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originally posted 5/2012   This is not a Tale as such but a research paper written by a young woman who wanted to share it with those whom it affects. She retains all right of ownership and copyright. Sex Offender Registration: Is it Effective? Sex offender registration began with the passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (1994), which required each state to create their own specific program by which those who have been convicted of crimes against children or sexually violent offenses will be registered. Megan’s Law (1996), an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Act, additionally required community notification of known offenders. Those states which do not comply with either the Jacob Wetterling Act or Megan’s Law are penalized with a reduction of the amount of federal crime control grant money they receive (Human Rights Watch [HRW], 2007, p. 36). The sex offender registration laws have continued to evolve over time, with…

originally posted 5/2012   Introduction to the new Book “”Life as a sex offender”” Copyright 2012: As I sit here today, I realize that something that happened almost 20 year ago, is still here to haunt my future and success, throwing curve balls in my path, that I have to try and hit my very best without giving up. The book continues on… This is my story and some stories of others. I sit here today once again effected by horrific decisions I made in my past. Although the system tells you, after you serve your sentence, it will all be over, it isn’t over. I am sitting at a friends apartment, in the semi-ghetto (to me) area of a large metropolitan city. I sit here because once again, someone has found out about my past mistakes, and told the person I was living with, that you have to kick him out right this minute. When I moved in with…

originally posted 5/2012   You never really understand the nightmare until you have lived it. Our nightmare began in 1995, when my husband was 19 years old. He was at a friend’s house, along with many teenagers. He met a girl there and she said she was 18. I know many of you already know where this is head… It turns out she was only 16. She was actually 16 years, 11 months when it happened. My husband being 19 years, 2 months. The difference in their age was barely over a year. Anyway, he was caught with her and although she told everyone it was consensual, he received 90 days in jail and 10 years probation. I met him in 2000 as a single mom of a 2 year old son and we married in 2002. I never truly knew what a nightmare it would be having this hanging over us all the time. It began with his probation…

originally posted 4/24/2012   I was a ignorant immature 20 yr. old man when i got my CSC charge. I was a shy bible thumping virgin when i met my best friend’s sexually active 14 yr old sister. I’m not gonna lie and say I didn’t  know it was wrong but if i only knew the struggle and hardship I would suffer the rest of my life i would have RAN AWAY! I went to school later to work in medical field but state wouldn’t let me certify. I tried lying on apps but at some point later even if i got employed it would only take someone saying something and i would be fired. Telling the truth would make sure my apps never made it past the secretary’s desk. Now I’m 39 and they just changed the laws from 25 yr registration to life. i was so looking forward to getting off in a few years. I work for minimum wage now…

originally posted 4/15/2012   I am putting this down, because I think there are injustices in the system that need to be looked at and addressed. I turned my self in and was sentenced to three years in prison for my crimes. After prison. I was lucky enough to be able to get back to work. That was primarily because in Oregon at that time. You did not have to register or have community notification. If you were still on post-prison Supervision. I was able to work my way back up into the my field and end up in a short amount of time as a plant manager for a major local company. A situation that wouldn’t have happened if I would’ve been on community notification. Later after completing post-prison I moving to another State to take care of my 87 year old father. About 6 years after my release from prison I remarried, and when the community was notified. My stepchildren and wife…

originally posted 4/4/2012   I traded nude photos online and was charged with child porn. I was in the US Army; they kept me in for 3 years after the time that it happened. I was promoted and deployed to Iraq. I was wrong for what I did, and I deserve some of what happened to me. I would never change it if I could; it has made me a better person. The problem is that a news paper from out of state wrote a story on me in Iraq. I was honorably discharged and then contracted in Iraq as a civilian  I was on probation for 10 years, and have paid my fines and time. I have a life time registry, and I choose where I live by my jobs first and then how the laws are there.   I think people like me who are low risk cover up the really dangerous few that are in the area. It hurts and worries…

originally posted 4/3/2012   My boyfriend was an award winning teacher at a high school in the inner city. He did so much for kids who had no one else to turn to. One day during his lunch break he went to a friend’s house and found his friend’s daughter and other girls skipping school and doing drugs. My boyfriend left but first told the daughter he would speak to her father about what they were doing. The girls made up a big lie about how he molested them. The court believed them, and my boyfriend was never allowed to give his side of the story. He is now an RSO, and it has ruined his life in so many ways. He can’t get a job and is always looking over his shoulder for police. He has to watch his every move. It is absolutely horrible for him and me. He was a tremendous, honored, and devoted teacher in an…

originally posted 4/3/2012   My fiance is a registered sex offender with a tier 3 charge. Which means he has to register for the rest of his life. He caught the charge when he was 20 and  was dating a 15 year old girl. They dated for 2 years, and he was in love with her. The girl lived with her mom, and my fiance stayed there a lot too since her mom liked him. The mom and dad were divorced, and once the dad found out that she was seeing my fiance, (he wasn’t my fiance at the time) he pressed charges. So he spent his time in jail, and now that he’s engaged to me, he is still on probation. He is trying to be a productive citizen, going to work everyday, paying his bills, going to all of his court dates, going to probation, and doing the right thing. But if it weren’t for me and my…

originally posted 4/2/2012   After reading some of the stories from other contributors, I wonder where my own story fits. There seems to be many individuals whose charges were either statutory or erroneous. On the contrary, I was not wrongly accused of my crime. I can honestly admit that I abused my victim. It was wrong and I caused tremendous damage both to her, myself and others. Yet, I shall offer my story as a contribution to this sad and controversial dialogue. While my legal consequences have been appropriate; the social ones have been almost unbearable. In 2002, after a period of grooming, I touched my then eleven-year-old step-daughter’s genitalia and buttocks over her clothes and showed her a book with sexually-explicit diagrams. Two years later, I plead guilty to two 3rd-degree felonies Attempted Sexual Abuse of a Child and Dealing in Material Harmful to a Minor. As a result of a favorable treatability assessment and my relative accountability, my…

originally posted 4/1/2012   I met my current boyfriend about 5 years ago, and we started dating almost a year ago. I have an 8 year old daughter, and I myself was a victim of traumatizing childhood sexual abuse, so before I even considered dating him I investigated why he was a RSO. I knew before we started dating because we live in a small (I’m from CA so any city with less than a million people is small to me) city in MS (we also do not have a tier system for RSOs). I talked to cops, lawyers, the DA’s office, and other people, and basically he was  innocent. He was convicted of a sex offense but never actually did anything, didn’t touch anyone, and THAT was the crime. NOT doing anything. He was convicted 10 years ago and hasn’t been in any trouble since. Because of that we are able to get his record expunged; however, as of…