The Federal Sexual Offender Act of 1994, known by its pet name Megan’s Law, was signed into action on the good faith that children and teens would be protected by it. Now in 2009, in light of the addition of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act many parents and teens are shocked to learn that teens are ending up on very registry created to protect them.
Being branded as a sex offender --like staring down a barrel of a loaded gun, life is over. Most sex offenders prosecuted under Megan’s law must carry the label for life and according to State of New Jersey’s Megan’s Law Citizen’s brochure, an offender can only appeal to be removed if they committed only one offense and have been crime free for 15 consecutive years or if they were registered under the age of 14 and have just turned 18. Those appeals are subject to approval.
The registry was designed for rapists and pedophiles, so how would a teen, mostly minors themselves find themselves registering? Former head of Bergen County Prosecutor's Office’s Megan’s Law Unit, Lt. Joe Cilento explains, “ The most obvious way for a teen to be registered is if they commit a sex crime against a younger child, such as forcible rape.”
Even if a minor commits a rape and is not charged as an adult they are required to register as an offender with the possibility of being removed once they become a legal adult.
“There have been cases where two teens have consenting sex, but one teen is under the age of consent, All it takes is one parent making a formal complaint.” Lt. Cilento continued. Such cases have been dubbed “Romeo and Juliet’s”. A plethora of media outlets from the Washington Post to Dateline ABC have followed such stories, the most famous of them being the Feb. 2003 case of Marcus Dixon, a African American, 18 –year-old high school senior who had sex with his White 15-year-old freshman classmate.
Marcus was convicted of aggravated child molestation, and the judge sentenced to 10 years without probation. After much public outcry and an appeal, Dixon’s charges were overturned in favor of a charge of statutory rape for which he was released as time served in 2005. The outcry had little to do with how close in age the two teens were but more so feelings the harsh sentence was racially motivated.
Since the conviction, several other cases have caught the media’s attention, mostly due to the proposal and eventual passing of the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The addendum introduced a tier system that graded offenders by how dangerous they were and treating the offender accordingly. Current Bergen County Prosecutor in charge of the Megan’s Law Unit Lt. Joe Macellaro explained , “the Adam Walsh act supports the sex registry as
constitutional , while allowing each state to organize the tiers of their registry.”
According to findlaw.com , the reason the 2006 law is just being put into effect in 2009 is because after its initial passing a federal judge from Florida argued the sex offender registry violated the offenders the case was dismissed. The only state that currently has yet to comply with the act is Nevada where the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada is arguing that the sex registry is cruel and unusual punishment. Calls to the Nevada ACLU to further explain their platform were not returned.
Rutgers Law Professor and former journalist Frank Askin explains, “Their argument maybe based on a offender having to register for life, it can be interpreted that the offender is being persecuted for life as well, when the sentence doesn’t fit the crime that is cruel and unusual punishment. “
It is now up to each state to define at what age two teens can legally engage in consensual sex, even If one teen is below the age of consent. Mostly these laws allow consensual sex providing there is a 3 to 4 year gap in the ages of the teens and they are no younger than 14 years of age.
Romeos and Juliets are not the only types of teens that face the possibility of being registered sex offenders. A seemingly new threat for the cyber era, they are the “sexters”. This group of teens has fallen pray to their worst enemies, themselves
and it usually happened right under the noses of parents, school officials and police.
It takes less than a second to take a picture, but in those parts of a second a teen can brand themselves for life. Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages, pictures or video clips via cell phones or web devices such as the Apple Ipod Touch. Sexually explicitly images can be instantly shared through Bluetooth or downloaded to computers and other devices.
After sexual photos of teen Disney Channel stars Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens surfaced in 2007, stories of teen and preteen girls taking sexual photos of gained much more exposure. Many earlier stories aired concerns that teens on social networking sites would be luring predators; the outcry led to online giants Myspace.com and Facebook.com adding terms of service clauses barring those that have been convicted of sex crimes from participating on the sites.
A 2008 study by CosmoGirl.com and The National Association to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that 20% of all teen girl respondents confessed to “sending/posting nude or semi nudes photos of themselves on the net”, with 76% of them sending them to boyfriends or significant others. Though a later Jan. 2009 study found significantly lower numbers of teens sexting the phenomenon is still worrying to many parents.
Sociologist Dr. Janis A. Prince Inniss of EveryDaySociology.com is not
surprised by the rise of the act. “It’s the culture we are raising them in, they are getting their cues from adults. It wasn’t adolescent experimentation that made D.C. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick send explicit photos to his mistress.” Inniss hypothesizes that because teens feel their phones are safe and private it’s the perfect place to experiment with their sexuality. “To teens it just might not be that big a deal.”
Sexting is more serious a matter to Cynthia and Albert Logan, sexting was a life and death situation. Their 18-year old daughter, Jesse, committed suicide in July 2008 after picture of her were spread in her high school. The teen hanged herself in her closet weeks before she could attend the college of her dreams the University of Cincinnati.
Jesse was a popular and vibrant young girl according to family lawyer Parry Aftab, who specializes in cyber and privacy crimes. The teen sent suggestive photos to her 19 –year old boyfriend when she was still a high school student. The relationship ended the boy sent the pictures to dozens of other teens and teachers.
“It was spiteful character assassination by a boy who felt jilted by a young lady who rejected him,” added Aftab. The Logan’s feel their daughters downward spiral began with being teased for the photos.
“They called her things like slut and whore,” said Cynthia Logan through tears on the Today Show with Matt Lauer.
Jesse had tried to speak out to warn other teens about the potential dangers of sexting, even appearing anonymously on a local news stations.
Jesse’s family and their lawyer are convinced that crimes against Jesse case is are not only distributing child pornography, but also negligence on behalf of the school for not putting an end to the bullying and teasing that tormented her. To date no charges have been filed in this case, but Jesse’s mother continues to work with Internet safety expert Aftab to make sure another suicide is avoidable.
The fear of sexting has been described as “hysteria” by Wired magazine, as parents search for someone to hold accountable. One such sacrificial lamb was Ting Yi Oei, was Assistant Principal of Freedom High School in Chantilly Virginia , he was one of the first school officials to be charged with possession of child pornography after confiscating a “sext” message from the phone of a teen boy. The youth had been soliciting pictures from high school and middle school girls.
Oie, punished the student after the he pulled down the pants of a girl, suspending him for 10 days. The boy’s mother, angry at Oie’s suspension of her son filed charges against Oie for failure to report suspicion of child abuse.
“I was given the choice to resign or be charged with a felony, I refused. I had done nothing wrong,” said Oie.
The prosecutor made good on his word and the educator was charged with possession of pornography, despite the fact that the photo showed no nudity and the face of the girl was cut off, making her unidentifiable. On March 31 his lawyer informed him that all charges were dropped against him as it was ruled that Oie was not in possession of actual pornography.
“It was a witch hunt,” Oie said, though he has had his side of the story, as told by him published in the Washington Post, he feels nothing has changed.
When school officials cannot be held accountable for the actions of teens, some prosecutors have made the shocking decision to prosecute teens themselves.
Parents across the country were shocked to find teens, especially girls facing felony charges like creating and distributing child pornography. Currently a 14-year old Passaic county girl is facing felony charges for sending and posting sexually explicit pictures of herself on Myspace.com. In March 2009 there were over 20 cases in the news of teens in the UN and England being charged either with possession or creation of child pornography.
Child and Forensic Psychology Expert Alberto Goldwaser, MD,DFA, PA thinks it may be risky to charge all teens as sexual felons. “Adolescences are not developed enough to considered the outcome of their actions, at least not in the same way an adult can.” Goldwaser explains that that part of the brain isn’t fully developed until a person is 21-25 years old.
“However, a normal teen knows what is expected of them, a teen knows walking about nude is unacceptable,” said Goldwaser. “Most teens know what they are doing is not acceptable, but many aren’t mature enough to see it as a crime, because they don’t consider consequences. “
Perry Aftab feels a stronger opposition to prosecuting teens, “recent actions by prosecutors are counter productive and revealingly sexist. “ The lawyer explained that, teen girls are most targeted, especially online ”laws are supposed to protect not persecute them.” Aftab pointed out that the teens facing the harshest charges are girls for creating pornography, while less teen boys are charged with the same thing, except in cases where photos were post with malicious intent.
“When someone is registered as a sex offender they are required to go to therapy sessions with other offenders, why would you want a 14 year-old in the same room with a person that could potentially victimize them?” Aftab concluded.
Dr.Innis feels as a society- American culture is sending two conflicting messages to teens, “ On the one hand teen girls, especially girls of color, are bombarded with images of hyper sexualized women as disarable, while at the same time telling them that being sexual is negative.” Innes pointed out how many pop songs were about sexting, including ones from singers Beyonce ,Britney Spears and rapper Soilder Boy. “Girls are being taught this is acceptable behavior and boys are learning to expect it. “
New Jersey Prosecutor Macellaro felt it was difficult to decide what was “fair” in sexting cases, which was why they are decided on the basis of what is legal and what is illegal.
“Its just like teens drinking, if they do it and get away with it they feel no real crime has been committed, now but that teen behind the wheel of a car and they are a deadly force. Kids taking dirty pictures might seem like innocent fun, but those pictures can be easily spread to pedophiles and endanger other youngsters.”
Dr. Goldwaser believes that every case needs presented has a few factors that need to be taken into consideration, “ the totality of the damage done to the community, the development of the child , the child’s intent and if that child has been previously abused or exploited sexually.” He suggest instead of registering as a sex offender a teen would benefit more , if required to
One New Jersey couple took the initiative to deal with the issue head on. Richard and Jacqueline Guerry launched the Institute for Responsible Online and Cell Phone Communication in Jan, 2009. Richard Guerry , is also the founder of successful Cruising With Kids campaign that visits schools and community events to teach , emergency , fire and child safety. The institute focuses on the dangers of cyberbullying , sexting and sex”casting. The Guerrys hope that educating teens and young adults about the dangers of broadcasting sexual images of yourself online With the “Sexting is Stupid” which focuses on teaching teens personal responsibility.
Though in its infant stage, www.iroc2.org, the Institute’s site has information for teachers, parents and teens. The Mount Laurel native hope with education there will never be a tragedy like the loss of Jesse Logan again.
Megan’s Law, like many laws is imperfect and thus is always changing and evolving, according to the Star Ledger, on May 8 the Supreme Court ruled on the validly of local ordinances that restricted were sex offenders were allowed to live, the court struck them down. Perhaps in the future the law will be amended to better protect the youngsters it was created to serve without turning them into felons.
