Shawna: A Life on the Sex Offender Registry
The following was posted on the Marshall Project and written by David Feige:
met Shawna a year into filming “Untouchable,” a documentary that examines sex offender laws through the lives of individuals on the sex offender registry. It was at an Oklahoma treatment center where she was participating in a mandatory group therapy session. She was there because fifteen years earlier, Shawna was deemed to be a sexual predator after pleading guilty to having consensual sex with a 14-year-old boy when she was 19.
Listening to Shawna’s story, it became immediately clear that she was far from the kind of person we imagine when we think about sexual predators. She wasn’t some serial rapist or violent pedophile, but rather a young woman who happened to hook up with the wrong guy on her birthday. And as we continued to work on the film, we consistently found others consigned to the margins of society and slapped with a “sex offender” label that didn’t quite seem to fit.
In a desolate parking lot a few months later, I met Adrian. And while his story ultimately didn’t become part of the film, it stuck with me. Adrian was a junior at North Dakota State majoring in business management, when he travelled to Miami for spring break. There, he met a girl at an 18-and-over club. They flirted and danced, then walked to the beach where they had sex. They spent about five days together, hanging out on and off and occasionally hooking up.
Adrian returned to college after the trip and all seemed well, until seven months later when he got a call from a detective with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As it turns out, the girl had used a fake ID to get into the club. She was actually 15 years old at the time. Her mom filed a complaint when she found out what had happened.
Asked to return to Miami to answer some questions, Adrian took a bus back to Florida. He explained to the detective that everything was consensual, and that he’d assumed the girl must have been 18 or older since she was in the club. Officers recorded his statement, thanked him for his co-operation, handcuffed him and placed him under arrest. Unable to post the $40,000 bond set by a judge, Adrian remained in jail for nearly eight months. It was the first and only time he’d ever been arrested.
In Florida, as in most other states, the fact that the girl was a willing participant was not a defense. Having admitted to the affair and facing some twenty years in prison, Adrian had no choice but to plead guilty to four counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a person under 16. That guilty plea guaranteed he’d spend the rest of his life listed on Florida’s sex offender registry.
Study after study has shown that our sex offender registries are utterly ineffective at reducing sexual violence, and that public notification about sex offenders may actually increase recidivism by making reintegration into society nearly impossible. But what Adrian and Shawna’s stories highlight is a more general problem with our approach to sex offenders: In our zeal to protect children and get tough on crime, we have allowed our criminal justice system to run amok — expanding categories and exacting punishments that upon closer inspection few of us would really condone.
Five years after his guilty plea, Adrian had been rejected from more jobs than he could count. Unable to find housing that complied with a Miami ordinance that prevents registrants from living within 2,500 feet of any public or private school, daycare center or playground, Adrian was was forced into homelessness. He slept in a car parked in a lot — one of the few places sex offenders are actually allowed to reside. His college career was over, as was any hope he ever harbored of having a productive life. Then, two years ago, almost a decade after his conviction, Adrian failed to properly register his whereabouts with the police. As a result, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
There are more than 800,000 Americans who are now required to register as sex offenders. And contrary to popular belief, violent serial pedophiles do not fill the ranks of the registered. Rather, a wide swath of sexual thoughts and actions can lead to the lifetime of stigmatization that being on the sex offender registry entails.
In the recent moral panic over kids sending around naked pictures, 20 states passed anti-sexting laws. Thirty states require registration for consensual sex between teenagers, half a dozen require registration for offenses related to prostitution, and a dozen more for urinating in public. Looking at illicit pictures regularly lands people on the registry, and perhaps most curiously, the Supreme Court has held that just drawing pictures of children engaged in sexual acts can be grounds for criminal prosecution.
While it is entirely reasonable that we try to guard against predatory sexual behavior, it is unreasonable to allow the sex offender registry — originally designed as a private investigative tool for law enforcement — to spiral out of control as it has.
Rather than narrowly target a very few dangerous offenders and allow them to be monitored by law enforcement, we have morphed our registry into a massive instrument of public censure and marginalization, while utterly failing to advance the purpose for which it was created. The social science is unequivocal: the registry doesn’t make us safer, or reduce sexual violence. What it does is ruin hundreds of thousands of lives — the lives of people like Adrian and Shawna — in a vain attempt to put a human face on our fears.
David Feige is a former public defender, the co-creator of the TNT series “Raising the Bar” and the author of “Indefensible.” “Untouchable,” his documentary feature about sex offender laws, won the Best New Documentary Director prize at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
I really like this guy! I have not seen the film (it was not availalbe on my system at the time).
Can anyone tell me(us) when this Documentary is supposed to air ??. And what channel it will be on ??? I can’t wait to see it !!.
I would like to see this documentary as well. Hopefully a major TV network can pick it up and air it. The director or the producers should pitch the idea to networks like HBO, time warner or even huge award winning networks like Netflix and Hulu that have 100 million + subscribers.
Finally someone got it correctly on paper… bravo.
I like him too. Would like to see the film(s)/documentary(ies). If only people would realize what he’s saying is true, instead of knee-jerking everything….
So sad. I mean, it just makes you feel hopeless. Like what hope do I have for a “normal” life anymore??
I served in the military and worked physical security. It amazes me that trained government professionals and (supposedly) trained workers at bars, etc. are unable to distinguish between a real and fake identification card. Look how much money states, like Florida, are spending to prevent fake cards. If trained government officials (and business security personnel) can not distinguish between real and fake I.D.s, how can they hold individuals to a higher standard? That makes it a double standard, with the lesser responsibilities placed on the government, who actually is more responsible.
As a side note, the organization (bar or whatever) has a responsibility to screen entrants. It is a reasonable assumption that anyone admitted would be, in this case, 18 or over. Since the owners failed to provide the proper safety and security of the patrons, I would think they would be liable – to criminal and/or civil lawsuits.
It’s easy for government to make rules and make individuals accountable, but at a level beyond what the government is capable of.
You are so right on point.
Sir, I was a Reserve Deputy years before my charge !! I’ve seen HUNDREDS of IDs as well as MANY “Fake IDs !!. And I can say with certainty, That many “Fake IDs” are pretty hard to catch at the door of a Club at night with 100+ people pushing to get in !!. I caught my charge because of a Fake ID !! Buy it wasn’t me that actually saw the ID !! The Doorman and the Bartender saw it and was serving the Girl Alcohol at the time I met her !!. And , Yes. I sued the Club !! And the State closed it down because there were several (11) men that also was charged because of “Fake IDs” being allowed in this club. But the owner simply changed names on the lease, And reopened a couple weeks later !!. Now, Ad far as “Catching” a Fake ID !!. With all these “High End” computers and open access to almost anything if you have enough money !! Obtaining software and a printer to make IDs is pretty easy(even back in 2003 ¡!). And with 50 US States, And thousands of foreign IDs, It’s IMPOSSIBLE to catch even a 10th of the fake ones !!. I’ve seen MANY Fake IDs fool MANY Cops !!!. So, Your accusation of “Someone Not Knowing” that the ID is Fake, Is just WRONG !!!. And just a little Inside info, My cousin used to steal REAL IDs, And simply change the Photo on them. This made it IMPOSSIBLE to catch because the ID was REAL !!. Now this was 25+ years ago before laser printers !!. But it was done very easily. And a 15 year old girl turns into a 20 year old pretty fast with makeup and clothing !!. Most 15 to 17 year olds today look 18 to 22 anyway without any help !!!. Even my Judge and Or ADMITTED that my “Victim” looked 25+ !!!!!!!!. And you would too !!!. Over the last 14 years, I’ve asked HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE (Male and Female, Young and Old) How old they thought she was (in a picture of the year I was charged !!(2003). And EVERY SINGLE PERSON SAID 18+ !!!!!!!!. . I even hired a Private Detective to follow her during the Court Case, And she was buying ALCOHOL AND CIGS WITHOUT EVEN SHOWING ID !!!. But NONE OF THIS helped me in Florida !!!. It doesn’t matter if the person LIED or Even had a FAKE ID !! . Florida will HANG YOU no matter what !!!!!!!.
(Sorry if you get this twice, but the computer says it had a hiccup. Actually, the first version was more cohesive).
The government is trying to make untrained individuals responsible for a job that the government can not seem to do itself. Few government “experts” can spot a fake I.D., even given a lot of time.
What is needed is to SET A LEGAL PRECEDENCE AGAINST THE STATE which disallows the government (police/prosecutors) to hold individuals to a higher standard of performance (more accountable) than the government itself (and business owners) can achieve.
How long did it take that detective to determine that the I.D. was fake? So, with all their training, how is it we are supposed to do better? They can tell me I have to fly like Superman, but I’ll crash and burn if I jump off a cliff.
Two additional thoughts –
1. If the club is operating under the same procedures, which have proved inadequate before, then they are willfully endangering the clientele – or prospective clientele. Go after them again. Make them get it right.
2. If the girl’s mom knows about the behavior of her daughter, then there must be room to file suit against the mother for willful negligence (especially considering the daughter’s subsequent behaviors) – and the daughter (through the parents, if necessary) for endangering your freedom.
Finding out after the event and punishing the guy – and not the daughter – is tantamount to saying that everyone is responsible for controlling the daughter’s behavior, except the mother/family. But, it’s easy to say the daughter is the innocent “victim”, even though she is the one that perpetrated the action.
John, you have what seems to me, at least an avenue of advice to the man who was ” tricked” into believing that woman/ girl was of consenting age. There must be a way to protect others who may one day be in his shoes. I wish him good luck with using your insight to at least bring attention to this issue to the Law makers themselves…maby it could happen to a member of their family…then, perhaps we will get this issue squarely before the Court’s and Judges…good luck!
Trust me. I spent 2 1/2 year’s and $160.000 fighting my charge. We tried EVERY angle !!. But FLORIDA kept referring back to the “Statue Law” !!. You can’t use the lack of knowing their age, Or the fact that they lied. As a defense !!!. FLORIDA doesn’t care, All they want is your money !!!. I wasn’t even required to Register !! My Probation Officer is who Registered me !!!. I was Adjucation Witheld and was supposed to be FREE AND CLEAR after I did 4 years Probation !!. But while on Probation, All these crazy new laws went into effect. So, Here I am on the Registery forever as long as stay in Florida !!. I want to move out west(Utah or Idaho), But can’t afford the $10K it will cost me to move myself and most of my stuff and make a Down payment on some cheap land to put my RV on. I could get off the Registery in 10 years or even less in Utah. Wish there was a way. But between my poor health and unable to work, I’m stuck here forever !!
Can you please contact me Shaina