By Josh Sweigart . . . Derek Logue is a member of one of the few groups it is socially acceptable for people to openly hate. He knows online comments on this story will likely refer to him in the most vulgar terms, and no one will come to his defense.
But Logue said people like him are being unfairly discriminated against, and he thinks something should be done about it.
Logue is one of 17,236 adult registered sex offenders in Ohio, a group whose criminal histories are accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Offenders must list with the local sheriff’s office the addresses of where they live, work, volunteer and go to school — information, along with their photograph, that is put into an online database. Depending on the severity of their crimes, they have to register between once a year for 15 years or — in the most serious cases — every 90 days for life.
Many also face restrictions on living too close to a school or daycare.
‘I served my time’
While some people have called for more public notification and oversight of offenders, Logue believes the entire registry should be taken down.
“The registry destroys lives,” said Logue, who will spend the rest of his life on the registry. “It has destroyed my life.”
Logue was convicted in Alabama in 2001 of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl when he was 22, and spent three years in prison. When he was released, he moved to Cincinnati and was required by the state of Ohio to register as a “predator.”
Logue unsuccessfully challenged that designation in court, saying it is a higher label than Alabama considered his offense.
“I committed a crime. I served my time,” he said. “It’s one of those things you certainly regret and wish you could take back.”
Logue said the registry attaches an unfair label on individuals.
“If you’re a registered person people assume you’re a pedophile, that you’re a predator, that you’re just going to rape and molest at the first opportunity,” he said. “And that’s simply untrue.”
Read the remainder of the article here at the Dayton Daily News.
