(Mississippi) Sex offenders' faces to be displayed on billboards

The names and faces of convicted sex offenders are to be displayed on billboards along main roads in Mississippi.

State authorities hope to have as many as 100 boards ready by the summer, showing images of sex offenders who are in prison, particularly those who preyed on minors. The signs will include details of their convictions.

Local official Don Taylor said the adverts were not designed to shame or further penalise offenders, but to combat the state's "social pathologies". But civil liberties groups said they were a waste of money, as convicted offenders were known to the community.

"I agree with you insofar as we're talking about awareness."

Awareness and making it a point of be aware of your surroundings, especially if you have kids, is about the only way to cut down on this.

I agree. It is idotic to post some pictures of a guy who pinched a girl's but on a dare next to some guy who raped 3 pre-schoolers. Those two should not even be in the same category.

Wouldn't a better use of time and resources be in pushing the legal system to finally accept the fact that rehabilitation cannot be accomplished in those who severely abuse, molest and rape innocent children? There are some people who are just 'damaged goods'. They should be isolated from the rest of us...period; end of statement...no second chances.

I know that happens too, but that's not the same kind of thing that I am talking about. I am talking about the ones whose little victims end up in our emergency rooms with bruises and lacerations in places that leave little doubt that something really sick happened. There would have to be a pretty big burden to produce solid physical evidence. I'm not talking about statutory rape convicts or even ordinary rape convicts...I'm talking about the true pedophiles here. They're every bit as dangerous and sick as convicted serial killers...both groups should never get out of prison.

Can you point me to any case in which a 19-year-old was convicted for getting his 17-year-old girlfriend pregnant? I don't think so, and I've been a lawyer in Mississippi for over 15 years.

Because the age of consent is 16 in most states, I may not be able to find specific examples of the 17 - 19 age difference resulting in 3rd degree S.A. charges, but if you read this study you'll see some defendants are convicted at the age of 18 or 19, in a "boyfriend" relationship with their "victims". In one case, the "victim" was one month away from the age of consent, and the relationship had the consent of her parents.

In another article, a veteran LEO related this on the subject of vigilantism against sexual offenders:

In another incident, a wheelchair-bound twenty-year-old with minor mental challenges was convicted of having consensual sexual intercourse with a teenage girl. When he returned from court as a sex registrant on probation, his house was sprayed with graffiti proclaiming him a ‘baby raper’ — a far cry from his actual crime. The following morning he was found dead by his own hand.
From Sexual Offenders - Serpents Among Us?, Paul Bishop, LAPD

This type of conviction is a minority of the cases, but that's exactly the point. Do those who hyperventilate over sex offender lists typically stop to think about possibly huge differences between the circumstances of one case vs. another? I'd suggest that many do not. I hope those who decide which images to enlarge onto a billboard take enough care to highlight the truly dangerous ones.

Yeah, billboards are probably the wrong way to go. Maybe just posters in the post office or something. It's a good idea for people to know their faces, but they shouldn't have to look at them daily. It might also end up having a reverse effect anyway. Kids will become familiar with their faces and may not remember why. So it could work against the stranger anxiety effect later when the creep gets out of prison.

Also, what about look alikes? What a nightmare for them. No, I think it is better to notify the public when these people get out, and to go so far as to tell everyone where they live and work after their release.

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