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Convicted after Consensual Teenage Sex? Please Share Your Story!

The response since we posted about Wisconsin’s reduction in penalties and criminal classification for close-in-age teen sexual relationships on Thursday has confirmed what we’ve long believed: almost no one wants teenagers sent to prison and placed on the sex offender registry for consensual sex with peers.

One of the most significant obstacles in combatting this issue is that many Americans simply don’t believe it’s happening.

Showing the public, and legislator, the real people impacted by these misguided laws is the best way to impact their views and spur them to action.  We’re gathering stories on our blog, and already have heard from people saying, “I really didn’t believe it was that common,” or “I didn’t even know that was a crime!”

Help us increase that impact by sharing your story, or connecting us with someone you know who was arrested, convicted, imprisoned, and/or placed on the sex offender registry as the result of a close-in-age consensual relationship.

Use the contact form on this site, or email us at Stories@TheRegistryTrap.com

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Virginia Legislator Aims to Protect Teens from Child Pornography Charges

The Virginia Senate has passed a bill that would reduce charges for teens facing criminal charges for “sexting”. The bill’s sponsor, Virginia Senator Scott Surovell, acknowledges that exchanging explicit photos is a common practice among high school students and says, “We don’t want to make every kid in the school a felon.”

Unfortunately, it appears that Surovell, who started out with the right idea, is comfortable making every kid in the school (or, at least, the significant percentage who admit to exchanging sexually explicit photos) a criminal, so long as that crime is a misdemeanor.

The bill is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t decriminalize sexting between similar-age teens. It only allows the prosecutor the option of charging teen defendants with a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Teens “sexting” with other teens could still face felony charges, and could still be required to register as sex offenders.

Teens Could Avoid Felony Charges for “Sexting”: Senate Passes Bill

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14-Year Old Girl Charged with Felony Distribution of Child Pornography

The Minnesota teen sent a revealing selfie to her boyfriend, but then had second thoughts. Concerned that he was sharing the photo with other classmates, she went to a school counselor for help.

The girl’s concerns were well founded. The boy had shared the photo, which she’d sent through Snapchat, with other teens. She didn’t get the help she was looking for, though. Instead , she ended up facing a felony criminal charge that could derail her life. The Rice County, Minnesota prosecutor charged the girl with felony distribution of child pornography. Even a plea to a lesser charge could put the girl on the Minnesota sex offender registry for ten years.

This case adds a new layer to the insanity of placing teenagers on the sex offender registry for years–or even for life–as a result of consensual sexual activity. In this case, and others like it, the child allegedly being victimized through the creation and distribution of the image is the girl herself. The law that was written to protect children and young teens from predators has itself become a significant threat to them.

Various studies have shown that more than 10% of high school-aged kids admit to having sent or received nude photos, and that about 30% of young adults now admit that they sent such photos in high school.  Thus, the chances of a teenager falling victim to this misguided application of child pornography laws is much greater than the risk that the same teen might fall victim to an actual predator.

Minnesota Prosecutor Charges Sexting Teen Girl with Child Pornography

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Genarlow Wilson Receives Black History Achievement Award

Genarlow Wilson was among the first teens to make national news for having a consensual sexual encounter with another teenager. Wilson and five other young men were charged in connection with sexual activity occurring at a party when Wilson was 17. The two young women involved were 15 and 17.

While the other defendants worked out plea agreements, Wilson didn’t want to be forced to register as a sex offender based on a consensual encounter. The high school football star chose to take his case to trial, where he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In 2007, after serving two years of his 10-year sentence, Wilson was released from prison. The high profile nature of his case and the Georgia Supreme Court ruling that the 10-year sentence constituted “cruel and unusual punishment” triggered a change in Georgia law.

Today, Wilson is a college graduate working as a Skills Development Advisor at the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency and is raising a daughter with his wife, Tiffany.

Black History Achievement Award Honoree

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Michigan Law Change Comes too Late for Teen “Sex Offender”

Justin Fawcett was 20 years old when he died of a drug overdose in his bedroom–just a month after learning that he would be required to register as  a sex offender for the next 25 years.

The crime that landed Justin on the Michigan sex offender registry was a consensual sexual relationship with a 14-year-old high school classmate when he was 17.

Justin’s parents, who say their son was despondent after learning that he would be placed on the registry and hopeless about the future, became advocates for more sensible registry laws in Michigan. Ultimately, Michigan did implement some changes to protect underage “sex offenders,”–seven years after Justin’s death.

Did the Punishment Fit the Crime?

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Texas Father Required to Register as a Sex Offender for Life

When you look up Frank Rodriguez on the Texas sex offender registry, you’ll find that he was convicted of Sexual Assault of a Child. That sounds like something a potential neighbor might want to know about, but in truth it’s what the state of Texas called it when Frank, then a senior in high school, had consensual sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend.

That was more than 20 years ago.  Today, Frank and his “victim,” Nikki, are married and have four daughters…and they and their children are still paying the price for their high school relationship.

Frank’s job prospects are limited. He can’t coach his children’s sports teams, He can’t leave the state without registering with local law enforcement. And, any neighbor who opts to check the area for sex offenders will be greeted with the news that he sexually assaulted a child.

The Accidental Sex Offender

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Suburban Teen Commits Suicide after Being Threatened with Sex Offender Registration

In January of 2017, 16-year-old Corey Walgren jumped from the roof of a parking garage near his Naperville, Illinois high school and died.

Just hours before his death, the honor student and athlete had been eating lunch with friends in the high school cafeteria when he was summoned to the Dean’s office. There, a Naperville police officer confronted him about recording a consensual sexual encounter with another 16-year-old.

The officer and the high school dean told the boy that he was under investigation for child pornography and might have to register as a sex offender. In the brief window between this conversation and Walgren’s mother’s arrival at the high school to pick him up, the teen slipped away and committed suicide.

A Teen Took His Life; Now His Family is Suing His School and the Police