WOW, I am always amazed when I read these types of forums. First let?s address the issue of SO vs. SP, the truth is that here in Florida, as I expect as in other states, there is no difference. I have a sexual predator that we monitor that was convicted of have sex with two 15 year old females. Then, I have a SO who was convicted of L/L on a child under 16. Problem is that the SO confessed to me that he had molested over 60 children. Now, who is the bad guy?

As for a crime here in Florida not having a sexual component, I will tell you that is bull. For a person to be listed on the website, he/she must be convicted of a crime which is enumerated in statute. Every statute is sexual in nature. In fact, if a person is convicted of ?False Imprisonment? and there is no sexual component, they would not be required to register. As for the individuals who are convicted of crimes that they did not commit, think about what you just said! I can tell you, I don?t care what someone said about me, I would never plea out to something I didn?t do, unless I?m trying to hide something else. As for the individuals who just took a pee at 2am in an alley, what are you pissing in the alley for anyway? And why would you plea out to a lewd act for an exposure charge and exposure in the presence of an adult is not a registering offense. So, there must have been a child out at 2am.

Now, what I see here is that we have forgotten why there is a registry and community notification (web page). The truth is offenders register, just like any convicted felon, so that law enforcement can have the information that might assist them in a case that may be related to an offender. As for has the web save a child? I can give you numerous cases where the web has been used to identify SO?s and SP?s who were trying to victimize a child. Let?s stop bashing the registry and web page, IT WORKS.

I don't know what state you live in, but here in Florida we don't register or post juveniles... YET. Because of the Adam Walsh act, any juvenile age 14 or old who is convicted of a violent sex crime will be required to register. In every state...

I think that we all need to remember the reason that there is a registry. A small framed 5 year with dark hair, was abducted by a sex offender who lived across the street. That beautiful 5 year old child was sexually molested, killed and dumped like a sack of garbage in a park. The mother of this child, imaginably distraught said “had I known that this individual lived next door, I would have taken more precautions” As for those individuals who make the statements “He/she did their time in prison, they should be allowed to move on with their life” or “He/she made a mistake, paid the debt to society and should be allowed to live their life” BullÂ
If most of you knew what you were talking about this thread would be half this size. I work with sex offenders every day. If you think that an offender who molests a child can just turn it off, you’re crazy. If you think that looking at a registry, you can tell which offender will victimize a child again, you’re crazy. Are there a number... hundreds... of offenders on the site who probably should not be, the answer is yes. But who is going to make that decision. The cost to put together a board to analyze these offenders prior to being placed on the registry would be extreme. We just arrested a sex offender who was stalking an elderly female. His crime was that he molested his two daughters (7 and 9) years old. The female was over 55 years of age. If I could share the evidence that was recovered in this offenders residence it would make every one of you sick. Now this individuals crimes were committed over 10 years ago. He has no other convictions since that time. Per most of you he should not be required to register or be placed on the web. What a shame that would have been since it was obvious that this individual would have raped or killed this elderly female. How was he caught, because he was required to registerÂ
Trust me I have numerous cases just like this which support having a registry. As far as the class action suit, I would not put my money on that horse. The registry has been attacked on numerous occasions and each time the registry has won. Look at Alaska vs Doe.

First I would like to comment on the post from the individual who states that he was 17 years old having consensual sex with his girlfriend. For one if you live in Florida and you were 17 when this occurred than the only why you would be required to register is if you were convicted as an adult. If that is the case then you did not just have consensual sex that would not meet the requirement in the state for prosecution of a juvenile as an adult. The next way that you would be required to register in the State of Florida as a juvenile is if you moved here and were convicted as a juvenile in another state and were required to register in that state. If this is the case here then I would suggest that you go to that states forum and make your complaints there. I think that a lot of you need to do more research to better understand the State of Florida’s registry and the purposes that it serves. For that matter I think you need to look back at the reasoning behind any states registry and the purposes that it serves. I will say this, are there individuals who are on the states registry that probably should NOT be, absolutely. Does the registry serve a purpose, if it is utilized for the reasons that it was designed, absolutely? For those of you who are for the registry, know this, there are numerous individuals who reside on the registry who are no more a threat to you or your children than your own father or brother. For those of you who are against the registry, wouldn’t you like to know that there is a twice convicted child molester living across the street from you and your children? I rest my case.

Oldtimer, I don’t argue the fact of what you say. The problem is the manner in which you pose your statement. The fact is that the registry was NEVER designed to protect children. The protection comes in the form of the parents having the knowledge that there is a child molester living across the street and that parent taking the appropriate actions with thir child. As you state, nothing is going to singularly protect children without some form of assistance. As for putting child molesters in prison for life, that will never happen. Please, that would violate someone’s civil rightsÂ
Has the registry in and of its self protected a child, absolutely. I worked a case where there was a registered offender who was attempting to contact a child via the internet. Once the mother of this child found out that the subject was an offender she contacted Law Enforcement. The offender traveled over 400 miles with the intention of abducting this child and taking her back to his home state. Had there been no registry, the mother would have had no information on this offender and therefore could not have taken the proper precautions. Again the registry did not protect the child by itself, it merely supported the mother to do the right thing. By the way, the offender is serving 7 years for solicitation over the internet. I also agree with you that there are far more dangers to children than those individuals listed on the registry.

I’ve been watching this site for some time now and have come to an amazing conclusion. As it is with most child molesters that I have interviewed, it is on this site with those individuals who have no earthly idea what they are talking about. Take the previously posted entry, what amazes me is that you actually believe your friend in that he thought he was meeting an escort and she turned out to be 14 yrs old. Now people I want everyone to pay close attention hereÂ
IT’S AGAINST THE LAW TO HIRE AN ESCORT FOR SEXÂ
So if your friend (who must be a wizard by the way) Hires an escort who is 14 years old or even 10 years old for that matter and does nothing with her, HE HAS NOT BROKEN THE LAWÂ
Lets blame the 14 yr old girl for your friends ignorance. Why don’t you wake up, do you think that anyone on here really believes your story about your friend. Most people on here see right through your friend’s story, HE DESERVED WHAT HE GOT!!!

Well concerned Mom, I would tell you to get your answer for your questions from Pedro, but if you read his previously added entries it’s obvious that he hasn’t a clue.

As for your concerns, you are correct; there are gaps sometimes in the law that allow for a child molester to go without registering. Take for instance the 38 year old man who molested his 7 year old niece, he was convicted for child abuse which did not require him to register. Here the ball was dropped. As for the Kidnapping situation, here in Florida the state must show that there was a sexual component to the crime for it to fall under the registration statute. This has been addressed in the Florida Supreme court, (State v Robinson). In this crime the def car jacked the victim in which she was pushed from the vehicle. The victim’s child was in the back seat of the car, which the defendant dropped off several miles down the road. The argument was that be because the defendant did not touch the child and there was no sexual component, he should not be required to register under the law, the court agreed.



For Pedro, I don’t twist any facts. What I do is listen to the facts as others on here do and make my conclusions based on the facts. The facts here are that your friend met a girl at a club dancing. He concluded that this girl was 18 years of age because she was dancing in a club, she advised him that she had an escort service to make money for school, “now here’s where we need to pay close attention”, he there hired this girl as an escort = against the law, and had sex with her = again against the law. Since it was found later found out that the girl was 14 years of age, he was convicted by a jury, (because no innocent person would cop to a plea) and is now listed on the registry. Let me ask this? If your friend didn’t hire the girl as an escort, would he be on the registry? Answer is NO. So because this guy is your friend and used poor judgment, you think he should not be listed. The other thing is I think you need to do some research and stop believing everything you read on the internet. I’m sorry but the internet is not always correct. Oh ya, your friend doesn’t have to register for the rest of his life, try learning the law and stop being a street lawyer.

I think that you should do more research. The link that you submitted talks about 2 studies a 3 year and a 5 year study. Now there is no question as to the validity of these studies but there is a question as to the accuracy. The point is that there is no clear cut answer as to what the recidivism rate of a sex offender really is. Let’s not just pull out a statistical figure that fits your outcome. I can find plenty of data that supports mine. You should read the following report (link below). You will see that over a period of 25 years the recidivism rate of those offenders studied was 52%, a much higher rate then your 3 to 5%.



http://www.csom.org/pubs/recidsexof.html

I will not defend Momof3 however I will make a point. To anonymous, in this state (Florida) you CAN NOT qualify as a sex offender if you urinate in a bar parking lot. The crime there would be exposure and that is not a qualifying offense. So, if you know someone who is telling you that they have to register for such a crime, I think that you need to dig a little deeper. As for the registry, you are right. There should be a classification method to allow the citizens to better understand who they have living next door. I would hope that every one could tell the difference between a young man who had sex with his underage girlfriend and a young man who had sex with a child. The point here is even though it is a crime, what threat is that first young man to the community. We as a community need to pull our heads out of the sand and understand why the registry was initiated. The issue here is to allow the community access to those offenders who pose a risk to our children. Believe me this is not as difficult as most would lead you to believe. What we need is a registry that gives the correct information as to the offender’s crime(s) and there should be some form of relief from the sites. We don’t need to clutter the site with offender’s who at 18-19 years of age had consensual sex with their 15-16 year old girlfriend. Those offender’s should be removed after successfully completing their probation. Any thoughts??

I think most of you know that I hold an ambiguous position as it relates to the sex offender issues. However, when I see individuals who post deceptive entries, I must speak out. For anonymous who writes about the “new” law in Florida which states that he has to report that he will be out of his county for 3 or more days, you need to get a better interpretation of the law. There is NO law that states that you have to report that you will be out of your county of residence. What the statute says is that if you establish a temporary residence, “which is 5 or more days” you must register that temporary residence. Now, there is a Bill which includes “transient Residence” in the definition. That again would be if you did not have a residence or were going to be located in a county for 5 or more days. This Bill has NOT passed. As for your misdemeanor crime, you again need some clarification and probably need to hire a lawyer. There are NO crimes that if a misd. would require you to register as a sex offender. So, please don’t bash Florida until you know what you’re talking aboutÂ