Sex Offenders Have Nowhere to Live

The big problem is what the law considers a "sex offender". The average person hears the words "sex offender" and automatically associates that term with child molesters and rapist. However, there are a lot more than just child molesters and rapist that are "sex offenders". One of my favorite cases to use as an example of this is the case of Genarlow Wilson from Atlanta, GA.

This is his story.... On New Year's Eve 2003 when Genarlow Wilson was 17 years old. He attended a party at a hotel. At this party he had consensual sex with a drunk 17 year old girl. Which was videotaped. The video showed her drunk and sitting on a bathroom floor. Later on in the tape, she is shown having sex with Genarlow Wilson. At no point in the tape does she tell him to stop nor does she say no. The tape shows her to be very much a willing participant. Later in that same evening a 15 year old girl, of her own free will, offered to perform oral sex on Genarlow Wilson. Much like any guy I know, he happily accepted her offer. The next morning the 17 year old girl wakes up hung over, confused and naked. She went to the police and claimed to have been raped. When the police investigated her claims, they found condoms, alcohol, and the video tape in the hotel room where the party had occurred. Genarlow Wilson was then arrested.

The Jury at his trial found him not guilty of raping the 17 year old girl, mainly due to the videotape. However, he was found guilty of aggravated child molestation for his consensual sex with the 15 year old girl. Under Georgia State Law a girl under the age of 16 is not capable of giving consent. Under Georgia State Law he was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in Prison, 1 year of Probation and is forced to register as a "sex offender" for the remainder of his life.

What makes this case very unique is that a majority of what Genarlow Wilson was charged with had to do with the language of the law. The "aggravated" portion of his charge was about the oral sex he received. Had he had intercourse with the 15 year old girl, he would have been charged with a misdemeanor offense which carried a sentence of up to 12 months with no sex offender status. However, since he received oral sex and not intercourse, by definition it was "aggravated child molestation" a felony which carried an automatic 10 year minimum sentence.

Again, Genarlow Wilson was 17 years old. Members of the Jury who convicted him, as well as the author of the law that put him in prison, denounced his sentence. The Georgia Legislature acknowledge the issues with this Law and then rewrote it. However, the new law was not permitted to be enforced to any cases that occurred prior to the rewriting of the law. Today Genarlow Wilson would be 24 or 25 years old and he is out of prison. Is there anyone here on ATS who wants to tell this young man that he deserves to be homeless because a house is too close to a park or school? I wouldn't.

It is my opinion that this young man never should of went to prison. He never hurt anyone. Even the 15 year old girl admitted that she was not forced in any way at all and that the acts they engaged in were in fact her idea. This young man went to jail for several years for something a lot of young men do. My first sexual encounter took place when I was 15 and the girl was 17. By law, she is a "sex offender" and in the eyes of a 15 year old boy, she made my world a better place to live in.

reply to post by dbloch7986


what experience do you profess to have in the
acute and particular area of forgiveness?

What henious crime has befallen you that you have to forgive
the person who perpetrated it upon you?

reply to post by MrWendal


When i was a child, i thought like a child, acted like a child,
and when i became an adult i put away childish things, thoughts and actions.

It is foremost on a teens mind the exact process and procedure he or she needs to go through to get a drivers license.

Sadly, the same passion is not present about SEX, like when is it ok, who is it okay with, what is the law, how can and will i follow the law.

Many teens are in jail for driving before legal.
Many are in jail for screwing under the wrong circumstances.

I have no more pity for the 13 year old who drives a car illegally, and hits someone, than for the 17 year old who has sex with a fifteen year old.

reply to post by slugger9787


That is not a very good comparison at all. Running someone over with a car is nowhere near comparable to having sex....

First I think we need to differentiate between pedophiles and the 18 year old boy that slept with his 14/15 year old girlfriend. Seperate the 19 year old guy with a semi nude pic of his 15 year old girlfriend on his cellphone (that SHE sent) from the sick, twisted, person who touches, rapes, and sodomizes a defenseless child.

When we can do that, the laws we have for sex offenders right now are fine with me. I find it ridiculous that a teenage boy can be locked up and labeled a sex offender for the rest of his life because the parents of a younger girl found out what she was doing, the girl cried foul after a year long relationship because he broke it off, etc. And I use guy more frequently because female sex offender crime is much, much smaller.

Angry exes and angry parents (who should be just as mad at the girl if she consented) do not take the time to think about the young life they are ruining because they are blinded by anger. Most parents wouldn't be happy to find out that their 14/15 year old daughter is sexually active but a lot of them are. And even though they are young they do know what they are doing IMO. They usually are impulsive and neglect thinking about future ramifications, but I know 20 year olds that do the same.

And yes... I am a parent. To a 13 year old daughter to boot. I am also young enough to recall being 14/15. Stupidity abounded for sure, but not beyond understanding consent.

For those that are actual pedophiles? I find it extremely difficult to care what happens to them. Life in jail is not too much IMO. Simply because the folks "murder" the spirit of the child/children that they prey upon. It changes who they are and how they view the world.... for their lifetime. If you physically take a life it is considered murder. Why is it not the same for those who mentally take a life?

I think having a hard time finding a job or housing is still easier than living with the memories of one of the greated violations one can commit against an innocent.

And considering that I have to pay taxes regardless of where it goes, I am ok with keeping them away from the rest of society. No amount of money can buy back a child's innocence and no amount of money saved can make it acceptable to let them go free as far as I am concerned.

This is my thought out response that you asked for and while it may not be a popular opinion... I stand behind it 100%.

Originally posted by Brood

Pedophiles suffer from a mental disorder. Not all pedophiles are child molesters, not all child molesters are pedophiles. They cannot control their feelings and cannot be held responsible for them. Their actions are a different story.

I remember sitting in class and being told a story about the life of a particularly unique pedophile.

Apparently this particular man knew that he was a pedophile and that he had problems... so he bought a house far away from populated society and just kept to himself. He literally spent most of his life shut up in his house alone because he knew he would be putting children in danger if he participated in society. Sure, after he died, the police found hundreds of... to use an innuendo... "played with"... dolls. But that is better than this guy hurting children.

I mean... I think this is the perfect example of the fact that not all pedophiles are child molesters.

The guy doesn't exactly sound like the kind of person I'd like to get to know... but at least he was in control enough to realize that he needed to distance himself from people for the safety of others.

_____________________________________

As for the main topic:

Like others have said before me, I think that the main problem here is the definition of a "sex offender". Any kind of umbrella term that is assigned to many different levels of crime will always have problems. Crimes should be looked at with the specific circumstances and motivations in mind... so that the proper punishment will be instituted.
Obviously a drunk dude who was caught by a kid peeing on a building shouldn't be lumped along with a child molester who raped a child.
Just like how a person caught selling a gram of weed to a friend shouldn't be lumped along with a dealer who pushes pounds and pounds of bud to 'customers'.
Or how a young person who had a few drinks being caught by a police at a check point with a breathalyzer test shouldn't be lumped along with an extremely drunk person who ended up driving on the other side of the road and put other drivers in danger.

I'm sure I could think of more "hypotheticals"... but you get the point.

reply to post by TKDRL


you missed the point
teens have the legal requirements of driving etched in their little brains
they need the same imprinting of laws regarding sexual behavior in their minds as well

Originally posted by Sherlock Holmes

Originally posted by Brood
Pedophiles suffer from a mental disorder. Not all pedophiles are child molesters, not all child molesters are pedophiles. They cannot control their feelings and cannot be held responsible for them. Their actions are a different story.

I don't believe that paedophilia can accurately be described as a ''mental disorder''.

It's just a sexual preference, the same as heterosexuality, homosexuality or bestiality.
.....................

I agree with this. The problem I have with it's that even though it might be a sexual preference they still shouldn't act on it. Acting on it's a crime. It's not impossible to be a virgin your whole life if you play with yourself at home. One option is to drug them so they don't have sexual impulses. Another is to make sure they masturbate enough to keep the impulses reduced. Thus you would want to allow small amounts of cartoon child porn. This might prevent pedophiles from acting on their impulses. I admit that none of this is preferred and some people might be disgusted by what I'm suggesting, but I haven't seen anything better. Locking them up isn't a solution in my mind. Preventing them from even being able to enjoy masturbating because you have outlawed any kind of cartoon child porn further makes it worse because they don't have an outlet. So I really have no answer to this issue. We're between a rock and a hard place.

Btw there're psychotropic drugs that reduce sexual desires. Many people on these drugs use them for depression but one of the side effects is reduced libido. Perhaps this would help.

And what of us poor sons of bitches who get labelled as "Sex offenders" for doing nothing at all that could even be CONSIDERED a sexual act?

My case: I was at a party in which the mother of the house had allowed her 4 year old daughter to sleep on a couch half naked, with the doors and windows open, while raining and it was 43 degrees outside, and nobody said a damned thing to this white trash..thing.. I took it upon myself to go seek out a blanket for the poor girl, because I was raised with good morals and compassionate thought. Her mom comes in sees me about to drape a blanket over the poor kid and says "you need to leave." and her entire posse goes apesh!t on me, claims i messed with the kid, i get thrown in jail, in a suicide cell for 3 days despite not being a bit suicidal. Indiana law does not recognize a lie detector test result as admissable evidence, nor does the prosecution need any physical evidence whatsoever.

let me repeat that.

In Indiana you can get charged with a sex crime without there being any physical evidence whatsoever as long as a woman has "witnesses" to back up her claim.

I got f***ed. I had to take a plea agreement that cut out a charge and reduced my sentencing to 4 years with the right to protest my punishment. The judge has repeatedly said I am Zero-Risk and My sentencing is on June 6th.

I am a victim of f***ed up Indiana "justice." With this mob mentality most of you have you'd be screaming for my death had i not told you the circumstances of my "labelling" by a corrupt justice system.

reply to post by SireFurious

birds of a feather flock together.
so you were partying with some white trash?

reply to post by dbloch7986


This is simple. Don't commit sex crimes.

Done.

Sex Offenders have nowhere to live....

poor puppies...

I would have them all not living anywhere..

Living in the breathing sense of the word

Originally posted by indianajoe77
reply to post by onequestion

 

This is where we have a fundemental difference.

You believe people can be reformed, and with a little understanding and patience, become a productive member of society.

I believe people cannot be reformed at a certain point.

To quote Frank Ridgeway (quoting a poet):

"Now can people change, or don't they? That's the question."

edit on 4-11-2010 by indianajoe77 because: typos

I quite agree. Also.....the majority of child molester's are sociopaths....they have no good conscience...it is their pleasure and enjoyment to hurt children....they are truly evil...they cannot be reformed...because they don't want to be and once let out of prison...will eventually offend again.