SF Chronicle: Suffer the children

This week’s column is Suffer the Children: Violet Blue: The iPhone Sex Offender locator: considered harmful. The comments are making me cry. Please click through to get all the links. Here’s a snip:

On the California Megan’s Law Web site, which maintains a publicly accessible database on our state’s registered sex offenders — where they live, what they look like, what they were convicted for — the word “masturbate” is spelled incorrectly. On the page that lists the extensive catalog of penal codes detailing offenses for which one would have to register and give up personal privacy for all the world to see, offense 311.3(b)(3) is, in fact, “Sexual exploitation: masterbation.”

I highly recommend that if you’re hauled downtown and readied for conviction under 311.3(b)(3) that you bring a dictionary. Then you can pull it out (the dictionary) and say, “But no, Your Honor. I was engaged in masturbation.”

Hey, at least they spelled “penal” correctly.

If it seems like I’m making light of a serious situation, it’s just my hysteria seeping out about how absolutely broken our system is around dealing with sex crimes. I mean specifically predatory, violent, awful, and nonconsensual sex crimes — the kind that should be illegal, which are illegal and punishable. However, take a trip down Megan’s List and you’ll never run Bay To Breakers again when you see 314.1 — “Indecent exposure.” Granted, take a closer reading of Section 314.1 and you’ll see it expressly “prohibits conduct that is intended to direct public attention to his or her genitals for purposes of sexual arousal, gratification, or affront where there are other persons present to be offended or annoyed.” (Citation: In re Smith (1972) 7 Cal.3d 362, 366. PDF) Simple nudity such as sunbathing or skinny dipping is not prohibited under 314.1. But annoy someone with your exposed penal code… and anyone busted for it must register as a sex offender for the rest of his or her life.

It’s no wonder that while I was researching the popular, then pulled, then replaced in a limited edition “Offender Locator iPhone App” I was aghast at which non-violent offenses might land someone’s private information on the registry. I remarked about this and got a response on my Facebook page from a woman who works in the East Bay saying, “don’t get me started…I work with sex offenders, some of whose “offenses” that they now have to register for are ridiculous.” (…read more, sfgate.com)

Update 08.15.09: It’s half past midnight here in San Francisco. I’ve spent the past few days moving almost 90 pages of this site from an old template to the current one; it’s been a massive project. Next I’ll update the entire template. But the depth of moving the code, updating all the sex information and links, and doing cool things like Apturizing all the multimedia sex ed and erotica — it’s been a lot of work. It’s been a great way to not think about this issue for a minute, to bury myself in a different kind of work. Because my inbox has exploded. With people who need help, and more stories like this comment, the one that made me weep openly:

Thank you Violet. My brother committed suicide because he was on Megan’s List. He couldn’t go to school, his children were ridiculed and sought out in school, a neighbor punched him in the face while another neighbor made sure everyone knew his “crime”. He never saw his children participate in any school activities because he was so fearful. Every birthday was ruined because he had to register. He was falsely charged and the DA that prosecuted him was later charged with child pornography. And as we all know in prison pedophiles are sought out and punished- his punishment was rape. His 16 yr old step daughter called police because she was angry that he wouldn’t let her go out that night. Because he was a “sex offender” the police would never take his requests for help seriously. They even had the ability to put him down as an habitual offender. So he found the only refuge from pain that he could. I miss him dearly and I loathe those who tortured him.

When my piece “Suffer the Children” was going live, the news hit about the sex offender/social networking site grooming that’s been put into law in Illinois. It’s sickening. To my knowledge, this type of “grooming” is illegal in other countries. I saw the breaking news, people were sending me links, and I just held my head in my hand, stared at my inbox and wanted to weep.

I got a lovely, very complimentary email about the article from the Chief political correspondent at CBSNews.com. It means so much I don’t even know how to email him back yet. Though I’ll admit I’d love to devote myself to writing pieces like this regularly, and his email makes me think in that direction. Honestly; “Suffer the Children” was almost a year in the research, I did interviews and had research assistance from several lawyers who are personalities in their own right. This could have been, and still could be a 6000 word piece with everything I have. I got it down to 1200 words in a very intense, late night, for the Chronicle. And they just don’t pay me enough to do this every week. I watched the sun come up the night I turned it in (at 3am).

Anyway, please read these superb articles:

* Kicking Sex Offenders Off The Internet? Forget MySpace: A New Illinois Law Says Sex Offenders Can’t Use Google, Yahoo, Amazon, And Many Other Popular Sites (cbsnews.com)

and

* Fred Invited You to Join the Facebook Group “Illinois Sex Offenders” (reason.com, thanks, Praemedia)