And it's always someone else's kid, isn't it? "My kid would never do anything like that!" When will people understand that all of these kids are our kids?

Rew, given your professional background, you know the importance of "evidence", meaning that real research backs up what we are doing and why we are doing it. In healthcare, you need that to get paid.

Why, in the case of sex offense, is "evidence" ignored? Its about disgust and the bizarre idea that ignoring the evidence protects children, just because we are disgusted by the behavior of some.

Its interesting that this article points out that we have criminalized normal sexual development and the actual damage done to children based on some people's puritanical ideals.

Thanks for posting this.

i am sitting here with frucking tears in my eyes!!!

WHAT THE HELL ARE ARE PEOPLE DOING TO THESE KIDS!!! WHERE IS THE HELL DID THE BRAINS COME FROM THAT CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF DOING THIS TO THESE KIDS????

I'm with you Echo; bad enough (or close enough) to be a child of a parent on the registry.

The most dangerous pedos are 7 year old pedos...they hang around elementary schools, go to Chuck E Cheese's and no one even suspects them, until it's too late. If I had children I would never let them talk to another kid, it's just too scary to think about.

It's all those 7 yr olds that play doctor....

Its not right at all.. I'm not saying teens and such should or shouldn't have sex.. But making a poor choice shouldn't ruin a child's entire life.. A petition type thing is going around in MO to change the age of an adult from17 to 18.. Too bad it can't pass in time to help my son :(

That is absolutely terrifying. How awful and how in the hell did anyone get convinced that this was a good idea?! In multiple states?! Crazy. Going out on a limb but based on what I've learned so far I'm going to guess that evidence isn't required in most cases because parents let their kids talk to the police to "clear things up" because the parents can't even imagine that what their kids have done is actually illegal. And then everything they say is used against them. They basically hand the police their case. So aggravating and sad.

Sadly yes

Here's a situation happening in IL right now. I'm assuming the mom who called the police had NO IDEA that her daughter was going to be in just as much trouble as the boys for making and posting this video. These kids are going to be made an example of and likely get some very harsh sentences. Was this a dumb thing to do? Of course! But they are teenagers. Doing dumb things is their thing! And their lives shouldn't be ruined over it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/joliet-romeoville/crime/ct-jlt-joliet-teens-twitter-sex-met-20150331-story.html

Too many people in this country look to the government, and more specifically, the police to solve their problems.

Somebody you don't like trespassing on your property? Call the police.

Have a disagreement with a neighbor over a property line? Call the police.

Someone is making too much noise and shooting fireworks in the street? Call the police.

Billy Bob punches you in the nose after you have offended him? Call the police.

Uncle Cleetus shows his 12 year old niece a pornographic video on the Internet? Call the police. That will teach him a lesson.

It just does not work that way anymore, not in the year 2015.

Law enforcement are not humanitarians, nor are they marriage counselors. They do not settle disputes within the family nor are they problem solvers.

They can't----and won't----interfere in every family situation that arises.

Cops are trained to make arrests. They are trained to uphold the law as it has been enacted by the legislature. The Andy Griffiths and the easy going good old guy is long gone, having been replaced by a new breed which is much less understanding.

So, whenever the police are called in, an arrest is likely. They don't have the time or the training to sort out domestic messes----nor should they be asked to.

I have news for people. If there is a minor incident, it is best to keep it within the family and work it out. Once the police are called, a whole new can of worms is opened.

rewdiazepam

Amen rewdiazepam!

One of the issues is that if anyone finds out that a potential sex crime, no matter how seemingly minor, has been committed and anyone didn't report it, they can be charged and lose their kids. The mandatory reporting laws on the books actually prevent any responsible adults from handling such situations without police/court/CPS involvement.

One of the hallmarks of a Police State is that the government will enact laws to force citizens to snitch on other citizens. Maybe snitch is a rather harsh word, but they pass laws to mandate citizens report any untoward activity to the authorities, which of course, is the government.

Here is a quote from one of the leading historians of Europe, particularly the period before and during WWII. He said this regarding the totalitarian government in Germany during that era---------

“There were relatively few secret police, and most were just processing the information coming in. I had found a shocking fact. It wasn’t the secret police who were doing this wide-scale surveillance and hiding on every street corner. It was the ordinary German people who were informing on their neighbors.”—Professor Robert Gellately

The Police State will divide people against each other and use the citizenry as a type of "civilian law enforcement" to control the masses.

This is something for everyone to think about.

rewdiazepam

This topic definitely hits home for me. I committed my crime as a juvenile but charged as an adult because it was disclosed when I was an adult. I obviously think that it's wrong the state gets to decide who is a "child" and who is not. If someone had perpetrated a crime against me at the exact same time, the state would say I was a child and they would've charged the abuser for a crime against a child. The definition of child therefore is whatever the state says that it is, which is just wrong.

Even though I feel the state has wronged me, and the DA has wronged me by charging me as an adult, I don't see a major problem with mandatory reporting of juvenile sex abuse. I think it's important to stop child sexual abuse as soon as possible and I think the best way for that to happen is to mandate reporting of it. We have an epidemic of child sexual abuse. 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be molested by the time they are 18. Something has to be done about it. Education is paramount, but it's also important to stop it as soon as possible.

I'd be interested to hear how the programs in other countries work about self reporting problems to some sort of authority to get help. What's that one thought from Germany?