There seems to be alot of confusion going on here. Before Jessica, 3 streets over from here, very few people knew anything about the sex offender registry. Since Jessica, even fewer people understand the difference between a sex offender and a sexual predator. Unfortunately, people convicted of otherwise innocent crimes are being lumped together with vile predators in this state. Why would I say innocent crimes? The laws in Florida are actually stacked against otherwise law abiding citizens. Can anyone tell me the age of consent in Florida? I will bet an overwhelming majority of you have said 18. You are mostly incorrect. The legal age of consent in Florida is 16. Ah, but with stipulations. They have placed an arbitrary age in which it is illegal to have sex with a 16/17 year old. At what age would you think it would give an un fair advantage to someone wanting to have sex with a 16 or 17 year old person? Would it be 18 when they graduate high school and legally become a self sufficient adult? No. Would it be 21 when they acquire the legal right to purchase and consume alcohol? No. The arbitrary age that makes the least amount of sense is 24. My brother, while inebriated was taken advantage of by a 16 year old, yes it happens. The absolute tragedy is that I was with him when he accepted a plea deal to avoid the possible 25 year sentence. The sexual contact happened, he could not deny it. While the stunningly inept public defender stated the terms of the plea, no mention was made of the registry. Being a little smarter than a piss poor lawyer, I asked about the registry. We were told it would be a decision made after he served his five year sentence. Apparently knowing about something and knowing how that something works is two very different things. He has been out of prison for 4 years and unemployed for three of them. At a time when we are accepting someone who bombed the Pentagon and NYC Police Headquarters as a mainstream TEACHER, why is it so hard to accept that the overwhelming majority of sex offenders are as likely to repeat their crimes as they are of going to the moon.