If the Registry Protects Children,
Why Are Children on It?

Florida’s own government reports, public-health guidance and research raise questions that deserve serious discussion about youth, rehabilitation, public disclosure and where sexual harm to children actually occurs.

Sexual abuse is serious. Victims deserve support, accountability matters, and preventing another victim should be the central objective of public policy.

But those principles do not prevent us from examining whether every registry policy actually accomplishes that objective.

Florida’s own records show that the registration system reaches people through the juvenile justice system, while modern child-safety research shows that sexual harm frequently comes from someone a child already knows and trusts.

Those facts belong in the same public-safety conversation.

515 Juvenile Sex Offenders

Florida’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability — OPPAGA — reported 515 juvenile sex offenders in Florida’s registry data as of October 2024.

That number should not be interpreted as meaning that 515 juveniles are currently committing offenses or that each one presently poses the same level of risk.

Instead, it demonstrates the reach of Florida’s registration system into juvenile cases.

Florida law includes specified juvenile delinquency adjudications for qualifying offenses committed when the juvenile was 14 years old or older.

A child can complete treatment, complete supervision, finish school, mature, become employed, build relationships and eventually become a middle-aged adult.

The question is how long conduct from adolescence should continue defining that person’s public identity.

Read OPPAGA Report 24-11 →

The Removal Clock Can Run for Decades

OPPAGA describes Florida’s general statutory petition pathway as requiring qualifying individuals to have been lawfully released from sanctions, confinement or supervision for at least 25 years, along with other statutory requirements.

Because qualifying juvenile registration under the framework discussed by OPPAGA began in 2007, the report states that the earliest a juvenile sexual offender could become eligible for that removal process is 2032.

Read Florida Statute § 943.0435 →

“Stranger Danger” Is Only Part of the Picture

Modern public-health evidence shows that focusing primarily on unknown strangers can leave families with an incomplete understanding of risk.

Children frequently know the person involved.

Read the CDC Guidance →

Read Florida DCF’s Study →

Most Sex-Crime Arrests in the Study Were Not Repeat Sex-Crime Arrests

A peer-reviewed study by Jill Levenson and Kristen Zgoba examined aggregate Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrest data from 1990 through 2010.

The researchers defined a repeat offense as an arrest committed by someone who had a previous conviction in the same crime category.

The average annual repeat-offense arrest rate for sex crimes was 6.5%.

Read the Peer-Reviewed Florida Study →

Thank You to Every Volunteer on the Florida Action Committee Legislative Team

A special thank-you goes to every volunteer contributing time, research, personal experience, calls, emails, meetings, drafting and outreach to Florida Action Committee’s Legislative Team.

The team is helping prepare and support the proposed Young Adult Registry Petition Act, which FAC intends to advance for consideration during the 2027 Florida Legislative Session.

The proposal is designed to create a new petition pathway for qualifying people whose offenses occurred when they were young adults, giving lawmakers an opportunity to examine whether Florida’s current 25-year removal framework adequately accounts for youth, maturation, rehabilitation and long-term public-safety outcomes.

Every email matters. Every phone call matters. Every volunteer matters.

Thank you to everyone helping put these questions before Florida lawmakers and making sure youth, rehabilitation, public safety and the long-term consequences of registration receive serious legislative consideration in 2027.

Read FAC’s Legislative Committee Post →

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Read the Sources for Yourself

Florida OPPAGA:

Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Triennial Review

Florida Statute:

Florida Statute § 943.0435

CDC:

About Child Sexual Abuse

Florida Department of Children and Families:

Child-on-Child Sexual Abuse Needs Assessment

Florida Repeat-Arrest Research:

Levenson & Zgoba — Community Protection Policies and Repeat Sexual Offenses in Florida

Florida Action Committee:

Legislative Committee / Young Adult Registry Petition Act