6 years ago, I was arrested for being with my girlfriend (we were only 2 years and 2 months apart in age, I had just turned 18 and she was about to turn 16), and she even testified in front of the judge that I did no wrong (ie. rape, etc.). The prosecutors tried for felony charges, prison time, etc. but my lawyer talked them down to 2 misdemeanor counts - Child Abuse and Lewd Battery.
There is a statute in Florida preventing me from having my record sealed or expunged. I am now stuck with this forever, for not really doing anything wrong.
I just moved to a new city to finish school (pre-reqs for Pharmacy school, which from what I've been told I can thankfully still get into) and have been denied time and time again for apartments here, along with a few jobs.
What on earth can I do? It's frustrating because I've always been a 4.0 student, and never gotten in ANY trouble before or after this.
I'm to the point of thinking of just moving to another country.
Just looking for some hope.
Answers:
I'd try to find a lawyer, if you can afford one, who might be able to argue that your case falls into some kind of exception to the statute, to get it expunged.
If that can't work, I'd say to change your strategy and your approach to this whole situation. You DID do something wrong..the law says an adult (18 or over) can't have sex with a child (under 16). So you broke the law, and you committed a form of assault on a child, because we believe, as a society, that children aren't capable of the maturity needed to consent.
So what do I think you should do? Change your tack on this thing, mentally. Accept responsbility, and if anyone (job, apartment, etc.) asks you about it, explain exactly what happened and tell them that you realize you made a mistake and you're trying to learn from it. You could consider entering therapy or doing some kind of volunteer work with social service agencies to show that you are putting your past mistakes behind you.
I know I'll probably get a lot of thumbs-down for this answer, but I happen to believe that this law exists for a reason. While I agree that it's wrong to put someone who did what you did in the same category with pedophiles and child rapists, I do believe that what you did constitutes a crime. If you are able to show everyone you know that you are an honorable person and that you are working to put your one and only mistake behind you, you might have better luck getting past it than if you take a defensive "I didn't do anything wrong...the law is wrong!" type of posture.
Just my opinion, for whatever it's worth. No matter what you do, you will probably still have trouble in some places with being accepted, but I think over time it will get less and less. Don't move to another country! Look at this whole thing as a challenge and a learning experience.
Good luck to you!!
Misdemeanors are nothing to worry about.
Find yourself an attorney.
Get rich. Money will get you anywhere
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Democracy simply does not work.
I think your only hope is to talk to a lawyer and see if you have any options.
FP
You are paying the consequences for having sexual relations with a child.
There is nothing you can do except try to wait for the years to pass.
You are going to have more trouble when you try to find a job in your field...background checks will reveal your record.
Like thousands before you, Learn to live with it.
File a lawsuit against the state of Florida for discrimination in Federal court under the 14th amendment that may be illegal abuse of your civil rights. It is called equal; protection under the law. If your record can never be sealed then neither can any other. Law may be unconstitutional.
I hope you really enjoyed that underage sex, you're going to be paying for it a long, long time.
Certain things you do in life will haunt you forever.
This is just something that you have to live with. Consider yourself luck that you didnt get found guilty of Statutory Rape because then you would be places on the sex offenders reg.
How do you know of this Statute? Talk to a lawyer. Don't settle for a cheap one get a good lawyer with a reputable background. Because of the statute Ask he/she if they can look at your records to find any loop holes to see if you can get this misdemeamor off your record. You'll pay out your nose but it might be worth it.
That was still a guilty plea even though it was reduced from a felony, and guilty plea's can not be sealed or expunged. Not guilty or dismissed yes. Sounds like your getting into a good profession, I would just suck it up and go on about my life, after 20 years it will be in archive somewhere and not easily discovered.
What you did was commit statutory rape. It doesn't matter that you guys were in a relationship or that she "consented" because the law in every state is very clear when it gives the age of consent for an individual.
You are legally a sex offender and as a result, you will find it very hard (if not impossible) to ever get it removed from your record or from any Megan's Law websites.
Saying that you should be thankful that it was reduced down to a misdemeanor is hollow and doesn't really help you at all.
However, I don't know if there is really any realistic help to be given. As much as I support Megan's Law and sex offender laws/requirements, I do feel that this is one area that needs to be delved into, because you aren't the only person to have been affected by this.
I would highly suggest talking to an attorney and seeing if there isn't some way of mitigating the damage which might be tough in and of itself since she was/is a minor.
Dude..you still dont think you were doing anything wrong. You were a young adult, she was a child. You got lucky with just a misdemeanor. You cant tell me that something inside of you back then didnt tell you that what you were doing was wrong. Im guessing that even your friends were making fun of you for doing it.
Unfortunately for you, there isnt much you can do about it, just deal with it. If you are ever lucky enough to have a daughter of your own, you will love the laws that you broke.
Keep trying and state your case. Since you were young as you grow older with work experience and schooling this will become hopefully less of an issue. But it happened and now you have to live with your decisions of the past...
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