A Scout for Teen Athletes Tries to Shed a Sex Offender Stigma
Are there some breaches of trust one can never come back from? Or is there a point when the stigma associated with a crime does more harm than good?
These questions have renewed attention as our society scrutinizes its relationship with the criminal justice system. For the Phoenix high school basketball community, they are concrete ones.
Justin Vargas, 36, is a fixture in the world of Phoenix high school boys basketball. As a scout, he connects teen athletes with college coaches, writes profiles on their backgrounds, and reports from the sidelines of games. He’s one of two members of the “The Show Basketball” company, under which label he organizes tournaments where up-and-coming players can show off their skills. Local high school teams and private clubs, including one run by Phoenix police, are regular participants.
I will be sending my thanks to this journalist for the even handiness of his article. Stories like this are the ones that change perceptions of who is on the registry!
This guy has a criminal past as long as your arm. There considering overlooking his past because he has changed. That’s ok , and good that it should be considered. What about the hundreds of thousands that were falsely convicted and those that were illegally entrapped. Where is the second chance for them? The registry is an insult to humanity and a smudge on the reputation of this country. Get rid of it for the sake of justice.
I have to give Arizona credit for allowing him a chance to prove himself and earn a living. However, I’d also point out that the article said he served 6 years in prison, even though he had numerous felonies. In Michigan, those same felonies would likely have kept him in prison for decades. Michigan also wouldn’t allow him to work for a school system. States like Michigan, Florida, and Illinois for example really need to change their Justice system to stop punishing so much and concentrate instead on real rehabilitation.
Gerald:
As a general rule they actually don’t get long sentences in Michigan. They passed the habitual offender laws but they are really no longer used. A couple of years ago I filed a police report because a crackhead with a long criminal history stole $1,000 from me. This is a 5 year max and life with the habitual. Here we are 2 years later and I still can’t get him charged in court because it is a “low priority” offense.
Look up Hal Nemechek’s case in Ludington. He sodomized a 10 year-old boy, was charged with CSC I (a life offense), pled to CSC II and served just over a year in prison. He is an old neighbor of mine and his aunt and I supported him in prison. He has since died.
Look up Jeff English. He sexually assaulted his girlfriend’s 8 year-old daughter and her 8 year-old girl friend and received 6 months probation. Shortly after getting off probation he hooked up with another girl with an eight year-old daughter and was arrested for sexually assaulting the 8 year-old and her 8 year-old friend. He pled in that case and was eligible for parole in less than 18 months.
Go to the courthouse in Detroit and see how many people get less than 5 years for murder or armed robbery.
Go to the Wayne County jail at midnight when they kick out all of the pretrial detainees because they have low level offenses, such as burglary (some facing life with the habitual), because they lack beds for them.
In Michigan, they can only book and release misdemeanents. They cannot hold people with misdemeanors on cash bond unless they abscond or fail to appear.
Go to MIPSOR and you will see that most registrants whose victim was “under 13” served less than 10 years and many received probation.
Over 95% of the people who are convicted are convicted by plea and receive a sentence less than if they went to trial. I know that some people do serve over 10 years or life, but they most likely make up less than 5% of all charged with these crimes.
If this guys case originated in Oakland or Livingston counties, he might have gotten something close to 6 years. If it were in Wayne County, he probably would have never seen the inside of a prison.
Actually, I think his name was Jeff Irish. I didn’t know him well so have difficulty remembering his name. Irish or English, he’s not on MIPSOR so most likely died because with repeated sex offenses against children under 13, he most likely is ineligible for removal.
He sexually assaulted his girlfriend’s 8 year-old daughter and her 8 year-old friend, pled guilty and received 6 months probation. He hooked up with another woman with another 8 year-old daughter and the exact same thing, the 8 year-old daughter and her 8 year-old friend. He pled and was eligible for parole in less than 18 months. You can read his cases in the newspapers (Michigan OTIS automatically removes offenders 3 years after completing probation or parole) .
I believe his offenses would have been life offenses in Florida and my research has shown that there is a large number of offenders in Florida doing LWOP for sex offenses against children. I feel safe to say that this number is in the thousands.
You are correct that he can’t work on or within 1,000 feet of a school in Michigan pursuant to Michigan SORA (this was found unconstitutional in a separate federal court decision). He can work for a school system but technically not within 1,000 feet of a school. The federal court found this unconstitutional, so I don’t know if it’s being enforced on not. My guess is, they can’t enforce it because it was found unconstitutional.
Anyway, it is highly unlikely he would have served “decades” in prison if his crimes occurred in Michigan.
There are no restrictions against registrants living or working near parks, daycares, etc. in Michigan. Michigan only has a 1,000 foot rule in relation to schools and this was found unconstitutional. The cite for this is Does v Snyder (not to be confused with the other Doe and Does cases), 101 F Supp 672 (ED Mich, 2015). Michigan can enforce the 1,000 foot rule as a probation or parole condition but I don’t believe they can enforce it against persons not on probation or parole. When I say enforcing it, I don’t mean trying to enforce it, they probably are, but if challenged in court, I believe they would be forced to back down. I actual own 2 rental houses within 1,000 feet of 2 different schools and most definitely would challenge this if I placed a registrant in one of these houses who is not on probation or parole.
I’m glad Arizona is giving this guy a break but Arizona overall is a bad place for sex offenders. Arizona is one of the states that civilly commit sex offenders on flimsy “evidence”.
Hello Detroit.
I’ve been seeing a lot of your postings. Maybe make your name more unique than “Detroit” in case another comes around, LOL?
Anyway, I certainly appreciate your level of activity and your information. But could you perhaps not use the phrase/weapon “sex offender”? That is what the criminal regimes want to brand their harassment targets. How about use “People Forced to Register”?
BTW, I’ve ensured that, with respect to me, the Registries are useless. I’ve also delivered a lot of non-stop retaliation just because they exist. I’m not stopping. I will continue to strive to actively and legally harm all who think Registries are acceptable. They aren’t Americans. They aren’t my fellow citizens. Has to be done. It’s war.
Will Allen:
Locally I am known as The Motown Love God, The Motor City Action Machine or The Power Behind the Pistons, but I don’t like to brag.
It’s great to see positive stories about people on the registry. Like myself, this man is taking full responsibility for his actions and proving himself to others. Unfortunately, proving yourself never ends. Every time someone new comes along, you’re proving yourself once again. It seems to never end.
But anyway, I want to congratulate this man for not being afraid of his past. We all mess up. So yes, it is possible to shed the sex offender label!