When a Sex Offender Isn't
Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. After dating for a year, boy and girl have sex, and girl’s mother thinks they are moving too quickly. Girl’s mother calls the police, hoping they will scare boy and girl a little. Instead, boy is arrested and put on the Texas sex offender list, since he is 19 and she is 16, which is a year shy of the state’s age of consent. Boy avoids jail, is put on probation, and is forced to move out of his home, because law says he can’t live in the same house as his 12-year-old sister. Eventually, boy and girl get married, have four daughters, and, 15 years later, boy is still a registered sex offender, who is not allowed to coach his children’s soccer teams, get a job at a major corporation or leave the state without registering with law enforcement.
Sarah Wilson for Marie Claire Magazine
Frank Rodriguez, far right. At left, his wife, Nikki, and daughters Francesca, Layla, Maia, and Analissa.That is the tale of Frank Rodriguez and his wife, Nikki, which opens Abigail Pesta’s compelling story in the August issue of Marie Claire magazine. The piece looks at the variability and, she argues, irrationality, of state sex offender laws. They are making real predators more accountable and visible, yes. But, with increasing zeal, they are also labeling young men in consensual relationships as dangers for the rest of their lives.
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