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Tuesday, August 4, 2015
"Dating app hookup landed a teen on the sex offender registry"
"19 year old teen charged as a "sex offender" and banned from using the Internet after having intercourse with girl who lied about her age and admitted it in court. Judge said he was angry that he used the Internet to meet a girl."... via Reddit
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3 comments:
This stuff bothers me. I think the sex offenders list should not exist, unless the offender otherwise would be guilty of a crime deserving of a life sentence (25-30 years in most cases) in jail. The list is regularly abused not by LEO's but courts and prosecutors. The result is ruined lives on both sides.
In this story, we have consensual sex between an honest 19 year old and dishonest 14 year old. The 14 year old gets no punishment for dishonesty, and the 19 year old has a criminal legacy that far exceeds his encarceration for the same crime. If he murdered the girl, his punishment would likely be over in 15 to 20 years. But no, he believed her, did what he met with her to do, didn't otherwise harm her, and is now branded a sexual deviant offender for 25 years to life.
Then there is my own story as a juror on a truly heinous sexual assault. A couple that adopted a young girl, who was subsequently sexually assaulted by the adopting father from age 6 to 11. 2 jurors didn't want to convict. They didn't have reasonable doubt, which was the legal standard, but some personal doubt and complete distrust of the legal system. They're major complaint was that if something they missed was found on Appeal, they thought the conviction alone would automatically force registration as a sex offender which would be difficult to be undone. Those of us that thought the guy clearly guilty could careless if he was registered a sex offender, as we thought he should be in jail until he was 70-80 years old. We managed to convince the 2 woman that own distrust of the system shouldn't let this man walk. Evidence not admissible in court assured us we made the absolutely right decision to convict. However, this was the second trial, the first ended with a hung jury, and the second nearly did too, because of essentially a jury nullification of the sex offender registry. Again, the opposition was from two women jurors.
There are countless other stories of how this terrible concept has hurt lives. I've heard several cases of young couples, like the one discussed in the article, continuing their relationship, marrying, and having difficulty raising their own children because one of them is a registered sex offender for having sex with their spouse prior to marriage and at a young age.
As for the really sexually deviant, I have no support for them. The solution for them is as with every horrible criminal. Lock them away for a very long time. If they deserve parole (say a 22 yr old teacher found guilty of sex with a 17 year old student, which I think is a crime), then they should deal with the same level of parole given to a murderer. You have probationary limits, but when the parole expires, you have completely paid your debt to society, and can go on without such limits.
If he murdered the girl, his punishment would likely be over in 15 to 20 years. But no, he believed her, did what he met with her to do, didn't otherwise harm her, and is now branded a sexual deviant offender for 25 years to life.
His mistake was letting her live ;)
Leland, it's too late. Like the war on drugs and temporary taxes. Once something is implemented via government, it becomes adopted, entrenched, and never goes away. Ever.
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