originally posted 2/17/2011
There’s a lot of back lash and I have experience a lot of it in my life. My husband is a sex offender on the registry for the last 8 years and has to register for life. My step-father is an offender on the registry. My son now has a case pending and it is likely he will have to register and he is only 13. I am also a victim myself. And my daughter is a victim. I have been through the courts with my family and I have been through the sex offender counseling with my husband. I have seen first hand the affects of the registry on not just the offenders but their family’s. I have a unique prospective that may make people listen to me. Having been on the wrong side of sex crimes on everyone involved but still saying this is not the solution. I feel as if this issue having been around me my whole life is a sign that I need to lend my experiences to help other people. The sex offender registry is applied to things I believe are not sex crimes-like sex between consenting people, innocent kid fun, family photos, pure stupidity, and children who should not be labeled. I also think that it makes people serve a sentence and then be sentenced again after they served their time-especially lifetime registry and retroactive sentences. I also think that the registry has too much information on offenders-such as all online information including all bank accounts, shopping, bill paying, social networking, and e-mail accounts. Now they are limiting where offenders live-sometimes in some cities it almost eliminates you living anywhere in that city. I most definitely know that the registry is unconstitutional and is against the basic rights of the offenders and their families. The law makers have this wrong and have swung completely the other way. Things need to change. I do not support in anyway children or anyone else being assaulted. Being a victim myself I hope no one ever has to deal with that. But offenders can get help and can change. People need to know that. And people need to educate their kids not rely on a database online to protect their kids. It’s just a false sense of security and a reason for parents to be lazy. I am ready to help in anyway I can to get the laws changed. This is my thing fighting injustices. And this issue is very close to my heart. I deal with it everyday. So I hope I can help you and your organization with your battle. And it will be a battle. Let’s face it no one wants to say their standing up for sex offenders. And sex offenders are afraid to stand up for themselves and try to change things in fear of public scrutiny I have talked to my husband and he totally supports me in doing this even if we end up going public. So there’s my story.