need some explanation re predator terms

[LauraGB]

My friend called me about an hour ago, hysterically crying, stating that her dd was missing. She'd called the police, scoured the neighborhood looking for her scooter in yards, and found nothing. In between yelling her dd's name throughout the neighborhood and crying, she asked me to go to Family Watch Dog to look up the address of a convicted s*xual predator that lived down her street. Well, thankfully, while I was looking, her dd called to say she was at a different friend's house than the one she originally was heading to, and all was well. Okay.

 

So, I found this guy on Watch Dog. I drove past the address listed for him, with my dc in the car. I should probably point out that they live within walking distance of our house and her dd and my dd are the same age and have played together in the past. Okay, so, we found the house and dd said, "Hey, that's 'so&so's' house!" "So&so" is another little girl that my friend's dd happens to be very best friends with! Also, MY DD has been to this house! Once, and without permission, by the way (an offense for which she got into BIG trouble and will never make the mistake of doing again, I'm confident). So, I called my friend and told her about this. This man is so&so's mom's boyfriend who moved in after so&so's dad died. They have 2 girls, age 9 and 12 (I think).

 

Okay, now for my question. If anyone could please help me to understand the difference between r*pe, s*xual battery (this is what he was convicted of) and s*xual assault? I tried to google it, but I'm just not really understanding the difference, especially between battery and assault. Watch Dog gives a lot of info, but there is a statement on his conviction page that "the age of the victim was not released". What does this mean for real?

 

You know, on an aside, when we bought our 35 year old house 9 years ago, there were literally 6 others (about as old or older) in about a 1/4 mile stretch of our road and a lot of farm fields. It was one of the reasons we bought it - close to everything, but not in it. Almost all of those fields have been sold and there is a new subdivision with, perhaps, 50 new homes (this is where this guy lives), 2 MASSIVE apartment complexes that sprawl for acres and the traffic down our street has increased 10 fold, at least. Our lovely village is into mixed zoning, which means we also have businesses tucked into our residential neighborhood, and a lot of them. I really would just like to move us. Away. And I know moving doesn't get rid of the threat, but it might make me feel a little better.

 

So, if anyone can help me understand the difference between the terms, I'd be grateful. Thanks.

[teamturner]

But either which way it can't be good!! I wonder if this woman who has this predator living at her house knows this about him? maybe you could send an anonymous email (from somewhere other than your computer) that includes a link to the info you found. These predators seek out women with young children and if she was a recent widow with two young daughters then that would be quite a catch for him...I know yuck! Hopefully she is of sound judgement and will kick him out once she realizes who he really is!!

[Scarlett]

My friend called me about an hour ago, hysterically crying, stating that her dd was missing. She'd called the police, scoured the neighborhood looking for her scooter in yards, and found nothing. In between yelling her dd's name throughout the neighborhood and crying, she asked me to go to Family Watch Dog to look up the address of a convicted s*xual predator that lived down her street. Well, thankfully, while I was looking, her dd called to say she was at a different friend's house than the one she originally was heading to, and all was well. Okay.

 

So, I found this guy on Watch Dog. I drove past the address listed for him, with my dc in the car. I should probably point out that they live within walking distance of our house and her dd and my dd are the same age and have played together in the past. Okay, so, we found the house and dd said, "Hey, that's 'so&so's' house!" "So&so" is another little girl that my friend's dd happens to be very best friends with! Also, MY DD has been to this house! Once, and without permission, by the way (an offense for which she got into BIG trouble and will never make the mistake of doing again, I'm confident). So, I called my friend and told her about this. This man is so&so's mom's boyfriend who moved in after so&so's dad died. They have 2 girls, age 9 and 12 (I think).

 

Okay, now for my question. If anyone could please help me to understand the difference between r*pe, s*xual battery (this is what he was convicted of) and s*xual assault? I tried to google it, but I'm just not really understanding the difference, expecially between battery and assault. Watch Dog gives a lot of info, but there is a statement on his conviction page that "the age of the victim was not released". What does this mean for real?

 

You know, on an aside, when we bought our 35 year old house 9 years ago, there were literally 6 others (about as old or older) in about a 1/4 mile stretch of our road and a lot of farm fields. It was one of the reasons we bought it - close to everything, but not in it. Almost all of those fields have been sold and there is a new subdivision with, perhaps, 50 new homes (this is where this guy lives), 2 MASSIVE apartment complexes that sprawl for acres and the traffic down our street has increased 10 fold, at least. Our lovely village is into mixed zoning, which means we also have businesses tucked into our residential neighborhood, and a lot of them. I really would just like to move us. Away. And I know moving doesn't get rid of the threat, but it might make me feel a little better.

 

So, if anyone can help me understand the difference between the terms, I'd be grateful. Thanks.

 

Does it give a level of offense? Seems like they go from 1-4 or 5....

 

My beef with these classifications is that they call a 19 yo who has s*x with his 16 year old gf a sex offender (and yes I might have the details wrong about the legalities of all of that), and although that is morally wrong, it doesn't hold the same threat to my child as a man who has raped a child does.

 

Oh, come to think of it, I don't think they put the lower level offenders on those websites....I dont know. Dont listen to me.

[LauraGB]

But either which way it can't be good!! I wonder if this woman who has this predator living at her house knows this about him? maybe you could send an anonymous email (from somewhere other than your computer) that includes a link to the info you found. These predators seek out women with young children and if she was a recent widow with two young daughters then that would be quite a catch for him...I know yuck! Hopefully she is of sound judgement and will kick him out once she realizes who he really is!!

 

My friend is going to talk to her. I can't imagine how she couldn't know - his picture is right there on this site! And, he's rather creepy looking. You know, I can see something like the Romeo/Juliet thing being fairly innocent (he is 18 or 19, she is 15 or 16), but this guy is in his 30s and was convicted in 2006. I agree, no matter, its still not a good thing. Makes me sick to my stomach, actually. I would just like to understand the terms so I know as much of the story as I can - I've looked them up, but still can't figure out the difference.

[LauraGB]

Does it give a level of offense? Seems like they go from 1-4 or 5.....

 

Its 3rd degree - I don't know what that means, either. Anyone?

[Jen500]

Is he on probation or parole? You might try calling your local Dept.of Probation and asking about him.

[Jennifer in MI]

Laura - I wish I could help you, but I can't. We had a couple sex offenders in our previous neighborhood and we also had a woman who worked at the DA's office. She was my go-to girl when I had a question. Do you have a friend who is a lawyer who could help you?

 

Oh, come to think of it, I don't think they put the lower level offenders on those websites....I dont know. Dont listen to me.

 

This is true. My brother's best friend from high school is on the list for flashing someone. It was a dare and it was stupid. But, he was 18.

 

This is very different than many of these other offenders.

[LauraGB]

I'm sorry - my information above is inaccurate - the conviction was for 3rd degree s*xual assault. I'm sorry - I'm new to this whole icky thing. It is assault, not battery.

[teamturner]

s**ual assault and found it clearly defined on Wickipedia. It didn't want to link it here because it had a bad word in it. I skimmed the first part and it sounds pretty bad!

 

 

I don't know that it matters what the age of the victim was. The youngest he might of been when he did it was late 20's. It's weird that if he was convited in 2006 that he is out of prison....that is if he even served any time. Perhaps he just got probation. I wonder if you could find out the terms of his probation. Would that be public info? It just doesn't seem right that he would be living with a woman who had two young daughters. That makes me suspicious of him w/o knowing the specifics of his conviction. But that's just me....... :confused:

[Danestress]

http://danenet.wicip.org/dcccrsa/saissues/handbook/law.html

 

Basically the definition of first and second degree sexual assault leaves third degree for when there was no consent but also no force, threats and no injury. They might use that when the victim is under age, was drunk or passed or lacked the capacity to consent.

 

But it's also possible that he was charged with something else and plead to third degree.

 

How long ago was the conviction?

[Parrothead]

But it's also possible that he was charged with something else and plead to third degree.

 

That is something too.

 

The terms vary from state to state. When I was a cop in Georgia battery is actual contact with another person such as a slap or a beating. Assault is a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person (as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner) that puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact.

 

Some states don't divide the two. A person can be charged with "assault and battery" one term.

 

In terms of sexual assault and sexual battery I looked here: http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/sexual-battery/

 

Their definition of sexual battery is:

Sexual battery is an unwanted form of contact with an intimate part of the body that is made for purposes of sexual arousal, sexual gratification or sexual abuse. Sexual battery may occur whether the victim is clothed or not. It is a crime, which varies by state laws, so local laws should be consulted.

The following is an example of a state law defining sexual battery:

"Any person who touches an intimate part of another person while that person is unlawfully restrained by the accused or an accomplice, and if the touching is against the will of the person touched and is for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse, is guilty of sexual battery."

 

They didn't have a specific definition for sexual assault. But going with the definition of assualt by itself sexual assualt could mean anything from actual sexual contact (depending on the state) to only the threat of sexual contact. And of course rape is penetration.

 

Hope that helps some

 

If you tell me what state you live in I'll look it up for you after I get back from the store.

[LauraGB]

So, based on that definition of battery, am I to believe that battery would be a lesser crime than assault, and assault lesser somehow than r*pe? This is what I'm gathering. Although, how the powers that be choose to differentiate any of it is somewhat beyond me. Maybe that is where my resistance (?) to understanding comes in.

 

It looks like he was convicted in 2006 - or perhaps that was a release date. Its unclear from the info on the site. If he only served a month for a full fledged r*pe, I wouldn't be surprised; WI is ridiculously lax where this sort of thing is concerned. It is a source of discussion daily in the local papers. :angry:

 

Thank you very much to everyone who tried to help me understand. Now I've got to figure out how to explain to some very inquiring young 9 year old minds what this means. Sigh.

[TraceyS/FL]

There is someone in your County or City Police Department that tracks them and will be HAPPY to answer your questions. We had a neighbor that was listed, but he was deemed a non-threat to children. We just where very aware of what the kids were doing in the yard (and he was a frail/sick old guy i could have kicked and put in the hospital).

 

When he sold his house the guy from teh Sheriff's office came looking for any info on where he moved to.... he wasn't excited when i said i thought he went to Mexico to die in peace.

 

But call the police department and have someone get you in touch with the person in charge.

 

::hug::

[Danestress]

So, based on that definition of battery, am I to believe that battery would be a lesser crime than assault, and assault lesser somehow than r*pe? This is what I'm gathering.

 

I don't think so. The statute on s@xual crimes doesn't use the terms "rape" and "battery." Think about the word "assault" as "crimes" so you have first degree s@xual "crimes" (rape with a deadly weapon would fit here), etc.

[Amy in NH]

call the police department

::hug::

 

Yup. That's what I'd do. They should be able to tell you what those terms mean, and also if the guy is a danger to children.

[mcconnellboys]

No, I think that assault would be the least level of offense. It would be something like saying dirty, inappropriate things to a minor, threatening to do something sexual to them, etc. Battery would be actually touching them, so perhaps fondling or something like that. Then rape would be actual penetration and so the highest level of crime. But where one goes, so go the others....

[5knights3maidens]

After reading your post, I went on and have found over "many" living within 30 seconds to 5 mins. away. Ugh!!