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Sex Offender Registration and the Internet

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 05:03:38 AM EST
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We get letters. This one is in response to one of the several posts TChris and I have written criticizing sex offender registries, particularly those posted on the Internet.

I read your article about sex offenders....I have to tell you i am on that list. In the state of Wisconsin I will be on it for the rest of my life. When I was 20 there was a girl that accused me of having sex with her. I will admit we messed around a bit but we never had sex. There was never any intecourse.

When i plead guilty ( bad attorney) there was no sex offender registration. If there was, I would have taken my chances and probably won with a jury. But I guess thats besides the point now. Now I get evicted from apartment, people vandalize my truck and I can't get a job in my chosen profession. And it's all because I'm all over the Internet. I'm 33 years old now, I did my time...but after the fact the state added a life sentence.

Thanks for listening. ill keep reading. Tom from Wisconsin

Thanks for writing, Tom, and check out SoHopeful.org.

SOhopeful International seeks to strengthen Megan's Law by excluding low risk former sex offenders, and only register and track those deemed qualified under the original stated legislative intent. It does the public no real good to have to wade through 95 lowest risk former offenders to find the 3.5 who are considered a risk to reoffend.

...Roughly 95 persons (out of 100) who are deemed low risk of re-offence must register as a sex offender (in may states the registration requirement is for life). What has not been publicly discussed is the impact of registration on those 96.5% of registrants and specifically their families and children.

SOhopeful International provides a venue for currently designated sex offenders to voice their experiences of discrimination, harassment, threats, violence, lack of housing and job opportunities. We are compiling these Testimonials and making them available to the public, legislators and media to educate those same about the real-life effects of a broken and misguided registration system.

As I said in the post linked above,

We strongly oppose sex offender registration programs that provide information about an offender to the public via the Internet. What business does a web surfer in Oregon have looking at the record of a sex offender in say, Miami? If they have a legitimate reason to know, let them contact a law enforcement agency in Miami and get the information.

Not all convicted sex offenders are violent rapists or child molesters who society needs to be protected from. There should be some way of discerning those who are not and relieving them of the burden, stigma and economic consequences of lifetime registration laws and lifetime probation. For these offenders, once they've done their time, let them be. If they re-offend, they can be charged anew and sentenced to longer sentences due to having a prior conviction.

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    Sex Offender Registration and the Internet | 33 comments (33 topical)
    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 06:01:30 AM EST
    Excellent case in point of why these lists are a bad idea. Parents have to take the responsibility to personally get to know the adults their children spend time with, and then there is no need for any scarlet letter being afixed to the undeserving. As with many other bad ideas in criminal justice, the potential for abuse and harm done to the undeserving outweighs any benefits.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 06:36:04 AM EST
    Can anyone say ex-post facto? or how about double jeopardy? The sex registries are not the answer, but they are driven by a lot of hysteria and are full of people like Tom who almost certainly pose no significant risk to the public. There is a problem with violent sexual predators. I am not sure what the answer is, but these registries are a wide net approach that encourages vigilante activity.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:44:41 AM EST
    My first boyfriend committed statatory rape. I wonder what would have happened had we met this decade instead of in the seventies and if my parents had really wanted to get rid of him....

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:45:42 AM EST
    ...of course I was more than willing...but that doesn't matter if I'm sixteen does it?

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:47:20 AM EST
    I am also a registered sex offender. Even though I was a juvenile when I committed my crime, I was charged as an adult several years later. As it is, I will be almost 40 before I can stop registering for something I did when I was a freshman in high school. My registration information is available on the internet, and does not mention that I was a juvenile.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 08:03:53 AM EST
    This is seriously messed up, and I had no idea of this issue out there. Thanks for this, Ms. Merritt.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#8)
    by Jlvngstn on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 08:15:58 AM EST
    3 of my 4 sisters were pregnant at 16 by older boys, 18-18-19 respectively. All married the boys. All the boys grew up as decent hard working folks with no criminal records. I shudder to think what would have happened had my mother or father hated the boys that got them pregnant.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 08:29:38 AM EST
    Does anyone see a pattern here? Little old ladies, Senators, evil sounding Muslim names like Osama being kept off airlines. I swear For some reason the folks who administer and make up these "Lists" must be required to have a minus level I.Q. before they get the job.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#11)
    by kdog on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 08:48:52 AM EST
    I myself dated a 16 yr. old when I was 19, thank goodness her parents liked me.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 09:00:35 AM EST
    I worry about my neice. She is 17 and dating a 14 year old. I pray they break up before she turns 18 or her life is ruined because all it will take is for her to try to break up or make his mother mad.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 09:42:00 AM EST
    I was 16 and dated a 20 year old. We had twin daughters when I was 17 and he was 21. We are now 29 and 33. I think back now and I am happy that my parents were smart people and I wasn't a malicious person. I can't tell you how many people I know engaged in sex with people between the ages of 14-18 when they were over 18. Most of them were not even aware that it was illegal. There needs to be some major reforms regarding the sex offender registry.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 10:11:41 AM EST
    One person is on the list for "Lewd And/Or Lascivious Act" and "S0d*my." However, the S0d*my law was taken off the California books in 1976.
    Um, no it wasn't. I suspect what happened in 1976 was that the criminal penalties attached to S0d*my between consenting adults was removed (although there seems to, technically, remain an optional $70 fine that might apply); but a S0d*my statute remains on the books today, that only creates criminal liability in the case where one partner is underage, or there is lack of consent. [Ed. text of statute deleted. Unfortunately, Censor Software in use at businesses and law firms will block TalkLeft for use of graphic terms. It can't differentiate between a discussion on the law and an ad.]

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#9)
    by Lis Riba on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 10:12:37 AM EST
    FWIW, back in the summer of 1999 I took a close look at California's online registry, which may still be worth reading (even though the URLs have since expired). Disturbing just how many people were on the list for nonviolent crimes. For example,
    One person is on the list for "Lewd And/Or Lascivious Act" and "S0d*my." However, the S0d*my law was taken off the California books in 1976.
    In fact, I found a whole lot of elderly males whose offenses sounded like they were victims of official anti-homosexuality persecution. And even the most dangerous criminals on the list are only *potential* repeat offenders -- recidivism (sp) is by no means a certainty to justify this kind of public exposure.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 10:13:11 AM EST
    His case is not unusual, many kids under the age of 21 are marked by pleading guilty without understanding what will happen in the future. from what i read about this kind of thing 60 to 70 percent had sex with girls over the age of 16 and the boys are under the age of 21, and i am not talking about rape or forced sex crimes, but girlfriends mad at a lover. and the sad fact is up until 10 years ago boys could have a judge remove it from the record but not now.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#15)
    by scarshapedstar on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 11:08:20 AM EST
    I myself am probably eligible to end up with a scarlet letter for the rest of my life, after grad night, if I'm remembering correctly. Good lord.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 12:07:51 PM EST
    I say leave the list exactly as it is, and give non criminal adults every possible opportunity to protect their children from predators. If Tom hadn't made mistakes in judgement (like admitting guilt in something he did not do) he probably would not be on the list, but I am opposed to anything that would make it easier on true predators. And quite honestly my heart isnt going to bleed for you if your on the list because you deserve to be, or if your on the list because you made stupid mistakes. My kids are safer because of the list and thats a good thing. On the other hand, just like in any other case, if you allow government to administer over this list your probably not going to be happy with the results. Maybe the offenses that qualify putting your info on the list should be looked at, but don't throw out the baby with the bath water, so to speak.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#18)
    by Jlvngstn on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 12:54:49 PM EST
    Dagma, this is not meant as an inflammatory question. How are your kids safer because of the internet registry? I have not seen a decline in the number of sexual assaults nor have I seen or heard of any case where an attempt at abuse was stopped because of the registry.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#19)
    by kdog on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 01:00:31 PM EST
    That's the point Dagma, someone like Tom is not a "predator". No one can guarantee the unworthy will be kept off the lists, so I can't possibly support them. Anyone who values freedom can't support them either. If you wanna protect your kids from predators, don't leave them unattended with adults you don't trust. The only reason I can think of for parents wanting these lists is because they are too lazy to find out who their neighbors are, or too lazy to keep track of their kids. Don't ruin some strangers life over your irrational fears.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 01:47:14 PM EST
    To dogma...im happy for you that you sleep well at night because there is a regerstry...Im sure that the parents of that litle girl in florida slept well also, and to mention the girl that was just killed by a convicted sex ofender in iowa last week.The point is that if the states would stop waisting time and money on people like me that make up more then 95% of the list they could focus on people like that, then your children would be safer! And btw you have no idea what it is like to sit in a court room at the age and be told that you face up to 20 years in prison unless you just plead guilty and it will all be over. I can tell you its a verry scaring thing considering the only thing you did was kiss a girl!!!! I sugest you check out the link at the top of the page ints interesting reading.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#21)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 01:58:57 PM EST
    It does the public no real good to have to wade through 95 lowest risk former offenders to find the 3.5 who are considered a risk to reoffend. ...Roughly 95 persons (out of 100) who are deemed low risk of re-offence must register as a sex offender ...SoHopeful Well, SoHopeful, you are intentionally trying to mislead us. The first sentance is a flat out lie - assuming that your second explanatory sentance is true. It's not that of every 100 offenders in the database, 95 are low-risk re-offenders, but, rather, of every 100 low-risk re-offenders, 95 of them are in the database. The database itself is actually made up of a whole pile high-risk re-offenders in addition to most of the low-risk re-offenders. SoHopeful "forgets" to mention that. There is, in Ron Reagan, Jr.'s unforgettable words, a profound difference. Not all convicted sex offenders are violent rapists or child molesters who society needs to be protected from. ...TL No, they're not. However, by a quick look at CA's Megan's Law database, either most of the convicted sex offenders in CA are violent rapists and/or child molesters, or CA is already only listing those that are. I went on CA's RSO Megan's Law website. After choosing Los Angeles and typing in a random name (Reynolds) and looking at the first dozen or so (of many dozens) of offenders listed with that surname, each one (100%) had either violent sexual offense(s) or child offense(s) (or both?). Clearly not a difinitive study by any means, but I think some general impressions can be formed. In fact, in the small town outside LA where I live now, 100% of the RSO's on the on-line Megan's Law database are child abusers: RSO#1: 288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS 288a(c) ORAL COPULATION WITH PERSON UNDER 14/ETC OR BY FORCE/ETC 647.6(a) ANNOY/MOLEST CHILDREN RSO#2: THIS SEX OFFENDER HAS BEEN IN VIOLATION OF REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS SINCE 06/15/2004.288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS There should be some way of discerning those who are not [a danger to society] and relieving them of the burden, stigma and economic consequences of lifetime registration laws and lifetime probation. For these offenders, once they've done their time, let them be. If they re-offend, they can be charged anew and sentenced to longer sentences due to having a prior conviction. TL OK, let's say some do re-offend (although I guess we should really say: re-offend and are charged, tried, and convicted) would TL then support their name to be put in the database? Also, if we follow your suggestion and one of my children is abused by a one of these sexual predators deemed by the state as not a danger to society, do I then have cause to sue the State of CA for damages? What business does a web surfer in Oregon have looking at the record of a sex offender in say, Miami? Well, as a CA resident wheo previous lived in NJ, I was interested in looking up, in the NJ database, the guy who abused me when I was in the 5th or 6th grade, and the priest at my catholic high school who tried to abuse my best friend and was later charged and convicted of sexual relations with a 13 year-old boy. I believe it is my business.

    Re: Sex Offender Registration and the Internet (none / 0) (#22)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 02:08:00 PM EST
    Sorry, TL, I missed the last sentance: If they have a legitimate reason to know, let them contact a law enforcement agency in Miami and get the information. You have a point, although in this information age, making possible life-changing info more difficult to access, rather than easier, just doesn't seem right.

    %%