Sex Offenses

Sex offenses in the news

2011-12-20T08:57:00.001-08:00

Recently in the State of Florida and nationwide the news has been filled with sexually related offenses. Beginning with former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky and the numerous allegations against him and here locally on December 2nd with the arrest of 48 suspected child predators, it seems sexual offenses are on the rise. However, according to this article from the Associated Press, there has been a 55% drop in child sex abuse cases since 1992. The majority of child sex abuse cases are committed by family members or acquaintances and only 5% of all cases involve strangers.

Romeo and Juliet Law Helps Certain Offenders Remove Sex Offender Label

2011-09-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

In 2007, the legislature passed the Romeo and Juliet law which provide a sex offender with a means to remove them from the sex offender list. In order to qualify the victim must have been at least 14 years old at the time of the offense, the offender must have been no more than four 4 years older than the victim, and the offender must not have any additional sexual offense convictions since the original offense. According to this article from tampabay.com, the highest concentration of offenders removed from the list are from Pinellas and Pasco County. Do you or someone you know qualify under the Romeo and Juliet law to have your sexual offender label removed? Call us for a free consultation.

The Stigma of the Sex Offender

2011-08-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

In the State of Florida certain sex offenders, specifically those who had victims under the age of eighteen are prohibited from living within 1000 feet of schools, day care centers, parks or playgrounds, places where children regularly congregate , and school bus stops. These restrictions in densely populated cities can lead to serious housing issues for a convicted sex offender, especially those who may have health problems and are currently undergoing treatment. These restrictions have resulted in precluding sex offenders from living in major cities and have caused many to go homeless. Some have resorted to living under bridges or living in the wilderness. As these two articles from Rueters and Time suggest the restrictions imposed have caused a surge in sex offender homelessness which can lead to difficulty in law enforcements ability to track them.

The question remains, do all these restrictions imposed against sex offenders really work at keeping the community safe? Probably not, according to experts since most child sex abuse victims know their abusers. This article from the Tampa Tribune details struggles of some offenders in the Tampa area.