Sex Offenders Banned From Online Gaming

[Zigballistic]

You take away every avenue of "life" available to a predator, it just gives him/her more time to think and/or plan their next offence. One that will recommit a crime will just get more creative on how to find a victim.
There should be a "sexual predator" list, and a separate list or two for people who make boneheaded mistakes or are victims of circumstance.

[bean]

Sex offender registration needs to change entirely. They need to remove the list completely and start making it a condition of sentencing that they must register for X amount of time based on the severity of their crime. The fact that there is not a judge involved and they keep imposing more and more penalties that make it more and more difficult for people who have done this to re-assimilate with society is just terrible legislating.

The problem is that our legislators are retarded and I don't see anyone who is going to start a letter writing campaign asking for a repeal of the sex offender laws. Even though these laws are retarded, no one wants to come off as "pro-sex-offender" by opposing them.

It's also causing a problem for law enforcement agencies. They're having to put manpower into registering sex offenders each day and then checking to see if they live at those locations instead of using that manpower to investigate crimes. Plus, recidivism among sex offenders is very low with treatment (and they all get extensive treatment in Texas - not sure about other states), so registration is a huge waste of money.

Finally, I know it is a huge embarrassment for the sex offender's family and often for their victim - especially if there is public notification and they keep seeing their attacker show up in the newspaper - even a decade later.

These laws are bad. Victim's groups, police groups, and libertarian groups have all opposed them, but it's politically difficult to oppose or amend them because of the subject matter.

What a smart lawmaker should do is have a bill that doesn't get rid of registration, but makes it a part of sentencing AND simultaneously increases the minimum sentence for repeat offenders with 2nd time offenders having to serve prison terms and then be registered and have to attend counseling (that they pay for btw) for the rest of their lives and 3rd time offenders being locked away forever.

[Dirtbag]

Originally Posted by pomeroy

I just don't think people should be on the sex offender list for public urination.

You don't get on an offender list for public urination. However, that's one of the most common excuses I hear from people masturbating, exposing themselves, etc. When digging into the facts of the case, I usually get a very different picture from the evidence.

In Texas, even indecent exposure doesn't get you listed unless you have a prior conviction.

Now, while I do agree that being listed for a 19-15 statutory rape is stupid and counterproductive, those who prey on children or commit genuine sexual assaults should be listed, so that we know who is living down the street (and trying to ingratiate themselves with our kids).

While it's fine to be high-minded about rehabilitation, sex offenders (the genuine predators) have a tendency to reoffend, and I'm not going to feel bad about their picture being on the Internet.

When a criminal victimizes another person, the victim's life is forever changed, often devastatingly. No tears need be she'd that the offender likewise has to deal with lifelong consequences.

That said, I'd prefer to have the dangerous ones locked up for life or executed, but some usually has to reoffend a few times before they get a serious sentence.

After more than a decade prosecuting and then defending people, I've gotten to see the humanity behind the offenses, and I've discovered that most criminals are more or less decent people in bad situations making poor choices; sexual predators (the 'real ones', remember), on the other hand, seem to generally be irreversibly damaged individuals who won't stop offending no matter what treatment is offered.

This law prohibiting access to online games probably won't help anything, but these kinds of laws develop from cases where an offender has used a particular mechanism to find victims - its an endless game of whack-a-mole, and it wont stop as long as politicians have to feel like theyre doing something. It would be better to allow judges to assess limitations tailored to each offender, rather than making blanket prohibitions on everyone.

[bean]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag

(and trying to ingratiate themselves with our kids).

Most sex offenders get caught once and never do it again. ANY adult that is talking to your kids who doesn't have their own kids or a reason to be talking to them (like buying lemonade at the lemonade stand), etc. should be a warning sign - especially men.

While it's fine to be high-minded about rehabilitation, sex offenders (the genuine predators) have a tendency to reoffend

People think this, but it's actually not true. Sex offenders that are caught and who go through counseling have very low recidivism - especially when compared to other types of crimes.

When a criminal victimizes another person, the victim's life is forever changed, often devastatingly.

This is also not true. While sexual abuse can be devastating and should never be minimized, the idea that it permanently damages children is false. The truth is that children are remarkably resilient -especially with counseling.

That said, I'd prefer to have the dangerous ones locked up for life or executed, but some usually has to reoffend a few times before they get a serious sentence.

I agree with this. Second time offenders should get serious time in prison and a lifetime of follow-up counseling if they ever get out. 3rd-time offenders need to be kept in prison or executed.

This law prohibiting access to online games probably won't help anything, but these kinds of laws develop from cases where an offender has used a particular mechanism to find victims - its an endless game of whack-a-mole, and it wont stop as long as politicians have to feel like theyre doing something. It would be better to allow judges to assess limitations tailored to each offender, rather than making blanket prohibitions on everyone.

Again, we agree.

I did a paper on this in my abnormal psychology class. Sex offender registration is a big, stupid mess. It's the Scarlet Letter of modern life and a sign of the political mess our country has become.

A real answer is extremely harsh prison terms for repeat sexual offenders and limited terms of registration for first-time offenders. I'm all for letting the people who mess up once get their lives back and nailing the repeat offender's asses to the wall.

[PathMaster]

According to the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), New York State has more than 33,000 registered sex offenders: 12,800 are level 1 registered offenders (lowest risk of repeat offense); 11,948 are level 2 registered offenders (moderate risk of repeat offense); 8331 are level 3 registered sex offenders (high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety exists). There are a total of approximately 745,000 registered sex offenders in the United States.

So, a total of one third of offenders had their services shut down. Offenders are placed in the registry based on their possible rate of recidivism. Level 1s would be the one time, stupid act, or bs, similar to that. 1s, while placed on the registry like level 2s and 3s. they too must follow the rules, but are barely watched by the authorities. 2s and 3s are the dangerous ones (again based upon their possible rates of recidivism, with 3s being the ones most likely to repeat.

Which offenders had their access removed? Frankly, if all or most of those with access removed were level threes, is that not an okay thing? Besides, these laws are not really for the offender, but for the general public. I do agree the system is not perfect, but the law does help. Especially now that offenders must communicate movement into an area to the police force and schools are notified within a certain distance as well. And then parents are notified by the schools of the location. NYS does a fair job of keeping track of the offenders with a map system where you can actually check your street address and see who exactly, offender wise, is living near you.

[Lint of Death]

I am absolutely in favor of New York's actions in a general sense, as I know little of the particulars. Hopefully this'll help keep the perverts away from the rest of us, and hopefully it expands to other states.

[bean]

@PathMaster - If you know any police detectives personally, ask them what they think about it. The fact that my friend (a police detective my Mom (a social worker) worked with) thinks that registration is a stupid waste of resources, a travesty of liberty, and a political circle-jerk is the reason I wrote a paper on it.

[MagGnome]

Originally Posted by ClannerDelta

I did chuckle at this. Glad to see Soviet era propaganda speech is still in use.

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I think real sex offenders should be excluded from services that cater to children. On the other, there's a lot of people on sex offender lists that really shouldn't be.

Agreed on both counts. It also bothers me that they automatically assume online games are for children. Have they never been on Xbox Live? I wouldn't let small children on there.

Pedophiles (not just "sex offenders" in general, which is ridiculously vague) are seriously ill individuals who need to be getting treatment, not just ostracized from all corners of society. What good will that accomplish?

[MagGnome]

Originally Posted by Farsight

Our society's handling of crime is barbaric and childish. Either we believe in rehabilitation, or we don't. Telling convicts that they're free to re-enter society, but that they can't actually be a part of it, is the worst possible way to deal with them. "Welcome back to the world! Now, don't expect to be able to get a job, since you have to tell employers about your criminal history, even if it's completely unrelated! Good luck, and see ya back in prison soon!"

We don't need a sex offenders list. Anyone we think is that big of a risk should still be in jail or in an asylum. Anyone else should be allowed to live their lives.

On a lighter note, I can see a future Bioware forum post now... "I got drunk and peed on a car, and now I can't have the real Mass Effect ending! I hate you Bioware!"

Yes, well said! I agree completely.

[PathMaster]

Originally Posted by bean

@PathMaster - If you know any police detectives personally, ask them what they think about it. The fact that my friend (a police detective my Mom (a social worker) worked with) thinks that registration is a stupid waste of resources, a travesty of liberty, and a political circle-jerk is the reason I wrote a paper on it.

I am not saying the system is perfect. But ask the parents of children who have sex offenders living near their home or school how valuable that knowledge is? Knowing that you have a level two or three offender living three houses down is VERY good knowledge to have.

[MagGnome]

Originally Posted by PathMaster

NYS does a fair job of keeping track of the offenders with a map system where you can actually check your street address and see who exactly, offender wise, is living near you.

Minnesota has the same thing. You can go online, put in your address, and see a map of where various sex offenders live. Click on the map icons and you can see that person's photo, the crime they committed, and lots of other information.

I looked it up once and learned that I was basically surrounded by various types of sex offenders. The whole thing gave me the creeps, so I closed it and haven't looked at it since.

[Serapth]

Originally Posted by PathMaster

I am not saying the system is perfect. But ask the parents of children who have sex offenders living near their home or school how valuable that knowledge is? Knowing that you have a level two or three offender living three houses down is VERY good knowledge to have.

Originally Posted by Serapth

Actually as a parent, it changes very little. I, you know, parent my child and basically treat any people I don't know extremely well as potential abusers. If anything a registry causes a false sense of security.

On the otherhand, any person put in a position of trust or authority over my child ( daycare, teacher, even bus driver, have all been vetted to against not being sex offenders, but against criminal records in general.


So frankly the end result is a net loss. A potential false sense of security of people thinking they know who the threats are, with a potential loss in property value of the other people that live in that neighborhood.


Add to the fact of how easy to get on that list ( workplace sexual harrasment anyone) makes it even worse.



Now, if it was the child rapist list, that I could find more support for.

Actually as a parent, it changes very little. I, you know, parent my child and basically treat any people I don't know extremely well as potential abusers. If anything a registry causes a false sense of security.

On the otherhand, any person put in a position of trust or authority over my child ( daycare, teacher, even bus driver, have all been vetted to against not being sex offenders, but against criminal records in general.


So frankly the end result is a net loss. A potential false sense of security of people thinking they know who the threats are, with a potential loss in property value of the other people that live in that neighborhood.

[AntonThaGreat]

There was a post on reddit earlier today from someone that got marked as a sex offender for touching a girls boob when he was in his early teens because of an over zealous official. He just got banned from Facebook.

Facebook is apparently banning sex offenders as well.

[bean]

Originally Posted by PathMaster

I am not saying the system is perfect. But ask the parents of children who have sex offenders living near their home or school how valuable that knowledge is? Knowing that you have a level two or three offender living three houses down is VERY good knowledge to have.

Actually, good parents treat all adult men like they are potential sex offenders. Most sex offenders stop offending the first time they are caught (they usually have more than one offense before being caught unless they are young), but once they are caught, they have very low recidivism. Also, given how many sex offenses that are disclosed in treatment that did not lead to arrests, treatment providers believe there are many sex offenders who are never caught. The point of this is that you shouldn't trust any adult males with your children - especially any that give them more than a polite amount of attention in an appropriate setting.

There are a ton of ignorant parents who freak out over a sex offender living hear them, but would then allow a neighborhood boy watch their kids, or let another boy's parent they don't know well take their kids on a camping trip with no other adults present. Those are the high risk situations.

Plus, proximity is irrelevant. Sex offenders have cars. If there is a child predator out there, living near him or far away is not what is going to protect a child. What puts kids at risk is not teaching them how to deal with situations (basically that they need to get a trustworthy adult if they feel uncomfortable and that they can say "no" to adults if they are being inappropriate), giving the predator permission to have access to the child (in the vast majority of cases, the offender knows the child and the parents have given him private access to the child. . . these are like the examples I gave above (letting teenage boys babysit, letting another boy's dad take your kids camping with no other adults, etc.), or not paying attention to your kid's whereabouts/behavior (bad parents who aren't involved sometimes don't know where there kids are or where they've been).

My Mom is a social worker for abused kids, so she was very, very clear about why she always wanted to know where I am, and why I couldn't go on certain trips with friends until she knew the family better, etc. She actually kept me home from a Boy Scout trip once and I thought she was being over-protective, but several of my friends got molested on that trip.

Anyway, sorry to go off on a tangent, but child safety is really important. It's just that sex offender registration laws don't make children safer at all. They may even hurt because some people may think that their kids are safe so long as they don't have any "perverts" on their block.

[boratika]

Originally Posted by Reverant

Besides, the stuff the average WoW player spouts can't be any more vile or disgusting than what a pedophile might say...

Yeah, that was my first thought as well, that ironically a sexual predator would be more pleasant to play with as they would have attempt to endear themselves. And while it might be unfair, considering how people on the internet are, it may be prudent to consider anyone there as a monster - or at least sick and twisted - until proven otherwise.

Originally Posted by bean

Most sex offenders get caught once and never do it again. ANY adult that is talking to your kids who doesn't have their own kids or a reason to be talking to them (like buying lemonade at the lemonade stand), etc. should be a warning sign - especially men.

"More than 90% of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way."

It's like freaking out about how you are going to die when you fly on a plane, but have no hesitations about driving.

More than that, since this is a widely held belief, parents will now automatically assume I'm a paedophile. I don't know if anyone else has had that experience where you're at somewhere like a shopping centre and there a lost child who's visibly distressed and no one else seems to care and you just stand there not sure whether to help or not.

Note: I am not a paedophile, just in case anyone was uncertain.

It's something that's really stood out since I've been living in the UK, since it's especially bad here. They're just paedo mad.

[Serapth]

Originally Posted by boratika

Yeah, that was my first thought as well, that ironically a sexual predator would be more pleasant to play with as they would have attempt to endear themselves. And while it might be unfair, considering how people on the internet are, it may be prudent to consider anyone there as a monster - or at least sick and twisted - until proven otherwise.



"More than 90% of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way."

It's like freaking out about how you are going to die when you fly on a plane, but have no hesitations about driving.

More than that, since this is a widely held belief, parents will now automatically assume I'm a paedophile. I don't know if anyone else has had that experience where you're at somewhere like a shopping centre and there a lost child who's visibly distressed and no one else seems to care and you just stand there not sure whether to help or not.

Note: I am not a paedophile, just in case anyone was uncertain.

It's something that's really stood out since I've been living in the UK, since it's especially bad here. They're just paedo mad.

Yeah, its gone insane everywhere.

I honestly can never see myself as a scout leader, big brother or sports coach in this world. Just not worth the risk. Sad really.


That said, as a parent, I don't trust anyone.

[AntonThaGreat]

Speaking of which, would you guys be interested in seeing all of the sex offenders around your house?

I wouldn't recommend it, and I'll tell you why. When I finally have kids, I'm afraid that if they ever go missing for any reason, I'm going to pull up the map and start knocking on doors and beating people up. I'm extremely over protective.

Anyway, if you really want to know, here's the link, don't say I haven't warned you. It's fucking scary.

Also, you can get a list of all the sex offenders in your zipcode, with their complete profiles.

The amount of sex offenders in my area, coupled with the amount of information they list publically on them, coupled with how easy it is to get on the sex offender list these days, this really scares me.

What's next?! A list of all criminals in the area? That with how easy it is for cops to charge anyone with absolutely anything, then strip search you... man the future is really scaring me.

[muddi900]

This obsession with paedophilia is weird...

[Scaryfaced]

Originally Posted by muddi900

This obsession with paedophilia is weird...

Tell me about it. I've attempted to stick to my personal rule to only give my student's high fives, but in some situations, you'd have to be a real asshole not to give a kid a hug. Especially around the young ones, I'd literally need to push a crowd of 10 or so kids away from my legs to keep them off of me.

And thus, I live in a small bubble of fear that someone's going to take it the wrong way and accuse me of something. Good times.

EDIT: Only one sex offender on my street? Nice!

[Pale Ale]

Originally Posted by AntonThaGreat

I wouldn't recommend it, and I'll tell you why. When I finally have kids, I'm afraid that if they ever go missing for any reason, I'm going to pull up the map and start knocking on doors and beating people up. I'm extremely over protective.

Which is weird because the mostly person to kidnap a child is a family member.

Originally Posted by AntonThaGreat

Also, you can get a list of all the sex offenders in your zipcode, with their complete profiles.

Man no hot to trot teachers, I am disappoint. I also thought there would be more, 1 rapist and 3 lewd with minors. Hardly worth the effort.

Originally Posted by muddi900

This obsession with paedophilia is weird...

Wait till we get the brown people!