The last thing I want to do is make any statement in defense of sex offenders, but I think we have to be careful here. I don't think the law makes enough of a distinction between various categories of offenders. There is a huge difference between an 18 year old man dating a 15 year old for a year and then having consensual sexual relations, and a 60 year old man luring a 6 year old girl into his van with a puppy. But both could be branded a sex offender for life.
For example, my son had a friend when he lived in Colorado who had a 18 year old son that was just a bit "slow". As a result, he was frequently harassed by some "bullies" in his senior class. One afternoon he was cutting across the athletic fields of the high school that was a complex shared by a middle school and elementary school. He was attacked by 6 or 7 "bullies" who stripped him of all his clothing and took his cell phone, leaving him in the middle of the field naked. There wasn't even a fig tree to grab a leaf from, so he ran towards the school looking for help. He was seen by a group of 4th grade girls who started screaming, which gained the attention of school administration and the police were called. He was arrested, convicted of a sexual offense, and sentenced to 6 months in jail and 5 years probation, as well as being listed for life as a "sex offender". This highlights one of the problems with "zero tolerance" policies. I just don't see this as a sex offense, and since "intent" seems to be a new yardstick applied to the law, I don't see intent either. If anything the true offenders were the group of boys that stripped him. BTW, he named them, but no one was interested. The police "had their man", case closed. The DA had his conviction. Case closed.
Now the true sex offenders are pedophiles who prey on pre-teen children and those who commit non-consensual assault. I don't think two teenagers with poor judgement , and certainly not the boy described above should be branded for life
That being said, probably 90+% of those labeled as sex offenders truly deserve it, so be careful.
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