South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/

I want to first start off with saying I am NOT pro-pedophile or pro-sex offender but pro-Constitution. I am totally against any form of abuse to any animal or human being. Anybody who commits any crime should be punished. But, once that person has done the time they were convicted under, via contract, and is off parole and/or probation, they should be able to get on with their lives without all the rules and regulations. No other criminal has to live by such draconian laws, so why sex offenders? If we must do this for sex offenders, then I think, to be fair, all criminals must be under similar rules and regulations.

When an ex-offender is forced to move from his/her home, thus having to sell it, cannot find another home within the law due to the residency "buffer" zones, get fired from their jobs due to being on the registry, cannot find a new job due to being on the registry, their husband/wife lose their jobs due to a significant other being on the registry, their children lose their friends and are harassed and bullied in school due to a family member being on the registry, thus destroying the children's lives, ex-offenders are forced into homelessness and to live under bridges, harassed by police, neighbors and probation/parole officers, have to wear "I'm a sex offender T-shirt" or have a neon green license plate on ALL their cars, have "sex offender" on their drivers license and forced to renew their licenses every year, forced from shelters during tornadoes or hurricanes, cannot give blood at some places due to being discriminated against for being on the sex offender registry, denied housing due to being on the registry, signs placed in their yards inviting harassment and ridicule from the neighbors, forced to move when the neighbors start picketing outside the ex-offenders home, the list is endless.

I THINK THIS IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, BEYOND THE EXTREME!

I agree. What is most disturbing to me is that, even though there is absolutely no evidence that registries and residency restrictions have a positive effect, and there is clearly a negative effect on the persons subjected to it, States like South Carolina are still passing new laws with new restrictions without any basis other than fear.

The offenders that the public is actually afraid of are the persons with serious cognitive deficits that cause them to re-offend, and the Attorney General here is fairly aggressive with their commitment proceedings under the SVP act.

There has been a lot of press the last few years about what persons subjected to these laws have been going through. If the public is educated on the issues, then the legislators will follow public opinion.

Unless you have had a child who is a victim, I guess it is difficult to understand why sex offenders deserve rights. Children are damaged their entire life because someone lacked empathy for them. Why should they ask for empathy? play games with their own age and leave children out of adult games.

i went to a 25 and older club where this woman bought me 2 drinks.we then left the club and she performed oral sex on me and we would have had vaginal sex if i had not stopped it.i found out 2 weeks later that her mom was the owner of the club and she was only 17 years old.i am noew a sex offender.is this fair?i live with it but is this fair?

From the other side of the fence: My young daughter and I are "kid people" and devout christians. Recently, we found out that her new young husband has a porn problem. He was exposed to it as a child and while in his early twenties, looked at some under age girls (16 to 17) Guess what, that is child porn and a registerable offense. He hasn't looked at anyone underage for years and is not yet convicted, but this is going to ruin their lives and he has never and would never touch a child. They were both virgins when they married and he is in counseling now. Bonus, she is a teacher. All offenders are not equal.

Once again the Sout Carolina Dept. Probation, Parole, & Pardon Services is doing a worthless PC feel good activity to waste our tax dollars. All of the sex offenders being supervised are to be home, with their lights off between 5pm and 9pm. This includes all of 97 sex offenders. The department will have agents going to there house, ONCE to check on them. There is nothing to prevent the offenders from turning on their light and passing out candy after the agents leave. Once they are checked on, agent will not be back. Furthermore, even though they are told to comply, the state has no way to enforce this directive. They will NOT be arrested if they do not comply. This is all bark and no bite!

Take a look at the stats of sex offenders, there is NOTHING that shows they are more likely to do anything more on this night than any other. Furthermore, only a portion of all sex offenders "prey" on children. Think about it, out of all the nights, why would a sex offender decide on this night, the night that, for the most part, parents ARE with their children. This, of all nights, would not be the night to find new victims.

Lets also look at the numbers... The SCDPPPS has all of 97 offenders on their caseload they supervise and who will be checked on in Charleston Co. Taking a look at the SLED sex offender registry, there are 889 offenders registered in Charleston Co. Out of the almost 900 ONLY about 100 will be required to stay inside their residence with their lights off. Only these 97 are told not to "participate" in halloween. What about the other nearly 800 sex offenders??? IF this is such a night to be concerned with, why do we not care about these other offenders?

If the SCDPPPS is really concerned, why do they not have all of their offenders meet in one centralized location and monitor them away from the children? Would this not make more sense? But, then again there is no information to support this waste of tax money is even needed...

To answer a question possibly looming in your head... NO, I am not a sex offender. NO, I am not a criminal. YES, I have first hand knowledge of these proceeding.

I am amazed that child abusers are grouped with convicted ADULT sexual "abusers". My son had a seizure in an Emergency Room, because of no seizure medication--he accidently groped (He thinks) a 40-year-old nurse during his seizure. TWO WEEKS later, he was arrested out of a mental hospital where he'd been transferred for observation for depression. The charge was ATTEMPTED AGGRAVATED Sexual Assault--in other words--in the middle of a grand mal seizure; he was supposed to have attempted a sexual assualt on a nurse with a weapon. His so-called "defense" attny. forced him to plead guilty to 5 years in a medium security prison--and 5 years probation! (Said he'd get 30 yrs. if he went to trial!)
HE is kind, gentle, loves kids--and has NEVER had anything like this happen. HOWEVER--HE has to stay away from kids too! Is that fair? He served ALL his time, he is handling probation well--except he can't get a job--and can't afford his housing because of this! Is this any way to have to live the rest of your LIFE?
Even a murderer gets to go back home and live out the rest of his life in peace.
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, indeed. EACH case needs to be looked at individually.

EXACTLY, these laws have not proven to help anything. Just a Modern day witch hunt. the real predators are still doing there thing no matter what the law. It's as you said similar to the drug laws.
Tey'll never go away and as usual the police dept is bogged down w/ paper work, whos fighting crime?
What's wrong with just keeping them in jail? why all the laws? Dont we have enough? Lets keep pot smokers in prison and let the sex offender out just ridiculous

First I would like to say that I am what the state of South Carolina calls the " VICTIM". I am a wife of a register sex offender. My husband was charged when I was the 15years old and he was 20years of age. He did not rape or forced me in any way.My parents press charges on him when I became withchild. The judge only gave him five years probation. The problem is every other month our state print our " $1 " paper with sex offenders photos in them. My husband has 2 jobs within the past 8 mths because of this job. The last job he was on woman saw working and told the manager that as long as he works there she will never come back into the place of business again so they " FIRED" him. People from the outside looking in are so quick to look and judge a sex offender as says to themselves and others he/she wants to rape this young child. When in my case my husband did not rape me and through it all we still loving each other and raising our children. My husband loves to say that he is the man and he is sappose to provide for his family but in our case i have to be the provider finanally most of the time because he cannot keep a steady job half the time, because of the charge. We were evicted from the appartment we lived in because my husband is a sex offender, he lost his job b/c he is a sex offender. We are now in the process of see whether or not we can have this charged amended

I feel it depends on the age of the victim and what the actual charge is.. Not all registered sex offenders deserved to be punished for the rest of their lives. I feel that any man or women that sexually abuses an innocent child or baby SHOULD be punished to the fullest extent and never allowed to have children of their own.
In cases like yours, since you two are still together, the law is stupid. Did your parents press charges against him or did the state?

I too know someone on the list with a crime similar to date rape and only those 2 were there and no one will ever know the details but them. This person is not a predator nor is his crime related to children in any way. Why are there not different categories on the list, such as those kids who are 18 and their girlfriends are 16 or some of the minor indecency offences some have been involved in. The system is ruining the lives of many decent productive people who made very bad judgment decisions. There has to be better clarification on the list. I know some people peruse the list just for the titalization factor and a laugh. Does anyone know if South Carolina is a state where they notify all the neighbors in an area when a listed offender moves into their neighborhood? Ohio does - another to stop productive people from living. I don't know how we change the system but we need to do a better job or we will be supporting these people on welfare for the rest of their lives and ruining the lives of their families as well. We have no list for released felons in any other category, including DUI's or burglars, people we might really come across. IT IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, KIND OF LIKE THE DAYS OF A SCARLET LETTER.

Ummm...I don't know why so many people are against this law. A man tried to rape me and I am so happy he went to prison and can now not live near schools. I don't care about anyone's sob story about how their son was accused of being an offender and now can't live near a school. All pedophiles should be locked up forever! This law is to protect people against real sex offenders...and by doing that they can't make excuses for anyone no matter if it was a mistake or accident. We all abide by the same laws.

I am a registered sex offender under south carolina laws. I was 18 and working for south carolina dept of corrections and fell in love with a 28 yr old inmate and plead guilty to sexual misconduct with inmate 2nd degree after he was released and we had a baby together and had not worked for the state for 2yrs. No longer live in south carolina but still have to register under south carolina law. other states don't even have this crime. I have 2 beautiful daughters, married and have to pay for a mistake for the rest of my life for falling in love with an inmate 10 yrs older than me.

I too, am am required to register as an offender. My case occurred in another state, and I moved here 2 years ago. The sheriff had no clue, if I should be required to register here, because the ruling in my case, was the result of a plea deal, whereby I received a "Suspended Imposition of Sentence". This means, once I completed the terms of the deal (5 yrs probation & attend a treatment program), the charges were dismissed, and there is no conviction. Now, I have to continue to register, because the sheriff contacted my former state, who said, yes, that person needs to continue to register, if he lived here. There was no information in the national database, or state's database, that the sheriff could find. They only went by the word of an officer, who is NOT an attorney, versed in law. My former state has even had precedence set, when a judge ruled that the the offender who's case he was hearing, is not required to register, because he also has an SIS, with no conviction. And the state's law only mandates that persons with a conviction are required to register.
In any case, since living here, I have been fired from one job (even though my past was indicated on my application, when hired) after 5 months; I have been able to work infrequently, and mostly part time/seasonal, because most or all employers now do background checks before hire. I am also close to being homeless. So, I would say that while I understand the need for registration, I believe most of the laws are too strict, and do not allow an offender to become productive citizens, as most of us would like.

I believe that many of these situations could be prevented if people thought more before they made decisions that affect the rest of their lives. This is the consequnces of a society that is too sexually permissive without educating about sexual consequences. Yes, each situation is individual, but simply because you don't like the way the law has affected your life, don't advocate for children to be put at risk to make you more comfortable. If you do not regret your decision, don't complain about it.

I was convicted of a crime that doesn't even exist in the Law books,Attempted Rape, and sent to Prison for 7 years. Classed as a orinted offender, to reg. once a year for 10 years, this, by the way is in Ohio. They changed the law and said I have to now reg. every 90 days for life,I fought it and won. Now, if I move to So. Carolina, they say I will have to reg. twice a year for life. I'm still on an Appeal for the oreg. case and have proven over and over again that I didn't do any crime, but am still marked for life in trying to find work or even just to get on with my life,but I will NEVER stop fighting !!!!!

I have been notified by the county sheriff's office, where I have to go register twice a year, that this residence law was passed last year, but does no affect me, because it does not require me to move. However, I am a renter, and where I live there is practically no place in the community that I can move to that would comply with this absurd law. So, I have to stay put. But what happens if my landlord decides to sell this property? This law, and others like it, need to be challenged in the Supreme Court and overturned on Constitutional grounds.

there is reason why they have to register and not live in certain areas. the main reason is sex offenders especially child molesters repeat their crimes. protecting out children is everyones responsibility, if it incovience molesters then move where there is no law. try mexico.

S. Allaben, did you read the article?? Studies show that Sex Offenders are actually at a very low risk to recidivate and the vast majority of the people that do recidivate do so with non-sexual offenses. Offenders that particpate and complete treatment are even less likely to recidivate. I work for SCDPPPS as a sex offender agent and from my experience, these laws and the lifetime registry does much more harm than good. If people are considered to be such a threat that the must register for the rest of their life, then why release them in the first place.

I can say that I sit on top of this fence that everyone is talking about. 7 years ago, I was divorced, and my oldest daughter put her real father up on charges for molesting her, He went to DSS court and a finding was done against him. It happened here in SC in the upstate. It took 4 years before he went to criminal court. The day before the trial was tostart, he coped a plea to a lesser charge, and because of this he does not have to register. My daughter was 14 at the time.
My middle step-sister was modlested in her teen years by her step-father, as I was molested by my step-father in my pre-teen years. I was also molested by a great uncle when I was able 7. All three men, became ill and suffered before their deaths.
My youngest daughter thought that she was pregnant at 15. The guy was 17. Then different guy was 17 and she did get pregnant at 16 1/2. She miscarried. Now she is 18 and he is 19 and she is pregnant again. I told her in both early cases that I could bring charges against the guys, but it takes 2 to tango, and she was not innocent. She knew exactly what she was doing. I hold her just as responsible as I do the guys for this. If a 12 or 13 yr child can be charged as an adult if they shoot someone and the court thinks that the child knows the differencce between right and wrong. Then agreeing to have sex at 15 or 16, the child knows right from wrong.
My present husband was in service in another state and was in a consentitual relationship with a girl who was under 18. He left the service and did a plea with the state for a lesser charge. In that state, the lesser charge was still a felon, where in this state (SC), it would be a misdameanor. He has to register, also has a hard time getting a job. It was a stupid mistake, and it did not deal with rape or a child.
You have drug dealers, who get charged, go to jail and serve their time, then get back out. Because no one knows who they are, they come to the schools where our children go, and push or sell drugs to them. No one cares. These same children could end up dead because of this.
As I feel for the lady who was a victim, you are again being a victim. Because you have to work to support yourself and your family, these offenders that can not find jobs end up living on your tax dollars, gettting food stamps, because they are not able to find a job. So, yet again you are having to support them. I feel that everyone that I have mentioned here should have to work the same as I do. They are no better, but if we deny them a job, then that is what we are treating them like. Everyone does not abide by the same laws, different states have different laws. And not everyone has or tried to rape someone. So, not EVERYONE fits the same, that is why people are saying that it should be different levels. REAL raptist should be punished.
I also went to high school with a girl, that is on the registry for indencent exposure. That is a long way from a crime with a child, or rape. I think that there should be levels and each person ranked individually.
Sorry for being soo long winded, but this is one of my rants.