Category: Tales from the Registry

My life of hell on Indiana’s sex offender registry (SOR) began in 2003 when I was arrested for looking at and printing out pictures of nude preteen girls from the internet. I had just graduated high school at the time, was working a dead-end job, and living on my own with no friends or girlfriend. Also, two major contributing factors to why I was looking at girls that age were that I had been molested when I was very young and the therapist I was taken to failed to address the issue of the abuse in any way. So, I’m in jail as a young adult. This is my first run-in with the law; I had never even had so much as a driving ticket. I am facing two counts, a C Felony and a D Felony. I meet with my court-appointed attorney and he tells me that if I sign the plea bargain that the state will drop the…

I am 60-years-old and my son is 36. In 2005, he was convicted of indecent liberties with a minor. She was his girlfriend (unknown to me). As the records clerk for our local Sheriff’s Office, I had to fingerprint him, take his picture, and place him on the NC sex offender registry. He got probation, but he and this girl just couldn’t stay away from each other- they wanted to marry in 3 months when she turned 16. Thirteen years later, my son is married and has an 8-year-old son. Everyone hates my son. Can’t afford a lawyer to petition to get off registry. Dying here…… – Theresa

I was convicted of 2nd degree sexual assault in Missouri in 1987 at the age of 17 for having consensual sex with my 14-yr-old girlfriend. I was sent to prison for 5 yrs. Needless to say, prison was not good for me. I ended up doing 12 yrs as a result of other criminal convictions. The last 4 1/2 yrs I spent in isolation confinement, 24 hrs day, in Arkansas, because of my mental disorders (Bipolar and PTSD, undiagnosed at the time). I finally made it out and have been out now for over ten years, have obtained Bachelors degrees in Criminal Justice and Sociology, graduating from NMSU in 2014 with University Honors for my published research, “Long Term Isolation Confinement and Mental Health”. I have been clean and sober almost 9 yrs now. Yet all this reform has resulted in me being homeless and jobless on the streets in Portland, Oregon. I am told by my registry officers that…

Years ago, long before we met, my boyfriend went to a club with friends where you had to be 21-years-old or older and carded at the door in order to be allowed in. He met a girl and her “sister” that night in the club. After a few drinks, he and the girl left and fooled around. About a month later, police knocked on his door and asked him if her knew the girl, he said “Yes, I met her a while back.” They placed him under arrest for having sex with a minor. Turns out she was 16 with a fake ID and her “sister” was actually her mother. When my boyfriend went to court, he was there with 6 other guys that this mother/daughter duo pulled the same trick on. They did it to sue them all and get money. Rather than the mother getting in trouble for basically pimping her daughter out, all of these guys were…

This is just another horror story of (From this point on, the entire contents must/will be considered ALLEGED/ALLEGEDLY acts,written words, inferred or not).. Where to start.. If you are unlucky enough to be set-up/arrested (I would tell you my particular story but**) and then found guilty, or forced to take a plea deal in a certain North Central Alabama County you have NO RECOURSE to get yourself out of this horror. When you are arrested, for the next week or so, your face/name/address will be on every TV news channel,TV website, radio station, flyer, community paper, etc. that can be notified. This is to poison the public to assure you will have no chance at a fair trial, you WILL lose your job, your “friends”, neighbors, anyone will treat you as though you have already been found guilty of ANY conceivable crime. When you finally get arraigned (The legal system here is ALLEGED/ALLEGEDLY controlled by the sheriff, and ALLEGED/ALLEGEDLY the…

Put yourself in my shoes for a moment. Imagine waking up in your warm, comfy, queen-sized, pillow-top bed in the morning to the sounds of “daddy daddy, I awake” around 7am after getting out of work at 2am. You roll out of bed, wake your fiance so that she can get your 8 year old step-daughter ready for school. You come downstairs with your 4 month old daughter in hand, set her up with a fresh diaper and warm bottle in the baby bouncer. At this point, your 2 year old daughter comes walking down the stairs and says, “hi daddy, I awake, I eat”. You ask what she would like to eat, a choice of pancakes or waffles. “Wafffs” she says, referring to waffles. After a fresh diaper for your 2 year old, you clear off a spot on your kitchen counter for the toaster and begin making morning breakfast and coffee. A short while later, your 8 year…

My offense dates back to 1988. I was a 18 year old kid with my whole life ahead of me . I found myself in a situation that I didn’t know would impact the rest of my life so far. I was accused of Indecency w/ a child a female neighbor who was 14 at the time.I didn’t have sex with her it was supposedly sexual contact. In  1990 ( July) just before my 20th birthday  I was sentenced to 5 years In the Texas Department of Corrections at that time there was no such thing as a registry. After serving not more than a year I was released on parole. In 1993 I violated my parole and was sent back to prison until 1995 and upon my release I was informed I would have to register as a Sex Offender for life @that point age 25 I had no idea of what an impact it would have on my…

Put yourself in my shoes for a moment. Imagine waking up in your warm, comfy, queen-sized, pillow-top bed in the morning to the sounds of “daddy daddy, I awake” around 7am after getting out of work at 2am. You roll out of bed, wake your fiance so that she can get your 8 year old step-daughter ready for school. You come downstairs with your 4 month old daughter in hand, set her up with a fresh diaper and warm bottle in the baby bouncer. At this point, your 2 year old daughter comes walking down the stairs and says, “hi daddy, I awake, I eat”. You ask what she would like to eat, a choice of pancakes or waffles. “Wafffs” she says, referring to waffles. After a fresh diaper for your 2 year old, you clear off a spot on your kitchen counter for the toaster and begin making morning breakfast and coffee. A short while later, your 8 year…

Hello. This may be a mirror of your own story(maybe not). How many of you(of us), are True To Life Ghosts? What is a “True To Life Ghost?” Here’s My story! In nineteen hundred and eighty-one(1981), I was an eighteen year old kid whom had, just a year or so prior, begun getting in trouble with the law for minor things like, stealing food from stores,  and joyriding in a stolen car. I guess this should have been my wake-up call, but my head was just a bit harder(i needed something more to wake me up). And it soon came! Accused of Rape. No, Not I! Never!! Take a Plea I did! There was nothing else I could do(even though the doctors report stated that there was NO SIGN OF PENETRATION)! Two and a half years later, I was released from prison(from a four year sentence). Register For Life(is what they tell me). I DISCHARGED that prison number(gave it back…

An open letter to Curtis Hart, Andy Huffman, and Muirah Imhoff of Cowlitz County, Washington as well as Irma Ybarra-Hill and Paula Brownhill of Clatsop County, Oregon: I have been writing and re-writing this letter for a long time now.  I plan to send it and post it as many times as it takes to draw awareness for this issue.  While I am the subject subject of this story, it is not only about me. I want to learn how to be a better person.  I am more than willing to do the work, and I think I have shown that, but the community I grew up in has become less and less welcoming.  As the doors continue continue to slam in my face, I still live and therefore require food and shelter. It is not usually my character or personality that keeps me barred from my basic human rights, although I am definitely human and prone to error.  It…