originally posted 11/12/2008
My son is a registered sex offender in the state of Texas. He is also required to take mandatory lie detector tests (and pay for them) approximately every 3 months!
I can empathize and sympathize with the stories that are posted on the RSOL site. My son had consentual sex with a 15 year old. At the time he was 21, had 50% ownership in a family fast food business, his own home & vehicle, and was attending Jr. College. The parents of the young lady were quite happy with their relationship until the father found out my son had an Iranian father!
He pled guilty at the advice of his attorney and received 10 years probation and a life time on the Registry. He got out of our business due to probation restrictions on hiring policies for the store, sold his home only to find out he could not get find nor get approved for a new home due to 1,000 ft. restrictions to schools, day cares, etc…
He is now living at home (we live in the country) at age 26. It took him over a year to find a job that would hire him with his “record;” he attends sexual offender classes once a week, probation meetings every 2 weeks, must register with police departments where he works & lives. If he was still attending college he would have to register on campus as well.
He must have approval by his probation officer and his counselor in his sexual offender class to go anywhere over night or out of the county. This must be a thoroughly documented “schedule” listing the car he will be traveling in, license plate #, who he will be with, times & dates, and all activities he will participate in before they will consider giving permission.
Some of the items he must pay are as follows:
court fines & costs
lie detector tests $125.00
urine tests monthly
sex offender class $30 week
probation fees
sexual victims fund fees
and lawyers fees to name a few
He cannot use the internet, have anything other than basic cable channels (must have a printed copy of our cable bill showing all channels and any purchased movies), cannot attend any function where there are children (including family functions), cannot visit friends if children are present, cannot go to any business where alcohol is served, cannot belong to a gym that has a daycare, and on and on….
Because there is no distiction in cases, he is lumped in with violent offenders, predators of young children, etc… both on the registry and in classes he attends.
He cried after attending his 1st sexual offenders class to learn/hear of the offenses that others in his class spoke about. In order to “advance” in these classes, he must admit to being a sexual pervert, must “confess” to any perverted thoughts, acts, or deeds. Must use the “appropriate language” when speaking of his “victim,” his “crime,” his “perverted act.” In other words, he is brainwashed!
This has been a living nightmare not only for him but all of his family as well. Unless the laws are changed, I can only see hundreds or thousands more families affected by these unfair practices and in my opinion, abuses.