Registries: not for the uneducated

[qwyneth]

Today one of my coworkers sent out an email being passed around about Family Watchdog, the US sexual offender registry. The email discussed how shocking it is seeing all those colored boxes, and how everyone should tell their friends and neighbors about it

Comments

[boundfate]

What an awesome, awesome post.

[qwyneth]

Thank you! I actually thought of you as I was writing it. :)

[twilight_tea]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for posting this! I think a lot of people also don't realize that how many offenders on that list are one time offenders, are in recovery or actually making an effort to fix their lives, etc. I suspect that a lot of people are trying to chase sex offenders out of the neighborhood to make themselves feel like the threat is actually eliminated. It just comes down to taking measures to be safe and keep your children safe. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen regardless of whether someone is on a list or not.

C

[twilight_tea]

Saw this, too: http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/is_ricky_really_a_sex_offender/6726/

C

[qwyneth]

Jesus Fucking Christ. I don't think that juveniles should be listed on the registry, period. Juvenile offenders are supposed to get a clean slate when they reach majority, and sex crimes are no different. If the police want to keep a sealed registry fine, that's a great tool for protecting the public. But it shouldn't be public.

They really need to revise the laws regarding statutory rape when both parties are under 20, too. Plenty of the poor guys on the registry had sex with their 15 or 16 year old girlfriends when they were 18. They aren't a safety risk, and it's completely ridiculous that we treat them as such.

So. angry.

[twilight_tea]

*nods* I would make an exception for juvenile who have committed extremely violent or repeated crimes, but there's a line and a one-time consensual offense does not warrant that.

[gina227]

And never forget--60% of rape and 88% of sexual abuse is never reported. Those rapists and abusers who were never reported are not going to be on the registry.
No kidding. I mean, my ex-quasi-father-in-law is the biggest fucking pedophile on the planet. He's molested all 4 of his children, 2 nieces, and his graddaughter, not to mention whatever incidents that no one knows about. And no one outside the family has a clue because everyone, including his wife and his kids, will deny it if asked. They're in such deep denial that they'll leave the grandkids with him and not think twice about it. When the oldest granddaughter (at 14) told her mother that he had touched her, she was told she was full of shit and never to say that again. Out of 10 grandchildren, only 2 (one of whom is my son) have never been left alone with him. My 5 year old nephew, who is seriously developmentally delayed, probably wouldn't know it was wrong and couldn't tell anyone even if he did, and yet they regularly leave him with him. Fuckwits, every one of them

[qwyneth]

Jesus, honey! I don't...have you considered talking to social services? I don't know much about your state's CPS, but they should actually interview the children as a part of the investigation. Young children do show signs of molestation, and if the fourteen year old spoke up once, she might again. There are kids in active danger here

[gina227]

Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that CPS are a bunch of morons. She ran away and called them and they interviewed him and he said he was just tickling her and of course, the rest of them stuck up for him. CPS never opened a case. Needless to say, she got her ass kicked for "spreading lies". She then ran off and got pregnant at 15 so that she would be able to marry her boyfriend without parental consent.(Mom didn't want to give up the welfare check she was getting for her or the free babysitting for the 4 younger kids.) So now she's 23, with two kids, and a half-ass husband. At least she has the common sense not to deny everything and doesn't leave her kids with the molester

Michael

[anonymous]

Of course, such registries lead to the inevitable...

Sex offender colonies approved by amending the US Constitution.

http://soretra.50webs.com

Re: Michael

[qwyneth]

Weird. I can't tell if that website is actually a joke, or if the person or people maintaining it are serious (albeit idiots).

[quidditchgrrl]

Amen, amen, AMEN!

I think these kinds of lists, and the resultant actions people take against the people named on them, serve as a sort of panacea to folks who think that the only bad guys are the ones on the list. Only, you know, not so much.

Thanks for writing such an informed, coherent response! :)

[qwyneth]

Thank you!