The fear and loathing against Registered Sex Offenders that is currently considered acceptable needs to stop before additional Citizens and communities are harmed. Our Legislators need to rectify this mess they have created by bucketing ALL sexual related acts into Sex Offender Crimes. The broad brush that the Legislators have been allowed to use across our population will continue to grow until it reaches into your home and labels you and your family.

The Sex Offender Registries are not protecting anyone, they are a means to humiliate, degrade, re-prosecute and destroy the lives of thousands of innocent citizens.

I am not taking up for the ones that have never changed, but for the ones that have for years paid their debt to society and are NOT a danger to the public, I see no reason why they should be on the registry , It is time for offenders and their family, friends to take a stand, this has gone on long enough, Vote Perry out, and all the rest of them, with your family’s, friends and concern citizens’ you number in the millions!

The Registries, if we really need them, need to be returned to their original intent, to list only the most dangerous, untreatable and repeat offenders.

That is why TXVoices exists. Its goals are to educate with facts and to work within the system to effect change in the laws that give the public a false sense of security. The registry needs reform before it can be a useful tool. Laws need to be changed to keep children off of the registry. And the public needs to be made aware of the dangers presented to society by things such as excessive restriction on the SOs (Sex Offenders).

For example, among the many conditions of probation and/or parole is the requirement that the offender maintain "gainful employment". That becomes an enormous hurdle they must continue to jump. Finding work becomes even more difficult when the employer's name becomes part of the public records associated with the offender. Those that have families must continue to provide for them, even if they can't see their own children. It makes no difference what their offense was, many of them are prohibited from having any contact with minors. Many cannot attend religious services on Sunday because the church offers a child care program during the week. Restrictions like these, coupled with restrictions on where these individuals can live actually make it more likely that subsequent offenses may occur.

A brochure from Texas Voices contains the following:
"Our Statement:

Texas Voices supports the prevention of child sexual abuse through carefully structured laws that target violent, forced, and/or dangerous predatory acts of sex against children.
Existing laws encompass a wide range of offenders and require the exact same resources be used for both violent, dangerous offenders and those whose offenses were neither violent, forced, or dangerous.

Current laws, as structured, are not keeping our children safe. They are, in fact, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars to prosecute, monitor, incarcerate, and severely punish many individuals who are of no danger to children, society, or the communities in which they live.

We believe that laws which will truly benefit the safety of our children, and society in general, must differentiate between those who are dangerous offenders and those who are not."

To find the facts and more information about this important issue, visit www.txvoices.com or email info@txvoices.com or write to:
Texas Voices
P.O. Box 23539
San Antonio, Texas 78223

I hope everyone will take time to seek out the truth before embarking on a "witch hunt" that will inevitably produce undesired results.

BornTexan...No, he's not a monster to ALL of the people on this site. SOME of us do understand that teen sexual experiences, whether consumanted or not, don't make a person a "sexual preditor." I'm sorry that all you can hope for is that somehow, sometime there will be enough intelligent legislators elected so that stupid laws like this are repealed and your husband can get his life back.

Sparkie80..."AGAIN PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELF!"

Sparkie, You're asking for a lot.

It is difficult to respond to this and all editorials like it without anger and utter distain for the writer. However I understand you are far from educated and are extremely ignorant on the issue and it is obvious you have not done much if any research on the real facts. A good place to start would be Texas Voices and eadvocate (http://www.geocities.com/eadvocate/is...). This is a no win situation for most caught in the trap of a sexual abuse case and most do not have the resources to prove their innocence and are forced to plea EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO ARE RELATED TO POLITITIONS, JUDGES AND THE SORT. I in no way condone any kind of child abuse of any form. Please educate yourself and realize we are not all what you, and the self-seeking politicians seeking reelection deem us to be. Ask MY CHILDREN if I am a pedophile read my appeal ON MY ABOUT ME PAGE and see why we are cheated out of a fair trial, please educate your self. And by the way I am a successful business owner PRODUCTIVE tax paying part of society and since there was no offense will not ever reoffend. AGAIN PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELF! (http://vincebohrer.com/aboutme.htm)

Ms keyser, Maybe TX voices would help with solutions. When the dialogue is open things happen and the whole community is better off. There needs to be a total understanding of these laws and the effects they have on people.

First off it is vital to do the research before throwing everyone that is on the Texas Sex Offender Registry, Second, Yes, we do need to figure out how to figure out how to protect our children and love ones that cannot defend themselves from those individuals that are ill, and do have the ability to control their sexual urges, the big picture is that we as Texans need to pay close attention too is that there are individuals out there that lack their sexual control, these are the individuals that we hear and see on the News. So, how do we do protect our children? Ask Texas Voices, short answer.
The truth is that we need for the Texas Attorney General and Texas Lawmakers except that they did not think ahead when they established these laws, and we need to put a stop to Texas Politics jumping on the Sex Offender bandwagon each time election session comes around, doing this can lead them to the realization that the 9 to 11 year olds playing doctor do not to be monitored by local law enforcement agencies, these agencies are already stretched way to thin, also, what about those individuals that had cases wear age was the only factor, not rape, these young men are the next to being the majority on the Texas Sex Offender Registry, Romeo and Juliet cases should not hold a place on the registry, these individuals have moved past this and continue to live as much as regular life as they can.
Imagine that you were a kid again, don’t you think that you too can also be part of the Texas Sex Offender Registry. We need to lighten the Texas Sex Offender Registry first before we can start protecting our children and loved ones, if we continue to place kids and young adults on this registry for simply touching each other under their cloths or over, the Texas Justice Department will continue to moved in the wrong direction from the purpose of the Sex Offender Registry.
So, in closing if you want to truly protect your community, start by doing the research and understanding that there are individuals that are on the registry that are first time non violent offenders, kids and young adults, and adults that were young when they committed their offence, if they can understand what they did was wrong can you see how the registry has created you to have the view you have to all that are on the Texas Sex Offender registry? Together we can make a difference in protecting our children, because let’s face it, this is why have sex offender laws, however, only together in large numbers is the only way, for both sides of the table.

Wow - that's a sad reality for my family and I then. I guess my 9 and 10 year old children will have to sit in exile with their father and I because he's a listed Sex Offender too. Oh, but it doesn't matter what he did to get there. He must be dangerous and sick. After all, he was a grown man at 19 years old, and his mistake is a life long punishment of ridicule, retroactive laws, and death threats because he touched the clothed breast of a 14 yr old he was mislead to believe was an 18 yr old girl. Even though he sent her home when he thought to ask her age, coping a feel kind of tipped off she *wasn't* an adult after all - he's still a sick pedophile to the rest of the world. He holds down a reputable job, supports his family, has never cheated on his wife, loves his kids immensely and would die for them, and hasn't even gotten so much as a speeding ticket since this happened OVER 16 years ago. But he's still deserving of the following: All sex offenders should be shot, killed, put on an island together, banned from all cities, kept in prison, put to death, castrated and the list goes on. Can you just imagine what our children endure from people who shares views like yours? The SAME children that are supposedly being protected from violence and sick people but subjected to this kind of vile hate speech from people who simply cannot fathom there's more to the label of Sex Offender than meets the eye. Quit watching the news and look for the facts folks. Visit Tx Voices and become enlightened. They aren't ALL bad. Some of them live in a light of shame, and fight to protect their families for one mistake that made them look like they held down a helpless child and raped them. God help us all considering the kind of hate that's so easily dished out without even stopping to think about who it's hurting. The laws that were meant to punish all the pedophile uncle Joes and child molesting Grandpas out there are hitting our youth's who made the same mistakes generations before us made. Innocent ones. Ones that led us all to find our boyfriends/girlfriends/husbands/wives. If these laws had been the way they are now, back then, our grandparents would never have married, because grandpa would have been in prison for kissing his 16 year old girlfriend when he was 18. Think about that for a minute.

It is difficult to determine the real risk level of a person or the true nature of their offense by the information given on the Registry. You must see for yourself. Talk to the individual. Go to the county the person received their conviction and ask to see the file. It is public record. You do not have to be a lawyer to understand the file. You may be surprised. Things are not always as they appear.

I must admit that I absolutely agree with this lady. If this man committed a sex offense against a 5 year old child, then why was he only given 5 years probation? Check out the teenage boys who had consensual sex with teenage girls and were placed on ten years probation with a lifetime of registration. But this really isn't the point. The point is she is advocating the removal of 172 people, many with families, from their homes. Will they use cattle cars by chance?

This is THE modern day witch hunt that has been set into motion by overzealous lawmakers, prosecutors, judges, media, and the corruption within the system itself. We should be more afraid of who is governing us, who is monitoring us, who is proposing laws in our "best interest" and what those laws are than the people listed on the registry.

Diane Pfenninger should be ashamed. She is obviously uninformed regarding the overinflated registry that is rendering our children less safe. Law enforcement are too busy going door to door to monitor individuals who pose no threat to society and cannot keep up with those who are truly dangerous.

It also seems that Diane Pfenninger is unaware that children are more likely to be molested by someone they know who is a trusted member of the family or friend of the family than a stranger.

There are 55,000 individuals listed on the registry in Texas alone. What if every city decided to ban registered offenders from living within their limits?

To even propose something so hateful is shameful.

I am so glad to see people recognizing the seriousness of this situation. Predators who have assaulted young children, those who rape, those who are violent and dangerous, comprise approximately 5% of those on the registry. The other 95% are no more dangerous to children and the community than are Ms. Pfenninger and Ms. Keyser. With available resources being forced to monitor the 95% as stringently as they do the 5%, the public is losing 95% of the protection they are entitled to. The time has come, indeed, has been here, for some serious reform. To continue to classify the man that Ms. Keyser writes of, the one who molested a five year old girl, and two teenagers who foolishly texted nude pictures of themselves to each other in the same category and expend law enforcement and community resources on them the same is wasteful, self-defeating, and just plain stupid.

Anyone who wants to protect children from pedophiles should be interested in cleaning up the now all but useless sex offender registry. Law enforcement is so distracted by policing teens and young adults for consensual touching that they don't have the resources to monitor child molesters and rapists.
The reason so many people think that all sex offenders hurt little children and force women is because that's what politicians and the media want us to think. We seldom get the truth from someone running for office or from Nancy Grace. Most politicians only care about easy votes and the media only cares about sensational stories for ratings. It's our duty to know the facts before we petition our government.
reformsexoffenderlaws.org

After I read what was said here concerning register sex offenders in Victoria, Texas I felt that many people are so closed mined. Yes I have concerns about sex offenders who committed a crime with a child, but what about a S/O that has never re-committed for 10, 20 years! We all made mistakes, a small sin or big sin, its all a sin. Many S/O offenders are NO threat to no one. I know of many S/O that are very successful in society, own thier own homes and married with family, now a S/O that has committed a crime with a child is so different from a S/O who commits a crime with an adult, and there are many men and women who were accused of a sex crime and did not commit the crime. The Courts today in Texas go after what we call "here-say." Thank you for your time, Manny

One will never know if a murderer lives next door, or your new friend that drives your kids to the park has two DWI convictions. They are all given a second chance, but take an immature 17 year-old that tickles a kid...no...lets make him a registered sex offender for life.
There is so much hysteria that folks do not know just how these laws are destroying our young men.

omg people! Why do you guys justify these crimes???ITS WRONG! If the parent is the pedophile get them the hell away from their kids!! 99% of the time they are abusing their own children as well!Do you guys not watch the news do you not feel bad for all these babies that are being kidnapped violated and killed most of the time?! People have no Conscience! I believe God forgives but I also dont believe in stupidity,So as God forgives I'll continue to protect my loved ones from these sick headed people! I understand that there is a few cases of consensual situations thrown out of proportion and they shouldnt be treated the same however look at the victoria registry yourself most are pedophiles and those should be punished to the fullest! And I dont believe counseling changes pedophiles look at statistics it speaks for itself.They are good at convincing people they change but the sad truth is they dont. Somone has to speak out for these babies somone has care!

Diane, Thank you for writing such an impassioned article that focuses on the children and the lifetime challenges with which the abuse leaves them. I'm glad to see the interest this topic is generating. It shows people care a lot and that bodes well for change. Even those with which I disagree offer helpful insights because they inform me of obstacles that must be addressed in order to protect our children from sex offenders. We don't have to know all the facts to get the conversation started. I didn't. The above comments provide me with useful information about the txvoices.com website and the need to distinguish sex offenders who commit crimes against very young children and those discussed above. Honestly, I have to take a deep breath and bite my tongue when reading some of this stuff. It is an emotional topic. Passion is necessary to ignite change and ongoing work. But I know expressing this passion will hurt credibility and distract from our goal - protecting people from true predators. LET'S ESTABLISH A POLITICAL ACTION LEAGUE (PAC) to organize our efforts, address the obstacles, and find solutions. How does VACAC sound - VICTORIANS AGAINST CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN? Let's direct all our energy, time, and efforts to this topic and I'm confident we can make progress. If I live long enough we can tackle enacting laws at the state level, any amendments to the constitution necessary for our cause, harsher sentencing for those convicted of crimes against children, the ACLU, and the liberals more concerned with the civil liberties of the convicted child molesters than those of their young victims. If you want to get involved, please leave your number with the Advocate so that I can contact you and figure out the next step. Teresa Keyser

First of all I was raised in Victoria, Tx so I know how closed minded people can be. If a person commits a violent sex act yes by all means take them out to the woods and teach them a lesson but folks wake up we have children (10yr.olds) on the registry for what ? you show me yours and I'll show you mine!!!! How many of you ever played doctor or spin the bottle? I guess you should be took out and hung huh????? wake up and smell the coffee there are people on the registry that haven't even touched anyone just talked to them online and we label them a sex offender....what is wrong with this country? You murder someone ..do your time...get out thats that but you have consensual sex and you pay for it for the rest of your life....come on people. Check out the stories and comments on www.txvoices.com.... don't be so fast to judge ...the next person on the registry maybe your son,daughter,husband,wife...or even you if your not careful.

I went to the website mary sue spoke of www.txvoices.com everyone should check it out. It will give you a clearer understanding of what marysue is trying to say. I even signed the petition.

mary sue u are right about how 19 year that has a 15yr girlfriend and they are call "sex offenses" Now days these girls go after the guys and lies about there ages. I know because it happen to my son and the girl had sex with two guy that night and she had a baby and it was my son. Her mother only went after my son because it was his baby. Yes i know about sex offenders my daughter was a victim at age 5. I know how people feel about sex offender very well.I wish there were different category for sex offender. Because there is allot of guy that had younger girlfriends and girl that wear make up and look older then they are then lies about there age why should they be call sex offender?

All I know is that with God all things are possible. Evidently some of you don't know the same God that I know. God is forgiving of EVERYONE!!!!!
If you don't believe that then you should examine yourself. There are some on the registry who do not belong there. There should be differentiation between those who are dangerous and those who are not. Those who are not dangerous or predatory should not be there.
I am a victim of sexual assault and even I understand that. I AM NOT A VICTIM, I AM A SURVIVOR. Consensual sex is not the same as what happened to me and if you believe it is then shame on you.

I would like to encourage Ms. Pfenninger and txgal to calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. Do some research into the situation, and you will find that most pedophiles are not the people on the registry, but are family members who never get reported. Are there pedophiles on the registry? Of course! But the vast majority of those on the registry are ordinary people who let things get out of hand on one occasion. There are many juveniles on the registry because they had consensual contact with their girlfriend (or boyfriend - it goes both ways, but the boy is usually the one who ends up paying the price). Or they may have been chatting on the internet with a police officer pretending to be a 14-year old girl. Or perhaps someone send a risque photo to a friend's cell phone and they both wind up on the registry for possessing and distributing child pornography. The courts and the police don't make any distinction between them and punishment is terribly inconsistent. I agree that some of them should be locked away for life, but they are few in number. If only there were a registry for drunk drivers, murderers and drug dealers, then we might be making our communities safer. Please, don't overreact. Get the facts. Learn about some of the actual cases and think about the long-term effects of what you are proposing.

txguy

What do you do for the children who live with the parent that is a sex offender? Do you subject them to the same shame and ridicule? Yes post a sign in front of there house stating that there parent is a sex offender. Emotionaly destroy them also? Devistate there self esteem? Not all sex offenders are pedophiles. And not all of them are repeat offenders. People can change with counseling. Thats what makes humans the dominate species. We have the ability to learn from our mistakes. I hope you will rethink your final solution.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of individuals who are required to register on the Texas Sex Offender registry who pose NO threat to children. visit www.txvoices.com. Texas law offers no distinction between the 19 year old kid who had a 15 year old girlfriend and the 65 year old man who fondled a 5 year old. Both offenses are very different. One is not a dangerous person, the other most certainly is. Please do not classify all "sex offenders" into the same category. You will regret it when you find one of your loved ones on the list.