Category: Tales from the Registry

originally posted 3/28/2009 My son’s father was convicted of a sexual misconduct with a minor (he was found guilty of groping a 14 year old girl), and served his entire five year sentence. He is unable to find permanent housing in post-Katrina New Orleans and is now facing incarceration again for failing to register as a sex offender. Reform these draconian laws now! My son needs his father.

originally posted 3/24/2009 I am ready to go to war for these poor people. No one knows the facts and people are filled with media-induced fear until it happens to their child, husband, brother or even daughters and sisters, mothers and aunts! My son was barely 19, drinking of course. He was forcefully pulled into a laundry room and a fifteen year old girl proceeded to attempt oral sex on him. The act was never finished, as someone walked in and he snapped to. She cried rape, afraid of her boyfriend finding out, who happened to be 21 at the time. Her parents allowed her to attend all-night unsupervised parties, go to gay bars in a nearby big city, and basically act as an adult. Later that evening the girl recanted and told the truth but one of the kids there hated my son. My son was only 8 days past his eighteenth birthday! The girl continued to spend the rest…

originally posted 3/22/2009 I have emailed you in the past about being on the registry. I received my yearly paper work and sent it back to the state patrol. My face does not show up on the state web site. There are reasons that is doesn’t: #1 I challenged the posting and the states use of the tier system. I still have not heard anything from the state on this. There is supposed to be a hearing on this issue according to state law but nothing has happened; it has been over a year since I filled the appeal paperwork. I am unemployed and still living in the motel that I have been in since 1-1-08. I have 4 kids with my wife of 15 years. My daughter has been raised in motel since she was 4 years old. She was born in ’94 before all these illegal laws were passed in the country. We have not had very many problems up until…

originally posted 3/14/2009 My son lost his case on Monday – he is now a registered sex offender. There are no articles in the newspaper on this, but this is my first “draft” of the story I will be updating on my website. It truly breaks my heart to see what is happening to teenagers these days. I just bet if we were rich it would have never come to this. Thank you for all the support you’ve given me throughout this terrible ordeal. My next step – having the Romeo and Juliet law incorporated in Illinois. From there – who knows, this is just the beginning. She sits in the first row of the court room with tears running down her face as she watches her boyfriend being convicted of a sexual crime. His crime was being with her. She screams inside her head, “I AM NOT A VICTIM” as he lowers his head in shame for having to…

originally posted 3/13/2009 I have been thinking very heavily on the laws, and how unjust they truly are. My son has been back in prison awaiting trial on a probation violation since 7/2008, the violation is being an addict. Which by law and science is a medical disease  Since he could not get a place in any of the forty + recovery houses I wrote to last year, I thought I would share some of my thoughts. Oh by the way these houses are in fact state funded. I do believe his lawyers office is working on suing the state. If not some one should. Any ways with all these new laws, The Jessica Law, The Adam Walsh law, the registry, the posting of pictures, the newspapers, the zone laws, which makes it impossible for a dad to pick up his child, the laws as to where you can and can’t live. The law by which if you leave town over…

originally posted 3/12/2009 Agent Jim stopped by the house yesterday as it’s his last week as Mike’s parole agent. He wanted to wish Mike the best of luck with the flooring business and told him it was a pleasure to be his agent over the past year. As we were talking, I asked him what he was going to be doing in his new role. He said to me: ‘Margie, I think you’re the greatest! Mike can’t fail as long as he knows you. You’ve brought to my attention some interesting facts. But, I’m getting out of the Sex Offender Unit because of the Adam Walsh Act. I just cannot do this as I don’t believe that people who have been off the registry for years should be forced back on it. Eventually, the whole situation with sex offenders will become out of control. I also don’t like the tier levels. I think the only people that can provide fact…

originally posted 2/25/2009 I am a registered sex offender. In 1995 I agreed to a plea bargain of 10 years deferred adjudication probation in exchange for a guilty plea. In the end my sentence included 10 years probation, sex offender counseling, a $10,000 dollar fine, 60 days of work release jail time, 400 hours of community service and of course, sex offender registration. But the consequences did not stop there. I was evicted from my apartment and once my case was finalized, my wife filed for divorce. As a condition of the probation I had to report to a probation officer once a month and attend sex offender classes twice a week. The classes took place during normal working hours and I was missing so much time at work that I was fired from my job. I also had to take a polygraph at least once a year at a cost of $350 per test. About 5 years into the…

originally posted 2/22/2009 I am a friend of a retired military Vietnam veteran. During the 90’s he was wrongfully accused of rape and spent nearly  3 years in prison before the “victim” came forward and confessed that she had lied about her allegations. During his trial he was “helped” by another individual in the military who was found committing adultery and sent to prison himself. After he was exonerated of the rape charge, he went to visit the other individual at his home in Florida. While he was visiting, two young daughters of the other man found a vibrating massager (the large kind) in his van and asked what it was. He explained what it was and demonstrated. The wife was not happy at this and took both children to a counselor for evaluation. Nothing was found at that point in time and he went on for the next 8 years living, working, travelling (locally, out of state & abroad multiple times) and abiding all laws in…

originally posted 2/10/2009 My son had a breakdown in Feb. He spent two weeks in the state mental health hospital. He was released, prematurely and two days later he was worse than when this nightmare started. Once again 911 was called and he was taken back to the hospital. He has been diagnosed as bipolar; all involved that the stress of being an SO has brought this on. It’s four weeks tomorrow since the first hospitalization and I can happily say that he is starting to respond to meds. I’m finding that our mental health system is just as bad as our SO laws. The docs, social worker and case manager are starting to plan for his release next week. They want him to be moved to a residential center for three weeks to make sure he is on the right road. NOW I”M ANGRY……………………he can’t go because he is an SO and the facility is next to a school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…

originally posted 2/8/2009 I was an investigative protective services social worker for four years when I was younger and have been a therapist for over twenty years. I would never have believed that my oldest son who is mentally ill would go through what he did because a child lied about him abusing her. She recanted a year ago. And why did she do this? Because she was jealous of the relationship my son had with her older sister. This child lived in an extremely dysfunctional family and in a neighborhood where lying to the police was common. My son was naive and took an alford plea because of very poor legal representation. He was never told he needed to register. His case is under appeal. But the prosecutors in these cases handled them in an extremely roughshod manner. They are far from being individualized according to dangerousness of the defendant. My son’s life has been ruined by this. He…