Is it ok to hire a convicted sex offender? (ie. Plumber, Landscaper, etc) (Rome: college, gated)

[livinginbuffalo]

If I knew it was an 18 year old boy and his 17 year old girlfriend, I would have no problem with it. But, how do you know that it's not an 18 year old boy and a 13 year old girl? I would have never looked at him in the first place online like you did but since you did and you are asking, if you can find out exactly what he did and you are comfortable with it, then so be it.

And you never said how old he is. Everyone is assuming he is a guy in his 20's and it was nine years ago. If he's in his 40's, would you all still think it was ok?

[ATLTJL]

But, how do you know that it's not an 18 year old boy and a 13 year old girl?

I would think at that point the charge would be child molestation.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I would think at that point the charge would be child molestation.

Nope. It would be statutory rape. I'm not sure why people are so dismissive if statutory rape laws. After all age of consent in this and most states is sixteen. Most of the men in these cases are NOT a girl's eighteen year old boyfriend, but adult males in their twenties and thirties. Further better than 40% of teen pregnancies involve an adult male. Every HIV positive teen I ever worked with contracted the disease from an adult male. And a very high percentage of these men are serial offenders moving on to another young girl when the first one gets too old. Bottom line, no, he couldn't landscape for me. I wouldn't want him anywhere near my children.

[livinginbuffalo]

Thank you Rosyln! I thought I was going crazy thinking it would not be ok to hire him! I actually looked up statutory rape and it said that the victim must be older than puberty to be considered statutory rape and not child molestation. Some girls are in puberty sometimes by age 10. I stand by my original post. I wouldn't chance it.

[Lizita]

I would not have any problem hiring the guy. If he does a good job and his prices are good give the guy a chance. I would have a problem hiring someone who is a sexual predator but the majority of registered sex offenders are not. It's really unfortunate that so many people who are not a threat to anyone end up having to live with the restrictions and humiliation of being a registered sex offender.

I don't believe it helps the public either to include people who are not a threat, leaving us to guess who's who and have to walk around feeling paranoid about the guy down the street who just had a 15-year old girlfriend when he was 17.
I think everyone would be better off if the sex offender registries only included those who are predators that we really have reason to fear. Not, like a guy I met, who is a registered sex offender because one night at age 21 when he was drunk, riding the bus home, was egged on by his friends to pull his pants down to "moon" them, which he foolighly did. Unfortunately there were two 14-year old girls on the bus which made this a crime against minors. As a result he's now a registered sex offender and if you look him up on the state sex offender registry it will say that that he committed a sexual offense against two 14-year old victims which makes it sound a lot worse than it really was. Someone who reads that would be lead to believe that he may be a threat to young girls when that's not the case at all. So we should be very careful to assume that everyone who is a registered sex offender is a sexual predator or a threat to children.

This landscaping guy has been convicted of statutory rape which is consentual sex with a minor. Had the victim been a young child the chages would have been different. This does not appear to be a person who would be a threat to anyone in the OP's family, including the kids. If you want more info on what exactly he did, ask or call the agency that handles the registry for more info. But if this is just a case of a young guy having sex with a younger girl nine years ago I don't think that should influence your decision on hiring him. It wouldn't for me. Now if you find out that he is a predator then no, don't let him come near your house again. But it doesn't sound like that's the case.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

Nope. It would be statutory rape. I'm not sure why people are so dismissive if statutory rape laws. After all age of consent in this and most states is sixteen. Most of the men in these cases are NOT a girl's eighteen year old boyfriend, but adult males in their twenties and thirties. Further better than 40% of teen pregnancies involve an adult male. Every HIV positive teen I ever worked with contracted the disease from an adult male. And a very high percentage of these men are serial offenders moving on to another young girl when the first one gets too old. Bottom line, no, he couldn't landscape for me. I wouldn't want him anywhere near my children.

In GA, it becomes aggravated child molestation, if the victim is under 16 years old and the perp is older than 20 years old so it would only be statutory rape, if they were within 4 years of each other so ATLTJL is correct with his example.

SR

(c) If the victim is at least 14 but less than 16 years of age and the person convicted of statutory rape is 18 years of age or younger and is no more than four years older than the victim, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

ACM

(2) If the victim is at least 14 but less than 16 years of age and the person convicted of child molestation is 18 years of age or younger and is no more than four years older than the victim, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall not be subject to the sentencing and punishment provisions of Code Section 17-10-6.2.

so yea...

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

If I knew it was an 18 year old boy and his 17 year old girlfriend, I would have no problem with it. But, how do you know that it's not an 18 year old boy and a 13 year old girl? I would have never looked at him in the first place online like you did but since you did and you are asking, if you can find out exactly what he did and you are comfortable with it, then so be it.

And you never said how old he is. Everyone is assuming he is a guy in his 20's and it was nine years ago. If he's in his 40's, would you all still think it was ok?

You're not wrong in your thinking by any means.... I would take the guys age into account (and figure out how old he was then).

but this is an example of exactly what is wrong with the current laws and the broad label as 'sex offender.'

You hear the label and you are forced to assume the worst. The media always assumes the worst and really over-hypes it to...not to mention the shear number of law based television shows that really like to shock people with sex crimes.

I flipped through the registry a few years back in a few random areas. I saw alot of things I could assume to be bad, but a majority of the time I saw guys that were in their upper teens or younger 20s charged with some type of consensual offense.

I'm willing to bet there is a "bell curve" at play with the majority of offenses being with girls at 15 (correct me if I'm wrong... sexual consent is 16?... I'm not entirely sure)....

and then it decreases with every age apart the two people are.

My problem with these crimes... they often shouldn't happen, but I see a huge grey area in the severity of the crime.

I see things starting as what should be a smaller offense and progressively getting more severe, but I also believe the less severe... more likely the more offenders (which is partly how this happens).


also about Roslyns comments... I'm just curious... do any studies back this up? Are a majority of sex offenders really serial offenders going from young girl to young girl?

or are a majority single offenders (which is why we have so many in our registry!) and a few are serial offenders (but cause alot of offenses).

I think something about over 0.3% of the male population of Georgia is on the registry. It is a small number by itself, but it is very large given the subject. We are talking about 1 in every 300 to 400 guys.

Either way... I say what I'm saying not to be 'dismissive,' but there is a difference in severity and people hear that label and always have to assume the worst because of a label.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by PKCorey

In GA, it becomes aggravated child molestation, if the victim is under 16 years old and the perp is older than 20 years old so it would only be statutory rape, if they were within 4 years of each other so ATLTJL is correct with his example.

SR


ACM


so yea...

I don't really know the details, but we have to remember when looking at the registry... alot of people are on there for past crimes when the law was different.

Just something else to add to the mix.

[Lizita]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Thank you Rosyln! I thought I was going crazy thinking it would not be ok to hire him! I actually looked up statutory rape and it said that the victim must be older than puberty to be considered statutory rape and not child molestation. Some girls are in puberty sometimes by age 10. I stand by my original post. I wouldn't chance it.

Where did you look that up? Georgia law says nothing about puberty. In Georgia it's considered to be statutory rape to have sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of 16 regardless of the age of the perpetrator. So if two 14-year olds have sex they could both be charged with statutory rape. If the victim is 14 or 15 and the perpetrator is less than 3 years older he could be charged with a misdemeanor instead of a felony if the prosecutor wants to but it's still a crime and if the prosecutor so chooses it can even be a felony.

ETA: I looked this up again and it turns out that the law referred to above was the law before 2010. The law has since been changed. But if the landscaper was convicted 9 years ago this was most likely the law that was used.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Thank you Rosyln! I thought I was going crazy thinking it would not be ok to hire him! I actually looked up statutory rape and it said that the victim must be older than puberty to be considered statutory rape and not child molestation. Some girls are in puberty sometimes by age 10. I stand by my original post. I wouldn't chance it.

Then you were looking at the wrong thing. That doesn't appear anywhere in the Georgia statutes. Also this discussion is implying that there is some age demarcation between statutory rape and child molestation, but that is not the case. Basically statutory rape is sex with a minor under 16 that was not forced (which would be rape). Also if the victim is under 10 it is rape in all cases. Child molestation is acts other than sexual intercourse on a child under 16.

source: CHAPTER 6 - SEXUAL OFFENSES :: 2010 Georgia Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia