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Revision as of 21:05, 1 November 2005 by Rookiee (talk | contribs) (→Types of Sex Offenses)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A sex offender is a person who has been criminally charged and convicted of a sexual offence. The word is also widely used in public discourse to describe any person, (whether or not they were charged and convicted), who is accused of participating in sexually offensive behavior. It is a label of identity used in criminal psychology. In most cases, after conviction, the person must register with their jurisdiction's sex offender registry.
Controversy: Identification of a Criminal
The tolerance for deviant sexual behavior and sex crimes in western society has declined drastically over the last 20 years. As a result, unlike other crimes, the term "sex offender" often mars ex-convicts with the term as an epithet for the rest of their life. Most of the public view those who have committed sex crimes to be "uncurable" and therefore must be watched closely until their death. Some civil rights activists and advocates of sex offender rights have publically denounced the use of the term as it prevents ex-convicts who have served their time and who have genuinely reformed to be allowed back into the populace as an equal citizen.