There are 63,000 individuals in the state of California that find themselves having to comply with California Penal Code Section 290 requirements.  They appear on the California Megan’s Law web site.  Almost 4,000 individuals in Fresno.

For the few that are in our LGBT community their nightmare started many, many years ago when witch hunts were popular.  For one it was the arrest in 1996 for something that supposedly happened in the Spring/Summer of 1995.  Almost twenty (20) years ago.  In 1998 a plea bargain was “arraigned” by the attorney and D.A.  The attorney was a great negotiator – not a defense attorney.  The D. A. was on a political hunt for a judgeship.  The judge just wanted to get out quickly to a retirement.  Under intense pressure and coercion, based on the information that was available at that time, a plea of “no-contest to improper touching” (California P.C. 288 - paragraph (a)) was entered.  It was later found out that the Medical report was “not available” at the time of the court.  The official examiner’s statement was that “The physical evidence does not support the allegations.”  The minor in question wound up being abused in the foster care while the court process was continuing (and probably coached, too).
A discharge card was issued in 2004 finishing the CDC requirement however, the conviction required registration.
Any chance of getting this evil label taken off will need to wait until after the ten (10) year mark -2014, and a starting fee of $25,000.00 for a very good specialist lawyer.  The one has been considering applying with the “innocence project” for help in changing their plea from “non-contest” to “factually innocent”.
The one made a decision in 2000 to begin the journey of transition.  This resulted in a concerted effort to forever change who, what, and how the one was.  A change into another self that would result in a total and complete other person.  So, for now, the one has had to suffer the discrimination, bigotry, and hate that goes with the label.  A label that the one has been forced to inherit from their previous self.
Trying to advance toward recovery, improvement, and get past the ordeal has been met with vigilantes who continue the relentless sabotage to keep the one from advancing their efforts.  This particular label leads one to subjugate their appearances in public places and eyes.  There is an incredible risk to volunteer and/or work “out in the open” of public scrutiny.  Employment is usually next to impossible to obtain even in a great economic time.  This activity is absolutely necessary and will be scrutinized by the future court.  There is now a felony to harass anyone on the list, their families, and employers.  The effort to report the harassment is suffocated by the incredible fear of drawing too much attention.
Centerforce is a general prisoner outreach and assistance group with an office in Fresno.

The author of this article can be reached through rachljoy6@hotmail.com.