Juvenile Sex Offender Registry

The topic presented here is whether or not to create a juvenile sex offender registry. More than 20 states already currently have a juvenile sex offender registry but only Ohio is in full compliance with the Adam Walsh Act. The Adam Walsh act is purposefully designed to protect the public against violent sex offenders by having a more complete sex offender registry. Now let's get to some of the pros and cons behind juvenile sex offender registry. A pro behind this would be that the public would be able to know of violent criminals in the area. However a con of that is that the reputation of a child could be ruined and they may never be able to life a normal life. Another pro is that states would be able to secure grant money disbursed to law enforcement agencies. A con that goes along with that is the state would lose federal money that goes to local law enforcement. There is clearly both a good and bad side of having a juvenile sex offender registry. The proposed bill also states that teens would be listed on the registry for 25 years. When the teen reached the adult age, they would continue to have a record as an adult and would be placed on the adult registry.

Representative Debra Maggart stated, "I think we all have a responsibility to protect our future victims, the little children who are a future victim." From her standpoint it seems as if she is a mother who has children and doesn't want any child to have to go through that so she wants to know of juveniles in her surrounding neighborhood that have committed these awful crimes. Another point of view comes from Dr. Tarah Kuhn, a licensed clinical psychologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who is against the idea of a juvenile sex offender registry. Dr. Kuhn explains, "Clearly they need to be held accountable for their negative behaviors but the system was set up to hold them accountable in a different way than adults are and give them the opportunity to correct their wrongs and go on to have a successful life as an adult." She believes that they should still be treated as kids and they should almost be given a chance to turn their lives around. From this you can see that there are two completely different sides behind this topic.

My view on this topic is very similar to Representative Debra Maggart in that I believe the bill should be passed in order to protect the future victims. The part I don't agree with is that they should have to be registered for 25 years. There is no way that a 40 year old man can still be considered a sex offender when he committed a crime when he was 15 years old. I think that they should have to be registered for 10-15 years and I hope that this bill passes.