TX- De-registration bill for consensual sex offenders passes House

5-6-2009 Texas:

Sex offenders who were convicted despite having consensual sex with their victims would be allowed to petition for removal from the state's sex offender registry, under a bill the House passed on Wednesday.

The bill allows offenders who were no more than four years older than their victims - and whose victims were at least 13 years old - to ask a judge to remove them from the sex offender registry if their relationship was consensual. The bill passed 131-12.

Under current law, young men who were convicted after having sex with their underage girlfriends are often forced to register for years, a stigma that keeps them from finding work or renting apartments. Many of the men who came to testify on the bill this spring were married to the women they were convicted of assaulting.

"This is one of the most morally compelling pieces of legislation that I have ever filed," said Rep. Todd Smith. "We rarely have the opportunity to do something that takes people out of a living hell." ..News Source.. by Emily Ramshaw/Reporter