My Word: Not all sex offenders belong on registry

October 9, 2013|By Ellen Huber

I have three precious grandchildren, and the last thing I would ever want is for one of them to be victimized by a sexual predator. So, of course, I am in favor of any laws that will keep them safe from these sick individuals.

My quarrel with the state of Florida, and most of our local cities and counties, is that everyone caught having sex with a person under 18 is automatically deemed a sexual offender and has to register as such. These offenders face harsh restrictions concerning where they may live. The restrictions are intended to impede sexual predators but are applied to all sexual offenders.

Just as banning gun possession would mean only criminals would have guns, applying these limitations to all offenders means that a large group of people who would never repeat and are trying to repair their lives are strictly adhering to these laws, while the true deviants continue to prey on our children.

The laws are nonsensical, allowing a sex offender to be in a location near a school, playground or daycare during the day for work, but not to sleep in a location near one of these facilities at night, when no children are at these facilities. Isn't that a little backward? But this is how our legislators pass laws, with little concern for logic and lots of pandering to the fears of the voters.

I believe all those convicted of an offense of a sexual nature involving a minor should have a psychological evaluation upon arrival at prison, and every three months thereafter, in order to determine who is a true threat and identify those who just made an unfortunate mistake.

Special laws should be formulated that deal with those who are a true threat to society, and those who are not should not be subjected to a lifetime of punishment via laws that so severely restrict them and a probation system that does nothing to help them become law-abiding citizens again.

I hope and pray that when new and revised laws are passed in the next session, there will be a fair and graduated system that recognizes that not all sex offenders are predators bound to repeat their misdeeds, and that the restrictions placed on the nonpredators are, in essence, punishment for a crime not yet committed, and therefore are in violation of the innocent-until-proved-guilty concept of our justice system.

Ellen Huber lives in Mount Dora.

Orlando Sentinel Articles