Juvenile Sex Offenders In Florida May Be Added To State Sex Offender Registry and Website
A new law in Florida threatens to do away with the privacy previously given to juvenile sex offenders.
The new sex offender law in Florida went into effect on July 1, 2007. Under the law, juvenile sex offenders convicted after July 1 will be listed right along with the adults are now listed in the state sex offender registry.
Defense attorneys serving as public defenders have vowed to challenge the new law as unconstitutional when the first case under the new law comes to court. Their argument is that the law violates the Constitution as the juvenile offenders are not given due process. Juvenile cases are handled quite differently than adult criminal cases. Juvenile offenders have their cases heard by a judge, who decides their fate without a jury. Previously, juvenile offenders have been sheltered a bit by not having their identities released to the public. This new law will change that.
Along with being listed on the state sex offender registry, juvenile offenders will also appear on the sex offender website, where their names, addresses and other personal information will be made public and easily accessible to anyone. The law will allow juvenile offenders as young as 14 years old to be listed. This listing, since public, will be readily available to their communities, schools and future potential employers. Juvenile sex offenders will no longer be sheltered from the public eye under Florida law.
There is a little wiggle room built into the law. In certain cases judges will have the discretion to remove a juvenile sex offender from the state registry. This provision of the law was added so in that "Romeo and Juliet" cases where there was a romantic relationship involved, the juvenile would not be listed as a sex offender. The offender must be under 17 years of age, the victim must not be more than 4 years younger than the offender and the case may not fall under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in order for the judge to consider removing the juvenile offender from the registry.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act went into effect last year. Named after the 6-year old child of John Walsh who was kidnapped and murdered in 1981, the Act requires that teens over the age of 14 who are convicted of having sexual contact with or sexually assaulting a child younger than 12 be included in state community notification laws such as Florida's sexual predator list.
The attorneys who will be challenging the law say that juvenile sex offenders are not the same as adult sex offenders and should not be treated equally under the law. They argue that there are many successful treatment and rehabilitation programs available for the juvenile sex offenders to lessen the chances that they will re-offend.
Although the law was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate, some lawmakers may be having second thoughts.
Representative Jack Seiler has said, "We don't want to put some juvenile who's having a bad day on the list for something stupid, some lewd prank. Depending on how this law is understood, we may have to revisit this in the next session."
That may be good thinking, since the law will not just put juveniles found guilty of sexual battery on the sex offender list and website. Under the new law, if upheld, juvenile offenders over 14 years old who have committed, attempted, solicited or conspired to commit sexual battery will be listed. Also, some types of lewd battery or molestation will land them on the Florida sex offender registry and website.
