17 Year Old Son and Minor Had Sex

[aaron]

If you don't want him to become a registered sex offender, your better approach would seem to be to exercise discretion. How does it help him if you post incorrect information about the law? When you get things as wrong as you have in this thread, you put him in danger.

[LawResearcherMissy]

Has freedom of speech become freedom to tell others to shut up?

Yes, and it always HAS been. Exercising your right to speak in no way abrogates anyone else's right to speak. Or, in smaller words, if people think you're being a dumbass, they're free to tell you so.

The First Amendment only prohibits Congress from passing a law forcing you to shut up. For plain old citizens like us, you're fair game.

[aardvarc]

I do not want that kid on a sex offender registry. He does not belong on one.

That is not for you to decide. We have juries to determine if violations of the law occurred, and judges to dispense sentence within guidelines of the law, including sex offender registration requirements. You can most certainly advocate to change the laws and/or the sentencing structure such that having sex with a person under the age of consent ceases to be a crime, or becomes a crime not elligble for sex offender registration. As it stands right now, South Carolina appears to be definitive that the conduct constitutes a crime, under either:

SECTION 16-15-140. Committing or attempting lewd act upon child under sixteen.

It is unlawful for a person over the age of fourteen years to wilfully and lewdly commit or attempt a lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body, or its parts, of a child under the age of sixteen years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of the person or of the child. A person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than fifteen years, or both.

or...

SECTION 16-3-655. Criminal sexual conduct with minors.

(3) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree if the actor engages in sexual battery with a victim who is at least fourteen years of age but who is less than sixteen years of age and the actor is in a position of familial, custodial, or official authority to coerce the victim to submit or is older than the victim.

If found guilty on those charges, South Carolina also very clearly spells out which convictions result in registry entry: Criminal sexual conduct in the first degree (paragraph 16-3-652); Criminal sexual conduct in the second degree (paragraph 16-3-653); Criminal sexual conduct with minors, first degree (paragraph 16-3-655 (1)); Criminal sexual conduct with minors, second degree (paragraph 16-3-655(2) and (3)); Engaging a child for sexual performance (paragraph 16-3-810); Producing, directing, or promoting sexual performance by a child (paragraph 16-3-820); or Kidnapping (paragraph 16-3-910).

Thus, according to the statutes enacted by an elected legislature, it would appear that if convicted of the charges, he belongs on the registry. The ways around this are (a) change the law, (b) change the penalty, (c) conform behavior to the law. Mom keeping silent doesn't VIOLATE the law, because mom has no duty to report. But the truth is that most such cases come to the attention of authories from the victim, or family, friends, guardians, teachers, doctors, or others around the victim - many of whom, due to special circumstances, are MANDATED reporters.