lolarobot

My friend in Aussie told me about this, and even though it is an old story, I have always wondered if this is a good deterrent. When I was in college, I took a criminal studies class and I learned that many forms of punishment from the death penalty, time in prison, etc., were never deterrents to many crimes, especially those of a sexual nature. Would these t-shirts help?

WILMINGTON, Delaware — A sex offender with a history of exposing himself has been ordered by a judge to wear a T-shirt proclaiming "I am a registered sex offender."

Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden also sentenced Russell Teeter, 69, to two months in jail Friday for repeatedly exposing himself at his Newark-area business to a 10-year-old girl.

Jurden handed down the unusual sentence at the suggestion of the state's deputy attorney general, Donald Roberts, who noted that Teeter has more than 10 convictions dating to 1976 and has been treated for being a compulsive exhibitionist.

Roberts told the judge that perhaps the shirt and jail time will "teach him to keep his zipper up."

Teeter will have to wear the shirt for almost two years once he gets out of jail and returns to his horticulture business.

Defense attorney Arlen Mekler opposed the sentence, describing the T-shirt as "a modern-day scarlet letter," referring to the humiliating punishment given an adulterous woman in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel about puritan New England who was forced to wear a red letter "A" on her clothing.

Drewry Fennell, executive director of the Delaware American Civil Liberties Union, shared Mekler's concern.

"There is no evidence that public shaming is effective in public safety," she said. "And there are serious dangers posed to the person wearing the shirt, exposing them to possible violence."

Roberts, the prosecutor, said he believes the T-shirt fits in with the community notification requirement of Megan's Law.

Mekler said Teeter is battling depression and regressed because he went off of his medication. He also noted that Teeter has never molested a child but is just a chronic exhibitionist.

WereBo

I dunno about a T-shirt - Personally, I'd tattoo it right across their forehead .

Skie

I can actually see someone making/selling these t-shirts as a joke and people actually buying/wearing them. At which point, the effective message that's conveyed by the shirt will be seen as just a joke and not an actual punishment.

Jason

Send it into tshirthell.com if they don't already have it there.

lolarobot

Hey, yeah, good idea!!!

Skie

I can't believe I forgot about that site. They'd definately do it!

yustr

I heard he lives right next to a guy who killed three people while driving drunk. On the other side, is a lady who killed her infant daughter because of post-pardon depression. Across the street is a man who robbed elderly investors out of their life's savings. None has to wear a T-shirt or be on a public registry.

None are real - but you get my point.

lolarobot

First, it is post-pardum depression, just as an FYI. And, this t-shirt is not just for sex offenders, but any offender, so the guy who killed three people while drunk driving would also have to wear a t-shirt as would the guy who robbed elderly people out of their money, so it is all offenders. Now, the lady who killed her child is a bit touchy as it could have been hormonal/psychological-related, so that might be a different story.

I guess a part of this punishment is total public humiliation. I can see how this would work as punishment, but I don't know it would be a deterrent overall. I would love to do a study on this... Remember the Scarlet Letter and the "A" on the chest? Guess that form of punishment goes way back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter

yustr

My point is we're hung up on sex crimes - in a lot of cases way out of proportion to the crime. We have Megan's Law notification, on-line registries, now T-shirts.

Don't get me wrong - crime is crime and these can be horrific but why only these. LINK

There's no muderer registry. Or drunk driver registry. Or one for child abusers. Why not?

lolarobot

Well, in our society, sexual crimes against children is in a far different category than some white collar crime. The level of victimization and the result of the crime is FAR different. In one case, some guy steals money from an old lady. Bad, yes? Compare to an old guy raping a young girl? Absolutely not. Now, let's take the drunk driver... most people unknowingly go out, have a few beers or drinks and an accident can occur and lives can be lost. Nobody goes out and knowingly kills someone drunk driving. It is usually involuntary, so bad, yes. The same as someone raping a small boy/girl? Absolutely not.

So, I am a tad amazed that you think that as a society we place way too much emphasis on sexual crimes. Am I understanding you correctly? Are you aware that they can psychologically destroy the life of a young girl, a woman, a young boy or man? On a level far worse than a white collar crime.

Jason

What about the cases where two teenagers are dating. The parents of the daughter find out they are having sex and file charges on the male for rape. Now the teenager will have a felony on him for life.

The reason why I say that is because I knew someone who this happened too. He was 16 she was 15. The parents didn't like him and when they found they were sleeping together her parents pressed charges.

yustr

A guy beats his 4 y/o daughter to death = no registry.

A guy takes some "bath tub" pics of his 4 y/o daughter = life sentence on registry.

I hope you see my point. I'm not condoning these crimes. I'm just trying to point out the imbalance in attitude.

And FYI, I know first hand about sex offenders.

lolarobot

Well, the guy who kills his daughter is in prison for life, so they have their own uniforms. The guy who takes pictures of his daughter in the bathtub life in prison? That does not sound right at all and certainly you are not telling me the whole story. I have many pics of myself in the tub as a little girl and all parents do this, so I am sure not all men taking sweet pictures of their little boys/girls are in prison for life.

No, I do not see your point.

If you decide to tell me about your experience with this situation, please do so, if not I totally understand. Clearly we both have a reason for feeling a passion toward this issue.

WereBo

I understand what you mean by the imbalance of the crimes but, what I consider to be more of an imbalance is the fact that, here in the UK (and noticeably more in the USA), a person tends to get a longer prison sentence for a 'financial' crime that a violent crime.

Robbery, fraud or whatever will get the book thrown at you, whereas if you kill or seriously assault someone, it's a few years in prison, with approx 2/3rds off for good behaviour/parole.

lolarobot

How incredibly strange that stealing someone's money is more serious than murdering someone. I guess that is a giant statement about society; more value on money than on life itself. How very sad.

Jason

Three Greensburg Salem students who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude photographs of themselves via their cell phones and three male students who received the photos are facing pornography charges.

Greensburg police have filed petitions with Westmoreland County juvenile authorities charging the three high school girls with manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography. Three high school boys found with the photos on their cell phones are charged with possession of child pornography, police said Monday.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_606854.html

Mcninjaguy

The way I'd act if I had a kid and they were sexually molested or kidnapped would be like the "taken" I'd kill til I get him/her back.

simple as that to me

Money means a lot less to me than love

lolarobot

I don't get the "child" part... These are high school kids sending to other high school kids. So, I am confused. I will read the article.

Jason

Sad, but its true. Look at my first post. From then until the day he dies he is a registered sex offender. That means every time he moves, he has to inform the neighbors. His name is in the database if people look it up. He has to put it on every job application.

lolarobot

That seems very odd and inappropriate. Let me ask you this. Let's say a 45 year old man sent his naked photo to a 13 year old. What are your thoughts on this?