to reject an application for subsidized housing if they have  reason to believe the applicant poses a threat to other tenants. That  is a giant step forward, and I commend the committee on their action.

But in addition, my zero tolerance amendment would mandate that  public housing officials automatically reject any application from  sexually violent predators.

Mr. Chairman, study after study has shown that many people, most people, in fact, guilty of violent sexual crimes against children repeat their offenses and attack many, many children. According to one

report, 71 percent of all pedophiles knew their victims prior to the crime. The typical offender molests on average, on average, hear that, on average 117 children. That is right. Members heard it right, 117 children.

Nearly 40 percent of the inmates serving time in State prisons for violent sex offenses said their victims were 12 years old or younger. These statistics were supplied to me by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which supports my amendment. What these statistics say really loud and clear is that it is time for zero tolerance.

I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and keep our children safe.

Rep.  Michael Newbold CASTLE (R-DE): Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Johnson-Castle-Foley amendment, which the gentlewoman from Connecticut just spoke about,  which is contained as part of the en bloc amendment, as was suggested  by the sponsor of the legislation.

Under the zero tolerance for sexual predators amendment I am offering with the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson] and the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Foley], housing authorities and owners of public housing would be required to reject any application submitted to them by violent sexual predators.

Less than 2 weeks ago in my home State of Delaware, I spent the day with Delawareans living in Federal-assisted housing. I spoke with parents and children and got a firsthand look at life in public housing. During my visit I was approached by a little 4-year-old boy named Danny, who wanted me to toss a ball around with him. Danny's family lives in good, well-maintained public housing, working very hard to make ends meet.

I thought to myself, the last thing Danny's family needs to worry about is whether he could be stalked by a dangerous sexual predator living near them in public housing.

Mr. Chairman, according to HUD, there are currently over 1 million children nationwide living in public housing. In Delaware alone, over 3,500 children reside in taxpayer-subsidized housing.

According to an analysis published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, two-thirds of convicted rape and sexual assault offenders said their victims were under the age of 18; nearly half said their victims were 12 years of age or younger.

Mr. Chairman, our amendment would require public housing authorities to automatically reject any application received from a convicted violent sexual predator. These individuals would have had to commit the most egregious crime against a child, as defined by the Jacob Wetterling provisions passed by this House and signed into law in 1994, in order to be denied public housing.

Under H.R. 2 as currently written, housing officials are given the authority to screen out applicants and their family members who are engaged in criminal activity. I amended the legislation in committee to give authorities access to State sex offender registration rolls, arming them with the most up-to-date and accurate information in order to properly screen out sex offenders. The zero tolerance amendment goes one step further by requiring public housing authorities to deny public housing to those individuals, violent sex offenders, who prey upon our children.

Mr. Chairman, we believe that parents have the right to sleep better at night, knowing that housing authorities are screening out and denying housing to the most violent sexual predators. If my colleagues believe in this right also, I urge them to support the zero tolerance amendment as part of the en bloc amendment to bar violent sexual predators from our country's public housing.” – END OF RELEVANT TESTIMONY

If you are wondering why I didn’t mention the “Foley” in the Johnson/Castle/Foley amendment, it is because that is well-known villain Mark Foley, the congressman who left Congress in disgrace just months after hlping his wingman John Walsh get a bad bill named after his child in 2006, the controversial Adam Walsh Act. For those who weren’t alive or into current events in 2006, the then-infamous  Mark Foley stood accused of soliciting sexual emails and sexually suggestive instant messages to teenaged boys who had formerly served as congressional pages. Ultimately, he resigned but never faced any real consequences for his actions.

Where did that dubious and specific claim that “sex offenders have 117 victims on average” originate? It is attributed to shady Dr. Gene Abel, the guy who hocks a visual test:

“The typical offender is male, begins molesting by age 15, engages in a variety of deviant behavior, and molests an average of 117 youngsters, most of whom do not report the offense.” – Attributed to Gene Abel (1985) “The Evaluation of Child Molesters: Final Report to the Center on Antisocial and Violent Behavior.” Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health. No one has a copy of the original study! I cannot find a copy anywhere.

But in the book, “The Stop Child Molestation Book: What Ordinary People Can Do In Their Everyday Lives To Save 3 Million Children” by Nora Harlow and Gene G. Abel, there is a wuote that reads, “On average, a pedophile molests 11.7 children compared to a non-pedophile molester, who molests, on average, 2.9 children…On average, a molester with pedophilia commits 70.8 molestation acts. On average, a molester without pedophilia commits 6.5 acts.” A Misplaced decimal point is the most likely origin for this specific number.

And just as Roberts would use a faulty report in oral arguments to justify the registry in Smith v. De in 2003, Rep. Johnson used a faulty stat (but coupled wih a rare but tragic case) to justify draconian measures against Persons Forced to Register.

There are many issues Registered Persons currently face, but we cannot overlook the impact this one single amendment has had over the years. Through various studies, I have concluded that Registered Persons face homeless rates of at least 30x the homeless rate of the average American. We are still fighting a lot of the sanme discrimination and ostracism based on bad research today as we did back in 1998 when Congress decided to pass laws banning some Registered Persons from public housing. It is largely the same tactics pushing modern laws, and while Jognson and Caastle were not the oiginators of these tacics, they did their part to cause lasting harm towards Registered Persons and their families.