High school student Andy Dougherty of Moville doesn't belong on the state's sex-offender registry with rapists and child molesters. But the absurdity of this state's sex-offender laws put him at risk for landing there.
Dougherty did something stupid. At the age of 17, he sent a friend a 10-second video that showed Dougherty with his pants down, engaged in a sex act with his teenage girlfriend. Dougherty sent the video after the couple had a fight, apparently trying to get revenge on his girlfriend for spreading rumors about him.
A Woodbury County prosecutor charged Dougherty with telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor, a sex crime. Since then, the teen pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree harassment and will spend time in jail, do community service and pay fines.
But had he not pleaded guilty to lesser offenses, he faced having his entire life turned upside down. If convicted and placed on the registry, he would have been banned from living certain places, prohibited from doing certain jobs and labeled a sex offender for life.
Dougherty's story is, we suppose, a cautionary tale to teens: Don't send racy cell-phone videos.
But more than a lesson for teens, the case should serve to educate Iowa lawmakers. It calls into question this state's extreme and unreasonable laws on sex offenders.
First, there's something wrong with the law when a teen who sends pornography to another teen could be placed on the sex-offender registry. That list should be reserved for those who are a threat to society - the people Iowans need to know to watch out for.
Second, the case underscores the ridiculousness of residency restrictions on sex offenders in this state. If convicted, Dougherty would not have been able to live within 2,000 feet of a school or child-care center. Since state universities don't allow sex offenders to live on campus, a conviction would have meant he couldn't live in most residence halls at the three state universities.
As this page has noted repeatedly, restricting where sex offenders can live doesn't make anyone safer. It soaks up thousands of hours of law enforcement officers' time and continues to punish one group of criminals long after their sentences have been served.
In Dougherty's case, society wouldn't be better off if his entire life had been disrupted and derailed. The teen didn't rape anyone. There's no evidence he's a threat to other Iowans.
Some good may come out of this case, however. Some Iowa lawmakers are apparently questioning why a law intended to target pedophiles is ensnaring teenagers angry at ex-girlfriends.
Even Rep. Christopher Rants of Sioux City, who has repeatedly defended the residency restrictions and getting tough on sex offenders, seems to recognize there's something wrong when current law could impose such harsh punishments on, in his words, a teenager's "stupid mistake."
If Rants is willing to question the reasonableness of this state's sex-offender laws, there may be hope lawmakers could revisit those laws with an eye to common sense. ..News Source.. by The Register's editorial
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