Once he is done serving his sentence, he will begin a new life sentence as a labeled sexual predator under the one-time is enough rule. Since he has been incarcerated, two of our children have married and had babies. We now have two grandchildren, both of whom he may not be able to see because our children’s spouses don’t know him, assume he is guilty and have already conveyed that they want him no where near their child…regardless of what our children attest to. As a couple, I run the risk of losing my job because I love and stand by my husband; as a couple, we run the risk of not having an adequate place to live all because his name and our address will be blasted out under a blanket rule and we will be judged by a countless many who know nothing about us except what the state chooses to tell them.

When an “offender” is released from incarceration, they are said to have done their time and are said to be given a second chance…tell me where is the second chance in being ridiculed or bullied by complete strangers, where is the second chance in being told I can’t have a job I am well-qualified for because of who I am married to; where is the second chance in our grandchildren being denied the right to know their grandfather and their heritage?!?

Truth be told, we can live with all of the rules of counseling, polygraph tests, curfews, and warrant-less searches of our home. But we can’t live without a home, a decent job, or our complete family!