Throwaway for obvious reasons. This f***up happened about 20 years ago. My little sister, who was 11 at the time... she was what you would call a "trouble child". Always seeking attention, always doing what she shouldn't for the thrill of it. She started smoking when she was 10. Hid it well from the folks but I knew. I was 14 years older because my mom got remarried. She was my half sister. I'm referring to her in the past tense because she passed away because her reckless lifestyle caught up with her this past October. She was 31.
Anyhow, she and I never really had any beef with each other. I just kind of steered clear and let my folks do what they could to control her. I had just moved back from Colorado Springs and I was crashing at their house until I found a more permanent place to be. I had been there about a month before all this went down.
She was at school one day when the police came in to talk to the class about the merits of good touching vs. bad touching. After they finished their speech, they asked if anyone in the class had some bad touching happen to them. Lil sis turned on the tears and raised her hand. They took her into a separate room and questioned her, giving her tons of care and attention, what she thrived on, and she told them that I had been molesting her. (I never did. In no way that could be misconstrued or misunderstood, I simply never did anything to her in that regard.) It was all completely made up so she could get her attention. She had no way of knowing how damaging this was going to be for me.
That day, the police showed up at my house, arrested me, took me in to the station and told me what she had said. I told them that I didn't do anything, and they said "they all say that". I was eventually bonded out and given a public defender. I was kicked out of my mom's house and was homeless. They even got a restraining order against me. It was awful. My mother didn't know what to believe. I'll skip ahead because there is just so much to this story.
My lawyer didn't want to go to trial. Even though they had no evidence against me, it was all her word against mine, he told me that if it went to trial, and if she didn't change her story (which wasn't likely since she was too far in it at this point and the attention she was getting from everyone was like crack to her, even at 11 years old) the jury would find me guilty and I would be sentenced to 5 years in prison because in his experience, he found that a jury would always find in favor of the child because they would rather convict an innocent man than risk letting a child molester go free.
I had never been in trouble with the law in my life. I never did drugs, smoked cigarettes, or even drank. I was as clean cut as they come. So I was terrified. So he said there was another way out. If I pled guilty, the prosecution was offering no jail time, just 5 years probation, and at the end of the probation, I would be given something called a first offender pardon, where everything would be wiped off my record. I took the deal and pled guilty even though I didn't do anything wrong.
After 5 years, I got my first offender pardon and left the state. My little sister did eventually come clean but by that time, it was too late. I moved to a new state and just got on with my life.
Skip ahead 10 years. I decided to go get a shotgun to hunt with. I went to a legal store and filled out the background check. I answered truthfully to the best of my knowledge. When it asked me if I had ever been convicted of a felony, I said no because I had gotten the pardon. I was declined.
About a week later, federal cops showed up at my door. My life has been s*** since. They asked me why I was trying to buy a gun and why I lied on a federal form. They asked me why I wasn't registering as a sex offender. Then they took me to jail. The only lucky part in all this is that I never spent one night in jail. I just got more probation. I was charged with failure to register and given state probation of one year. I was also charged with lying on a federal form and given 5 years of federal probation.
In the meantime, I am labeled as a tier 3 sex offender who must register quarterly, every March, June, September, and December for the rest of my life. I can't live near a park or a school. No one will hire me. I can't travel without getting properly cleared. Turns out, the pardon wasn't really worth much. But it was the only reason they didn't take me to jail. I guess they saw that it was an honest mistake to think my judge and lawyers were telling me the truth way back when. I have finished my state probation but I still have 2 years of federal probation left.
My little sister is dead now. She was finally going to help me try to get out of this mess when she passed. Oh well. That's not happening now.
Only a few of my friends know, but it really affects my relationships. I don't ask any women out because I know that once they find out that I am a "violent" sex offender who pled guilty to molesting his 11 year old sister, they will not only run the other way, but will tell everyone they pass on the way.
What sucks the most is that I have always wanted a family of my own. I love kids. Not in a weird way, but the way you love kids. And I always wanted one of my own. But that's not going to happen now. I will be on the registry for the rest of my life. All because I was too stupid and scared to fight for my innocence way back then. My life is officially ruined. So when you think that your life sucks, think of my life, and know that what you're going through really isn't that bad.
TL;DR: Pleaded guilty to a sex offence I didn't commit to avoid going to jail, and believed the court when it said I would be free and clear after my probation, but here I am, 20 years later, still on the sex offender registry and everyone who knows looks at me like I'm a monster.
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