This article caught my eye while I was browsing CNN. It is about a how a 16 year old, named Ricky Blackman, in Iowa had sex with a 13 year old because he was told the girl was 15. The girl ran away from home and the cops came to the young mans house looking for her. This is when he found out she was actually only 13. He then admitted to have sex with her and was arrested. He was put on the sex offenders list in Iowa and was told that if completed the treatment, his name would be taken off the list. His family then moved to Oklahoma to start a new life. Ricky completed his treatment and was taken off the list in Iowa but he did not come off the list in Oklahoma.
Rick had a red stripe that said he was a sex offender on his drivers license. Whenever he went places to buy things that needed an ID to be shown, he would not be served. He could not even get jobs at Wal-mart and McDonald's. He was not allowed to go to school and finish high school or get his GED.
Eventually Oklahoma took the red strip off of Ricky's license but the affects of his poor treatment still take a tull on his everyday life. He is nervous around children and women because he doesn't want to be looked at like he is doing something wrong. He doesn't go to his brothers football games because he doesn't want to make people upset that he is there even though he is off the list.
The are so many psychological problems that he could have developed just from not being able to hangout with people his own age and getting treated like crap from everyone in his community.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/11/oklahoma.teen.sex.offender/index.html
I think this very issue highlights one of the main problems with our justice system. We have to decide what we are in fact doing with criminals. Going through "the system" seems to have two purposes, first- to discourage people from emitting certain undesirable behaviors, and 2- to act as a punishment in the form of fines/jail time/etc. Then, since it is called the “Justice System” and not the “Payback/Revenge System” we ought to implement laws which only deter people from performing truly unjust acts, and punishments which fit the crime. Science and unbiased (as unbiased as possible), logical analysis ought to be the primary, if not exclusive means of achieving these ends.
Treatment of sex offenders seems, for the most part, to be based on hatred, fear, and revenge more than on achieving justice, or rehabilitation and penitence within the perpetrator. The fact that sex offenders so commonly re-offend is good reason to be apprehensive of their release back into society, however, as with any problem proper research and thoughtful analysis of the available facts ought to dictate policy. All sex offenders are not equal, not the same. And punishment ought to be more specific based on the offense. If a sex offender is not ready to be in society then keep him/her out of it. However, replacing them into society and constantly reminding themselves and others of their “despicable behavior” hardly seems like it will ever lead to a solution. In fact this system seems to encourage the offender to reoffend.
http://www.aardvarc.org/rape/about/whowhy.shtml
The above website lists a number of the possible theories currently available explaining why people become sex offenders. A few examples highlight this point that labeling them as sex offenders and ostracizing them from the community will encourage their deviant behavior, not rehabilitate it. One theory states that sex offenders have low self-esteem, and act out to counter-balance this; another that they have high-self esteem and offend when they feel their self-esteem is threatened; yet another that they lack empathy and the ability to develop close personal relationships, or to understand how their behaviors affect others. All of these problems would be exponentially compounded by ostracizing, labeling and subjugating offenders.
This article reminded me of a show I saw on MTV the other day about a guy who sent out a picture message (sext) of his 16 year old girlfriend to a couple of friends, which eventually was spread through out the entire school. Since the sender (Philip Albert) was 18 when he sent it he was arrested and charged with sending child pornography, to which he pleaded no contest but was later convicted of. He is now a registered sex offender in Florida. This bringing up the question what should be the punishment for this? Should he be registered as a sex offender... is it fair to put him in the category of actual child molesters?
My own personal opinion kind of varies... I believe that being put on the sex offender list is a bit extreme, but I also believe that what he did was completely and totally wrong and he should be punished. Especially since the girl was 16. If that were my daughter I would want the person responsible for sending the messages to be punished. It's very difficult though to determine how severe the punishment should be. By doing one stupid act in anger though shouldn't have your life completely ruined by being placed on the sex offender list.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/07/sexting.busts/index.html
This can be a very touchy issue. There is such a fine line to tread here, with things like age and age differences. This MTV show mentioned above makes one ponder this issue. Although I believe what the offender did was completely wrong, I do not feel like the punishment fits the crime very well. My personal stereotype of someone on this list is that of a child molester. I think this stereotype comes to my mind because of all the press that pedophiles have received, with shows like How to Catch a Predator. But in some situations, this simple is not true. I think the question becomes how we should classify each offender.
This notion that all sex crimes are equal is simply not true. Child molestation does not equal 18 year old sending pictures of 16 year old girlfriend, at least in my opinion. This person then becomes attached to a stigma, which will affect them for the rest of their life, immensely in a social context. I just do not believe it is fair for people who are caught urinating in public, streaking and flashing should be subject to the same sex offender list as those who are rapists and child molesters. (Although there still should be some punishment) Maybe I am wrong, but I am not he only person who thinks this way.
http://techliberation.com/2009/08/08/rethinking-sex-crimes-and-sex-offender-registries/