Why are registered sex offenders demonized?

People are afraid because sex crimes do so much damage in the victim's life, even if the crime was minor or moderate. Nobody wants to be the next victim.

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A minor sex offense (no pun intended) to those of you who can't imagine such a thing, might be and adult who had sex with a 17 year old girl who turns 18 the next month and lied about her age.

Or making a lewd remark or proposition to a minor when an adult is drunk and having a bad day.

Or, viewing a few images of child pornography on the Internet out of curiosity, where there is no real physical victim.

As far as sex offenders being demonized, I couldn't agree more. It reminds me exactly of the Salem witch hunts back in the day. I guess they will start burning them at the stake next.

I sort of know what you're saying. I was looking at a website with pictures of registered sex offenders and I showed my friend and we were talking about how some of them looked so young and "normal" (I say that word loosely) Anyway, we were talking about it and I'm sure a lot of them especially the younger ones were 18 or 19 and had intercourse with a 15 or 16 year old. I think that is sort of a crappy law. I don't think teenagers should be having sex but if they do have conscentual sex then I don't really see the problem.

I do know what you mean but where should we draw the line ya know? I think that child molestors should have their d.icks cut off though seriously!!

Just curious - what exactly qualifies as a minor or moderate sex offense? Flashing? Public masturbation? Rape?

What I think is ridiculous is that people convicted of urinating in public are convicted as sex offenders. That's going a bit too far!

As far as statistics are concerned, most of the recidivism rates I found on the net didn't look very good. Sixty percent of offenders repeat within a year of being released from prison, according to the Department of Justice!

whats a minor or moderate sex offence? a garandma being raped? a girlfriend being raped? a person being touched or groped without giving consent? its people like you that worry me ya know. how do you know the statistics are false for one? secondly, there is a registery there to protect society. you obviously feel strongly on the matter because of a personal link to it but you have to keep in mind that most sex offenders will offend again, just like a junkie, just because they have done time for armed robbery or stealing a car doesnt mean they're not going to do it again. the registry is there to protect society. not giving sex offenders a job near or around the thing that tempts them seems a good idea to me. too bad sex is all around us. and personally i dont think theres enough demonizing happening on the subject and i'm sure plenty would agree. these people dont deserve your sympathy.

Because they are demons, an offense that is considered minor or moderate to these animals is devastating to a victim. This kind of thinking is exactly why sex offenders are treated like the scum they are. How can you possibly state that the public is brainwashed for recognizing how horrible these predators are?

SHOW me these so-called 'experts' who have disproven the recidivism rate. Show me them.

Most people who work with sex offenders will tell you that their crimes often start small, but will inevitably - YES INEVITABLY - lead to larger, more horrific offences.

What would you describe as a 'minor' or 'moderate' sex offence? Flashing at little girls? Touching someone inappropriately? Even THESE behaviours should be at least publicised. I completely disagree with you.

I, for one, rest easier at night knowing that there isnt' a sex offender in my neighbourhood - for my sake, and the sake of my daughter.

Speaking completely in generalities, people are quick to judge others. In a "democracy" like ours where faith and morality have become the most important issues, people see any sex offense as permanently scarring, if not unpardonable. This is not to say, like you mentioned above, that all of these offenses should be pardoned. Until society undergoes a paradigm shift and is willing to admit that anyone who commits a crime has the potential to reform himself and stops perpetuating the problem by locking people up where they only commit worse crimes, we are lost. The whole concept of forgiveness is lost on most people: it apparently only applies when they want it themselves to ease their conscience. Forcing people to "register" with the government so that people can be alerted for these types of crimes only opens the door for more of the same. Don't you want to be sent an email every time someone with a speeding ticket moves into your neighborhood? You wouldn't want that monster speeding down the street and running over your child, would you? We have to protect our neighborhoods, after all.

Media outlets are businessess. They make money off of these cases. Most intelligent folks know it's all a bunch of crap. But the politicians want to get voted in and the media wants ratings.