Supported by lawmakers, opposed by reformers, youth sex offender registries have a long history
In Wisconsin, two 15-year-olds whose foster parent caught them having consensual sex were charged with felony sexual assault and put on the sex offender registry for at least 15 years.
In Arizona, it’s possible for a minor who streaks nude at a football game to be charged with a sex offense and put on a registry. In Massachusetts, teens caught sending a nude photo of themselves could end up on a registry.
Existing in every state, registries list children as young as elementary school age; a small fraction of their crimes were rape or resulted in other types of severe sexual harm.
Originally, registries were conceived as a way to inform communities about convicted sexual predators living in their neighborhoods. But researchers, conducting several different studies over the years, have largely determined that putting minors on registries does not enhance community safety and reflects a miscarriage of justice that runs afoul of the juvenile justice system’s promise to help rehabilitate youth.
“The research is very consistent on this. There are no research studies that show [the sexual offender registry] is actually effective in the way it is applied,” said University of Wisconsin psychologist and researcher Michael Caldwell, a senior staff psychologist at the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center and past president of the Wisconsin Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers.
“All of the observational studies show the same thing,” added Caldwell, a forensic evaluator in youth courts and author of dozens of peer-reviewed papers. The registries “tend to categorize lower-risk people, don’t have any effect on recidivism for anyone on the registry. And it certainly causes them problems. And there’s no evidence it has any effect on the general population in terms of sexual violence.”
“For youth,” continued Caldwell, whose papers weren’t included in the Library of Congress assessment, the outcomes “are even worse.”
These young boys will be tarnished for life. Even if they get the records sealed (Which is doubtful) the mental damage of being ousted last for a lifetime. There are things that I did last week I do not remember, but I can tell you the name of the bully that use to beat me up some 50 years ago. There are some things you will take to your grave, being on the registry should not be one of them.
So why aren’t youth who get in fights placed on Violent Assault Registries?
This is the weirdest country in the world! 😲😳
Why is sex so much worse than violence in the United States??? 🤯
Why does sex so titillate – yet so terrify – politicians and the general public that laws must be made to rein it in from every direction??🤯
I have a problem with the claim that the registry is ineffective “in the way that it is applied.” Exactly how should it be “applied” to be “effective”?
The very 1st paragraph is troubling to me, as is the entire story. I grew up in a very different time, the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Those were the days of free love and yes, it was everything that you younger people ever heard about the time. To my own story. My girlfriend, at the time (she is now about to become my wife. after many years apart.) and I were both 14 (barely) the 1st time we had sex. At the time, it was no big deal and even our parents had suspicions, though nothing was ever said. Don’t get me wrong, looking back, I don’t condone young teens having sex. In my experience, it is what brought us back together all these years later. Fast forward 50 years and to see that 2 teens are now saddled with the registry for the rest of their lives. Not to mention, that in all likelihood our parents would be on the registry also. What a stupid society we are.
I forgot to add, this was not a sex crime. This is a simple fact of growing up and teens have been having sex with each other for hundreds if not thousands of years.
FAC,, I figured you folks might know of someone that knows the specific Judges names and court addresses that these judges sit that deal with the sex offender cases day in and day out, You seem not to know much about anything. Maybe one of your lawyers that you pay all this money to might have a list of the appropriate Judges. Here is the list that you came up with, https://www.firstjudicialcircuit.org/search/node/criminal%20judge
I suggest you take a min. and contact one of your high priced lawyers to see if they know of a list. The link you gave me says nothing about the info that i seek,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Riff, Which lawyers that we pay all this money to?!?! Can you name one “high priced lawyers” that you suggest are ours?
FAC pays ZERO, NOTHING, NADA, towards legal fees. FAC has paid for costs of expert witnesses, depositions, filing fees, transcripts in our cases, but we don’t pay “all this money” or ANY money to lawyers.
I suggest you take a min. and think before commenting on our forum and realize we don’t work for you and if you are seeking information you should find it yourself.
There are no ‘judges sit that deal with the sex offender cases day in and day out.’ Most judges deal with most kinds of cases, most of which are not sex cases.
There is no secret list of sex courts.
I forgot to add, I hope the foster parent is very proud of themselves. Even if they did not approve of the behavior, being a foster parent means parenting. Put them on restrictions, separate them for a while, etc etc. Refuse to give them any figgy pudding.
The point is, having kids, regardless of being biological or not, you are responsible for taking care of them, not sending them off to a lifetime of doom, gloom and misery.
I question the abilities of these foster parents, too. This nanny state (US not just FL or WI) has told people that they can’t use their own judgment so what should’ve been an awkward family talk at most turned into another legal and SOR nightmare.
According to my research, more than 19 million people in the U.S have a felony conviction on their record. Less than a million are on the sex offender registry. There has been rumors of a “Felony” registry for years but I believe that was tabled for one reason.
Could you imagine 19 million people joining together in a nationwide protest? For some it would be more intense than just a protest. With 19 million people having felonies, probably every family either has a member who has had a felony or has a close connection to someone who does. This would include extended family, someone they know at work, church etc.
We all agree that it is far from fair that others with felonies that are not registerable, can go on with their lives and get jobs, housing, assistance, and be left alone in their own homes without fear and harassment. Not saying they should be on a registry, just saying ALL of us should have a path to freedom, and that path for me was decades ago but go taken away by the registry, which seems to be a lifetime of so called “Non” punishment, punishment.