Bogus 'sex offender' labels are ruining lives

What's the most common age of sex-offenders? It's not a trick question, but unless you follow this stuff closely you'll almost certainly answer wrong. In fact, most people are shocked to learn that the most common age of people charged with a sex offense isn't a creepy 39, or 51. It's 14. That's right. As the US Bureau of Justice reports: "The single age with the greatest number of offenders from the perspective of law enforcement was age 14." Why so young? Because people tend to have sex with people around their own age, which means young people tend to have sex with other young people. And much under-age sex is illegal. [...]

A study by Human Rights Watch gave the example of Jacob, a boy found guilty of inappropriately touching his sister when he was 11. Because this got him placed on the sex offender registry, he was not allowed to live near other children, including siblings. So he was sent to live in a juvenile home, and eventually placed with foster parents. Now 26, Jacob is still on the sex-offender registry, still unable to live near a school, playground or park. (Even though study after study has shown these residency restrictions do not make the public any safer.) Meantime, he has had a hard time finding work, because who wants to hire a sex offender?

source: Article 'Bogus ‘sex offender’ labels are ruining lives' by Lenore Skenazy; nypost.com/2016/07/25/bogus-sex-offender-labels-are-ruining-lives/; New York Post; 25 July 2016