ELKHART — The requirement that 19-year-old Zach Anderson register as a sex offender as part of his conviction for involvement with an underage girl isn’t just a concern for him and his parents, Les and Amanda Anderson.
It’s part of a larger movement against what some critics see as indiscriminate and unfair placement of certain offenders on such registries.
Vicky Henry, president of Women Against Registry, or WAR, doesn’t think sex offender registries should go away altogether. Officials just need to be more judicious in deciding who poses a threat and deserves to be put on such lists.
“We use a broad-brush approach,” Henry said by phone from her home in the St. Louis area. Yet for many who end up on the list, their misdeeds are one-time things and by requiring them to get on a registry “we ruin their lives. It’s just not necessary.”
There are other groups, too, such as Reform Sex Offender Laws. American Civil Liberties Union advocates have cited what they see as the limited impact of registries in halting sexual assaults and argued that they can hamper rehabilitation of certain offenders.
In Zach Anderson’s case, the Concord High School grad pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Berrien County, Mich., for having sex with a teen in Niles, Mich. They had met online and she told him she was 17 though she was actually 14.
- RELATED: ‘Old-fashioned scarlet letter’: Elkhart 19-year-old fights sex offender status after encounter with Michigan teen, June 7, 2015
He had asked for leniency in sentencing per Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Training Act, which allows younger offenders to expunge their records in certain circumstances. The 14-year-old and her mother also asked for leniency. Judge Dennis Wiley, though, denied HYTA status and the young man, now serving a 90-day jail sentence, will be required to register as a sex offender, which has him and his parents, all from Elkhart, fighting the sentence.
Broadly speaking, something needs to be done about the tough penalties seemingly handed down indiscriminately to those involved in sex offenses and transgressions, said Les Anderson, who worries about the stigmatization his son could face. “Because, you know, at the end of the day, this stuff is ruining kids’ lives,” he said.
His son doesn’t pose a threat, Les Anderson said, and advocates such as Henry said that’s frequently the case for those put on registries. Not everyone is deserving of the stigma that comes with being on a registry, and Henry said getting on the list can make it tough to impossible for transgressors not likely to pose a threat to move on with their lives.
People who she maintains don’t pose a threat and have maintained otherwise clean records have had to remain on the registry since the 1980s and 1990s. “What makes this justifiable?” she said.
’YOUR WHOLE LIFE CAN BE ALTERED’
For Zach Anderson’s mom, Amanda Anderson, her son’s predicament points to the need for more sex education — about the potential criminal repercussions of even consensual sex.
“They don’t tell kids that in sex education. They’re all about condoms and how to protect your body from disease. They don’t say about protection from the law,” Amanda Anderson said.
Yet depending on the age of those involved and the gap in their ages, having sex can violate the law. “It’s not just about getting a girl pregnant. Your whole life can be altered,” she continued.
A fact sheet from the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office puts it succinctly: “The law does not make an exception just because you are in love.”
For Barbara Vernon of Child and Parent Services of Elkhart County, the situation points to the importance of parents knowing what’s going on in their kids’ lives and monitoring their computer use. CAPS is a non-profit group that advocates on behalf of children and fights abuse and neglect.
Teens the age of the girl involved in the Niles incident are typically striving to be more independent, can think they are ready to take on the world. “They believe they are able to handle more adult situations than they really are,” said Vernon.
In the Niles case, Zach Anderson and the 14-year-old met online and Vernon said it’s incumbent on parents to know where on the web their kids are visiting.
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