Call it bullying or call it horseplay. Either way, a state appellate court panel says roughhousing with a sexual connotation by a pair of 14-year-old Somerset County boys was a crime that requires them to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
In a decision handed down Monday, the three-judge panel acknowledged the severity of its decision, but said it was bound to uphold the law.
"We are keenly aware that our decision may have profound lifelong ramifications for these two boys as well as others similarly situated," Judge Jose Fuentes wrote.
One of the boys, whose case went to trial, said he had sat on the faces of a pair of 12-year-old schoolmates with his bare buttocks in November 2008 "cause I thought it was funny and I was trying to get my friends to laugh," he told a family court judge.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/125871398_Teens_in_horseplay_incident_must_register_as_sex_offenders.htmlI think everyone support sex offender registries for people who rape or abuse kids. But, this is a perfect example about why laws should be made by rational adults after due consideration and debate instead of as emotional responses to high profile criminal cases. Yes, I am talking to you, Caylee's law supporters.
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