Teen may be labeled sex offender over MySpace photos

Just to be clear: The sex offender registry was never meant to list teenagers who post naked photos of themselves on MySpace.

I think we should come down hard on child molesters and other serious sex criminals. Child molesters are the thugs I hate the worst.

But it's not fair for a 14-year-old girl to have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life all because she posted a naked picture of herself on MySpace for her boyfriend to find. The mother who was behind the passage of Megan's Law agrees with my stance.

Law enforcement in New Jersey, however, does not agree. And they're throwing the book at the teen in this story.

I'm not saying it's a good idea to put naked photos of yourself on MySpace. Frankly, I think it's stupid. But this case is clearly not something that should invoke Megan's Law.

The real inconsistency is this: why is the teenager in this case being regarded as a major sex offender, when some folks who clearly are major sex offenders are not?

There's a whole corrupt system in place to mollycoddle adults who abuse children, especially in institutional settings. The system tells victims that they're liars right to their faces. Abusers are rarely punished - so they keep doing the same things for years.

Is that fair? I don't think so.

(Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/03/26/2009-03-26_14yearold_new_jersey_girl_may_get_sex_of.html)