So, there's a sex offender down the street.

We've just received notification today. He is of "high risk to the community," not that I'm particularly worried about my own safety. I hope he doesn't hurt anybody else.

Such notification is a valuable service but... hmm... I'm at something of a loss.

Used to be that here in my state if 2 gay guys are caught having sex in a public bathroom (even if there's no one else around), then they got the "sex offender" label attached to them by the court system.

Personally I bear no resemblence to the kind of people this man has victimized, but I feel sorry for parents of young children.

Kids are being told to stay away from the guy even if he acts friendly. It seems to be working out, but I'm concerned that some young person's naive curiousity about the "forbidden" man may lead to danger.

I also have a neighbor who is a low-risk sex offender. His name and photo are made public but not his address. I talk to him from time to time. I can see how he got into trouble. The guy is from Greece, which has a much more touchy-feely culture than most Americans are accustmed to. Pour a couple of beers down him and he has his hands all over anything female regardless of age or appearance.

I don't blame his culture, but it did help pave the way for his perversion to manifest itself. He IS a borderline pedophile.

If you reached out to him, made him feel as if he wasn't an outcast, got others to do the same...

He would never violate these laws again. Just sayin'.

It's hard when you are isolated. I know. I am. I am not a sex offender, either.

He's about 20 years older than I am, lives with his 100 year old mother (who is very Greek), and runs his own pool cleaning company.

I like him OK and we do have a few things to talk about. I used to date a woman who lived next door to him and is now disabled. He hasn't been in any trouble for over 20 years. I personally believe he would be OK not registered. His offense was relatively minor but it did involve someone under 16.

Somewhere in there is a human being, looking for acceptance and social integration. He wants that. You are going to have to make the effort, he cannot. Life and his situation has taught him, unequivocally, that he is worthless and that no decent person will find the worth in him. He is invested, foursquare, in that view of himself, and that view can lead him to offend again.

Do that and you are a saint.

We don't always agree, but sometimes you do inspire me.

That is enough. I have done my job as a human.

Which is the bigger threat?

Our society can do better than this. Sure some of these people have problems. But these can be dealt with if we choose to deal with them. Instead we focus on punishment and oppression. The hell these people put through is unlikely to equal the wrongness of their past deeds that they have supposedly paid for.

This is not healing. This is not productive to society.