Knocking on doors

Before everyone hangs everyone on the sex offender list.... ! Myth: "False accusations of rape or abuse are rare." Fact: While the frequency of false accusations is difficult to measure, it happens far more often than we are led to believe. Almost every month, DNA clears a man after years of imprisonment for rape. A U.S. Air Force study found over one-fourth of women who accused men of rape recanted either just before taking or after failing a lie detector test — their most common reason being "spite or revenge" — and it concluded 60% of the rape allegations were false.(Forensic Science Digest, v. 11. n. 4, 12/85; Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1994, v. 23, n. 1.) In divorce proceedings, false accusations of domestic violence or child abuse, and restraining order abuse, are common. Without warning, men are arrested, jailed and barred from their homes and bank accounts without due process. More than 50% of child sexual abuse allegations are unsubstantiated.(Eckenrode, Powers, "Substantiation of child abuse and neglect reports, Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psych., 1998, 56, 9-16; Lewis, "Reliability rather than zealotry," Summer 1996, Kentucky Bench & Bar, 60, 23-30.) False accusers are rarely prosecuted. also: The US Justice Department, the FBI, and The Innocence Project all estimate that anywhere from 10% to 25% of all convicted child sex offenders are innocent. Even if we go by the low estimate...that means somewhere around 10,000 Floridians are innocent of child sex crimes. Think about that

I think the law in Florida for RSO is horribly written. My friend was accused by a 16 year old of molesting her. He was convicted. Ten years later, the girl said she lied about the whole thing! She has been trying to get him freed from the stigma and the courts won't help and don't care. His life is ruined. Another friend of mine who was 18 was fooling around with a 17 year old got caught in the car with her by the police, now he is a RSO. BTW they are married and his life is ruined by this! People and the media are witch hunting and it is very sad!

As a Florida RSO, with no prior and no post- criminal history, that was NOT adjudicated guilty (adjudication was withheld) back in 1993, the state treats me like I raped a child and requires me to register every quarter! If had know then that all of these USELESS laws would be passed that RETROACTIVELY effect me I would have never taken my attorneys advice and accepted the states offer! My attorneys told me that I would be able to have my records sealed and it would be “like it never happened” well it is not so! I didn’t want to accept the offer but I was led to believe that a plea of “Nolo Contendere” with "adjudication withheld" was not an admission of guilt. My life and my family have been destroyed! There was a time when I was a productive, honest, tax paying citizen- not so now. There was a time when I looked forward to moving on with my life- not so now. There was a time when I thought everything would be all right and I would be able to find gainful employment- not so now. My only crime- is bad judgment (doing an unsupervised medical procedure on an adult patient) and faith in a judicial system (that is broken and responds to public outcry as opposed to fact- can you say Terri Schiavo). What A Fool am I!!! Now I’m considered a MONSTER- maybe I’ll start acting like one. GET THE FACTS RIGHT!! The Justice Dept. and shows that the rate of recidivism is the lowest for people "convicted" of sex crimes! link: http://www.csom.org/pubs/mythsfacts.html This "Witch-Hunt" has got to stop!!!! Do some research folks, don't allow yourself to be manipulated by the headline grabbing media! http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/01/21/protecting-children-sexual-violence-dont-adopt-adam-walsh-act http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/09/18/wrong-sex-offender-laws http://www.geocities.com/eadvocate/issues/statistics.html