IN- Peeling back sex offender label (A Romeo and Juliet Case)

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10-5-2008 Indiana:

A 12-year-old girl in the sixth grade became the envy of her friends when she became the girlfriend of a popular 14-year-old boy in the eighth grade. By the time she got to seventh grade, and he became a freshman in high school, they were having sex with one another.

Even though the mother of the girl was unhappy about the relationship, and did what she could to discourage it, her daughter's relationship with this boy, two years older than she, continued for a few years, until she was a sophomore in high school, and he was a senior getting ready to graduate.

That spring, her boyfriend turned 18, and became an adult in the eyes of the law. The mother of his 16-year-old girlfriend got a protective order to keep him away from her.

A couple of weeks passed, and one day the boy got a tearful phone call from the mother of his girlfriend. “I'm so sorry,” she sobbed into the phone, “I had no idea how much my daughter loves you. She's been miserable since I told her she couldn't see you anymore. I'm sorry I did this to both of you. If you want to come see her, you may.”

Not thinking, the boy hangs up the phone and rushes over to the girlfriend's house. They go up to her bedroom, and with her mother still in the house, they have a physical reunion. Why not? They've been doing so in the house with her mom right downstairs for years.

But this time, it's different. Momma calls the police, and he's arrested and taken to jail. When he gets to court, he's charged with violating the protective order that required him to stay away from his girlfriend, and because he's now an adult, he's also charged with having unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

Here's the question; is he a sex offender? (A Romeo and Juliet Case)

-But then there are:

Here’s another scenario. An older homeless man spends most of his time wandering around downtown. Sometimes he sleeps in the park; sometimes he sleeps in the weeds down by the river. He's a fixture in the community; everyone who works or lives downtown knows him, and considers him harmless.

He's in the park one afternoon, and has to go to the bathroom, so he does what he usually does; goes behind some bushes and pees. But this time, someone sees him do it, and calls the police.

He's charged and convicted of exposing himself in a public place. Here's the question again: is he a sex offender, or not a sex offender?

Both scenarios occur more often than you might think. Both the young man sleeping with his younger girlfriend, and the older man peeing in the park, were charged and convicted as sex offenders. Both are now required by law to register as sex offenders. But are they really sex offenders?

I believe that it is wrong for teenagers to be sexually active. As a minister of the gospel, I believe it is best if people wait to have sex until after they are married, and enjoy it only with the person they married.

But at the same time, in spite of whatever they might have been taught (or not) concerning the morality and the risks of being sexually active, we are dealing with two teenagers who are involved in a long-term sexual relationship that began when both of them were minors.

While I believe that their behavior is both risky and morally wrong, the question still remains. Is the boyfriend really a sex offender? You may not like this answer, but I believe the answer is no.

And what about the homeless man, relieving himself in the park? I doubt if there's a man alive who has never pulled over on an interstate highway or found some other outdoor spot to take care of an emergency. If that old homeless man is a sex offender, then so is every other male on the planet.

Sex offenses are among the most hideous and damaging crimes imaginable, especially when the victims are children. We are very angry at sex offenders, and rightfully so.

But one of the problems society is having trying to find a way to deal with sexual crimes, is that people like the two men I just described are being lumped in with far more dangerous predatory pedophiles.

The young man particularly will pay an especially heavy price, labeled as a sex offender for the rest of his life, because he had a birthday that made him an adult.

Is it wrong for teenagers to be sexually active unless they are married? I believe that it is. But does the punishment in this case fit the crime? I believe it does not. ..Source.. Opinion of: In addition to his duties as the Executive Director of Christian Formation Ministries, Richard Johnson does a lot of personal ministry. His organization has numerous volunteer opportunities available. For information, please e-mail richard@christian-formation.org, or call 812-945-0886.