Sex offender is running for mayor in Dallas suburb

[Whoa_Nelly]

Source: AP

WILMER — A registered sex offender arrested in a police sting for trying to arrange sex with a 15-year-old girl on the Internet is running for mayor of this small town.

James Brian Sliter, 42, said he's sorry and needs to prove he can be an asset to his suburban Dallas community. The incident occurred in 2004, when Sliter went to a home where police, and not a teenager, waited for him.

"People need to realize that people make mistakes, and they need to look past those mistakes and forgive and move on," Sliter told Dallas television station KTVT. "I'm not asking anybody to condone what I did."

<snip>
Sliter was charged with attempting to commit sexual assault of a child and placed on 10 years probation, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5639394.html

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Apparently, he can run for office because he was never convicted.

[Taverner]

1. He's gotta be a Republican

[progdonkey]

2. I don't see what the problem is re: being able to run...

Anyone should be allowed to run for public office, whether they're sex offenders, white supremacists, or whatever. It's of course very good for people to know about his past, but I don't see how it should bar him from seeking an office in the first place. (This goes for any convicted felon--and this guy wasn't even convicted.) I think it's rather foolish of him to run, though, as he must've known that this would become public, and it would (hopefully) kill his political chances.

I'd really only be concerned if he actually won (like David Duke for governor of LA). Though, does he receive any public funding for the campaign?

[pocoloco]

3. Anyone??

Look what happened in 2000 and 2004!!

[Honeycombe8]

18. I thought people with criminal convictions might be excluded. No, criminals do not have the

same rights as others, after conviction. They retain most rights, but not all. For example, registered sex offenders do not have the right to live anywhere they choose, like other people do.

Interesting that that town doesn't have an exclusion about criminal convictions. Maybe it was a misdemeanor?

[Codedonkey]

4. Doubt he'd win either way....

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. The bar of what is required to be considered "a sex offender" is getting lower and lower.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=3040405

Someone who clicks on a hyperlink (accidentally or on purpose) which purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, will have their homes raided.

If the person in question never actually communicated with a 15 year old girl (likely he was communicating with a cop) then he's guilty of a thought crime. At best, it's sweeping up people who may be predisposed to actual exploitation. A preemptive arrest i.e. Minority Report.

I personally know one young man, an Iraq vet, who arranged to meet someone at a restaurant. His charging papers included an edited transcript of the chats (of course he didn't keep a copy to refute their version of the conversation). His account: "Yes, the person on the other end claimed to be a minor, but something didn't add up. The parts of the conversation they left out made it apparent that this wasn't really a teen. I agreed to meet 'her' out of curiosity."

To me, police tactics in this area are entrapment. Worse, they're entrapping people into showing that they might be predisposed to actual crimes - then convicting them of the crime.

[Tab]

8. Trying to be overprotective

I'm not in the law enforcement community, but I'm pretty sure that if the community was demanding a crackdown, it would happen.

As far as ages, it's so tricky. A 44 year old man going after a 16-year-old, that's pretty obvious but within the teens (and even the early 20s) it's so hard to say. I've known teenage girls who, at age 15, are more mature than most 20-year-olds, and some guys at 18 are more like 14 in maturity. For an 18-year-old, it's entirely conceivable that a very mature 14-year-old would seem credible as a partner. Age aside, it's just a maturity match. That said, in a situation like that you can get thrown in jail. I'm much older than that now (decades older) but I remember being an 18 year old with a 15-y/o girlfriend. She was mature. Myself, maybe not so much. So we evened out. Had we been involved today, I'd probably be on one of those watchlists. Back then, though, she was simply my girlfriend.

I have no tolerance for true adults going after young children, or serial predators, or whatever, but I'd hate to see an otherwise innocent 18-y/o in trouble because his girlfriend is mature but technically underage. 40+ with a young girl = illegal, but 18+ with a gf a few years younger, a different set of circumstances. Unfortunately, our legal system tends to be too rigid to take such discrepancies into account.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. The crime is often a 40 year old man chatting with another 40 year old man.

The latter is pretending to be a teen and is recording the conversation. He also has the tools to undetectably edit the text any way he sees fit.

Something I find interesting; If a 19 year old man has sex with a minor who claims to be 18 - it's a crime. The fact that the crime has occurred because the victim is dishonest is no excuse.

On the other hand, if that 19 year old man communicates about sex with a 40 year old man who claims to be a minor, it's also a crime. In that case, the crime is predicated on the idea that a reasonable person should, without having ever seen the "victim", be credulous.

In other words, if a mature-looking person in a face-to face discussion claims to be 18, they should be assumed to be liars. If an anonymous chatter (who in reality is a 40 year old cop) claims to be 16, they should be believed without any secondary verification because arranging to meet the person to see for yourself is a sex crime.

[Hugabear]

11. It's worse than that

Let's say that you're a 24-yr old guy at a club, you meet up with a cute young woman. Her drivers license shows that she's 21. They hit it off, go back to his place and have sex. Unfortunately, it turns out that the girl is only 16, but happens to look older, and was using a fake ID to get into the club. The guy can still be arrested for having sex with a minor.

Or even worse still, and this is a true story...

I once knew a guy who was a youth counselor at a church. A girl (I forget her age, somewhere between 11-15) accused him of molesting her. My friend was arrested and lost his full-time job. He pled not guilty, and went on trial. Later on, it came out that the girl's parents had some sort of grudge against the church, and had pressured their daughter into making the entire story up. The charges were dropped, but not before this young man had already had his life ruined. He's not classified as a sex offender, but there will always be that doubt in some people's minds.

[Tab]

12. Well, as I said...

If it's a major divide (the guy is 40+) then it seems pretty clear cut. I'm sure there's some 17 year old who can pass as 18, but a 40 y/o should not be going after 12 y/o.

My main issue is with the smaller slices (e.b.: 19-y/o M with a 15 y/o F). The bigger slices, particularly if you're talking about a 12 y/o (and not a 17 y/o) should definitely be prosecuted if the male is 25+.

[Solly Mack]

6. Damn

[happygoluckytoyou]

7. TEXAS? ok, nevermind then

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Anybody know what the likelihood of a sex offender reoffending is?

Excluding forcible rapists, who tend to be in a category of their own statistically?...

I do know those statistics based on research findings, but I'd like to hear your opinion.

[matcom]

13. Texas? Hell, he'll be pResident in 2012

:eyes:

[GOPBasher]

14. I'd like to be his opponent. Talk about an easy campaign. n/t

[superconnected]

15. Crumb, I thought all the politician sex offenders were already in Government.!

[Thepricebreaker]

16. Well a crack head was re-elected in DC - anything is possible..

[marshall]

17. Will be interesting to hear what his argument is for electing him

I used to teach in the Wilmer-Hutchins school district--before it was raided by the Feds and shut down.
Not sure if this link will work, but here is his profile:
https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx?PageIndex=Display&SID=07345042