SOSEN: BRANDED: A Woman’s Life on the Sex Offender Registry
Jan has agreed to share her story to raise awareness about the inhumane and devastating effects these continuously changing laws have on the former offender, their families, children and society as a whole. Although this is Jan’s story, it is similar to the over 850,0001 men, women and children (as young as 8) who are on a sex offender registry in this country.
My name is Jan. I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and grandmother. Twenty six years ago, when I was 22, I made a very stupid choice. I had consensual sex with a 15-year-old boy.
I subsequently pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of sexual conduct with a minor, and I served one year probation. I tried to move on with my life in a positive way putting my one and only crime behind me. I married, had a family, furthered my education, and became gainfully employed.
Arizona law requires anyone convicted of any sexually related offense to register as a “sex offender” for life regardless of a crime’s severity. In 1992, registration consisted solely of informing the Sheriff’s Department if you moved. But over the last 26 years, subsequent legislative sessions have created new laws prohibiting “registered sex offenders” from many things and requiring new conditions which apply regardless of a person’s risk or date of the offense. Failure to abide by any of these new laws can be a felony. These new laws apply to me even though I have already served my time.
I want to share my story and give you insight of what it is like to live on the registry. In 1999, Megan’s Law passed to “make communities safer” by making the registry available to the public. My four children and I were declined housing due to my “status as a sex offender”. A credit reporting agency falsely listed my crime as felony child molestation implying my victim was under 12 years old. I also received a letter from the Department of Public Safety in 2002 stating that I must obtain a new driver’s license or state ID card that is only valid for one year. People not on the registry in Arizona only have to go to the MVD every 12 years for a new photo and eye exam until they are 65 years old. Having to go back every year to get it renewed is a huge source of anxiety and humiliation, and great cost due to the $10 renewal fee. Additionally, I have had difficulty renewing my license many times which puts me at risk for felony charges.
In 2004, the picture from my driver’s license was shown on commercials on a news broadcast called “The Face of Danger,” which highlighted Sheriff Arpaio’s plan to install software in all public schools that would alert local police if a “registered sex offender” showed up on campus. I have three children and was petrified every time I had to go to their schools. My children and I missed out on many activities and memories because I stayed away from their schools, even though I had legitimate reasons to be there. I feared for my children if my presence had triggered an alarm.
Lawmakers pushed to make everyone on the registry subject to community notification. I started a website under a pseudonym to protect my family’s privacy and spoke out against these laws. I became the target of vigilantes. They threatened me, exposed my real identity, published many websites with my picture stating that I was a “pedophile,” pro-pedophile,” “child molester,” and “child abuser.” They published my address, telephone numbers, and email address. They told businesses I worked with to sever ties with me or be placed on their “Corporate Sex Offenders” website and be outed a “Pro-Pedophile” and the companies complied. The vigilantes stated they knew the names of my children, had their photos and were watching them. The FBI refused to help. The local police department responded to me with, “What do you think the registry is for?” When I filed a federal lawsuit in 2008 to try to force a federal judge to order an investigation into the vigilantes, the battle never resulted in any criminal charges. I was not able to get the response or treatment that any other citizen would get.
In 2009, the legislature amended the fingerprint clearance card statute. Anyone required to register as a “sex offender” was no longer able to obtain a fingerprint clearance card and was barred from obtaining a good cause exception hearing. The legislature also expanded the types of employment that require fingerprint clearance cards. My realtor’s license was revoked. All of my post-secondary education since Megan’s law passed became useless. I now have thousands of dollars in student loan debt (accruing interest) that I have no way of paying back.
John Stossel of ABC’s “20/20” picked up my story in 2009. He interviewed me and some of the vigilantes. The story was titled “Age of Consent.” It is viewable on YouTube.
In 2011, I gave up the fight. I am unable to obtain a job. Because we are a one income family now, we cannot afford health insurance. I suffer from terrible anxiety and depression and rarely leave my house. My last suicide attempt was October 2017. In my suicide note, I told my loved ones not to be sad or cry for me because I was finally free of everything, and I would no longer be a burden to them. I wanted them to know that I had finally found peace.
For 26 years, I have tried to become a better person and to rise above my past, rise above my own childhood trauma, and give my children a better life than I had. For the same 26 years, our government has undermined each of my efforts. We are supposed to be a country of second chances where people aren’t judged by their worst decision. I wish our government would remember that. I also wish they would think of my innocent husband and children who have suffered through these ever-changing and restrictive laws every bit as much as I have.
Every punishment should fit the crime, and every punishment should have an end.
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I think everyone is using the words comparison, analogy, similarity etc. as interchangeable – they are not necessarily so. For instance, the outcome of a circumstance can be similiar without the origin being a true comparison. An analogy does not mean that the two things being compared are actually related (or need to be in any way) One dictionary definition shows a great example for analogy:
“a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump.”
A heart and a pump are not the same thing and the origins are completely different – yet one could argue that the function is the same. Same is true for the things mentioned in this thread. As I said in one of my posts that the most glaringly similarity is unjust and unequal treatment of people. As I mentioned there is also a correlation for this and segregation – just because RSOs have seemingly committed a crime they still should be treated equally with other people convicted of a crime.
While I agree with the analysis that we are not being persecuted in the same league as what the Jews had to suffer – and I also agree that Judaism is a religion and not a nationality (although there are some Jews that will argue that it is but that is another story…). However, there are some elements of that analogy that make sense:
Although Hitler realized his hatred and blamed Jews for the downfall of Germany etc. he still did not just start mistreating them – he knew there were enough people in Germany that would be appalled by that so he started small – one way he did that was to start creating “crimes” that the Jews were guilty of (he also persecuted other groups of people as well) – one tactic he used was FEAR based on propaganda and lies (sound familiar?) – one such lie was that the Jewish religion was a form of witchcraft. Once he had the fear in place he could proceed. Similar tactics have been used to escalate the RSO laws – false information and fear and then enter “save the children” and it is all wrapped up in a nice little package.
Another analogy would be segregation (Jim Crow ) laws. Of course, based on racism they also used fear and lies to propagate the system. They inflated criminal charges and defendants were found guilty of concocted crimes and always convicted – punishment for breaking the segregation laws was severe and often death was the result – many times by vigilantism or organized lynching. The reason I use this analogy and I think it is a more appropriate one is because the methods used and the outcomes are similar. One group was harmed and ostracized by the color of their skin – the other (RSOs) by the nature of their crime (sex). No other crimes (from the worst to the least) carry the label and continuing punishment that a crime labeled as a sex crime does – remember a large majority of RSO crimes have absolutely nothing to do with child abuse. However, if you ask an uninformed citizen they will invariably tell you that the people on the registry are child molesters. And yes, by the nature of the fact that RSOs have committed or been accused of committing a crime it sets it apart from other persecuted groups but keep these things in mind – many of these crimes were not even crimes a short time ago, no other crimes carry the continuing hardships of being a RSO (places you can go and travel, having to register all the time, having your personal information posted on the internet, restricted where you can live and work, your civil rights being revoked forever, and of course the list goes on) – for a RSO there is no concept of paying your debt to society. The restrictions are often applied to people that have completed their sentences long ago. It really boils down to equality – equal treatment under the law – when a sentence that was adjudicated by a judge and/or a jury is served the person should be free to pursue a better life.
Sorry for the length – for me it is about equality not about the fact the RSOs committed a crime and that sets them apart from other persecuted groups. While not all RSO crimes involve children think about this – child abuse that involves neglect or physical (not sex) abuse is a crime but the defendants are not treated the same as RSOs – why? Is one type of abuse worse then the other? The answer of course is no – all types of child abuse are equally harmful so why the are only the sexual ones treated thus? Public nudity is treated as a sex crime and yet nudity and sex really have nothing to do with each other. While I could on (and I appreciate it if you made it this far in my tirade lol) I won’t.
Well said Karen, I’m not using the old because it doesn’t sound complimentary. You should be an attorney.
Thank you Old Karen, for expressing in such a succinct and enlightening way what I barely could outline a month ago. I previously drew the same two analogies you did, just a day ago, but you did it much more meaningfully than myself. Thank you. You really should write a book on this subject. Another good one to read, though not necessarily about this subject per se, it does lay out how things like we suffer from came about. EVERYONE should read this one: “The Tyranny of Good Intentions” by Paul Craig Stewart and Louis M. Stratton.
DavidM and PHYS ED – Thank you. Funny because I have had many people tell me I should be a lawyer – I actually considered it at one time. The book idea I have toyed with – I actually started it and continue to gather information for it – I just need to do it!
You can use the Old lol – I named myself that because for a while I was the only Karen here – then another Karen started posting and I did not want other posters to confuse us – so I put the Old there lol