Absolutely, it is absolutely appalling. All a woman has to do here in the commonwealth of Virginia is make the accusation PERIOD. Aren’t they already passing a law to make it legal to shoot a sex offender on site. does that mean I can shoot a judge who has been convicted of molesting his granddaughter on site LOL. Why don’t they just take us all to the local police firing range & be done with us. I wish they would take me to the firing range. “To live is Christ, to die is gain”. I am in the process of suing the state of Virginia via Leesburg general district court not only for “age of victim unknown BS on the sor website (so called VICTIMS age was 35yrs old) but also for luring me down on Super Bowl Sunday in Febuary of 2000 to take a polygraph test without informing me of my right to have a lawyer present. I got the BEST LAWYER in Virginia. J.C. Jehovast III, esq. Attorney at Law, He has NEVER lost a case. 🙂

“Of course he said that working with children would be out of the question (I agreed and made the decision beforehand that working with children wouldn’t be wise)”

Richard, why did you prosecute yourself by saying “working with children wouldn’t be wise”?
Not knowing what your offense was, I have an offense of having a consensual relationship with a girl that was 1 yr under the legal age (16 for CT, and almost all of the men in the SO treatment group I was FORCED to take by probation had the same issue), but this ‘young woman’ was not some Micky Mouse Club looking kid, which is a major factor in why I was drawn to her (hmmmm…Elvis gave pretty much the same justification for his interest in Priscilla when she was only 14).

My point here is this – I have worked with, babysat, helped raise and joyfully showed kindness with children loooooong before I got caught up with a post-pubescent teenager just shy of being able to operate a motor vehicle all on her own. I have no interest in “children”, as my idea of “children” are those you’d see in the Micky Mouse Club.

But I would NEVER in a million years, give someone else a means of judging me by having my own words VALIDATE my Scarlet Letter by saying I think it’s a good idea not to work around children.
I don’t know about any of you here but I personally have come to DETEST the very sight of a child because of all the mental nonsense from the probation dept and most of all the ludicrous S.O. “treatment group”. Those people couldn’t treat a minor cut with a bandaid.
I seriously have come to hate kids because of their psychological game they play on us – no matter what the backstory of our crime was – by basically forcing us to believe that we want to molest every child we see.
Hate me for this if you will but I am at the point that I most likely wouldn’t try to lend a helping hand to a child about to get hit by a car. SERIOUSLY!! This is the type of mind f*ckery the legal system does to us.

I dunno man. I just would never had said such a thing. Did you say it because it seems like the right thing to do, to allow these church folks to validate your Scarlet Letter, or do you honestly not trust yourself around kids?

I know that there are only a few members in the church that know what’s going on with me (I haven’t gone to sentencing yet). It actually has helped me reach out to those people when I needed some encouragement. I also have a friend who is a social worker and can understand the situation (without too much judgement) and is still willing to talk to me. I don’t know the laws too much here in Virginia, but I still believe that I can attend church without issue (unless my PO says otherwise).
You’re right about this type of felony being the only one that certain church elders would require public knowledge to all members…which is stupid and misguided. Luckily for me, I wasn’t the only person he has had to console with this matter so he has been very helpful. His father also is a pastor of a church with several members who are on the SOR (that he knows of), so there are certainly churches out there who are willing to help.

Let me clarify that last sentence. Many of the people who have called for the creation of a registry have invoked religion in doing so.

I have to throw in my two cents here. A strict biblical new testament interpretation would be helpful. In fact though, some of the most religious people are the least tolerant when it comes to reintegrating us back into society. Some (I should add) do correctly interpret scripture. I should also say that this this phenomenon can be true for atheists as well but many religious people USE religion as a way to justify why God would throw all of us in hell. When people use religion in a hypocritical way, I am a little less forgiving than a person who is wholly ignorant of the issue. I know the founder of the Christian religion would not be proud of the fact that the USA (which is supposedly a Judeo-Christian nation) has produced a segment of society that are literally outcasts and untouchables and many of them have done it in his name.

Good point, Richard. Believe it or not, I’ve heard too many stories where pastors will conditionally accept an RSO ONLY if every member of the congregation is notified which in my opinion totally defeats the whole purpose of joining. No other felony would call for that, not even second degree murder. I agree that it’s always a good idea to let the pastor know if only to not give any appearance of impropriety, even if that’s not the intent of the RSO. As far as working with children go, I think most of us would never hurt a child again. I do truly believe that. At the same time, if an RSO tried to work with a child and didn’t disclose his status, that can only reflect badly upon the individual in the eyes of that church. That would be a foolhardy thing to do. It would be a little like offering to balance the church’s books after being convicted of embezzlement. Even if one never intends to embezzle again, the church wouldn’t want to give that particular person that responsibility.

Paul, what you said about the reintegrating back into the church is on point. I personally had reached out to the pastor at my church (within 2 weeks of attending). I wanted to be upfront with him so that 1) he didn’t found out through someone in the congregation and 2) so that we could work together to ensure the safety of myself and the congregation. Of course he said that working with children would be out of the question (I agreed and made the decision beforehand that working with children wouldn’t be wise), but he wanted to make sure that I was able to become a contributing member of the church community. I have read many stories about how RSO’s find a way into a church and begin to work with children…that would be ill advised. Now, I know that not only offenses against children can get you on the registry, but once people find out…it’s all over. AND we know all to well that the media will sensationalize the story and make the church look like an accomplice.

My suggestion would be to be open with the pastor or elders of the church so that you are protected incase any information gets out.