On his worst days, Andre Perez wishes he could do the same. As a child, he was sexually assaulted by a man in his church. As a difficult and developmentally stunted 12-year-old, he touched his 5-year-old sister's genitals with his own on a few occasions.
I'd have to admit to having mixed thoughts regarding the lifetime designation of sex offenders. I think that the main distinction that I tend to draw is between acts done between kids and those done by an adult to a kid. In my mind, they're two very different situations.
Its a tough one, isn't it? On the one hand, I'm glad my brother was forced to stare down the barrel of a shotgun....my husband probably would have done the same thing if it had been our daughter. But should he have been labeled a sex offender for it? Should confused and angry kids, battling pre-adolescent craziness, have to fight this kind of stigma? The Romeo Laws are going to be hell to draft.
While visiting some friends in a remote area, I heard them complalin that a guy "next door" was a registered sex offender. They said he had an affair with an under-age girl some years back. They didn't know exactly when or the circumstances (ages) involved.
When I noted that he lived almost 800 yards next to the nearest house and lived miles from the city, I asked where that guy should live. What should be done?