Sex offense harms community trust

The rights of convicted felons to go on with their lives after paying their debt to society should not trump the public trust. Especially when the felon in question works for the government, paid for by the taxpayers. Most especially when the victims of the crime are children, the most defenseless members of our society, without a vote and too often without a voice.

Hawaii government agencies that employ hundreds and even thousands of people, now and then find themselves dealing with unlawful behavior, when an employee goes bad, or prior wrongdoing is uncovered. In these cases, administrators are guided by labor law and union contracts. Administrators rely heavily on rules, requirements and processes to inform their decisions, and, in the most serious cases, to explain their decisions to the public.

But rules only go so far. An overreliance on process can result in unacceptable outcomes that miss the big picture and violate community standards. Which brings us to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

DLNR Director William Aila is undermining the mission of the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and downplaying the seriousness of possessing child pornography by keeping acclaimed shark expert Randy Honebrink in the same high-profile job Honebrink held before pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

Aila insists that he’s simply following accepted processes by allowing Honebrink, who was the media’s go-to expert on shark attacks, to return to his supervisory role as aquatic resource information and education coordinator when he gets out of prison. Honebrink is using vacation time to serve his two-month sentence, which will be followed by five years of supervised release. He is expected back on the job next month.

Hawaii law appears to give Aila more authority than he’s willing to exercise in this case. The Hawaii Government Employees Association, the union of which Honebrink is a member, confirmed that felony conviction is potential grounds for dismissal. The HGEA’s Randy Perreira emphasized that the union is not the driver in this case. "This is not a contractual issue. This is DLNR’s call," he said.

Finding or keeping a job is an important factor in the rehabilitation of convicted criminals. Honebrink certainly has a right to make a living after he has served time. But keeping him in such an authoritative, influential and high-profile state job normalizes his illegal behavior and diminishes the seriousness of an offense that has real victims — the children who are abused, traumatized and exploited for the sexual pleasure of those who view the explicit images. Honebrink admitted downloading sexually explicit photographs of two boys, ages 12 and 14. He was caught in an international sting that resulted in nearly 350 arrests.

The mission of the DAR is to manage, conserve and restore the state’s unique aquatic resources and ecosystems for present and future generations. Its education program is designed to "enhance public understanding of Hawaii’s aquatic environments," including helping people develop responsible attitudes and a sense of stewardship; encourage conservation; and promote safe and ethical aquatic recreation.

Fulfilling that mission requires the community’s trust. The terms of Honebrink’s release require that he be supervised around children, but that isn’t even the point. His job is as a supervisor, not an outreach worker. The point is that the desire to help rehabilitate one remorseful, highly educated employee must not overshadow the larger public interest.