So there is a case near me inspiring some debate so I figured I’d see what people here think. Here’s the background:

There was a man (we’ll call him Jake for the sake of privacy) who was accused of having sex with a 16 year old girl when he was 22. The girl’s parents found out she was seeing him behind their backs and contacted the police once the girl told them they had sex. Jake did not deny the act took place, and both individuals said it was consensual. They had sex once.

Jake was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, which is a class 2 felony, due to her being under the age of consent in the state. He was offered a plea deal and wound up pleading guilty to one count of criminal sexual abuse - with force. Taking the “aggravated” portion out made it a class A misdemeanor. The “in force” portion was included because he and the girl worked together and he was a manager. He was sentenced to 2 years probation and was required to register in the state as a sex offender for 10 years. It’s been 10 years since he was sentenced, so it’s causing quite a large discussion. Here’s a couple of the issues I have seen being discussed:

1. Should he have been able to plead down so far...from a class 2 felony to a class A misdemeanor? Some have said it was a one time mistake, he had no prior criminal history, it makes sense for it to be a misdemeanor. Others say regardless, he should have been convicted of a felony.

2. Some are saying he should have served some form of jail time. That probation is like a slap on the wrist and that “grooming” a teenager as they say he did deserves a harsher sentence.

3. Many are arguing that regardless of it being a misdemeanor and regardless of his sentence, he should have to register as a sex offender for life, not just 10 years. In my state, once offenders no longer have to register, the restrictions imposed on sex offenders are lifted. He can live however close he wants to a school or daycare, he doesn’t have to notify the school his own child attends that he’s a sex offender where before he did. I’m seeing a lot of argument that those restrictions should be imposed for his life...because he’s proven already that he was a threat to under age children.

Some people have said they’ve seen him, even recently, being extremely flirty with teenage girls at his gym and other places. They feel he is still a threat. That part makes my stomach turn...because I met this guy once and I can totally see where he would do this and it creates a super creepy, sickening mental image. I believe he’s now 34 or 35 so he has no business being that “friendly” with a teenager in my opinion. Of course it’s not illegal to flirt but I think it shows he’s not an innocent kid that had a lapse of judgment.

4. There’s been information coming out in these discussions (with proof) that he had inappropriate contact with another under age girl (also 16 - that he worked with) just before this incident. Almost identical scenario but her parents went to upper management at their job to keep them separate because the inappropriate behavior was happening at work and they didn’t have enough proof to go to the authorities. Would knowing this additional information change your mind about the issues brought up in the prior points? Some people believe he should be charged for this now and push for him to be tried as a repeat offender.

Thoughts?