THE WEEK IN RIGHTS May 2, 2013 | |||||||
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As told by Nicole Pittman, Soros Senior Justice Advocacy Fellow with Human Rights Watch
Brandon and his wife, Marguerite, sat on the couch across from me in their dimly lit one-bedroom apartment in Bryan Texas. Brandon looked down at his hands, resting in his lap, as he told me his story.
He was 11 years old when he was charged with sexually touching a 7-year-old playmate. She was a family friend and one of a group of children Brandon’s two teenage sisters were watching while their parents were out to dinner. A few days later, the police investigation began.
Despite his age, Brandon was put into the system as a sex offender. Brandon is 26 now, and like nearly all young offenders, he hasn’t committed another sex crime. But he has spent nearly half his life behind bars for failing to adhere to the rigid requirements that come with being labeled a sex offender.
After the incident, Brandon was taken from his home and eventually placed in a Texas juvenile facility. He was released at 17, but he had nowhere to go. As an adjudicated youth sex offender, Brandon couldn’t legally live near a “child safe zone,” like a school or park. This ruled out his parents’ home, which was near a park. He could no longer legally live with anyone who had children younger than 14, ruling out his older sisters’ homes. Brandon soon became homeless.
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