The Journal Of The InnKeeper

Now, please don't get me wrong, child molesters and rapists deserve harsh punishments. But we live in a society that fears sex and creates criminals where no crime was committed.

I have argued against the current Sex Offender laws that required all sex offenders to have their personal information made public. I am against this because of what types of people are officially labeled "sex offender" in the legal books. A mother of children has every reason to be concerned if a repeated child molester lives next door to her, particularly if he appears friendly and offers to babysit her kids. But when she gets this shocking list on the internet of 30 sex offenders in her neighborhood, she's getting a list of guys who were drunk and disorderly and disrobed in public at a bachelor party one night, and guys who had consensual sex with girls only a year or two younger than they were at the time. This is not cause for concern, nor is it even any of her business.

And the real shame of this is that these men are now branded FOR LIFE for something they may have done 20 years ago (or will be 20 years by the time they get out). They are now prevented from fair housing and job placement. Sure, we can put laws into place that says we cannot discriminate on the basis of criminal record for things like housing, but it's done nevertheless.

And to put to rest any criticisms that I'm exaggerating about the extent to which non-deserving people get punished by our society's hysterical fear of sex, check out this article:

http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Top%20Headlines\20071027\Teen_Sex_Case_20071027.xml&cat=topheadlines&subcat=&pageid=1

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So, in 1995, a law is passed that makes a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for "child molestation".  In 2003, a 17 year old boy has oral sex with a 15 year old girl at a party (caught on video) who still maintains that she was never coerced. Maybe that was poor judgment (that's debatable), but it's hardly an offense worthy of 10 years in prison!  In 2006, the state came to its senses and repealed the 1995 law, but the courts say "oh, so sorry, it was illegal back then.  Just because it's not illegal anymore, we can't go and release offenders now".

What is WRONG with our society? We are so afraid, pathologically afraid, of sex that we would take away the future of a boy, an honor roll student, a homecoming king, an athlete, a boy with POTENTIAL, all because a girl WILLINGLY gave him a blowjob?!? Speaking as an adult, I can totally respect wanting to protect children from abusers, rapists and molesters. Speaking as someone who was once a 15 year old girl, this was NOT a case of rape, abuse, or molestation!  I willingly engaged in acts of sex from age 12 through 18 because I WANTED TO. When I was 15, I lost my virginity to a 19 year old BECAUSE I WANTED TO. I'm not saying these were smart decisions, I'm saying these were choices I made and no one else should be held responsible for any consequences I could have suffered.

It is abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous that this boy's entire life has been stolen from him because our society refuses to acknowledge that we are sexual beings. We don't want to think of our parents that way, we certainly don't want to think of our children that way. We are TERRIFIED of sex! It is a good sign that the lawmakers finally came to their senses and released him, but that doesn't change the fact that he is now permanently branded as a sex offender, with all the discrimination and societal abuse that comes with it, nor does it change the fact that our society in general views sexual acts as evil and wrong, especially when they have anything at all to do with minors and unmarried people.

People have sex.  Get the fuck over it.  Know the consequences, be safe, make better decisions, take responsibility for your actions.  But sweeping this fact under the rug, refusing to see that a teenager is sexual, will not make it go away.  We are biologically designed to start having sex in our teenage years.  Of COURSE there are problems with that ... kids' brains are not yet fully developed and they are notorious for making poor choices because they do not have the knowledge or experience to understand what they're getting into.  But getting your dick sucked at a party by a girl who wants to do it is not a good enough reason to brand a teenager as a criminal, a sex offender, a CHILD MOLESTER for life.