(CNN) — Joshua Gravens can’t do a lot of the normal things parents do, like drop his son off at school, attend parent-teacher conferences, or take his daughter to the park, a library or anywhere else children gather.
For the offense of inappropriately touching his 8-year-old sister when he was 12, Gravens, 26, has spent almost half his life as a registered sex offender. The designation subjects him to residency and zoning restrictions that dictate where he can live and spend time. It has also made him the target of harassment, death threats and hampered his ability to find a job or keep a home, he said. As he sees it, his wife and four children are still paying the price for what he did as a child. Full Article
I’m not normally a fan of CNN, but I have to admit, they did a pretty good job in this article, even admitting that sex offenders have very low recidivism rates and that registries haven’t been proven effective in protecting the public. As far as what this guy faced, it is incredibly ridiculous that he’s having to go through so much for something he did when he was only 12 years old.