1 out of every 111 Adult Males in Florida is a Registered Sex Offender
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children updated their “Sex Offender Map” and statistics in May, 2017 to account for the latest statistics.
Our colleague from Virginia has put together an analysis of the new counts, which can be found here, but the summary of the statistics for our state are that:
Florida dropped from #8 to #11. 1 out of every 295 Persons, 1 out of every 226 Adult Persons, AND 1 out of every 111 Adult Males is a Registered Sex Offender.
It is devastating – do people really believe that all those people are deviant?
Karen, actually for the past 2 – 3 years I often wondered how these numbers can still be in the 8xx,xxx range when 100’s a people a day are added to it especially here in Florida; especially in Polk County as they are probably responsible of adding 100+ people to it a year at least
I remember a few years back I was watching something (I cannot remember what it was now) but a LE from Texas proudly stated that the state was adding about 100 people a month to the registry.
NO, This is not one size fits all. People make mistakes and they should be given a second chance. By restricting their lives and closing their doors finding a place to live will create a bigger problem. Those who have lower offenses should be given the opportunity to move on with their lives.
My name is not Kev I am speaking on behalf of my son’s name who is now going through all this. My name is Raphael and I am Kev.’s dad. I apologize for signing under his name, since I was thinking of him when I wrote this. His name can not get out of my mind for his mistake. I can’t sleep or eat or do anything after he was convicted. As a parent I am going through the most difficult time in my life and I don’t want anyone to go through this. Please, I pray God that one day the laws change. Forgive me for the mistake of signing under my son’s name.
Ralph – you can choose any name you like! I am sorry for what you and your son are going through. One thing I would say is that ALL should be given a second chance. If a person has completed the adjudication of the courts then supposedly they have paid their debt to society – let it be so. Did you know that in the majority of countries (not just with sex crimes) when people pay their debt for their crime all is erased. It does not show up in background checks or anything. Of course LE can see it but no one else. That is how it should be….in the USA we identify people for the rest of their lives by the worst mistake they ever make.
Let me add to this statement just to make my position clear:
A level 3 who has completed their sentence is entitled to the same law as a level 2 or a level 1. The law (The U.S. Constitution) GURANTEES that a person will not have an EX POST FACTO law placed against them. Everyone has the right to get on with their lives once their sentence is completed.
FAC needs to keep that in mind as we are fighting back. It not “one size fits all”……it’s one law fits all.
Thank you Mike for adding your last comment.
One thing I’ve noticed on quite a few blogs that deal with the issues surrounding those among us who are required to register is the comments that tend to try and separate the “truly” deviant from those who “merely” had perhaps a non-contact offense. Please define deviant and show evidence that “truly” deviant registrants are more apt to reoffend than “nondeviant” registrants.
Quite a few studies show that recidivism rates are extremely low across the board for all types of sex offenses once the person is adjudicated. Some studies show that treatment helps, some don’t.
We have a huge struggle ahead of us and we do not need divisive labeling to start determining who should get relief from these overreaching laws and who shouldn’t. We should be a protected class, all of us, and not just those whose crimes might be more acceptable to the public in general. The statistical facts support this, let’s stick to the facts. Just my two cents worth.
This is actually a rather old argument:
Define “obscene.” Who makes the determination as to what constitutes obscenity based on their arbitrary definition and who enforces that definition?
Yes Mike and George – I agree 100%. I have found this even in RSO circles. A mentality of they are a REAL RSO but I am not.. kind of thing….ALL should be able to serve their debt to society and move on with their lives…
10 years ago a I read an article that at the current rate of sex laws are being lowed that can
get a person n the sex offender registry, that %75 of the people at the 1969 Wood Stock
rock concert would have been placed on the sex offender registry had current
sex offender laws been in place in 1969 .
Being most at the concert most were doing public urination nudity- streaking- skinny
dipping-mooing sex under a blanket., well this article has come to pass!
Today you can get on the sex offender registry for public urination nudity-streaking-skinny
dipping-mooing sex in public/teens having consensual sex-children playing mommy
-daddy-sexting-looking at the wrong kind of web site-or even opening an email with
kiddo porn on it sent by a MR.X
WHY SHOULD BE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE LOWERING OF SEX LAWS?
Understand that your naked body has now been declared a felony waiting to happen-
if YOUR NAKED BODY steps even one inch out of sex laws law your on the S.O.R!
I predict that one day a man could be charged with
possession of rapist tools- a women with intent to distribute child porno to minors!
Sex laws have been lower’d to the point where god could become a sex offender for
getting a teen girl,pregnant 2000 yrs ago-if he/she should up naked, even tho he /she said
I form you in my image
It is just business as usual in the “land of the free” which is a very outdated sound bite slogan. Clearly this is anything but the land of the free with more of the population locked in cages than another other country.
So sad to see liberties being stripped away every day as the country has turned into (not turning into but already is) a POLICE STATE!
Every male should automatically be placed on level 1 as every male will have done something in his lifetime that would qualify for it as these absurd laws are written!
America land of the free…what a worldwide joke that has become!
My situation with my daughter was resolved several years ago and we get along just fine now, however, there is no profit in resolving problems so the system/ bureaucrats create laws to drag them out as much as they can. They need thousands of eternal RSO’s to support the “Department of Collections”. Until the profit motive is removed it is going to be an up hill climb. Education of the public and positive examples set by RSO’s will eventually win out. We just have to stay dedicated and have faith in God and ourselves.
Capt,
I sure agree with you about the money,I was 74 when I was caught in a sting trying to help someone.I had to sell everything I owned to post a Bond,hire a lawyer I took a plea deal because the attorney told me that it’s a great deal. Then I got three years probation. I was sent to a court appointed psychologist he said you were sure set-up but it was to late to do anything i had took the plea deal. Then i had to pay court costs plus a fine out of my 903.00 per month. Now im on the sex register. I had never been in trouble before.I am a veteran. I wasn’t told I would be on this sex register for the rest of my life. I would give everything i have left to get off of the registry but i guess that’s a fantasy. I hope we can all band together and get something done.
Thou shalt be ashamed of thy natural self.
Just another example of the influence of the religious right imposing their beliefs through legislation, not to mention the registries are profitable in some manner. It also creates a great fear mongering political platform of ignorance. Just remember: It doesn’t have to make sense, it only has to make money and win elections.
Ben, I am an RSO and a member of the ‘religious right’. You may have your terms confused. My offense was a violation of my conscience and the Word of God in that I was not faithful to the responsibilities I had been afforded. As a member of the religious right, however, I know that we are all sinners and have come short of the Glory of God. I also know that God through His son Jesus understands this and gives us forgiveness if only we will confess our sins and turn from them. Even this affords us continuous forgiveness as will are weak at times even with the best of efforts to not sin. The Bible tells us we should forgive seven times seventy. Jesus told the woman at the well to go and sin no more. Many of the men of God in the Bible had failures but God was able to use them for His purposes. I confessed my sins not only to God but to my church family and have been welcomed as a valued member, even given positions of responsibility within the congregation. As RSO’s our problem rests with the ‘religious left’. It is they who believe that the Bible is a ‘living, breathing, evolving’ document and that only they are qualified to judge and condemn. They are convinced that if the ‘world’ was only like them it would be so much safer. Their major sin is believing that they are sinless just like Jesus and that forgiveness is their’s and only their’s to grant. I grew up in the church, moved away later in life, and am so grateful that I found my way back. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will be welcome in Heaven. The ‘sheep’ on His right will be welcome in Heaven; the ‘goats’ on His left will be cast into the pit of fire. Don’t give up on the ‘religious right’, they are your friends.
Perhaps you may wish to rethink your allies in this fight. The church is not your friend here.
I rethought my allies several years ago and God’s true church is my friend and your friend, too.
Ben, I am sorry to hear that you and your family were associated with a non-Christian church even though it may have had some sort of a Christian name. You can tell a person and a church by its ‘fruits’ and the fruits of your church were down right rotten and a disgrace to the name. Your experience with the church is why so many are looking to move away from a denominational church and move to a church that is Bible based. However, you must know what the Bible tells us if you are to be able to make that distinction. Many today are being lead on the path to hell by those who give their own interpretation of the Bible and in doing so sooth their own conscience while guiding themselves and others on the road to hell. Give God a chance. If I am wrong about God then no big deal! If you are wrong about God it means eternity in hell. You will be in my prayers.
Beautifully stated. My relationship with God is how I deal with these issues we face on a daily basis. My conviction brought me to God, and it is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Like you, my church knows of my past and welcomed me with open arms. They see who I am today, and that is so nice because it’s the only place that looks beyond the crime to see the individual. God Bless!
My RSO status opened my eyes to the cruelty in the world and made me who I am today: An atheist.
Ben, that may work for you here on earth, but how will that work for eternity?
I don’t believe in any of that.
When my mother had a stroke and could not give money to the church we were all attending, my family and I were ignored, forgotten, left for dead. We got no help from them then and we get no help from them now.
God and Jesus have nothing to do with how RSO’s are treated. It’s the modern day Christians that are at fault. Must be nice to have a church that will welcome you with open arms. Our community gives a crap about me or my family…and my wife and child did nothing wrong. Good going Christians….
In Florida, business is booming!
Rick Scott sucks…We must drain the swamp…we MUST get rid of these crooked politicians in Florida NOW!!!
But how do we do it?? It’s never going to end. The corruption is waaaayyyy too entrenched. From the feds, all the way down. How do me and the millions of other guys trapped in Florida’s scam sting operations get our relief?? Who has the solutions??? We can sit here and complain about it for a million years. Talk is cheap, but how do we act?
I know this can’t apply to everyone, but get an education in engineering, drafting and design, machining, etc., or start a business. I had a business for 15 years and now I’m wrapping up 2 degrees. Do it while on probation.
At every opportunity I write the editor at the Orlando Sentinel when I see an article or opinion page letter that is full of false information and paranoid media hype. Facts are what the media folks need. Sometimes my letters even get printed. But whether they are printed or not, what matters is that the editor is provided a different perspective…a ‘seed is planted’. I also write my state legislators and county commissioners as opportunities present themselves. Once again, a ‘seed is planted’. We must make every opportunity to live an unblemished lifestyle and set an example that society has been tainted to not accept or acknowledge…surprise the ‘hell’ out of society. RSO’s live under a microscope and we must be prepared to present a totally unexpected image. Get involved to the extent possible with your neighborhood, your community, your church, and civic activities. RSO’s must have the fortitude to not live in the shadows but be willing to establish an exemplary reputation. And first of all we must be willing to ask God for strength and be willing to forgive ourselves. It may not work for everybody but it surely worked for me.
We cannot be silent anymore. We have voices. We need to rise up. We need to speak up. We need to find like minds.
I agree we need to stand up and find those who have been caught up in similar situations. Exposing the truth of what goes on will hopefully get the public aware of what is really going on.
I/we would love to “,Speak Up”, But the Government has designed a system that will “Crush” Anyone that stands up against them !!. We’re barely free (not behind prison/Jail Bars), With one foot inside the cell, And the other foot on a Banana Peel !! And I/We are to scared to “Make Waves” because we will SURELY end up behind bars !!. Some/Most of us can’t afford (financially, Medically, Physically, and so on) to be locked up !!. So here we are. Wanting to do something, But just crying on this forum about it !!!. I’d be the first to join a movement if a guarantee was in place that I wouldn’t be locked up or retaliated against by Law Enforcement !!.
We should be declared a minority with all the perks thereof.
That’s disturbing. There’s no way there can be that many people in this country who have done REAL harmful things to REAL minors. No way.
The state of Florida is in the business of creating sex offenders by their creation of a crime. They go into adult websites and lure unsuspecting men into a bait and switch. They pad their statistics so they can recieve funding. The public needs to know the truth and the deception exposed.
Vicki, I am a victim of that scam. I was a highly successful teacher and coach and was humiliated and have literally lost EVERYTHING! I am a shell of a man and a human being now because of it and I have to work 3 PT jobs now just to survive! I am constantly depressed and am always having to be full of anxiety and fear each time I go to “therapy” and the probation office and to register. Each one of those is nothing more than a trap to try and get us back into prison. It is such a hopeless situation and I just wish there was a way to expose this scam sting operation nonsense and turn the tables on the state. But how do we do this??? How do I and the thousands of other guys like me get our vindication?? We already took our pleas to avoid trial and 20 years of prison, so what do we do?? What is the solution to all of this?? Someone please give me some hope…..please!
I am looking for that same hope. My son had undiagnosed mental health issues and we were in the process of having them diagnosed when he was sentenced. It was beginning to explain a lot of the how and why and unfortunately he will now have the label and stigma attached to gis ptsd, social anxiety, depression, bipolar, adhd and other learning disabilities for the rest of his life. He was sexually abused as a young adult, bullied his whole life and played by people pretending to be someone they weren’t. This final incident was the straw that broke the camels back and he had enough. None of this was able to be presented to the court and he is now suffering for it. He had never been in trouble with the law before this and deserves a chance to live his life as well as others like yourself without this hanging over your head. I know this affects families and my husband and I both work for a school system and coach so I am worried about the backlash this will have as well as continuing to have our daughter and granddaughter live with us. Maybe what we need to do is get rid of the one size fits all and move for change by banding together. Keep in touch
So where’s the recidivism rate in this study???
How many of these people (who went through counseling) committed another sex crime. We already know that the current laws label anyone a sex offender from mooning to touching a child’s pee pee.
But what is important for public safety is to know how many of these people repeated their actions. No one looks at the truth. They just want to see the padded numbers.
Damn, I am so tired of fighting the state and feds just because the general public is being fed a bunch of hyped up “nothing”.
The government seems to ignore or not allow admittance of their own Justice Department Statistics regarding recidivism rates among rso’s. The actual rate is about 5.3%, which is lower than for any other crime.