Sex Offender Spectator

[bucket pinata]

Also you have to remember the odds of having a couple of abuse victims sitting in your stands is very likely. what choice do those parents/victims have. Watching their kid play while having all those feelings that takes a lifetime to control come back to the surface. would you expect a holocaust survivor to sit in the bleachers with a Nazi. At Minimum I would buy him a nice lawn chair and point out past the outfield fence and ask him respectfully to watch and stay out there.

 

[canyonjoe]

The first thing before making any decision is that you need to find out the real issue. It could be somewhere between Coach James friend and a pedophile. My take is to ask the mom the details and then verify them. I would rather lose a good player than to put my kids in any danger. Truthfully it makes me want to background check all parents on our teams, but that's unlikely.

 

[Il softball fan]

Easton...I work in law enforcement and deal with sex offenders. First thing you need to find out is his name, and what he was actually CONVICTED of. He may have been charged and went to prison for "rape" as they told you, but he may have been convicted of a lesser offense as a plea bargain. Happens all the time. (sickening I know, but that is how it works) Your county courthouse should have some type of database where you can find out exactly what he was convicted of. Depending on his conviction, he will have certain restrictions.

Second thing to find out....age of the victim. If the victim was a minor....problem solved. He will not be allowed to be in, or within a certain distance of a public park, or any organized activities with minors. (check your state police website) The problem will be if he was convicted of a sex offense against an adult...most of those restrictions will not apply to him.

At the very least, I would let that family know that as a coach if he is going to attend and team activities, I WILL be letting every player and they family know that he is a convicted sex offender recently released from prison.

Good luck.

 

[Easton33]

Easton...I work in law enforcement and deal with sex offenders. First thing you need to find out is his name, and what he was actually CONVICTED of. He may have been charged and went to prison for "rape" as they told you, but he may have been convicted of a lesser offense as a plea bargain. Happens all the time. (sickening I know, but that is how it works) Your county courthouse should have some type of database where you can find out exactly what he was convicted of. Depending on his conviction, he will have certain restrictions.

Second thing to find out....age of the victim. If the victim was a minor....problem solved. He will not be allowed to be in, or within a certain distance of a public park, or any organized activities with minors. (check your state police website) The problem will be if he was convicted of a sex offense against an adult...most of those restrictions will not apply to him.

At the very least, I would let that family know that as a coach if he is going to attend and team activities, I WILL be letting every player and they family know that he is a convicted sex offender recently released from prison.

Good luck.

Thank you. As I understand it, it was against an adult. So no restrictions will apply except those I impose and I am going to impose some. I can feel how ugly this is gonna get, so be it. The mom is a team mom but I am thinking about the most adorable little sister one of my players has and even though he may not have a proclivity for young girls, I am not the guy that is gonna take that risk with my players or their siblings. In all honesty if I was a parent on a team I would leave if it was ok for a sex offender to attend games and practices. I just wouldn't be able to get comfortable. How could a single mom get comfortable or a mom who's husband is away?
Team mom is a cagey one and I am pretty sure she intended to slide this into the conversation and just blow past it like it was a given.

 

[MTR]

Out of curiosity, what type of threat do you think this person poses?

 

[riseball]

Common sense would dictate that this person will not pose a threat since every eye will be on him. Getting wrapped around the axle will only serve to create a soap opera of drama.

 

[Cannonball]

Thank you. As I understand it, it was against an adult. So no restrictions will apply except those I impose and I am going to impose some. I can feel how ugly this is gonna get, so be it. The mom is a team mom but I am thinking about the most adorable little sister one of my players has and even though he may not have a proclivity for young girls, I am not the guy that is gonna take that risk with my players or their siblings. In all honesty if I was a parent on a team I would leave if it was ok for a sex offender to attend games and practices. I just wouldn't be able to get comfortable. How could a single mom get comfortable or a mom who's husband is away?
Team mom is a cagey one and I am pretty sure she intended to slide this into the conversation and just blow past it like it was a given.

How can you impose rules against a person who, by law, has a right to be were they are? While I don't want to advocate for this offender, if this person has met the conditions of their sentence and are allowed by law to be where they are, you can't do a thing. Well, other than throw the kid off of your team. Be careful as well since, if you go to far, you are open to charges this person might make against you.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

I agree with Cannon and Rise here. I am no advocate of his as I dont know him or his situation. If the courts dont have any imposed rules for him, then he is allowed to be where he wants to be. You cant impose anything. Maybe he just wants to see his sister play after probably missing how many of her games. I dont see where its your duty to create drama or insight a riot against him without even knowing any particulars of the situation and creating such a heavy atmosphere at games that YOU caused. I dont think he needs a kids softball coach trying to act like his parole officer and pull a power play on him...he already has one of them.
Or worse yet, you kick a nice kid off a team or deny her playing a sport she likes because you dont like someone in her family.

And as Cannon said, you might want to watch how much you want to "impose"

 

[JJsqueeze]

Add me to the list of those above....I think you can go about as far as asking the mom to have him keep a distance out of COURTESY and that is about it.

 

[Easton33]

Sorry guys I respectfully disagree with all above. I won't have a sex offender in the stand with little kids. Not real sure I would let my kids play on a team where the coaches think that is ok. If this is such a non issue then why the background checks to be a coach? If it is ok to be at the parks with little kids or any kids with a major sexual offense on your record then what is the point of checking coaches out. They are front and center on the fields at all times and everyone sees exactly what they are doing. So be using your arguments or justification then it is a fair jump to say you guys support sex offenders as coaches for your children/grandchildren.
Yes, I would absolutely ask the young lady to leave the team if her sex offender brother finds it necessary to come to games. Sorry, but that is just how it is. On a side note I had the conversation with the parent and she completely understands because she put the shoes on the other foot and knows she would not like or want some random sex offender in the stands with her watching her dd. So no problem with her, thanks for the input. That is what is great about this forum, I get views from people all over the nation and whether I agree with or not it forces me to see the other side of things, even though we all agree you guys are wrong on this!!