Near Paris, Texas, Charla Roberts lived with her family and went to school like any normal child growing up. Around the age of ten, she played a prank on one of her classmates at her public elementary school and pulled down her pants. She was later prosecuted for "indecency with a child" and ultimately had to be added to the state's online sex offender database for the next ten years. Like many others, she was subject to probation conditions such as an evening curfew, a ban on leaving the country or not being able to live near young children. Robert's victim later learned that she was going to be placed on probation, and he explained to Sarah Stillman, author of the article: "When minors are convicted of sexual misconduct, the sex offender registry can be a life sentence", that the incident was an "act of public humiliation, instead of a sexual act". Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay This story is not as uncommon in the case of “juveniles” registered as sex offenders as children. Once convicted, most of the time their punishment involves being enrolled in some sort of therapeutic treatment center and registered as a sex offender for at least ten years. In an article titled “When Children Are Sex Offenders,” Sally Mairs examines a Human Rights Watch report that describes the effects of juvenile sex offenders. One of the key findings of the report explained that "...including a study of a cohort comprising 77 percent of young people convicted of violent sexual offenses - found a recidivism rate among young sex offenders of between four and ten percent, and a 2010 study found this rate to be as low as 1 percent. So, if the recidivism rate is low, why should these children be put on a list that could harm their future for an act they did not consider "sexually inappropriate." Following their registration, these children often experience psychological harm, including isolation, stigma, harassment and depression that lead to suicidal actions. This is where the question comes in: Is this the right punishment to give these children for sexual harassment and is the prosecution really helping them? It is difficult to have a definitive answer to this question. On the one hand, you might say yes because what the minor did is still a crime, and he should learn that crime needs to be punished. However, the crime stays with them for the rest of their lives, so having to live with that imprint on your name is a permanent barrier to employment, social circles and many other things due to the harsh stigma around the name alone. , “The List” by Sarah Stillman of the New Yorker describes the lives of some young adults who were put on the sex offender registry at a young age and how it has affected them ever since. The article begins with Leah DeBuc, a twenty-two-year-old college student put on the sex offender registry at the age of ten, who is trying to put the past behind her. This situation, according to Stillman, is not new to her. Before DeBuc, she spoke to a number of people accused of sex offenses as minors who ended up on the public registry. With the recent rise of social media and technological connections, it would not be so unreasonable to say that this has caused a number of offendersjuvenile sexual relations are increasing. A good example is that of two teenagers, a man (17 years old) and a woman (16 years old), both registered on the public register of sex offenders for having "sent explicit photos by sext*, accusing them both of sexual exploitation of a minor. For children, these behaviors are very common, but they may not be as harmless as they seem. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in six boys and one in four girls experienced some form of sexual abuse before the age of eighteen, where a third of these offenses were committed by other minors. . Although very few violent sexual assaults have occurred, many of them stem from non-consensual touching and abusive behavior. The article looks back at Leah DeBuc and what has happened since her conviction. While visiting her boyfriend in another Michigan city, she had to report to the local police or face a felony charge. As she tried to fill out paperwork, a local police officer told her to leave "before I bring you back and shoot you myself." which caused DeBuc to crash. When filing a report on the officer, the station lieutenant apologized for the officer's behavior. When a crime has been committed, should the age of the criminal affect the sentence? When it comes to being a registered sex offender, it has a huge impact on the rest of one's life. For example, it becomes very difficult to find a job and most people lose family support by the time the crime becomes public. Therefore, if a person is under 12 years old, the punishment should be less since the criminal is just a child. According to Sally Miars of Boston Review, "in 2011, there were approximately 639 children on the sex offender registry, 55 of whom were under the age of 12...". This shows that 639 were at least under the age of 18 and 55 were under the age of 12, meaning the children's lives were forever changed at such a young age. The crimes that can make you a sex offender are very surprising because most people associate a sex offender with someone who has been convicted of rape, sex with a minor, or exposing themselves in public. This isn't the only way someone can be forced to be a registered sex offender, as according to Business Insider, taking a nude photo of yourself as a minor can make you a registered sex offender. Other examples cited by Business Insider were "visiting a prostitute, peeing in public, having consensual sex with a teenager, even if you are also a teenager." This was surprising to discover because some of these errors seem like common mistakes a miner might make. This article by Erin Funchs is related to the first article by Sally Miars because they both state that they do not support young children being charged as sex offenders. The number one problem with registering young children as sex offenders is the fact that once the offender is committed, their time and work, their name is ruined for the rest of their lives. Once enrolled in the system, you may not be able to go to school or stay in your own home with your family. The fact is that you can be removed from the registry after a certain period of time, but you still qualify as a sex offender. Many crimes committed by minors are then erased from your record, not counting murders of course. According to the Juvenile Law Center, “less than five percent of adolescents will reoffend in the following years.” So if this crime has such a low return to crime rate, then the age limit should be 18..