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A friend of mine is a 'sex offender'. He must register every time he moves, has been harassed, had his dog poisoned, etc... His crime? He was 18 and slept with his 17 year old girlfriend.
There was a news article concerned another man who may be about to go to jail and have a sex offender label slapped on him. His crime? He walked to his kitchen without pants to make coffee at 5:30 AM, and his neighbor who was cutting through his yard with her young daughter saw him through the window.
Another friend of mine has his life ruined because during a very messy divorce his ex-wife convinced their child to tell people he had touched her inappropriately.
Best to get facts straight before judging.
Sorry GD, I was referring to Class 2 or Class 3 offenders. I didn't make myself clear there. I do agree, my buddy did go behind a dumpster in an alley to urinate, and he's now a class 1 or something stupid. I am talking about pedophiles and rapists basically. the chances of them returning as a "normal" productive citizen is way less than 10%.
PS in Michigan age of consent is 16 ...... so as long as she's 16.......... its not statutory rape. I don't agree with it, but 17 is basically an adult in Michigan.
I think a lot of states have gone to a set of rules that have a lower age of consent if both parties are within a certain number of years of each other, to avoid the issue of a 17 year old and an 18 year old who are three months apart in age being accused of a crime. That seems reasonable to me.
Heck, I started college when I was seventeen. My girlfriend of a semester or so was twenty. In some states, that would have made her a felon, and that's just ridiculous. I was already old enough to have joined the military with my parent's sign-off, had I chosen to. About six months later I turned 18 and was working for our county sheriff's office. Was I a "child" at seventeen and a half?
On an unrelated tangent, I think there needs to be a legal definition of "adolesent" in this country. The notion that one is legally either a child or an adult raises a lot of issues ... like 14 year olds perpetrating serious violent crimes, and unless they are waived into adult court, they're a "child." At some point well shy of 18, one should be expected to have a basic grasp of right and wrong and be treated accordingly.
I do agree with Boyd ... actual sexual predators are extremely likely to re-offend. I don't trust random studies; the way these offenses are categorized, it is easy for a researcher to make a case that recidivism is high, or that rehabilitation works, depending on what result they want to prove.
I hope they find him!!
