New House Bill Focuses on Young Persons Convicted of an Offense Involving Consensual Sex

Representative Todd Smith recently passed a bill regarding young couples who have been convicted of consensual sex.  Representative Smith's bill would allow offenders who were no more than 4 years older than their partner - and whose partner was at least 13 years-old - to ask a judge to remove them from the registered sex offender list as long as the relationship was proven to be consensual.

Witnesses who testified for the bill included a 19 year-old male who was placed on the registry for putting his hand on the outside of his 16 year-old girlfriend's clothing. Under current law, nonviolent offenders like these can end up on the sex offender registry for years or even a lifetime.   

These offenders, most of whom are now married to their so-called "victims," face persecution in the form of those who believe them to be perpetrators of a much more violent and heinous offense.  Their status as "sex offenders" prevents them from finding a job, renting apartments, or even living in the same house as their siblings.