Catch the pervert

According to my understanding, when the sex offender is pointed out, he is watched more carefully. Many people don't like having sex offenders in their neighborhood, so they sign a petition and request that local law deal with it. If the sex offender does nothing wrong, they just monitor him or her. But if there really is a strong outcry, usually the sex offender is removed forcefully, and placed in a shelter.

Basically, after the person gets out of prison, his name, address, and photograph can be publicized by the police and posted on the Internet. Once you are convicted of a sex offense, you may be limited in the kinds of jobs you can hold and where you can live.

The main consideration for a sex offender is to register. This is an absolute must. Failure to do so will result in severe penalties. The first offense is an E felony, punishable by more than a year in state prison. A second or subsequent failure to register is a D felony. Failure to register is also a basis for violation of parole or revocation of probation.

As much as I would want to move if there were a sex offender on my street, I can't help but thinking . . move where? This is New York. Isn't there a sex offender on every street? So, maybe ignorance is bliss . . . ?

@JenMac: I don't know if there is a sex offender on every street. If they exist, no one is saying. I would hate to hear about any child getting killed because the person was not reported.

I don't think sex offenders are as predominate in NYC as they are in the suburbs, but I could be wrong.

@hhusted and JenMac I actually found some neighborhood-wise figures in yesterday's Metro newspaper-East New York ,Brooklyn zip code 11207 -198 registered sex offenders, East Harlem, Manhattan zip code 10035-169
Morrisania , Bronx zip code 10456- 104

At the same time, it's worthwhile getting more information before passing judgment. I know a boy who will be spending his life on a sex offender list because, when 17, he had sex with his 15-year old girlfriend in MA (where 16 is age of consent) and her father freaked out and had him arrested for statutory rape. Pedophilia is disgusting, of course, and parents should be aware of any genuine danger, but a knee-jerk reaction to someone being on a sex offender list might do more hard than good.

ajadedidealist: I totally see your point, but as a girl, it's pretty hard to not have an immediate reaction to the whole "sex offender" kind of diagnosis.

Understood, @Jenmac (hey, I'm a girl myself!) I suppose my point is that the sex offender system really does need to be rehauled so that a distinction is made between the two categories...

@Ajadedidealist; I guess from a woman standpoint I understand where you are coming from. It should be important to gather as much info about someone before labeling them. The problem with society, especially the legal system, is that once a sex offender, always one. So precautions have to be made to protect children, even if it means exposing sex offenders, even if they did nothing wrong after serving their time.

What's so terrifying and strange about the whole affair is that we have to balance two instincts. The first - to give everyone a fair shot at redemption, not to demonize or dehumanize anybody or subject people to punishment beyond their jail time. The second - to keep our children as far away as possible from any threat, even at the expense of chasing a convicted sex offender out of town. It's a sad situation...

@Ajadedidealist: I agree. There is no balance here. The town or area has to be careful about who they let live there, especially if the person is a criminal, even if the person has been rehabbed. When it comes to children, cautionary measures have to be taken no matter what.

So.. this may sound totally weird but I have a sex offender iPhone ap that locates the sex offenders nearest you using the phone's GPS. My friend downloaded it...don't ask. Anyway, the ap (and I know there are websites like it) actually makes mention of the people's specific crimes, so you can see who is a child molester and who just got caught getting frisky in public or something.

Well, good thing for that since at the rate these little bastards are going nowadays, they'll probably be having sex when they're 7 by the time we have children.

With the way kids are having sex earlier, no telling what the next generation will be like.

Oh. My. God. The poor future children of the world.

And I am really weirded out by all the parents on Facebook. I think the only reason MySpace is staying afloat is because kids can post their personal debaucheries without their parents reading about it. I know you can block your parents from seeing certain things on Facebook, but still.

@JenMac Boys don't start producing their magic seed until they hit puberty. So good luck, future 7-year-olds!

@BroadwayBK that's the problem with Apple, yes they have fabulous design, features etc but they make sure that you pay for it.. my T-mobile account gives me unlimited data via t-zones at $9.99 and I have to add another $5 for 500 texts a month of course this is in addition to the family plan of $49.99. For three cell phone lines our bill averages to around a $100 a month...