I can’t link it , but there is a Doper in Texas who is personal friends with a guy who is forced to post a sign in his front yard telling the world that he is a sex offender, all because he was caught pissing next to his truck while pulled off to the side of the road.
Of course I can not vouch for this personally, but the Doper has mentioned this story on a few different occasions (in threads similar to this one) and seems to be certain that his friend has told him the truth.
While this may be an unusual situation, having to post a sign stating that you are a pervert in the front yard for taking a leak sounds like it is the kind of thing that could push someone in Texas over the edge, and have them get their deer rifle out after a night of heavy drinking, then go looking for the cop, the judge and the prosecutor…
But there is almost certainly more to the story. As I have posted more than once, the claim that public urination alone can get you on the sex offenders’ list is not accurate. At the very least, multiple convictions would be required… sort of casting doubt on the hey-I-just-innocently-took-a-leak story. Or the person claims innocence but actually entered a guilty plea to a sexual offense.
Yes. The “sex offenders” are not restricted solely to child molesters and violent rapists. Sex crimes are broad enough to entail silliness like public urination, teenagers engaging in consensual sex and flashing people. So yes, people having to brand themselves as sex offenders for trivial shit does happen in the real world. Not that the story detailed in the OP is trivial, but just as an fyi.
“Damn that guy got the living shit kicked out of him, didn’t he?”
Now let’s try another gender switch…
Let’s say a guy is at a conference after-party, and he’s flirting, drinking, and having fun. He goes to the bathroom and gets cornered by a *female *colleague who tries to kiss him. Dude pulls away and says he is not intrested, and the girl shoves his hands in the guy’s pants and grabs his dick.
Damn window. Bricks, even if you’ve pissed in public 11 times, that really shouldn’t land you on the <font=Violent Scary Person!>sex offender</font> public registry list.
Sven, (I can call you sven, can’t I? But seriously if it bothers you let me know), that sucks. I’m sorry that shit happened to you. It does make a lot more sense in a more misogynistic culture, though. I see some of this in Indian culture, the idea that white women are more “easy” because they <thick Indian accent> are having the babies outside out marriage and the boyfriends and wearing the short skirts </ thick Indian accent>. It really does suck.
I’m not sure this situation is quite analogous, because I think the power dynamics between a male-male sexual encounter and a male-female sexual encounter are totally different.
For instance, I would be interested in knowing if there is the same imbalance between the male victims of male rapists and the female victims of male rapists in terms of body size and strength.
While I agree about the public urinators and horny teenagers having no place being labeled sex offenders, I can see why flashers would/should make the registry…
(and the Doper who I was referring to in my 1st post is a long-time member, and not some random guy who just piped up with his story and the disappeared—I can’t remember his name, but it would be familiar to most of you)
Thanks for that link, as well as the information about why certain people get targeted. It does make sense that a certain level of confidence makes you less likely to be a target, and also as a previous poster says, it makes repeat victimhood more likely if the first encounter made you more nervous (which it would for most people).
I know that many dopers have been victims of sexual abuse, but I guess I’m just surprised at that fact. I just so rarely hearing it happening among my (large) cohort of female friends. Maybe either we or the Dope are a statistical anomaly.
I thought the same thing and asked the Texas Doper to provide more details—He was sure that his friend had told him the whole story, but as you pointed out, it seems hard to believe, but apparently his Doper friend takes him at his word…
I have to say that knowing about the hysteria surrounding anything remotely sexual these days, I could see it happening.
The issue there is that when a person is caught flashing, one go-to defense is that they were not flashing, but peeing. This is why the multiple-convictions becomes a bit more relevant; a person who might credibly claim that his first arrest was simply a mistaken case of peeing in public, the 11th such arrest sharply reduces the likelihood of it being true.
Of course, you may feel that flashing itself should not require sex offender list registration, and that’s a separate argument on which I take no position.
Again, even granting the “hysteria,” the fact is that the law requires certain elements be proved. So if the man in question stood in court and agreed that the state could prove he acted with a sexual motive, it’s difficult for me to work up sympathy if he now says that wasn’t true.
I don’t live in the US and therefore I’m pretty ignorant of this sex offender registry procedure. Lets say I live in the US and my neighbour is forced to put up a sex offender sign like the posters friend. Is there any way I can find out the exact nature of his conviction?
I’d actually argue that the reason we don’t make this assumption is homophobia. A guy doing a “homosexual” rape is obviously a deviant, while a guy doing a heterosexual rape just can’t control his natural impulses.
I’ve never seen anyone who had to put up a sign, but IIRC, each US state has an online sex offender registry where you can see what offenders live in your town (or elsewhere), with varying degrees of clarity of information depending on your state’s level of detail.
My general area (a few suburbs) includes 5 on the list - one is now incarcerated (child murderer), one (aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a young teen) is both homeless and non-compliant with checking in*, and three are compliant with the rules; two of those were involved in child porn to some extent, the other one an attempted rapist.
A bad side effect of the registry and limitations on where sex offenders can live (not within X yards of a school/church/daycare etc.) is that in many cases, they are extremely limited as to where they can live legally. I’d read an article that mentioned one particular town had essentially legislated sex offenders into living in tents on an island in the river due to the sheer number of restrictions.
You cut off the part where I said that being careful wouldn’t stop a determined whacko who really wanted to hurt you.
That said, I don’t actually believe that there’s an epidemic of “women you don’t even know” launching false accusations at total strangers. Do you have a site that says otherwise?
But if there -were- such an epidemic, then it would be even more incumbent on men to do as I suggested, e.g. not get drunk with strangers, not assume you know what better than the women what the women really want, be aware of your surroundings and your vulnerability, etc.
Why do you assume that the bad things being said about her won’t impact her future career or life choices? She’s now the drunk bitch who publicly accused a colleague of sexual assault - you honestly think that won’t factor when she’s applying for a job or a promotion? What about at the next conference she attends? You think people are going to want to network with her? Share a taxi? Have dinner?
Historically, women suffer a lot more from sexual assault then men do. That’s still true. People - even people here on the Dope, even people right here in this thread - are finding excuses for him: She was drunk, she was sitting on someone’s lap, she was “sending mixed signals”.
That’s not just saying bad things about her - that’s explicitly saying that it was her fault, not his.
As for the sex offender thing - the witchhunt you mention is about pedophiles and their proximity to children, not those who attack adults. A minor sexual assault of a drunken women? It might not even make the list. A prosecutor probably wouldn’t even take the case without corroborating evidence (and I’m not saying they should, in the absence of more evidence.)
Historically speaking, if there’s going to be a witch hunt following a sexual assault, it’s the victim who is usually the target.
I still maintain that she had a right to talk about her assault and even name names, if she wanted. However, it’s ludicrous to assert that it won’t have negative consequences for her.
Not saying that these incidents didn’t happen, but by the sound of it you must have lived in the biggest shithole in all of China. A taxi driver pulled his dick out at you and pinned you down? WTF? Didn’t the car have that grate that separates you from the driver? It’s been years since I’ve seen a taxi in China that didn’t have that, and the place I live in can’t be much better than the place you lived in.
This is probably an arena I should stay out of, but since I’m stupid like this:
Maybe the reason you and sven have such different views of China is because you’re experiencing it as a man and she’s experiencing it as a woman? I mean, it is known to be a relatively misogynist culture, so maybe what she experienced is totally different from what you experienced.
