When You Discover That Your Friends Are Criminals

[FireInTheWire]

It’s strange seeing a map of people that are evil.

It is odd perspective....

 

[45tex]

Some years back was back at Moms house on a visit. An old running bud stops in. His big update is a court date on his armed robbery charge. He had just decided one day to knock over the local grocery store. So, what do you do these days? He asks me. Oh me, I smiled. I'm a cop in Texas. He looked to my wife and said. All my life I figured your husband would be a cop or a criminal, you lucked out. A few minutes later he suddenly had to leave and I never saw him again.

 

[deemus]

Talking to a friend a while back. Told me about his cousin who had gotten off drugs and seemed to be doing really well.

Then her picture was on the news for getting arrested for meth distribution and trying to hire an undercover DEA agent to kill her niece's husband who was a state trooper.

 

[Pops1955]

The amazing thing to me is that all these folks that would do the crime to get their kids in a certain school are going to jail, getting fired, etc. YET the DOJ and the FBI did not think that Hilary and Bill needed to go to jail

 

[Sam7sf]

The amazing thing to me is that all these folks that would do the crime to get their kids in a certain school are going to jail, getting fired, etc. YET the DOJ and the FBI did not think that Hilary and Bill needed to go to jail

From lbj to the clintons, guess if you’re a democrat and got connections, you’re never going to jail.

 

[craigntx]

Former friend of mine for years got on the rock and I lost touch with him.
I did a search to see if maybe he was a guest of the grey bar motel.
He was a registered sex offender
(10 yo girl vic) from long before I had met him.
I later disocotiated myself from him but had some difficulty deciding if I should because what he had done in the past.
What would others here have done?

 

[Sam7sf]

What would others here have done?

Remove contact with him. The guy took advantage of a child’s innocence.

 

[Charlie]

I also would have disassociated myself from him.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Over the years, I've discovered a few criminals among friends.

Pretty simple.

Drop them.

I owe zero loyalty to criminals.......

 

[Charlie]

Over the years, I've discovered a few criminals among friends.

Pretty simple.

Drop them.

I owe zero loyalty to criminals.......

'Zactly!!

 

[Sam7sf]

I owe zero loyalty to criminals.......

I agree with this. Drugs, such as meth, turn people into paranoid liars. I lost a friend to meth. Once I found out, that was it. No point in trying to rationalize if I could trust anyone like that. He’s forever a criminal and thank god he got caught. His friends found out after his arrest. We were all shocked. Keep that shit off the streets.

Pedos just need to be hanged. Or used for target practice.

 

[benenglish]

He was a registered sex offender
(10 yo girl vic) from long before I had met him.
...
What would others here have done?

I would probably have done what you did. However, there could be mitigating circumstances. Since it was long before you met him and the victim was 10, how old was he? If he was 12 or 13, that might change things.

Holy crap...I’m looking at the pedo finder app and the whole metroplex is a sea of red.

Just for the record, folks should not get upset when they look at those sex offender mapping apps. Depending on the location, those offender registries can show 90-year-olds who were issued a ticket for soliciting another man back in the 1950s, 16-year-olds who have been convicted of creating child porn where the victim was themselves (i.e., they took nude photographs in their bedroom mirror), people caught in possession of common-in-Japan cartoons of certain genres, and even folks convicted of public lewdness for pissing behind a bush when the line to the porta potties was too long.

To properly use those apps, you have to drill down to the individual offender and read what they did, when they did it, and how old they were. In many cases, your gut reaction will be "S/he sure was a dumbass for doing that but I wouldn't call 'em a sex offender" or "Geez, it's sure a good thing no one caught me and my girlfriend when we were teenagers or we'd be on this list, too!" I'll go out on a limb and say you'll have that reaction in most cases.

And then, in a minority of cases, you'll wonder why the perp was ever allowed to leave prison alive.

Sex offender registries are a real mixed bag covering an insanely wide spectrum of illegal activity. People have done a lot of research on the subject and the bottom line is that sex offender registries are a great case study of "mission creep" in action.

 

[craigntx]

I would probably have done what you did. However, there could be mitigating circumstances. Since it was long before you met him and the victim was 10, how old was he? .

Late 20s at time of offense.
Incredible he didn't do any real time, but that was back in the 80s.
I didn't blow him off due to his case. We met up a few times after I learned of it (and let him know that I knew).

 

[benenglish]

Late 20s at time of offense.
Incredible he didn't do any real time, but that was back in the 80s.

Yep, that's bad.

When I was in high school, all the girls wanted college guys for boyfriends. When I was in college, middle school girls were commonly spotted at college parties. Given that background, I'm more tolerant than most of age differences that would get guys put in jail these days.

But even I'll say without equivocation that a guy in his late 20s who spends time with a 10-year-old girl is deeply immature just for spending time with her. If he touches her, he's a criminal.

 

[Sam7sf]

I can already see that Ben. I’ll give you the scenario of say a person flashed or pissed in public. I can see where that would put someone on an app like this. However a good portion of them are old guys of aggravated sexual assault on a child that took place when the convicted were adults. I understand what your warning is Ben, but I’m pretty sure the people you’re talking about are a very small percentage. At least from what I can view. The app still gives me the option to at least read the conviction and their age/crime dates.

 

[craigntx]

Yep, that's bad.

When I was in high school, all the girls wanted college guys for boyfriends. When I was in college, middle school girls were commonly spotted at college parties. Given that background, I'm more tolerant than most of age differences that would get guys put in jail these days.

But even I'll say without equivocation that a guy in his late 20s who spends time with a 10-year-old girl is deeply immature just for spending time with her. If he touches her, he's a criminal.

Yeah theres no possible justification.
I never found out if it was true or a false accusation.
He never discussed it of course

 

[Sam7sf]

Late 20s at time of offense.

Creeper. Simple as that. He wants to hang with a 10 year old girl when there’s girls his age or older probably willing to mingle? Nah man. Dude knew what he was doing.

 

[benenglish]

He never discussed it of course

I cut myself off from the friend of a friend when I was about 19. He had just gotten out of prison and he wouldn't talk about it until one night when he got drunk, starting thinking about the time he wasted behind bars, and got angry. He was innocent, he said, and it was all a set-up that he was ever convicted. To roughly paraphrase the sentence that told me what I needed to know about him: "They called it illegal sex because she was retarded but I tell you, man, she enjoyed it as much as I did."

Some people just don't understand that they're evil and really shouldn't be walking around amongst the rest of us. I told our mutual friend to never invite him back to the apartment complex because I'd make sure that as soon as he showed up at the pool, everybody would know who he was, what he did, and who invited him. Our mutual friend seemed to understand because I never saw the guy again.

 

[txinvestigator]

Seems to be some misunderstanding of the Sex offender registration laws. No one who "pissed in public" or solicited a man for sex in the 50s is required to register

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure- Chapter 62-Sex Offender Registration Program
(5) "Reportable conviction or adjudication" means a conviction or adjudication, including an adjudication of delinquent conduct or a deferred adjudication, that, regardless of the pendency of an appeal, is a conviction for or an adjudication for or based on:

(A) a violation of Section 21.02 (Continuous sexual abuse of young child or children), 21.09 (Bestiality), 21.11 (Indecency with a child), 22.011 (Sexual assault), 22.021 (Aggravated sexual assault), or 25.02 (Prohibited sexual conduct), Penal Code;

(B) a violation of Section 43.05 (Compelling prostitution), 43.25 (Sexual performance by a child), or 43.26 (Possession or promotion of child pornography), Penal Code;

(B-1) a violation of Section 43.02 (Prostitution), Penal Code, if the offense is punishable under Subsection (c-1)(3) of that section;

(C) a violation of Section 20.04(a)(4) (Aggravated kidnapping), Penal Code, if the actor committed the offense or engaged in the conduct with intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually;

(D) a violation of Section 30.02 (Burglary), Penal Code, if the offense or conduct is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and the actor committed the offense or engaged in the conduct with intent to commit a felony listed in Paragraph (A) or (C);

(E) a violation of Section 20.02 (Unlawful restraint), 20.03 (Kidnapping), or 20.04 (Aggravated kidnapping), Penal Code, if, as applicable:

(i) the judgment in the case contains an affirmative finding under Article 42.015; or

(ii) the order in the hearing or the papers in the case contain an affirmative finding that the victim or intended victim was younger than 17 years of age;

(F) the second violation of Section 21.08 (Indecent exposure), Penal Code, but not if the second violation results in a deferred adjudication;

(G) an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation, as defined by Chapter 15, Penal Code, to commit an offense or engage in conduct listed in Paragraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (K), or (L);

 

[txinvestigator]

Some people just don't understand that they're evil

No one does. I am recently divorced, my ex had a 3 year affair with a guy who she lived a dual life with, built a house with and lied to both of us. She travels for work and split part of that time between him and me. She told me she was working when she was with him, told him that she was working when she was with me.

She still refers to herself as "a good person"