The Red-Hued Vowel
In 1995, then-thirty-something Ed Gonda had a sexual relationship with a fifteen year old girl while the two of them were living together. Ed pled guilty to the charges, served four years in prison, paid $10,000 in fines and restitution and participated in sex offender treatment. To this day he has kept his nose clean, and has been branded a Level One offender; those least likely to reoffend.
Ed now has a wife and a little girl, and is trying to rebuild his life. He took up residence on Bainbridge Island, thinking that it was a nice quiet place to live, where he could send his daughter to school, and the Gonda family could live a normal, Rockwellian life.
But then the secret slipped out, and people on the island knew of Ed's past. He goes from a life quietutde to being in a fishbowl. Friends of Ed's daughter were suddenly no longer available for playdates. Church pews around them were vacant on Sundays. It is the very definition of a modern major pariah. Who could blame Ed for trying to have an actual life and not wanting to be labeled a sex offender? If he had to register, he'd have to take his family to specified housing, and Ed doesn't want his daughter around potential pedophiles because no one else will rent to him.
The balance is a delicate one. If our prisons are supposed to be about rehabilitation of inmates, then once a prisoner has paid his debt, then that should be it. He should be allowed to start life over again, to the degree possible. But if you know that there's a sex offender in your very neighborhood, would you want to associate with him? To have your kids be around him? That sort of thing?
There isn't an easy answer, but I think the best solution is that the local residents should know of Ed's crime, and they should be allowed to decide if they want to interact with him or not. I would hope that the residents of Bainbridge Island realize that Ed has paid his debt and has not committed a crime since, and welcome him into their community, instead of shunning him.
Ed now has a wife and a little girl, and is trying to rebuild his life. He took up residence on Bainbridge Island, thinking that it was a nice quiet place to live, where he could send his daughter to school, and the Gonda family could live a normal, Rockwellian life.
But then the secret slipped out, and people on the island knew of Ed's past. He goes from a life quietutde to being in a fishbowl. Friends of Ed's daughter were suddenly no longer available for playdates. Church pews around them were vacant on Sundays. It is the very definition of a modern major pariah. Who could blame Ed for trying to have an actual life and not wanting to be labeled a sex offender? If he had to register, he'd have to take his family to specified housing, and Ed doesn't want his daughter around potential pedophiles because no one else will rent to him.
The balance is a delicate one. If our prisons are supposed to be about rehabilitation of inmates, then once a prisoner has paid his debt, then that should be it. He should be allowed to start life over again, to the degree possible. But if you know that there's a sex offender in your very neighborhood, would you want to associate with him? To have your kids be around him? That sort of thing?
There isn't an easy answer, but I think the best solution is that the local residents should know of Ed's crime, and they should be allowed to decide if they want to interact with him or not. I would hope that the residents of Bainbridge Island realize that Ed has paid his debt and has not committed a crime since, and welcome him into their community, instead of shunning him.