You Can’t Compare Teenage Mistakes With Child Molestation

With roughly 10,000 sex offenders residing in Georgia, you never know whom you might be standing next to in line on your next trip to the grocery store. Should you be worried? Possibly.

According to washingtonpost.com, the Georgia law for sex offenders is considered one of the most comprehensive in the nation because it covers even the mildest types of sex offenders. These mild offenders are most commonly identified as young adults who had consensual sex with an under aged girlfriend or boyfriend. Although I do see this as an inappropriate activity, I do not believe that it should be grouped in the same category with child molestation. There is a tremendous difference between harming a child and having sex at the wrong age.

Sex at a young age is a mistake that should be handled through corrective means, however there is no need to restrict these people’s resident opportunities. These offenders are in no way out to harm anyone else, so there is no need to separate them from anyone.
An article posted in 2007 by USA Today quoted Oklahoma Rep. Lucky Lamons saying, “We need to focus on people we’re afraid of, not mad at.” The article states that Lamons was a police officer for 22 years and now wants the rules for sex offenders in Oklahoma to focus more on high-risk offenders. This same mindset should be applied in Georgia.

USA Today also quoted John Walsh, host of Fox network’s America’s Most Wanted saying, “You can’t paint sex offenders with a broad brush.” By separating the more serious offenses from the less life threatening ones, the laws governing sex offenders can be more easily enforced. With the separation, the number of considered offenders would be reduced, allowing for better watch of the serious offenders.

The current strict rules for sex offenders are perfectly fine for the serious offenders. No sympathy should be shown towards a child molester. Hopefully Georgia will begin to assess offenses and target the serious ones harshly and the simple ones differently.