Catch the pervert

According to my understanding, when the sex offender is pointed out, he is watched more carefully. Many people don't like having sex offenders in their neighborhood, so they sign a petition and request that local law deal with it. If the sex offender does nothing wrong, they just monitor him or her. But if there really is a strong outcry, usually the sex offender is removed forcefully, and placed in a shelter. Basically, after the person gets out of prison, his name, address, and photograph can be publicized by the police and posted on the Internet. Once you are convicted of a sex offense, you may be limited in the kinds of jobs you can hold and where you can live. The main consideration for a sex offender is to register. This is an absolute must. Failure to do so will result in severe penalties. The first offense is an E felony, punishable by more than a year in state prison. A second or subsequent failure to register is a D felony. Failure to register is also a basis for violation of parole or revocation of probation.

As much as I would want to move if there were a sex offender on my street, I can't help but thinking . . move where? This is New York. Isn't there a sex offender on every street? So, maybe ignorance is bliss . . . ?

@JenMac: I don't know if there is a sex offender on every street. If they exist, no one is saying. I would hate to hear about any child getting killed because the person was not reported. I don't think sex offenders are as predominate in NYC as they are in the suburbs, but I could be wrong.

@hhusted and JenMac I actually found some neighborhood-wise figures in yesterday's Metro newspaper-East New York ,Brooklyn zip code 11207 -198 registered sex offenders, East Harlem, Manhattan zip code 10035-169 Morrisania , Bronx zip code 10456- 104

That seems to be about one on every street. . . 200 in one zip code is quite a lot.

@Uptowngirl: Wow. I guess I was wrong this time. Thanks for the info.

At the same time, it's worthwhile getting more information before passing judgment. I know a boy who will be spending his life on a sex offender list because, when 17, he had sex with his 15-year old girlfriend in MA (where 16 is age of consent) and her father freaked out and had him arrested for statutory rape. Pedophilia is disgusting, of course, and parents should be aware of any genuine danger, but a knee-jerk reaction to someone being on a sex offender list might do more hard than good.

ajadedidealist: I totally see your point, but as a girl, it's pretty hard to not have an immediate reaction to the whole "sex offender" kind of diagnosis.

Understood, @Jenmac (hey, I'm a girl myself!) I suppose my point is that the sex offender system really does need to be rehauled so that a distinction is made between the two categories...

@ajadeidelaist That's a really good point, and a really sad story.

@Ajadedidealist; I guess from a woman standpoint I understand where you are coming from. It should be important to gather as much info about someone before labeling them. The problem with society, especially the legal system, is that once a sex offender, always one. So precautions have to be made to protect children, even if it means exposing sex offenders, even if they did nothing wrong after serving their time.

What's so terrifying and strange about the whole affair is that we have to balance two instincts. The first - to give everyone a fair shot at redemption, not to demonize or dehumanize anybody or subject people to punishment beyond their jail time. The second - to keep our children as far away as possible from any threat, even at the expense of chasing a convicted sex offender out of town. It's a sad situation...

@Ajadedidealist: I agree. There is no balance here. The town or area has to be careful about who they let live there, especially if the person is a criminal, even if the person has been rehabbed. When it comes to children, cautionary measures have to be taken no matter what.

I guess the problem is that it is really hard to make a rational decision / diagnosis of your environment and threats when fear kicks in.

@JenMac very well said !

@JenMac: I agree completely.

So.. this may sound totally weird but I have a sex offender iPhone ap that locates the sex offenders nearest you using the phone's GPS. My friend downloaded it...don't ask. Anyway, the ap (and I know there are websites like it) actually makes mention of the people's specific crimes, so you can see who is a child molester and who just got caught getting frisky in public or something.

@NeverSleeps Wow, how strange that that exists...

@NeverSleeps; I second Uraniumfish. That is strange indeed. I wonder what iPhone will create next. Maybe a homing signal so your spouse can keep track of your every move. I'm being sarcastic here in a funny sort of way.

@NeverSleeps And, come to think of it, how strange to be somebody who feels a need to make use of that ap?

I dunno, it's kind of useful for what streets to take if you're walking home late? Maybe?

@JenMac But the pedophiles won't necessarily jump at you from a dark alleyway as you're walking home...you know?

@hhusted I'm pretty sure your spouse could track your every move on her iPhone if she wanted.

@Uraniumfish It's a completely useless app. A friend of mine downloaded it when we were at a bar, he thought it was funny. Once in a while I'll use it, but not because I am scared of pedophiles - call it an interest in criminal behavior.

@hhusted that's one more reason why I will not get the iPhone. The husband gets quite frantic when I dont answer my cell phone( its usually in my handbag and I can never hear the ring).. if he could track my movements on an iPhone it would make me crazy ...

@uptowngirl Hahahaha...

Man, no one can get away with anything anymore! No cheating, no pedophiling . . . what's next? No murder? :) The latest iPhone app . . . .

@Uotowngirl: I heard a joke many years ago that stated when women put wedding rings on their husbands, it isn't to show they are married, but acts as a radar to know every moment the husband makes. Of course, the person who created that joke was a married man.

@hhusted well I think we live in an age where a wedding ring is no longer a deterrent but I dont understand how it would work as a radar to enable a woman to know every movement her husband makes? Is it a special wedding ring?

@JenMac Ha!

@uptowngirl I'm sure you could control whether he gets to see where you are or not on your iPhone... you could just turn your locator off or something? Here's the actual app if anyone is curious: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/02/locate-your-friends-in-real-time-with.html

I so definitely would never want to "blog my location" like the guy who commented at the bottom of the page. Do we need this much information out there? Who thinks they're that important anyway?

@Uptowngirl: He was only joking. Every time he went somewhere and was with some woman, other than his wife, she would question him when he got home. I thought it was funny at the time he said it.

@DBlack I agree with you , can't understand why Twitter would offer an application like that though..and isn't there a social network that lets you pinpoint where your friends are and catch up with them? can't remember what its called four corners?

@uptowngirl Yeah, there's definitely one, and I don't know about anyone else but I don't need even my friends to know where I am at all times! Yikes!

@Uraniumfish yeah , its so creepy...

@Uptowngirl & @Uraniumfish: It seems to me that if the app proves to be an invasion of privacy eventually Twitter would be forced to discontinue it. What do you think. Will that happen?

@hhusted I agree in this day and age where kidnappings and abductions are rampant why would you want to broadcast where you are? I dont know if Twitter will turn it off though it all depends on the usage I think.

It's probably good for people with kids? Though as a teenager I would definitely hate that app even more than I do as a grownup.

@NeverSleeps Hah! I never thought of that! Now I know how to keep a tight leash on my future kids...

Hahah! By the time I have kids I'm sure there will be something even weirder out...like a spy videocamera in the phone that lets me see them at all times. Or, you know, teleportation devices

Well, good thing for that since at the rate these little bastards are going nowadays, they'll probably be having sex when they're 7 by the time we have children.

With the way kids are having sex earlier, no telling what the next generation will be like.

Oh. My. God. The poor future children of the world. And I am really weirded out by all the parents on Facebook. I think the only reason MySpace is staying afloat is because kids can post their personal debaucheries without their parents reading about it. I know you can block your parents from seeing certain things on Facebook, but still. @JenMac Boys don't start producing their magic seed until they hit puberty. So good luck, future 7-year-olds!

@Uraniumfish The only problem being that you'd have to buy an iPhone for all of your little ones! And pay the enormous bill each month. My phone bill is about $100 a month for one lousy iPhone.... Also, every time you open a new app on your iPhone you can decide whether or not it can find your location on GPS or not. Kids can easily outsmart the latest technology, but then I guess they'd have a lot of explaining to do when they got home to mama.

@NeverSleeps; $100? For real. I only pay $65 a month. I guess you are paying for the extra data.

The really stupid thing about iPhone plans is that they make you pay for texts and data separately. When I had an LG Shine, I had this sweet deal where data and unlimited texts were a $30 bundle. Now I think I am paying like $30 for each thing. Seems unfair that my crappy LG Shine got data and texts at a better rate. What you end up paying for really are the better applications on the iPhone.

@hhusted Yes, that's exactly what you're paying for, supposedly.

Ew ew ew. I never want to hear the term "magic seed" again! Especially in relation to seven year olds!

@BroadwayBK that's the problem with Apple, yes they have fabulous design, features etc but they make sure that you pay for it.. my T-mobile account gives me unlimited data via t-zones at $9.99 and I have to add another $5 for 500 texts a month of course this is in addition to the family plan of $49.99. For three cell phone lines our bill averages to around a $100 a month...

This is why i am happy to have my phone. I only pay $65 and that is it. I could care less about video or texting.