Sex offenders sue to hand out Halloween candy

[MarieB]

so wait a minute.....the way the law is, a SO can't be near a daycare, school, etc. right?

So what about the fact a new "daycare" or school is popping up all the time? SO's are just required to pack up and move within 30 days because the daycare didnt do their research before moving into the area?

So someone who may have had a romeo and juliet type case but is still a registered SO, would have to pack up and move within 30 days, come up with money to move, etc....yeah, that makes perfect sense :/

How about you people just pay attention to your kids, and teach them when they are old enough to not be near strangers.

Wow. Are you blaming the victims?


In case you haven't heard, teaching a child to "not be near strangers" is not an effective lesson in safety. A stranger could be a potential rescuer / safety net for a child who is frightened a/o in danger

 

[momof3kids]

Wow. Are you blaming the victims?


as a matter of fact, I am not blaming victims. I am telling these parents with SO's in their area that they need to teach their children not to talk to strangers. Not everyone on the registry list is a murderer or rapist. talk about ASSuming.

 

[RoseRed]

I dont know WHAT his actions were. That's the point. He could have been a multiple serial murderer and rapist of school-age girls, OR he could have been looking at an internet site and clicked on the wrong icon, OR he could have been a Romeo-and-Juliet, OR..... etc., etc.

It has long been a tenet of law that you cannot punish someone for what they might do. If you are going to punish people for what they MIGHT do, then punish all people equally. Evaluate all people, and punish them according to their capability to cause harm.

No, you say, the Registry is punishment for what they HAVE done. Well, then, let it be applied as all our laws are. Fairly, and clearly.

Neither of the above situations are the case, and as long as sheep blindly are herded by the prod of fear being used to control them, there will be no change, and they will always be controlled. Time to stand up and be a human being. Quit vindicating the work of George Orwell. (Read "1984" if you haven't already).

My response to learning there is a sex offfender nearby? Make sure my CHILDREN understand how to stay safe. What is allowed and what is not. Mostly, be a parent and make SURE I play an active role in their lives.

Granted, your situations sucks, but it is what it is.

As for being a parent to my child, I am VERY active in her life and well being. I am the only parent she has left and I would do anything to protect her. If that pisses off and inconveniences a sex offender. Tough ####.

 

[Father-of-Four]

Granted, your situations sucks, but it is what it is.

As for being a parent to my child, I am VERY active in her life and well being. I am the only parent she has left and I would do anything to protect her. If that pisses off and inconveniences a sex offender. Tough ####.

I understand, Rose, and admire you for that. Unfortunately, I cannot understand how what you did actually protected her. What you did was hurt someone else because you were scared. So he lived near a daycare center. So what? Is your child allowed to wander around the neighborhood of the daycare center? Or do you think he's going to sneak in and steal a baby? Or maybe he'll start foaming at the mouth and run through a crowd of children at recess, biting their heads off? Maybe your child was allowed to stand on the curb and hitch-hike to get home, and he would pick them up in some panel van with no windows? Good grief, woman. Get a clue.

 

[stockgirl]

What if he did? What if he had a craving for small children? Fact is, he broke the law by living there.

You may not deserve to be on the registry. I don't know the facts. All I know is what you're posting. The laws might be screwing your family from passing out Halloween candy. But it is also stopping rapists and child molesters from doing the same. Go argue with legislators. It's just ####ing candy. Until the laws are changed, you'll continue to pay for what you did. I'm sorry that your kids are suffering but you and your wife decided to create a family. Your children are you. The laws were the same when you had them. YOU made the choice to have children raised in a sex offender environment. YOU made the choice to do so in Maryland. Don't like it? Move to a state where they're more welcoming to sex offenders. For me, I'm damn happy that our state has these laws.

 

[Bay_Kat]

I saw a post on Twitter the other day, can't remember who posted it. He said "All their lives we tell our children not to take candy from strangers, then what to we do on Halloween? We take them out to take candy from strangers." I know Halloween is different but I don't think anyone can say they know every single person in their neighborhood.

 

[Father-of-Four]

What if he did? What if he had a craving for small children? Fact is, he broke the law by living there.

You may not deserve to be on the registry. I don't know the facts. All I know is what you're posting. The laws might be screwing your family from passing out Halloween candy. But it is also stopping rapists and child molesters from doing the same. Go argue with legislators. It's just ####ing candy. Until the laws are changed, you'll continue to pay for what you did. I'm sorry that your kids are suffering but you and your wife decided to create a family. Your children are you. The laws were the same when you had them. YOU made the choice to have children raised in a sex offender environment. YOU made the choice to do so in Maryland. Don't like it? Move to a state where they're more welcoming to sex offenders. For me, I'm damn happy that our state has these laws.

We would love to move, but since passage of the Adam Walsh Act oin the federal level, there ARE no states that are more "lenient". We've even looked at foreign countries. No where to go.

And it is not stopping "rapists and child molesters" from passing out candy. Not at all. There's nothing stopping them from going to someone else's house or a haunted house amusement or a theme park or wherever. And that's just the 8% of all sex offenders who have been actually caught. You think this law makes you any safer? No. What it does is makes you more vulnerable! It blinds you to the reality that there are many more dangerous people out there. You tell yourself "They're not on the registry; therefore they are safe", when that is simply not true.

And no, the laws WEREN'T the same when we started our family. They changed in the last 4 years. Originally, I would have been off the registry by now. Careful with your assumptions. They changed the law well after the fact, and there is nothing we can do about it.

So, no other choice but to fight these things, tooth and nail, as i AM DOING RIGHT NOW.

 

[RoseRed]

I understand, Rose, and admire you for that. Unfortunately, I cannot understand how what you did actually protected her. What you did was hurt someone else because you were scared. So he lived near a daycare center. So what? Is your child allowed to wander around the neighborhood of the daycare center? Or do you think he's going to sneak in and steal a baby? Or maybe he'll start foaming at the mouth and run through a crowd of children at recess, biting their heads off? Maybe your child was allowed to stand on the curb and hitch-hike to get home, and he would pick them up in some panel van with no windows? Good grief, woman. Get a clue.

Backtrack much?

As a law abiding citizen, I can point out that he was non compliant.

You and your wife can sit here and spout off all you want about the laws and how they are unfair, in some cases, but not all. But I doubt our legislators are reading this. Perhaps you should be more proactive and do more about it.

 

[Father-of-Four]

You and your wife can sit here and spout off all you want about the laws and how they are unfair, in some cases, but not all. But I doubt our legislators are reading this. Perhaps you should be more proactive and do more about it.[/
QUOTE]

Well, Rose, if I can't even convince one stranger after 2 days work, there's really no possibility of getting a politician to change his/her mind, is there?

 

[RoseRed]

Backtrack much?

As a law abiding citizen, I can point out that he was non compliant.

You and your wife can sit here and spout off all you want about the laws and how they are unfair, in some cases, but not all. But I doubt our legislators are reading this. Perhaps you should be more proactive and do more about it.[/QUOTE]

Well, Rose, if I can't even convince one stranger after 2 days work, there's really no possibility of getting a politician to change his/her mind, is there.

You won't get it from me. I know of three cases where children were involved and those molesters deserve to be where they are and pay the consequences for the rest of their lives.

 

[BOP]

My child is less than 2 years old. If I found out that there was a sex offender living near his daycare (who had notes in their file specifying they were to have no contact with children or live near areas children frequent) you can bet I'd report them, too.

I'm sorry that you are on the registry, the story you have given us appears to place you on there unfairly. However, you are leaping to protect and defend others on the registry that you know NOTHING about. I don't give convicted criminals the benefit of the doubt, especially not when my children may be the ones to discover my error for me.

You're missing his point. He's leaping to defend people who have been labelled, who are being vilified when nothing else is known about how they got onto "the List."

 

[puggymom]

The sex offender registry needs to be revamped. It was a good idea but is becoming absolutely meaningless when people like FoF and drunken pee'ers are placed on it.

 

[puggymom]

The sex offender registry needs to be revamped. It was a good idea but is becoming absolutely meaningless when people like FoF and drunken pee'ers are placed on it.

Of course it could be argued that there could be no need for a registry if what most think of as true sex offenders, child predictors, violent rapists and the likes were just left to rot in prison.

 

[tom88]

Should someone whose "sex offense" was pissing on a bush in the park be banned from handing out candy at Halloween?

Show me someone who was convicted for nothing more than pissing in a park who is a sex offender. I know that people will say that, but I have never heard of pissing outside putting someone on the sex offender registry. I think when the facts of the case come out, the offense was much more than pissing in the park.

In fact, that isn't even a registerable offense in Maryland.

 

[tom88]

OK, Folks. I am a registered sex offender. My crime was consensual "heavy petting" with an underage college freshman in 1992, at a party when I was a senior. Now, 20 years later, I am still paying for that heinous felony, as are my wife and children. I can't find a job, wont be able to go see my kids play sports at school or their plays or recitals, wont be at the PTA meetings (no loss there, truth be told)...

I have a 4 yr old, a 3 yr old, and a 1 yr old. How do I take them trick-or-treating? Why are THEY not allowed to make Halloween decorations for the house? Why do THEY have to suffer? Why are THEY being excluded from normal society?

Bottom line is, I screwed up, I did my time, now LEAVE ME AND MY FAMILY THE F*&^K ALONE!

I would like to know what state you were convicted in?

 

[tom88]

You liked it, but did not answer the question. Could you tell me what state you were convicted in, and the crime? In Maryland, I believe "petting" would be a fourth degree sex offense.

 

[RoseRed]

You liked it, but did not answer the question. Could you tell me what state you were convicted in, and the crime? In Maryland, I believe "petting" would be a fourth degree sex offense.

Did he PM you yet? Registry shows him as a Tier III.

 

[RoseRed]

Sorry; been a busy morning. Well went out at home; trying to get the situation resolved. Waiting on well company now.
State was Illinois. 1992. Convictions were not listed as Statutory, as Illinois quit using that term. Instead, it was Agg. Crim Sexual Abuse, Crim Sex Assault, and 2 counts Bail Bond Violation. Given 12 years for the sex crimes and 11 yearsm for Bail Bond violation. I got scared and ran, and jumped bail, and was on the rrun for 15 months. Got out in Aug 2004.

And you want leniency?

 

[Father-of-Four]

And you want leniency?

Ha!
No, never asked for leniency. I DID my time. Over and above, in fact; look it up. Nobody gets an 11 year sentence for jumping bail.

No, I did my time. What I want now is to be left alone. It was a 12 year sentence . NOT a life sentence. It's done. I am a citizen now, rebuilding my life.

 

[RoseRed]

Ha!
No, never asked for leniency. I DID my time. Over and above, in fact; look it up. Nobody gets an 11 year sentence for jumping bail.

No, I did my time. What I want now is to be left alone. It was a 12 year sentence . NOT a life sentence. It's done. I am a citizen now, rebuilding my life.

I already have all of your information.