http://abc11.com/news/19-year-old-registered-sex-offender-has-sentence-vacated/974624/

I agree that his original punishment was a little overboard. He wasn't preying on young children, but I would think you could maybe tell if a girl was under 17.

9/8/2015 7:52:02 PM

why do you seem to post a bunch about this subject?

9/8/2015 8:36:27 PM

When did I post another topic?

9/8/2015 9:30:39 PM

Quote :

". For the next five years, he is forbidden from owning a smartphone or using the Internet. He is not allowed to talk to anyone younger than 17, other than immediate family. He is banned from going to any establishment that serves alcohol and he has to be home before 8 p.m. every night."

jeez

9/8/2015 9:33:14 PM

^It would be easier to just get locked up for 5 years. You can survive in prison without the internet, but not society. Most jobs require online applications and use of the internet.

9/8/2015 9:37:26 PM

Wonder how this one will end up...
http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/09/nc_teen_charged_as_adult_faces_10_years_in_prison_for_having_naked_photos.html

My favourite part:

Quote :

"Copening "is facing two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation and three counts of third-degree exploitation. The third-degree charges of sexual exploitation of a minor actually stem from the pictures Copening had of himself. Each count is a felony charge carrying at least two years in jail.""

That's right. He's facing six years in jail for having naked pictures of himself.

It gets better. He's being charged, as an adult, for having sexually explicit pictures of a minor (himself). So, for the purposes of being charged, he's an adult; but for the purposes of what he's being charged with, he's a minor.

What. The. Fuck.

[Edited on September 8, 2015 at 11:12 PM. Reason : ]

9/8/2015 11:05:11 PM

^He should take the plea deal like his girlfriend.

9/9/2015 6:54:30 PM

Quote :

"but I would think you could maybe tell if a girl was under 17."

I need a picture to judge.

Quote :

"For the next five years, he is forbidden from owning a smartphone or using the Internet. He is not allowed to talk to anyone younger than 17, other than immediate family. He is banned from going to any establishment that serves alcohol and he has to be home before 8 p.m. every night.""

That is kinda rough as far as the no internet part for 5 years. Guess he's not going to college or doing anything but menial labor job-wise.
Don't really see the no alcohol part either....

Better than the butt hut though!

9/9/2015 8:10:46 PM

I have long seen the sex offender registry as an albatross around the neck of the justice system. At best, it is an admission that a dangerous predator is on the loose. At worst, it is cruel and unusual punishment that prevents someone who has done their time from rejoining society.

Honestly, even if he had known she was 14, registering as a sex offender is ridiculous. For a first offender, I think community service and probation is sufficient. The sex offender registry needs to be abolished. It is unconstitutional and serves no public purpose.

In the old days, a situation like this would have resulted in a shotgun wedding. I'm not advocating that or anything, but I am skeptical that the justice system should play a role in such situations. I would file this under things that make us uncomfortable, not protecting victims from predators.

9/9/2015 8:59:33 PM

My problem with the "sex offender" label is that is lumps 18 yr oldsgetting in trouble when pops walks in on him fucking his 15 yr old sophomore slut daughter with real mentally deranged 50 yr guys trying tofuck little boys. If I understand the law right one can earn a Sex offender tag for victimless crimes like public nudity or getting caught masterbating in a car public lot

I honestly don't see how this hasn't been challenged in the court as unconstitutional. Of course if someone did then all the MADD ponies would come out screaming "think of the children" since obviously a 17 yr old with naked pictures of his 16 yr olg girlfriend fits in the same category as some 23 college guy preying on 14 yr old girls.

9/10/2015 1:48:48 AM

It's just the current third rail issue. It's the new war on drugs. We gotta find a way to fuel the law enforcement/prison industrial complex.

9/10/2015 8:05:09 AM

Gotta get that cheap prison labor!

9/10/2015 1:24:08 PM

^^^ I heard a really good interview when this case hit the news a few weeks ago with a convicted rapist. He is on the list, for very obvious and necessary reasons, and thought having kids and low level offenders on the list made it a useless judicial tool. It waters it down so much that no one will take it seriously.

What's the point of handing out this scarlet letter punishment if EVERYONE gets on it? It doesn't do communities any good to have this information if rapists are identified the same as some dude that peed in an alley.

Edit: Also for the case of the kid being charged with having naked photos of himself on his phone....I find it particularly funny/sad that the charge is called "second-degree sexual exploitation"

How does one exploit themselves?

[Edited on September 10, 2015 at 3:37 PM. Reason : ]

9/10/2015 3:23:54 PM

I read a HUR post and think "man no one talks like that IRL".

then I remember I know HUR IRL and remember that he, in fact, does.

9/10/2015 5:14:53 PM

Quote :

"but I would think you could maybe tell if a girl was under 17"

Shit man, sometimes it's tough to tell between a 16 year old and a 26 year old. I totally have sympathy for this guy. It's like getting a statuatory rape charge after you bang a girl you met at a bar. You shouldn't be required to card the gal you picked up at the bar, and yet, somehow a 21 year old guy is supposed to be eagle eyed enough to figure it out.

9/10/2015 6:03:21 PM

Quote :

"My problem with the "sex offender" label is that is lumps 18 yr olds getting in trouble when pops walks in on him fucking his 15 yr old sophomore slut daughter with real mentally deranged 50 yr guys trying to fuck little boys."

Yeah, my sister did an internship in the crime lab with the NC SBI. She told me the most common crime being prosecuted was statutory rape just because parents get pissed off when they catch their 15 year old daughter having sex with her teenage boyfriend.

9/10/2015 9:10:15 PM

^It's the most common thing being prosecuted because it's a very easy case. You barely have to prove anything. And lawmakers keep statutory rape laws on the books precisely because it's such an easy crime to prosecute.

^^That situation is very rare.

A quick Google search revealed some current charges: a cop who had just moved in with a woman and her 15 year-old daughter, a student teacher and football coach who had sex with a high school student, a prep school kid who had sex with a sophomore, some 50 year-old who had sex with his friend's daughter, and another cop who had sex with a 16 year-old (after going to her home to arrest her father for domestic violence).

There was one story about a 32 year-old dude where they declined to elaborate on his relationship with the "victim." But, if I had to put money on it, I wouldn't bet he met the underage girl in a bar. Outside of military towns, I'm tempted to say that just doesn't happen at all.

9/11/2015 2:19:27 AM

And I don't mean the probability of meeting an underage person at a bar is zero.

But the probability of meeting one there and being charged with statutory rape from it is very close to zero.

(And it's suspicious and strange to me that men act likes it happens all the time.)

9/11/2015 6:49:29 AM

Eh, I can understand it. It's obviously not something I worry about now, but as a 21yo college student it's definitely something you think about if you are at a party or at a bar/club that is 18+.

I'm not sure about everyone, but IMO the "uneasiness" is similar to some of the concerns with new(ish) consent laws; they all seem to be based on an idea that men are always the initiators and sex only happens when men somehow beguile or trick innocent women into having sex with them. (in fact, i'm always confused that so many feminists seem to support these laws). The reality is that in these situation the guy is usually also drinking and having fun, and in reality women also want sex and seek it out similar to men, but as the guy there is a nagging feeling that the law wants you to be the protector of women's morals and you are the one who will get in trouble even if you are the hesitant party in a situation. So it makes you a little nervous and it's something to think about, you could be really drunk, a lot more drunk than the woman, and she could be the one initiating things, but she really has all the power over how fucked you can get if she turns out to be underage or decides later that it wasn't as consensual as it really was.

the probability is low, true, but the amount of fucked you can get is really high, so you think about it

[Edited on September 11, 2015 at 10:02 AM. Reason : .]

9/11/2015 9:58:25 AM

I'm saying that a 15 year-old girl who goes to bars to meet older dudes is not the kind of girl who reports it to parents or the police. And they usually don't have parents who would notice or care.

And even parents who notice and care are unlikely to contact authorities as long as the matter is private.

^I hear ya. But this myth that bars are crawling with underage girls tryna get men hemmed up seems really convenient. It distracts from the reality that there really are grown men picking up 14 year-olds from middle school and guys who can't even make it through student teaching without having sex with some adoring high school freshman.

[Edited on September 11, 2015 at 12:56 PM. Reason : sss]

9/11/2015 12:51:30 PM