Nineteen year-old, Zach Anderson, is now listed among the most violent registered sex offenders after having sex with a young woman who admits to lying about her age.
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Perhaps “Hot or Not” wasn’t the best choice for nineteen year-old Zach Anderson of Indiana to find a potential hook up. And, according to the Michigan judge who handled Zach’s case, Zach’s behavior of meeting someone on the Internet, then soon after having sex, was unacceptable. Perhaps his behavior was ill-advised, even potentially dangerous, but was it illegal? Moreover, was justice served in this case?
This is a story riddled with numbers.
Zach Anderson is a nineteen year-old young man from Elkhart, Indiana. He used the “Hot or Not” app to connect with a young woman in Michigan who told Anderson she was seventeen, when in reality she was fourteen.
The two arranged a meeting, around the Indiana-Michigan border, just twenty miles away from Anderson’s home. They engaged in consensual sex, but after several hours of the fourteen year-old away from home and a missed dosage of epilepsy medicine, the young woman’s mother became concerned and phoned the police. When the young woman returned home, she was pressed by the police to explain what occurred. Anderson was subsequently arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct, a misdemeanor.
His behavior will, for the next quarter century, be equated with the most violent sex offenders in society, as most states’ offense-based registries do not clearly delineate risk of the offender to the public.
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After spending 73 days in prison, Anderson now faces 61 probation restrictions including no Internet use for five years, an 8:00pm curfew, and a ban from living in his own home since his younger brother is fifteen years old and therefore, a minor.
Most significant of all, Anderson will remain on the Indiana and Michigan sex offender registries for the next 25 years. This will follow him as he finds a job, purchases a home, and seeks a relationship. His behavior will, for the next quarter century, be equated with the most violent sex offenders in society, as most states’ offense-based registries do not clearly delineate risk of the offender to the public.
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Without the following information, Anderson’s conviction and sentencing might seem fitting. But when you learn that the young woman’s mother begged police not to arrest Anderson, as she recognized it was her daughter who had lied. Or, when you learn the young woman’s mother also testified in court that Anderson should not be placed on the sex offender registry. When you learn that portions of journal entries and notes from the young woman to Anderson apologize for lying about her age and express that she should be serving punishment, not Anderson. Or, when you consider the judge had the opportunity to provide a lighter sentence due to Anderson’s age but chose not to. Well, with these factors, we return to the question: Was justice served in this case?
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While Zach Anderson was 19 at the time of his conviction, his story sheds light on a concern about young men under 18 who are currently on the sex offender list.
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In recent years, the sex offender registry has come under scrutiny as a social justice, civil liberty, and human dignity issue. Advocates for reform like Brenda V. Jones, executive director of the Reform Sex Offender Laws advocacy group, states that sex offender convictions and sentences like Anderson’s have repercussions beyond the offender. Employers are hesitant to hire those on the registry because customers may avoid their establishment.
A 2010 report issue by the Council of State Governments also suggests that enforcement of current policies for residency and reporting require significant time and manpower from law enforcement agencies when not all individuals on the registry are of equal risk or threat of recidivism.
While Zach Anderson was 19 at the time of his conviction, his story sheds light on a concern about young men under 18 who are currently on the sex offender registry. While some have been convicted of violent and egregious sex offenses, others have been placed on the list for participating in sexual acts common among teenagers. As one author puts it, “People are on the registry for the sex they had as teens with teens.”
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To our GMP readers, what are your thoughts on this issue? Was Zach Anderson fairly charged? Should sex offender laws be reformed? Can society strike a balance between protecting the public and victims while also differentiating between risk and threat of recidivism?
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Image credit: dayblakelydonaldson/flickr
I don’t buy that he didn’t know the girl was underaged. Sex offenders start early. He’ll probably be trying to pick up 14 year old girls when he’s 30, 40, 50. This is a crime and he needs to pay for it.
The American Justice system has forgotten Mens Rei when it comes to sex crimes.
Every time I encounter the angry fervor over rape, rape culture, victim blaming, etc., I think of these kinds of not so black and white cases involving misunderstandings and deceptions. Because so many of the angry voices want any kind of justice (or injustice) to be served, but don’t seem to care that justice meted out for a technicality can be as bad as that for a full-on violent attack. So what if she initiated? So what if the sex was consensual? So what if they were BOTH drunk? So what if she lied about her age? Rape is rape,… Read more »
The sex offender registry is a corruption of justice. Where is the Murder registry? There isn’t one. If a person commits murder, serves their sentenced time, and is released, they don’t need to tell everyone in their new neighborhood about what happened years ago every time they move. If you want people off the streets, keep them in prison. That’s what it’s for. If you release someone, let them live the rest of their life as best they can.
Thank you Andy, Paul, and Sam for contributing to the conversation. There may yet be an opportunity for wrongs to be righted here. Today it was released that the original judge is reconsidering Zach Anderson’s sentence after Anderson’s lawyer testified yesterday in court alleging the state prosecutor broke a plea agreement. The judge may step down from the case so the sentence can be reconsidered fairly. It comes down to whether Anderson will be able to be sentenced under Michigan’s HYTA (Holmes Youthful Trainee Act) that will permit youth like Anderson to expunge a conviction like this from his record.
I’ve never understood the fixation on sex crimes we have in this country. Sure, crime should be dealt with but why do we have special lists for only sex related offenses? Not for burglary or assault or DUI or fraud (four things I’d be worried about my neighbors doing) but when it comes to sex we want to know all about it. I think it is a pointless additional punishment that does nothing to deter crime but only serves to penalize a very specific subset of criminal activity and fill a prurient desire for naughty gossip.