"Wrongfully" Accused

There are many sex offenders everywhere. That is a fact. However, the laws in different states do vary. I find the Georgia laws in place to protect the public from sex offenders are correct. If a person moves into the state of Georgia, that person must register with the county sheriff within 72 hours of his or her relocation. Or, if a person moves to another neighborhood and has already lived in Georgia, he or she must inform all of the people on the street of his or her residence of the crime committed. This procedure allows that person to defend his or her honor and explain to the neighbors the situation under which he or she was titled a “sex offender.” I believe that these laws are necessary to protect the people, in case other offenses occur. However, I do also believe that people can be unrightfully titled “sex offender” under certain circumstances that need to be considered. The law may be flat, but the offense makes it multi-dimensional. There is a clear difference between two teenagers (one 17 and one 18) having sex and men preying on small children. When thinking about this issue, I can only be reminded of one Dateline NBC special done on sex offenders. It was not a “To Catch a Predator” segment but rather one defending the rights of a man who was “wrongfully” accused of being a sex offender – something that the audience soon found out can haunt a person for many, many years. According to the segment, the man became a sex offender when his girlfriend’s mother turned him in to the police. This may sound like a normal situation – a mother finds her daughter with an older man and gets upset. However, the clincher in this story is that the mother previously new that the daughter, 16, and her boyfriend, 18, were having sex (the mother even took her daughter to buy birth control). The mother only turned in her daughter’s boyfriend as punishment after a large argument with her daughter, not realizing the consequences of her actions. Both teenagers went to the same high school. This situation is unfortunate because the man, who is now close to 30 years of age and married to that same girl, must register as a sex offender every year. I cannot imagine how he will explain his status to his children or the parents of his children’s friends, in the future.
In regards to the R.C.’s Tattoo Parlor opening in close proximity the campus of Piedmont College, I do not feel threatened whatsoever with the knowledge that owner is registered sex offender. I am a legal adult and feel as though days that I may have been “preyed” upon are over. At 19 years old and living in dorms less than one half of a mile away from the place of business of a registered sex offender, I feel completely safe in my position.