sex offenders allowed in florida schools
I read this article last night in the St. Pete Times - did you know that Florida law ALLOWS sex offenders to visit a school, if the sex offender has a child at the school? My stomach turned as soon as I read it, as I live not too far from the area where a sex offender kidnapped and killed Jessica Lunsford.
My husband and I actually had a disagreement of sorts over this article. He feels that if a sex offender has a child, that gives them the right to be on campus. I disagree. Regardless of whether or not a sex offender has been a sperm donor, or is father of the year, he has no place on a school campus around MY child.
Let me clarify that I also believe the Florida laws don’t use common sense when dictating who is a sex offender. Take the case of Emilio Johnston, who was mentioned in the article. At the age of 18, he was arrested for having sex with a 15 year old girl, and was ordered to register as a sex offender. I believe that people like Mr. Johnston are simply victim of a bad law. I see jim much differently from someone who was 30+ and had sex with a 15 year old. Or someone who is a sexual predator. I take no issue with “Romeo & Juliet” sex offenders being on campus, as long as they are supervised at all times. I do take issue with sexual offenders who fall into other catagories being on campus. I can not believe that after all the press regarding John Couey (who murdered Jessica Lunsford) working ON CAMPUS at a school, that Florida continues to permit sex offenders on school grounds, and in some cases, does not supervise them.
How does that protect my child? What are you going to do, Governor-Elect Charlie Crist, to protect our kids at school?
EDITED TO ADD: I’ve started a petition to send to Mr. Crist - please consider signing it so we can change the law to KEEP dangerous sex offenders out of our schools:
Ban Sex Offenders Who Are Parents From Coming To Florida Schools Petition
agreed, and signed. I also think they should take into account the actual crime, like you said some are the victim of a bad law, the others should be in jail or hell… just my 2 cents
What happened to the rule that sex offenders have to be so far from a school? I don’t really care if they have a child that goes to the school or not if they want to pick them up from school then the child can walk to the 100 yard distance or whatever it is.
Does it count if someone from Indiana signs your petition? I’ll sign if it does. I whole heartedly agree with you. Are there private schools in that area that you could put your kids in that would not allow this to go on?
That might be what your school district needs to show them that parents aren’t putting up with that!
I absolutely support this petition. Do I have to be a resident of FL to sign it?
There is a law that you have to live at least 1,000 feet away from a school. Apparently being a parent trumps that though, allowing you to visit school whenever you want.
Unfortunately, private schools cost a lost (and I have three kids) and have even less of a screening method than the public schools do. Most private schools do not do any background checks or screening process.
And yes, please sign!
OMG that is totally crazy! I would bug if I found that out. Makes me even more happy that I have decided to homeschool.
Signed.
When a sex offender makes the choice to abuse or molest a child, they lost the right to NOT be outcast and discriminated against with regard to employment, housing, or schooling.
Hey sex offenders - You want to be treated like everyone else? ACT like everyone else, and don’t molest kids.
I have deleted 2 comments because they were insulting. You are free to disagree with me, but calling me names and insulting me will not be tolerated.
[…] I was shocked to learn that sex offenders, who are parents, have complete access to enter and roam around schools in Florida. So shocked, that I blogged about it. Then I decided blogging wasn’t enough, so I started a petition to change the laws. Please visit TheFloridaBlog to learn more. 15th Jan | […]
While on one hand I do agree, on the other hand I think there is a MUCH bigger problem. If there are pedofiles with children who have committed serious sexual offences (not the 18/15 year old thing) then WHY are they even allowed to have custody of their own children? If they are a danger to our own children, you would think they should be seen as an even bigger danger to their own children!
Also, I don’t think any parent should be excluded from their child’s life unless they are dangerous - so if they do have custody of a child they should be allowed to particpate in school function: but perhaps, they should have to notify the school when the child is registered, and then notifiy the school prior to each visit or event they will attend to proper supervision can be arranged.
These are not necessarily parents who have custody - they do not have to have custody, just visitation, in order to come to the school.
Do you know for sure if all sex offenders on the Fl registry, are actually guilty? You do not. Take for example, “pete”. Seven years ago, When Pete was 18, He went into a nightclub for those 18 and over. He had a legal ID stating he was 18. While in this club, He met Sally, whom had an ID stating she was 18 as well. These two got together, had “consenual” sex. Two weeks, Sally got in trouble by her parents for going into a club “illegally. Yes, Sally had a fake ID, she was ONLY 15 years old. Guess who gets arrested, tried and convicted of rape and is now a Fl registered sex offender? You guessed right, Pete. Was Pete out looking to have sex with a 15 year old? No. Why does Pete get arrested for a crime he did not intentionally commit? So today Pete is married and has kids in the public schools. Does Pete have a legal right to participate in his children’s education? Yes. If you see Pete, are you going to prejudge him, when you don’t know the real facts? Plenty of Fl citizens get falsely accused of crimes, get scared and take plea bargains. Are some of these parents actually guilty? Yes. Do we know if they are reoffending? No. Not every sex offender in Florida, is a John Couey or a Ted Bundy And these insane sex offender laws only keep getting passed because of these high profile cases, All the while, the revicidism rate of sex offenders reoffending, is very low! Am I Pete? No, Pete is my son!
I agree Big John. Which is why I stated that I am against banning so called “Romeo & Juliet” offenders.
But frankly my dear what makes your rights more than those of any child with a parent who is a Registered Sex Offender, RSO’s are the least of your child’s concerns they have paid thier debt to society and had numerous court issues to perhaps have contact with thier child and if the state felt they were that dangerous they’d be civily committed as per Jimmy Ryce Laws, Will keeping a parent from participating actively in a child education change anything no but it will hurt that child. Those that are registered are the least of your concerns, Do you think a RSO’s who can’t by law be around children is going to risk violations to go to a school? No I dare say not, and why because they ARE Registered Sex Ofenders and they are law abiding and are following all the rules or you would not know where they were to begin with ( which is a Horse of a differnt color as the OZ says )!! But do you know who is dangerous and who is not I would say No the registry is so diluted with numerous registraints the reasons someone could become a RSO vary and are so individual they can range from public urination and drunken exposure to internet and picture pron to your “Romeo and Juliet” case but what it Juliet is jilted and cries wolf is it now rape? Close to 80 percent of all felons take plea bargins and some would say they are affraid of the trail and quilty anyway but not so it’s more than likely no money for a good Lawyer and lack of sufficent representation that’s uptodate on all the current SO laws so they take a plea do the time and then realize NOW I”M A RSO and whats to be done here in FLorida there are no tier levels no risk acessments, no therapies offered in prison and it can be for 10yrs 25 yrs or life. So the registry is useless except to be a money hole for the state your tax dollars at work and now we’ve gone federal and the more RSO’s you have the more federal dollars you’ll get. And will this save children No but it hurts children everyday those with parents that are RSO’s and are now law abiding and must deal with “Chicken Little The Sky is Falling” cause another parent has concerns that thier at school or the park or the pool or scouts or even on the street at the bus stop oand maybe even where they live. These NOT In My BackYard attitudes are leading to homelessness and mutiple moves for these children with the advent of residentcy restriction and 1000 ft 2500 ft even 2 miles rule on where RSO’s may live So you can start a new trend now. Educate on this issue, clear conversations with your child talk about sex that’s age appropreiate, stranger danger is not what it is all about it’s mostly people they know and even some times people they love. Make sure your child knows they can talk to you about anything. Tell your pubescent teen boys and girls having sex under the age of consent can PUT you in jail even if they lie about thier age if you are older than they you may be arressted and put on the registry for life for all your nieghbors to feel safe and know where you are. Everyone thinks Once a Sex Offender always a sexoffender this is just not true and there is a great misconception concerning new sex offenses they are about 3% ,
( There’s aprx 30000 on the Fl registry so do the math, so why are we wasting billions on something that is changing nothing??)
Therapy and Education are the keys to change This information comes from noted Psychlogist and Justice reports and Statistic that are available thru the web. I encourage all, educate your self on the issue and stop running scared from your nieghbors because they may be on this internet registry and want to attend a school function of a child or family member, Or the fact they live in your community. Other crime rates are of grater concern than these murder, violent theft burglery, drugs, gang violence and home invasion are much more likely to harm your family than an RSO.
Another knee jerk reaction without truly getting the facts.Are you aware that over 90% of all sex offenses are done by family member or friends of family?Less than 10% are of the “John Couey” situation.You don’t want a sex offender in your neighborhood?Okay,how about a meth dealer or cocaine dealer,a bank robber,a prostituition ring,a burgler or a wife beater.You see no one wants anyone with a criminal background in their neighborhood.The 1000 foot rule gives society a false sense of security.Do you actually think these laws protect children?If some one wants to do it the laws aren’t going to stop them.This is a very hypocrital country.We act like sex is a mystery.However it’s all around us on TV,music and is the # 1 selling industry on the internet.Yet we act shocked.Children are in their bedrooms lying about their age in chat rooms and myspace.Yet we are shocked when they are solicited by an adult.It’s called lack of parenting.Let me clarify something,I feel anyone caught molesting children physically desrves a harsh penalty.However not everyone on a website is the devil or deserves to be labeled forever for a what some people judge as a sex crime.I’d like to see the skeletons in some of these peoples closet who are so judgemental of other people.Are you aware that urinating in public,mooning and streaking now warrents you to be labeled a sex offender?What I’m saying is know the facts and do some research about a subject before you send eveyone to hell.Someone you know someday maybe affected by this label wrongly.Always remember politicians are going to use issues like this to get your vote and grandstand to put thm in the media spotlight.Have you heard the Charlie Christ is gay rumors?Is that a crime if he is?Again a touchy subject and Mr Christ feels uncomfortable when the subject comes up.If he is will he be more understanding of gay people?Just a thought.Thanks for your time,,,I hope you publish this to give people a choice on their opinions.
What are they thinking when thay make these laws???
I signed!!!!!!!
Oh for crying out loud. Get your own blogs people - these comments are insane.
My knee jerk reactions are often the best kind!
The 1000 foot law is better than nothing at all.
If you want changes to the law, start your OWN petition, and I’ll keep working on mine. No one ever said it was a fair law. But I’d rather have NO sex offenders in school for right now, until the law is changed to prevent the ones who molested kids from being there.
And personally, I don’t care if Mr. Crist is gay. As long as he’s not molesting kids, being gay is fine with me.
I agree with the author. They should only be allowed as far as the front office, not at any school functions-don’t care if the offender’s child is in chorus, athletics, school fairs-whatever! They lost the right to roam around on a school when they started touching kids.
I’d just like to say that the children of these “Romeo and Juliet” cases are already going through enough hell, when they have done nothing wrong. These children cannot walk 1000 feet when they are 4 years old, give me a break!!!! Why do you guys insist on making little innocent children suffer? That totally wrong. All children have the right to live emotionally healthy lives, regardless of what their parents have done, especially if the only crime committed was a Romeo and Juliet consensual relationship where the “victim” lied about her age to begin with.
Dee,
Did you not read any of the above posts? YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A CHILD MOLESTER TO BE DEEMED AND REGISTERED AS A SEX OFFENDER.
Let me ask all of you: how old were you when you first had sex? If you were 15 or younger, your partner committed a sex crime under Florida law. Even if BOTH of you were 15, you are BOTH sex offenders under Florida law. You were just never charged with the crime.
How many of you are either a guy who (or if your female know a guy who) has urinated behind a tree, behind a bush, in an alley? That guy is a sex offender under Florida law. He just wasn’t charged with the crime.
Someday, and I will predict it will be soon, everyone reading this blog will either be on the registry themselves or know someone who is, rightly or wrongly.
It’s going to take all of us to stop the hysteria, get the laws back to focusing on the real problem - true predators - and return to sanity.
Ally, please don’t question other commenters, or I will delete your comments.
If YOU read my post, you’ll see that I am against labeling Romeo and Juliet offenders AS sex offenders at all.