Roy’s Blog for Sexual Offenders

For many of us we are the “boogieman” many will be warned about.  Depending upon what state you live, some will be quarantined in facilities until the witching hour has past.  Others will have to post signs indicating your status on the door and still others are forbidden to participate by turning out all your lights, which ordinarily you wouldn’t have done because during this time it is dark.  You/we have become the brunt of bad jokes and the cause of fear on this day but not in the way it was every conceived many years ago.

What can I say which will be encouraging and comforting to you and those of you who have families occupying the same home who suffer as a result of the fear of society, regardless if warranted or not?  The fact it lasts for a couple of hours is somewhat comforting.  Let’s be grateful is is not like the 8-day long celebration which is done in China. I will have my quarterly registration on the 29th which was told me when I returned to New York.  Perhaps it will be suggested what will occur in this county two days later but I cannot adhere to it.  On this particular Saturday night I will be sharing to a church group the evils of addiction and how God saved me from it by this very stigma associated as being a registered sex offender.  So, I cannot be locked up in my home afraid to answer a door or to be ushered to some facility to wait out the time and be accounted for.  No, instead, if they want me they’ll have to come to church where I will be speaking to an audience and see how effective and beneficial someone like us can really be if given an opportunity.

In fact, I have been given several requests to speak to various youth groups to talk about the dangers of addiction.  Doesn’t this qualify, too?  How many sexual addiction began in the early stages of our lives and have culminated to the so-called monsters we are today?  Wouldn’t it make sense to spend time sharing with those who have these hidden compulsions and let them know it is okay to talk about it with their parents, pastors, doctors and others who might be able to help them?  Wouldn’t it make sense to take the opportunity of reaching whoever we can, now, so they won’t have to swell the lists of registrants which is growing in a ridiculous rate monthly to where it is unmanageable? 

We need to turn the fear of a day into a day of realization the boogieman is not someone who is deformed by nature and goes out intentionally to hurt children or adults.  When I was a child we had to watch out for “Joe”.  It was a house on the corner and we needed to pass it to go to school.  I think I might have seen Joe once but didn’t really understand what it was Joe did or does which caused the rumor to be passed down from child to child who needed to go this way.  He was a big guy but who wasn’t to a child of elementary years?  Perhaps if I saw Joe today and being 240 lbs and 5’9” myself I wouldn’t be in the least concern about Joe.  Poor Joe.  The brunt of jokes and probably didn’t even know why.

There are a lot of “Joe’s” today who are the brunt of jokes and people “think” they know why.  They haven’t taken the time to meet Joe and talk with him and learn what it was he experienced and to hear of his pain.  If we could just take a moment on this supposed day of fear and face our fears and go meet the Joe’s of our neighborhood I think this day or any future day could be experienced with concern and consideration and hope and love and thankfulness.  Otherwise, we are not only doomed as a society but we’ll never grow beyond our fears and fear is a terrible ordeal to allow to control our lives.

Tags: Addiction, Child Pornography, Recovery, registered sexual offender

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Sexual Offender. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.