Should Minors be listed on sex offender registries?
Imagine you’re 16 years old again. You and the love of your life decide to have sex for the first time. Sex isn’t a shameful thing to do; it can be fun and allow for one to explore their sexuality. The only downfall is their parents ultimately despise you. However that doesn’t get in the way of you wanting to be with the love of your life. So you both agree to have sexual intercourse. Next thing you know their parents are accusing you of statutory rape. You don’t understand how it’s rape if it was consensual, but was it? Now you find yourself having to register as a sex offender every 90 days; it’s a penalty you may have to pay for the rest of your life. Although, critics argue juvenile offenders make up a large amount of sex offenders and victims deserve closure and justice, minors shouldn’t be on sex offender registries due to low recidivism rates, teen sexuality exploration, and the potential damage done to the minors future.
In another perspective, people will say kids should be punished since it is a sexual offense. In fact, according to the National Criminal Justice report series(NCJRS) “Juvenile sex offenders comprise more than one-quarter (25.8 percent) of all sex offenders and more than one-third (35.6 percent) of sex offenders against juvenile victims”(OJJDP ,3-4). This means young sex offenders are quite common in the criminal justice system. Since young sex offenders
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are common, they should be watched. NCJRS also reports “Juvenile sex offenders are also much more likely than adult sex offenders to target young children as their victims”(OJJDP, 4). This means the predators targeting young kids are also kids rather than adults. This is contrary to what the average person would think. Also, it is crucial for victims to know that their offender is taking responsibility for what they did. Being a sexual abuse victim is a traumatic life changing experience. Letting the perpetrator off the hook could mentally damage victims them and make the recovery nearly impossible. Also with minimal repercussions, how will the offenders be able to learn from their mistakes?
However, the recidivism rates for juveniles sex offenders are extremely low. Recidivism is the act of committing the same crime over again. It’s shown, depending on which study you look at, the recidivism rates of minors who are charged on sexual offenses, range from about 7 to 13 percent after 59 months. Juvenile rates of reoffending, compared to the adult offenders, are quite low. According to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, “in a 2004 meta-analysis, Harris and Hanson found average sexual recidivism rates for adult offenders of 14 to 24 percent, depending on the follow up period.” This shows that adult predators are more likely to commit the same crime. Adult predators are the ones we should be keeping our eyes on. Ohio Public Safety says, “85 percent of the sex offenders at SORRC in 1999 had no prior sex offense conviction and 65 percent had no prior violent offense.” Basically, it’s saying the relation between adult offending and minors who offend are only 25%. Minors rarely turn into adult sex offenders. This means, since they aren’t re-offending they shouldn’t have to register as a sex offender. What we should be worried about is the 85% of adult offenders who are out there on the streets, not the innocent children who make one mistake with there boyfriend or girlfriend.
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It’s contradicting to think the registry that is supposed to be protecting us is falsely accusing a minor who will be branded for the rest of their life as a sex offender.
In addition to minors having a low recidivism rate, consensual sex and sexting gone wrong is another factor in juvenile offenders. Sexting is sharing explicit pictures and/or messages. Kids in this generation are taking naked pictures of themselves and sending them to their so called “significant others.” It’s more common than you think. A recent study showed that one in five teenagers, admit to sending an explicit picture of themself . Mathias Heck, a prosecuting attorney whos dealt with these type of cases explains, “Juveniles engaging in this conduct are completely unaware that what they are doing is illegal. In many states they could potentially face registration requirements as a sexual offender for committing these acts”( 3). In other words, innocent teens will pay a harsh penalty for the rest of their lives for a common, coming of age mistake. Child behaviorists believe sexual experimentation is a normal factor in the development of a minor. Although every state does have a statutory rape law which criminalizes sex with a minor, “at least 28 states require registration as a sex offender for someone convicted of having consensual sex with another teenager, if the offender was either age 17 or two years older than the other party” (Human Rights Watch). This means teenagers are branded as sexual predators when they just had consensual sex. In addition, 11 states don’t believe in the “Romeo and Juliet” law which means if convicted, they will be required to register as a sex offender. Children shouldn’t be punished for participating in sex when adults are engaging in this normal behavior daily. Dan M’s story is an example of being punished for consensual sex. When he was 17, he had consensual sex with his girlfriend at the time. Then he was accused of statutory rape, and now he must register every 90 days as a sex offender. He’s in
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college currently and is at risk of being kicked off the baseball team. All of his coaches and teammates view him as some monster when all he did was have consensual sex with his girlfriend. It’s a heavy cross to bare because this baggage follows you everywhere you go. With this sigma, traveling to different states can be a true nightmare. Dan explains how hard it is, “ If I spend more than three consecutive days in one county in Florida I must register. My parents recently moved to Arkansas. If I visit them and am more than 14 days in Arkansas, I have to register there.” It’s sad how the system would rather do more harm to these kids rather than help them.
Last but not least, being on a registry is damaging to a child’s potential future and mentality. For example, a 14 year old girl who was required to register as a sex offender for participating in non-forcible fondling at the age of 11 years old had a traumatic experience in the aftermath. When her registration was made public she started losing her friends. Her neighbors insisted that she move away. If that isn’t enough to go through, she even received phone calls from men she didn’t know, harassing her and wanting to have sex with her. It’s repulsive what being on the registry makes these young kids go through. Suicide among children on the registry is common and happens way more than it should. Just having the threat of being required to register as a sex offender can be overwhelming and to much to handle . Noah M is a child who was charged with a sexual offense at the age of 11. He committed suicide a little before his 18th birthday because he knew he would now be public on the registry . According to his mother, “the impending registration was a significant source of anxiety for Noah leading up to his suicide: His picture, address and information on the Web…. he just couldn't bear it"(Shiraldi). It’s
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disheartening that death is a better option to these kids than being publicly humiliated and belittled.
All in all, minors don’t deserve the harsh punishment of being on the sex offender registry. Even though there’s a large amount of juvenile offenders, it doesn’t change that they are still children and are able to learn from their mistakes. With low recidivism rates, consensual sex gone wrong and the potential damage to a child's future, they shouldn’t have to pay for a bad decision for the rest of their life. Is it worth damaging all these children to feel as if justice was received? These kids aren’t criminals, they were just caught up in a system who’d rather destroy than help. Would you want a bad decision you made as a kid follow you for the rest of your life?