Original post date: 14.07.2008 I want my son to have hope. He is still incarcerated at (our) County Prison. He is serving an 12 month less 1 day sentence for consensual sex with a minor. He was 19 at the time,she was 14. My son suffered from hemifacial paralysis when he was 18 months old. After 14 facial surgeries to reconstruct his eye, mouth and cheek, he suffered most of his childhood from low self esteem and never thought any girl would find him attractive. The surgeries improved his appearance and restored symmetry to his face. I thought he was very handsome, but he never saw anything but the scars. He and this girl found each other attractive and they had consensual sex. He felt so guilty, he turned himself in to police. The girl and her mother did not want to press charges, but the state did. Now he faces the public humiliation on the registry. He did take…
Original post date: 11.07.2008 Although the statute I was convicted under (Wisconsin, convicted in 1995) will read as though I forcibly assaulted a child, in reality, I had sex with a 15 year old who told me she was 19. That’s all I did. Now, I have to register every four months in Kansas (in person, at the police station, where I am frisked), and every year for the rest of my life in Wisconsin. I had hopes of getting through this, completing my PhD and becoming a professor. But last semester, A girl who failed the class I was teaching complained about me because she saw my name printed in the local newspaper, and stated that she was afraid to come talk to me. Can you believe that? I appreciate what you[RSOL] are trying to do, because my life is for the most part ruined because of the unnecessary stigma that has been assigned.
Original post date: 03.07.2008 Former editor’s note: This entry sent from a registered sex offender, is an important warning: Beware of so-called plea bargains, often put forth by defense lawyers, not understanding the long impact and humiliation of the sex offender registries – which are often retroactive, affecting people who pled years ago, thinking it was over. IT’S NOT OVER in America, folks. Again, BEWARE OF PLEA BARGAINS! Almost a decade ago, I took a plea deal in a corrupt town. I took a plea deal to save my life, but now I find I am losing it. I recently lost both my jobs, my house and am in debt. I cannot live in my old house; still available to me but the law prevents me from living there. I am homeless in a few days with no money, no food, no job, few friends who cannot provide me a place to sleep because of the laws. Parole (agents) cannot help me….
Original post date: 03.07.2008 Two teen atheletes shared 10 second videos on cellphones – For that, one now faces having to leave home, go to jail, and be placed on the internet sex offender registry for at least 10 years…. My son is in the backyard right now, sitting around a campfire with some friends. The thought of him being restricted from our house sickens me…. My son has been charged with “Telephonic Dissemination of Obscene Material to a Minor”. He was an 18 year old high school senior when the charges were filed. The charges stem from a ten second cell phone video that was sent to another male high school senior who was 17 at the time (he sent the video on to others). Unfortunately, this type of behavior among high school students has become too common. My son was a well known athlete in town, and law enforcement has decided to make an example out of him in…
Original post date: 10.06.2008 Two days ago, my dearest friend in the world was forced to register as a sex offender. She is a single mother struggling to overcome a violently abusive relationship. Last year, she found comfort in the friendship of a young woman who helped her understand her abuse and begin the process of reaching out for professional help. One evening during the course of their brief friendship, they had sex. The encounter was entirely consensual; just two women sharing their feelings for each other in a very loving manner. Tragically, both this young woman and my friend were completely unaware of the fact that the state of Florida considered this sex act a criminal one. My friend was 35 years old and the young woman just a few months shy of her 18th birthday. Both believed the age of consent to be 16 and neither realized their age gap changed everything in the eyes of the law. In a…
Original post date: 24.05.2008 In late 1997 I was convicted of second degree sexual assault of a child. I was 19 years old when the consensual “offense” occured. I served 6 months jail and 3 1/2 years probation for the crime. Now 10 years later I find myself back on probation for something completely unrelated (domestic disorderly for arguing with girlfriend) and I am forced to comply with sex offender probation rules and restrictions once again because I was formerly on sex offender probation. It just doesn’t make sense. I have worn this scarlet letter for ten years already. When I was sentenced I was only required to register for 15 years then they changed it to lifetime registrant. How can they legally keep changing these rules and restrictions? Why should this affect me and my family 10 years after I’ve been sentenced and served my time? Most recently I was notified that I am to immediatly evacuate my residence…
Original post date: 18.05.2008 Editor’s note: This entry is sent in about the teenager in Texas, Jean Ponzanelli, who is mentioned in a media item on rsol this week, too. The mother of a young woman who is Jean’s highschool friend sends futher information about this typically terrible tale. Jean himself had lived almost all his life in Texas and didn’t really understand that he was not a ‘citizen,’ just a ‘legal alien.’ His lawyer didn’t know that either when he suggested the ‘plea bargain.’ Now, Jean is trying to withdraw the plea, because no matter how it goes otherwise, he will be deported. This battle seems hopeless at times and I’ve only been in the fight for 3 months. I believe getting these stories out there and opening the eyes of the public is the only way to bring about a change in these laws. Jean Ponzanelli is so creative. He draws, plays guitar, drums, he writes music, he…
Original post date: 17.05.2008 the laws need to be changed! In Georgia, people are condemned to a life of nothing. you cant even get a job flipping a hambureger for gods sakes. what do you do, your life is condemned anyway? my husband’s case is not what the laws say. a judge in our county made sure of that. there were 8 cases in that county in that year and everyone of them were guilty even if they didnt do it. some of them were guilty of the crime, (some not guilty) and they got not what they deserved but what the judge said they did. you cant judge; you cant fight what he says, not even to the supreme court, and justice is supposed to work for everyone. you tell me – what about the people that are small and cant afford to fight. thank you for the address of the Georgia chapter. i will never give up. god…
Christopher William P. Original post date: 20.02.2008 A letter sent by the 15 year old son of a registered sex offender to the Governor of Florida: Dear Governor Crist: I’d like to tell you a story; a story of a family composed of two sons, 9 and 5, and a mother, with a potentially fatal heart condition. For three long years, on every Saturday, this family visited Bill Pratt, a sex offender, in jail for an hour. It was a long trek to the jail, and almost every time we went, we were harassed by the guards. “Your not allowed to wear chachi pants,” or “Stamp with your left hand not your right!” said the guards, as we were shoved in the the small, tight, and loud maximum security room, with armed guards at every few meters. Every week we would drive an hour there and an hour back in the cold New Jersey night, and if we were minutes…
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