After 22 years practicing criminal defense, I have identified classes of sex offenders. Here is my perceived level of seriousness / danger of offenders in Denver, Jefferson and Arapahoe County:
- Violent men who forcibly rape strangers
- Adults / older children who force penetration upon young children
- Adults who touch children sexually or make the child touch them
- The older man and consensual sex with a 16 or 17 year old girl – both believe it a relationship
- The man who takes advantage of a drunk woman (usually at a party with the guy just as drunk)
- The man who talks sex in a sex chat room and agrees to meet a 14 year-old girl (really a police officer)
- The man who consensually exposes himself via nonsex chat sites to teen girls previously known
- Those developmentally slow (usually 18-25) who have a “relationship” with a child 13 or 14 year old
- The man who exposes himself to women in publicExposer on-line in sex chat sites
- Exposer while drunk or on drugs
- Clients of a prostitute
Do you agree with the order of this list? Colorado’s problem is that we label and treat all sex offenders in Douglas, Adams and El Paso County as if they are in the first two categories. The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB), courts, probation and the public treat all offenders the same. As a result, sex offenders are outcast and can’t find jobs. We incur huge societal costs by doing this. We never let men and women pay their dues by getting punished, taking treatment and starting over.
Why are the robber, the drunk driver who killed another, and the thief given a second chance? Why don’t we make them register for life, restrict where they can work or require treatment so harsh that nearly 50% fail out and go to prison? Why don’t we keep them from even talking to their children by phone, make them quit their jobs, move from their homes, and prevent them from talking to their wives, brothers and parents?
When caught, most sex offenders are submissive to rules to prevent reoffending and are willing to do treatment. But, our one-size-fits-all “standardized” sex offender treatment program doesn’t give them a fighting chance. Men are cut off from their children because they had sex with a drunk woman. Men are told they can’t talk to or have sex with their wife as punishment for failing a polygraph. This foolish program rewards treatment providers like T.H.E. (Teaching Humane Existence) for failing to give quality treatment to sex offenders.
Our lawyers represent people caught in this poorly constructed SOMB treatment program. Call us at 303-731-0719 today. Together, we can protect your future.