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Challenges faced by sex offenders after punishment

I've read a few blogs about the challenges faced by convicted sex offenders after they have served their time and are released from prison. One interesting point was that some offenders went to prison for a consensual sexual relationship with an underage girlfriend, or for sexting, or even for urinating in public (though I've never heard of that one before). The point is, not everyone with the title "sex offender" is the same. Some have done things worse than others and yet they all get shunned by society once they're out.

 

In Tennessee, for example, sex offenders are not allowed to visit public libraries in person. I can understand the reasoning, if you’re talking about an offender that abused multiple child acquaintances, but what about the 18 year old that slept with his 15 year old girlfriend? I don’t think one could say they have the same level of risk around kids. So then, it would seem that in some cases, we’re protecting kids and in others we’re just taking away the rights of ex-convicts.

 

On the other hand, I've heard the argument that recidivism rates for child sex offenders is relatively low, compared to other crimes. This is true, but statistics can be a tricky thing. Some research suggests that the rate of reporting offense is as low as 12 percent. So, is the recidivism rate low just because the new victims aren't telling? Perhaps, but what do you think? Should we continue placing restrictions on every sex offender that goes through the justice system? Could there be a varying level of monitoring for a convict, depending on the severity of the crime they committed?

05.19.2013 | Grant

Comments

Tom
Monday, 02 April 2012

My Thoughts

I have to disagree with your logic as far as the library bans go and for that matter any such restriction similar to that such as residency restrictions etc... Just because someone has multiple child victims doesn't mean they pose a risk at a library or any public place. About 95% of all sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by someone related to the victim or a close family friend of the victim or of their family and the abuse happens in either the victims home or home of the close friend or other such private place. It is highly unlikely for someone to be sexually abused in a public place such as a library and despite how the media trumps things up it is also rare for people/children to be abducted from such places. Given those facts it makes little sense to banish former sex offenders from such a valuable resource as a library, or from housing, or jobs, or anything else that would allow them to better themselves and learn and assimilate back into the society that they are released into and expected to become upstanding assets in. The only way such a ban would make sense is if it targeted actual predators with a history of stocking their victims in public places. The New Mexico Supreme Court recently declared outright library bans unconstitutional. The majority of restrictions targeting former offenders are really all about continuing to punish a group of disfavored citizens and doing so under the guise of a civil regulatory scheme to protect the public. If the goal really is to return these people to society and for them to become functional assets to society it just doesn't make sense to return them to society and then banish them from society and everything that would allow them to become productive law abiding citizens. Of course their should be some restrictions and laws and yes those laws and restrictions should be proportional to the offense committed and be specific to the details of the particular individual and their crime. But as things stand now the vast majority of legislation targeting former sex offenders is counterproductive to their means and creates such a level of instability in these peoples lives and such a level of misinformation to the public about former offenders that it makes things less safe for the public at large and the former offenders and their families.

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Guest
Sunday, 19 May 2013

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