There are sexually violent child murderers, and then there are children that are accused of inappropriate sexual behaviors. This fundamental distinction provides the core strategy for exempting juveniles from sex offender registration.
When you imagine a sexual predator; when you imagine a man capable of violent and predatory acts against children; when you imagine a repeat offender who cannot be cured or rehabilitated - do you ever think of a 16 year-old awkward adolescent?
Probably not.
Most teenagers consistently only really inspire fear when they are on the road learning to drive. However, when publicly labeled a “sex offender,” that same teenager is deemed a sexual predator, whether his unlawful behavior was sexually experimental, or, much less common, sexually violent.
Texas is one of the states that requires juveniles to register as sex offenders, but thankfully there are good balancing tests in place to allow courts to exempt and excuse certain juveniles from registration.
By July 27, 2009, Texas must be in compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) or risk a loss of millions in federal funds. Part of this compliance is to eliminate some of the distinctions Texas makes regarding juveniles facing sex offender registration. SORNA also may undo the work of good judges who have applied the law fairly and found that in some situations, more damage than good will result in requiring certain juveniles to register as a sex offender. The cost of compliance with SORNA well exceeds the loss of Byrne grant funds. Given the current budget problems, and given the fact that no study has yet to document the effectiveness of sex offender registration (especially when focused upon juveniles) it appears that there are far better areas to invest criminal justice resources. |
