Apparently Ohio feels the registry can be "further punishment" and unconstitutional, under certain circumstances. This case carves out ONE circumstance; time to find others!4-5-2012 Ohio:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A family on Wednesday vowed to challenge a ruling that overturned the mandatory requirement that the person who raped their 6-year-old be branded a sex offender for life.
Tabitha McKee said that a 15-year-old relative raped her son.
The teenager was indicted as a “serious youthful offender,” and a juvenile court judge determined that he would benefit from rehabilitation and decided not to transfer him to adult court, 10TV’s Tanisha Mallett reported.
McKee said that she had hoped the 15-year-old would have been tried as an adult rather than as a juvenile.
“The only reason why I kept my mouth shut and didn’t contest the ruling was because he was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life,” McKee said.
The teenager appealed the automatic classification as a Tier 3 sex offender, ultimately having his case heard before the Ohio Supreme Court.
The 15-year-old’s attorney argued that mandating a juvenile to register as a sex offender for life amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and violates a young offender’s due process rights, Mallett reported.
Jill Beeler, chief counsel for the 15-year-old, said that the ruling acknowledged that children should not be handled like adults.
“So, this is a good outcome for him,” Beeler said. “He was retained in the juvenile court system. He’s been giving counseling and treatment, and that treatment can be very, very effective.”
During the Ohio Supreme Court hearings, it surfaced that the 15-year-old had a prior sexual offense in Utah before the rape in Ohio.
The Athens County Prosecutor said that there also were previous sexual assault allegations, Mallett reported.
“They are saying that it is cruel and unusual punishment for them to register for the rest of their life, but my son is going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life, my whole family has to deal with it,” McKee said. “Why shouldn’t he?”
McKee said that she planned to appeal the ruling.
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, eight juveniles in the state who have received the punishment of lifetime sex offender registration. ..Source.. by 10TV.com
As a registered offender and a previous law enforcement officer this is the type of person who needs serious help and has shown a previous pattern of offending. This is the problem. Everyone is lumped into a group. Each case should be individually handled. He, in my opinion, will continue to offend over and over again. He needs intense treatment and should not be released until he has completed this treatment.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute! I thought t registries were not designed to punish? At least that is what the US Supreme Court said? (Doe v Alaska etc.) Hmmm clearly the defendant has already been sentenced?
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