Zach Anderson, 19, was an ordinary teenager who was into computers and dreamed of building a career around his passion for electronics. Now his future is in jeopardy because he was placed on the sex offender registry after a dating app hookup, according to CNN.
The ordeal began, according to Anderson and his family, when he went on the dating app Hot or Not.
Anderson was at his home in Elkhart, Ind., when he met a girl in nearby southern Michigan. They eventually met and had sex.
The problem?
The girl told Anderson she was 17, but, as it turns out, she was actually 14. Thus, when Anderson has sex with her, he committed a crime.
Anderson was convicted and given a 90-day jail sentence, five years probation and placed on both Indiana and Michigan's sex offender registry for the next 25 years. To top it all off, his everyday life is in ruins. Under court order, he can no longer access the Internet, go to a mall or loiter near a school or playground, according to HitNewsNow.
His parents say Anderson is even restricted from living at home because he has a 15-year-old brother.
All of this, his parents believe, is a colossal mistake.
"It's a blatant lie," said his father, Lester Anderson.
Amanda Anderson, his mother, said, "It doesn't even fit our lifestyle; it doesn't fit how we raised our kids."
Anderson revealed that his parents always told him not to have sex before marriage.
The girl, who remains unnamed, and her mother appeared in court to protest Anderson's inclusion on the sex offender registry. She admitted in court that she lied about her age, and even issued a written apology to Anderson's family, that reads in part: "I'm sorry I didn't tell you my age. It kills me every day, knowing you are going through hell and I'm not. I want to be in trouble and not you," according to CBS' Memphis affiliate WREG.
However, current sex offender laws disregard the fact that the girl lied about her age, and that the sex was was consensual.
Judge Dennis Wiley, who sentenced Anderson, was upset that he had used the Internet to meet a girl.
"That seems to be part of our culture now," he said. "Meet, have sex, hookup, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is no excuse for this whatsoever."
William Buhl, a former judge in a nearby town, believes the sex offender registry needs to be changed since it currently acts as a "one-size-fits-all" list that treats all offenders as if they pose the same threat.
He said a solution to the issue would be to have a risk assessment registry, where offenders are assessed in regards to their threat to society, i.e. if they're likely to re-offend. However, he noted, few lawmakers would be willing to support a provision that lessens the severity of sex crime laws.
Anderson is now awaiting another court hearing, where his attorney will try to mitigate his sentence.
