Disfigured Youth Persecuted

Original post date: 14.07.2008

I want my son to have hope. He is still incarcerated at (our) County Prison. He is serving an 12 month less 1 day sentence for consensual sex with a minor. He was 19 at the time,she was 14.

My son suffered from hemifacial paralysis when he was 18 months old. After 14 facial surgeries to reconstruct his eye, mouth and cheek, he suffered most of his childhood from low self esteem and never thought any girl would find him attractive. The surgeries improved his appearance and restored symmetry to his face. I thought he was very handsome, but he never saw anything but the scars. He and this girl found each other attractive and they had consensual sex.

He felt so guilty, he turned himself in to police. The girl and her mother did not want to press charges, but the state did. Now he faces the public humiliation on the registry. He did take a plea bargain that sentenced him to less than one year in prison, with a year of parole afterward. We are still very green and do not have all of the information we need. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to finally express my son’s story.

1 thought on “Disfigured Youth Persecuted

  1. Editor’s note: I believe this is a followup or comment from back in 2008. I’m not sure, but I’m putting it in the comments for this tale.

    Shelley&&This caught my attention due to the ages mentioned and the fact that the State would not let this go. Prior to our situation, the DA was a friend of ours, which makes this such a mystery. We believe he bent over backwards to prove there was no favoritism to us, so here we are! My son passed polygraphs (more than one) regarding allegations of a vindictive 14-year-old (he was 19) who was then and is currently dating a 20-year-old purported drug dealer and talking online about sleeping with him, etc. That aside, even though my son passed the polygraphs addressing specifically her allegations word for word, he had to turn around and enter a plea of guilty so he could come home. He had been in jail for six months pending trial, but when the offer came from the Prosecutor for a five-year probationary sentence, he signed it! He was frightened, missed his family, and only wanted to come home. He is now a felony sex offender, cannot find a job anywhere in our small town (13,000), and his life seems ruined, but we do not despair. I am not promoting my agenda, but we have faith that God will direct us and show us the reason for all of this some day. Please let your son know of the countless others like him who are experiencing the same feelings about registration, but tell him as well that so many of us are working to effect some change in these laws and perhaps we will experience some victory soon.

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