Sex Offender Laws Gone Mad

Yes it is stupid of them but you are right it is teenagers doing stupid stuff, it should not follow them the rest of their lives.

And, at that age, most people aren't thinking in terms of their actions having consequences for the long term.

I must ask, though. At what point does this become child pornography? If your 17 and looking at nude photos of a 16 year old, it's legal. But if your 18 it's illegal....something doesn't make sense. I'm not advocating looking at pictures, but the law just doesn't work. Most sex offender laws are feel good laws, they don't "protect" anyone.

I think it falls under child pornography because of the nature of the photos. They are taking the photos naked with sexual intent, then sharing them- those photos could wind up in anyone's hands, like you said- a teacher, a pedophile, the kids parents, or more. If the adult were found with those photos, they'd be charged for having child pornography in their possession.

Children need to learn that what they do isn't always private, and that promises are broken every day. Sending a photo of themselves naked to a boyfriend or girlfriend today, can mean life long embarrassment and legal issues tomorrow.

well said

Talk about a breakdown in society. Teenagers probably think this is normal behavior because they seen it on an episode of Desperate Housewives or something. Parents, now more than ever, need to push proper values on their children I get what you say, though. These kids are the same age but when they get older they would still be in system as sex offenders. Kind of dumb.

Yes, parents do need to deal with this. I don't believe that the heavy hand of the law coming down on these kids and labeling them "sex offender" for the next 10 years or so is the best way to instill values in kids, and it certainly doesn't seem to be the best use of resources when there are real predators out there.

See more kids being ruined for life, due to the large nets of the draconian unconstitutional laws, some as young as 4 for simply hugging their teacher and accidentally touching her breasts.

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2007/12/child-sex-offenders.html

There are limits, or at least should be limits, to breaching our personal rights. Being named a sex offender turns teens into permanent outcasts aadn forever ruins lives. I think castng wide net is a good program, but each event should be condidered on it's own.

Take the case of a young couple who took pictures of their kids in the bath and then had them processed by Walmarts. An emplyee called the polilce and the kids were removed from the home until all was straightened out. There is a great deal of overreaction these days.

Insane registry laws and restrictions did not prevent the perverts, Philip Garrido AND HIS WIFE from doing what they did! The registry laws, and especially the residency / work place restrictions, have done far more harm than good. Forget about all the cases of vigilantism and suicide; forget about the fact that while these laws are proposed to protect the children, they include children, while a huge percentage of those on the list committed crimes that had nothing to do with children; forget about the fact that study after study has proven these laws not only are ineffective, but have actually made matters worse. Forget about the fact that upon release from custody, sex offenders have one of the lowest recidivism rates, not the highest. In fact those who receive counseling and treatment have outstanding records versus those convicted of other violent crimes! The fact is the registry and any restrictions should be limited to those who are proven child molesters and pedophiles; that Law Enforcement could handle and monitor effectively. Do you seriously believe a committed pedophile cannot walk or drive 500, 1000, 2500, 5000 feet or more? Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted miles from where Philip Garrido lived!

I am sure we will see comments from hysterical, uninformed individual(s) who will suggest that all those on the registry should be locked up for life or worse and say there is no rehabilitation for these people. And for a few they are right, we need to focus on those! Once a person has done their time that should be it. That is the foundation of this great country and its legal system. Don’t like it, move to China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, or wherever individual rights are ignored. If a person is a pedophile, lock them up for a long time and provide treatment. Treatment not working, keep them locked up. Many families are being destroyed for political expediency; children of those on the registry are being abused and ostracized at school. Whole families are forced into isolation and restricted from the work place. If the registry is to truly protect the children, then let’s focus on the pedophiles and child molesters’. Get rid of the residency/work place restrictions, focus on the loitering laws. Let the rest on the registry re-assimilate into society after they have done their time, become solid, productive citizens; part of the solution not the problem. The facts, (and the Garrido case) as well as virtually all of the research, and study after study have proven what we are doing now, mostly for political expediency and to appease hysterical uninformed parents is not working and is in fact making matters worse!

Please folks, don’t join the ranks of the uninformed, hysterical, knee-jerk reactionaries. Dozens of studies, including the study by the US dept. of Justice, have proven the same thing; these laws do not work and do more harm than good. Here are a few sites you can review to get the facts:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/press/rsorp94pr.htm
http://constitutionalfights.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/california-sex-offense-recidivism-data/
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14164614&source=hptextfeature
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125194251857582015.html
Freeman, Naomi J. and Sadler, Jeffrey C. (2009). The Adam Walsh Act:
A False Sense of Security or an Effective Public Policy?
Criminal Justice Policy Review, Online First. Sage (subscription required)
Publications, 10.1177/0887403409338565.

Excerpt:

“With the enactment of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA), states are required to standardize their registration and community notification practices by categorizing sex offenders into three-tier levels in the interest of increasing public safety. No empirical research, however, has investigated whether implementation of the AWA is likely to increase public safety. Using a sample of registered sex offenders in New York State, the current study examined the effectiveness of the Adam Walsh-tier system to classify offenders by likelihood of recidivism. Results indicated that the AWA falls short of increasing public safety. In fact, registered sex offenders classified by AWA as Tier 1 (lowest risk) were rearrested for both nonsexual and sexual offenses more than sex offenders in Tier 2 (moderate risk) or Tier 3 (highest risk).”
Knowledge leads to rational thought and reasoning!

I will have to take a look at some of those links later.

I have long had issues with how the sex offender registry works (or, often, doesn't), and I have a great concern about the fact that teens are in danger of ending up on the registries for doing what amounts to stupid stuff.

Geez, we didn't even have a regular telephone when I was a kid. Now everyone, including kids, think they need a phone. I still don't have a cell phone

Most teens don't really need cell phones, but they have them anyways.

I was a hold out on the cell phone. I didn't get one until about five years ago. Just about everyone I knew already had one.

I was a hold out too. If I had my way, I wouldn't even have one at all.

Once I got one, I got hooked. I wouldn't want to go without my cell phone for an extended period of time.