The Tragedy of Lifetime Registry for Youthful Sex Offenders
Weekly Update 2017-12-28
Dear Members and Advocates,
It’s a strange thing… If you pay someone for sex, it’s considered prostitution and that’s a crime. But, if you pay someone for sex AND videotape it – that’s pornography, which is legal and protected by the first amendment of the constitution!
There’s a similar paradox when it comes to consensual sexting among teens. Two consenting 17-year-olds exchange racy selfies and they face arrest for child pornography and a spot on the sex offender registry. Never mind that it’s legal for them to have sex. Never mind that the age of consent in their state may be 16 or 17. Never mind that the perpetrator is also the victim in this situation…
Let’s preface this weekly update by saying we are not talking about non-consensual sexual activity here, clearly sexual assault or anything involving violence is NOT what we have in mind for purposes of this dialogue.
As we end this year and look back on trends, we must recognize that times are changing. Online retailer Amazon.com, which has a market cap of $314 billion, has blown away most other big box retailers, while icons Kmart and Sears are nearly out of business. Twitter and Facebook have replaced newspapers as the most prevalent news outlets. Uber is replacing taxi companies. And so on.
While people still buy stuff and teens still explore their sexuality, the ways in which this happens has changed over the past several years. Unfortunately, the new medium creates a digital trail of evidence that makes it really easy for the prosecution of kids who are doing what all other kids are doing. Imagine what this country would be like if everyone who tried pot in college had a felony drug conviction on their record?
In Grove City, PA, this week, Police cited two students from the Grove City School District for exchanging sexually explicit pictures of themselves. In Pennsylvania, it is illegal for minors to view, possess, or share sexually explicit images of themselves. Also, this week, a 14-year-old girl in Colorado, was charged with the dissemination of child pornography for sexting her boyfriend. Ironically, she was quoted as saying, “Sexting is common among teens at my school, and we shouldn’t face charges for doing it. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’m going through.” In Iowa, over the last two weeks the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office has conducted three separate investigations involving students from North Fayette Valley High School, North Fayette Middle School and Starmont High School. The focus of the investigation was sexting between students.
The purported intent of these laws is to stop predators and to protect victims. But the 14-year-old who sexted her boyfriend is not a predator and by virtue of the pictures being of her, she’s the victim, so how does prosecuting her “protect” her?
The problem with this situation is that the laws are inflexible, the sentences are harsh and don’t allow for mitigating circumstances, mandatory reporting requirements remove all discretion from parents and school administrators and place parenting into the hands of prosecutors, and sex offender registration requirements treat all “registrants” homogenously. It’s a problem that’s spread across the board when it comes to “sex offenses” – in a rush to pass harsher and more politically popular laws, the net was cast way too wide and we’re catching kids or first-time, non-contact offenders along with the serial rapists and treating them all the same.
There is a trend of politicians re-thinking the laws. In Colorado there are a couple of bills that will hopefully get traction (even though they didn’t last year) and more are considering lesser penalties when it comes to minors, including; warnings, fines, probation and detention. So far 20 (including Florida) out of 50 states distinguish sexts among consenting minors from adults seeking to exploit children. Hopefully the trend will extend into other areas of the sex offender registry. This past year, California (which is one of only a handful of states – including Florida – who have lifetime registration) passed a tiered registry bill. While not perfect, it’s a step in the right direction and will afford some the opportunity to be removed from the registry. It’s time for Florida to follow suit.
Please look out for a letter containing our 2017 wrap-up and goals for 2018. In the meantime, have a safe and happy new year’s!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
Reminder: First Member Call of 2018 will be on Thursday Jan 4th at 8:00 PM. Topic: Looking back on 2017 and how you can help us reach our goals for 2018.
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