You may wonder why I chose to
write a romance in which the alpha male love interest (a handsome, intelligent,
thoughtful man) is a convicted sex offender. Not sexy, right? Well, it's not
that simple. Sometimes people are branded as sex offenders who are, in fact,
nothing like the stereotype you may have in mind.
The story that inspired me to do
some research on the topic was told to me by a friend. His brother in law was
accused of harboring child porn on his office computer. When he was arrested,
his marriage, career, finances and reputation were quickly destroyed. He ended
up committing suicide, yet claimed until the day he died that he had been set
up. My friend believed him. An angry employee or client with access to the
man's office could have downloaded the material and called in the complaint.
This is certainly an effective way to ruin someone's life.
That story got me thinking. So I
looked into the topic, and some of the cases are startling. For example, the
case of a 15 year old boy accused of raping a 14 year old girl. He pled guilty
so he wouldn't have to go to an adult prison. After spending more than a year
in a juvenile detention center, the boy was released when girl admitted she had
invented the rape so her parents wouldn't be mad at her for having sex. Now the
young man is unable to remove his name from the sex offender registry. His
family has been forced to move several times due to neighborhood harassment.
The kid can't go to school because he is not allowed near any school properties.
Other surprising cases abound.
Rape "victims" who marry their "rapists" after the girls'
parents are no longer able to have the men arrested for seeing their underage
daughters. Revenge cases. Mistaken identity. In one chat room I read about the
paranoia a man is experiencing because a convicted sex offender with a similar
name, age, and build lives nearby. What if the neighborhood confuses the two
men? What will the good folks do to him if they believe he is a sex offender?
Like you, I despise the evil
creatures who prey on women and children. Sex criminals are sick and dangerous
and need to be removed from society. But there are too many instances in which
innocent people get sucked into the vortex of inflexible law and public opinion.
Some people really do not deserve to be ostracized, punished, branded. This is
the kind of situation I decided to write about in Whiskey Sour Noir.
Love to hear your opinion on this
topic.
***
Mickey
J. Corrigan's newest novella is the first book in The Hard Stuff Series from
The Wild Rose Press. Whiskey Sour Noir
is a tough luck love story about a woman who works in a homeless shelter and
falls in love with a convicted sex offender. Can she believe his claims of
innocence? Love can be so bittersweet.
Visit Mickey here:
Buy links for Whiskey Sour Noir:
http://www.amazon.com/Whiskey-Sour-Noir-Hard-Stuff-ebook/dp/B00GVKM9NE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393350587&sr=1-1&keywords=whiskey+sour+Noir
http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=5566
I've just finished Mickey's book. It is a good, slick read. Not a world I know anything about, but i'm glad to know something now.
ReplyDeleteDenise
Thanks so much for your comments on my book. Made my day!
DeleteI feel really bad for the 15 year old boy. There's no way he should have to live his life with a sex-offender charge to his name. That was just two kids fooling around.
ReplyDeleteYes, innocent people are also tainted at times, but how to distinguish with limited evidence?
ReplyDeleteIt's such a tough problem. There are too many guilty abusers in the world not to be skeptical. But sometimes good people do get mislabeled, their lives ruined. And sometimes the law treats those who do not deserve a stiff sentence (a 19 year old having consensual sex with a 17 year old, for example) the same as those who do deserve the most severe punishments.
DeleteWow, what a story. I'm sure it has inspired Mickey to write a wonderful book.
ReplyDeleteI like that Mickey has taken such a unique perspective. I've heard about cases like the ones mentioned; they're so unfortunate.
ReplyDelete