Sex Offender Laws

Sex offender laws represent the societal response to sexually based crimes such as rape, sexual assault, child molestation, and child pornography. Crimes of this nature are typically considered to be among the most heinous acts an offender can perpetrate against a victim. Although sex offender laws are often portrayed as a new response to societal dangers, the United States has had sex offender laws since the establishment of the original thirteen colonies. Borrowing from the tradition of English common law, all the colonies established ...