Right, but it’s NOt legal in 20 other US states which is nuts, specially when both are teens. I’ve seen news reports of two 15 year olds having relaitons and being charged with pedophilia!
But Cryptoderk is posting from Scotland.
This is exactly why the letter of the law is not something I hold sacred. Laws, well meaning as they may be, can be twisted to all ends. Without a lot more info from the OP, it would be rash to pass judgement on the situation.
Until they put “common sense” or “you’ve gotta be shitting me” rules into effect when it comes to laws and punishments, the legal system is restricted to the letter of the law. It doesn’t matter if we think it is ridiculous that a 19 YO boy could be charged for having sex with his 16 YO girlfriend, if the law says he was wrong then he is wrong and must abide by the sentencing rules.
If the friend in the OP was given a court order to not participate in online communities, then he must follow that order. If he violates that order in any way then he is violating a condition of his parole and must be punished. He can’t pick and choose which rules to follow. Here are some
general conditions of parole. If a parolee decided that the drinking rule was BS and went to a bar with his friends or had a beer in his backyard, it’s too bad but he violated a condition of his parole. The parolee’s rights were abrogated when he was convicted and then accepted the rules as a condition of his parole.
If I know of a parolee violating a condition of his parole, I’m calling the cops. If there are extenuating circumstances (he was out past a curfew because his car broke down) then he can explain it to his parole officer. I can think of no extenuating reasons why a sex offender should need to be on an online community.
Is violating parole a crime? I ask because I don’t know whether there is a legal obligation to report someone’s parole violations. Not that legal obligation is the only consideration here, of course.
Anyway there’s far too little information in your post for informed advice. What was the offense? Why is he not supposed to join online communities? How do you know he’s not using online communities for nefarious purposes? And so on.
-FrL-
Honest question, because I don’t know the technicalities: if you know someone is violating the law and you aren’t doing anything about it, does that not make you an accomplice?
Unless you can be cerain 100% that his action will not cause him to go back to his own ways, turn him in.
Then kick your own ass if (when?) he molests another child.
On second thought–turn his ass in so fast it will make your head spin.
It was porn, not actual molesting. I don’t really know many more details than that.
The community in question could not conceivably be used for abuse, in particular as it’s related to things that would only be of interest to adults.
He didn’t actually tell me anything about still participating in said community, I just happened to notice it when checking someone’s profile.
No, unless you encourage or aid in the violation.
So look, if what you’ve discovered is that he’s participating in a community that has nothing to do with pedophilia or even sex, and if you have no legal obligation to report him, and if you don’t even know the circumstances of his crime, then I can’t see that you’ve got any reason to turn him in.
It’s the authorities’ responsibility to catch him violating parole. Its your responsibility (though only a weak one) to prevent harm to people, esp. children, when you are able. I haven’t seen a reason to think you have an opportunity to prevent harm to children. So it looks to me like this isn’t your business.
-FrL-
I was under the impression he told you about his participation. And if that was the case I was for DON’T TURN HIM IN. If he was freely telling you about his life and what he was illegally doing, I’d say “fine, you’re ok, I will just keep my eye on you and ensure you stay in line. You’re my friend; just don’t make me have to do something unfriendly.”
But since you found this information out independantly, turn him in. This can only lead to bad places; you’ll have that on your guilt forever. The child could be yours.
Ditto. I take court orders very seriously, esp. in cases such as this.
A judge placed me on a one year good behaviour bond in 2005. It was for a minor offence. I believed I was innocent, but I pleaded guilty for several reasons, the main one being it was easier. If you must know, it was alleged domestic violence. I was alleged to have slapped her in the face.
So I felt hard done by, and I felt it was unfair - just like every other person - guilty or innocent - in a similar situation. But I can tell you one thing - for those twelve months, I did not have so much as an overdue library book. I did not place myself above the law. This guy is showing contempt for the law, and he was convicted of an offence much more serious.
Turn him in.
Don’t act rashly until you have some more information.
Yes. Lest my own post be lost in the sea of "turn him in!"s, I would like to mention my post number 30. It’s a very important post, being almost the only correct one in the bunch. 
-FrL-
Actually, you did. The law asked you whether you were guilty or innocent, and you lied. Of course, it’s not illegal to lie in this case, but by calling yourself “guilty” when you were in fact innocent, you manipulated the system. To use the legal system for your own ends rather than for the ends of the law is to place yourself above the law.
What you did not do was incur further trouble for yourself by breaking the law again during the year of probation. There is no moral significance to your having shown discipline during this year. Your post seems to show that your motivation here was not respect for the law, but rather respect for your own ends.
-FrL-