NJ Teens Forced to Register As Sex Offenders After ‘Horseplay’
- Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:50pm by
Billy Hallowell
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Horseplay or criminal act?
Two New Jersey teenagers — fictitiously referred to by the court as “James” and “Daniel” – may need to register for life as sex offenders under Megan’s Law for what their lawyers claim was mere horseplay. A three-judge panel ruled earlier this week that the boys’ actions were serious enough to warrant this decision.
The appeals court agreed the boys, who were 14 at the time, engaged in sexual contact when they held down an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old boy in Somerset County in 2008 and placed their bare buttockses on the boy’s faces. NJ.com has more:
One boy was convicted of criminal sexual contact. The other boy who was implicated pleaded guilty to the same offense and received the same penalty.
…at least one of the boys’ penises touched the lips of a victim and might have parted the lips. Although that contact was unintended, it raises the act from horseplay and bullying to a more serious offense.
The ruling means the boys would have to register under Megan’s Law because the court said sexual contact applies to touching for the purpose of humiliation. The law requires law enforcement officials to make public information about sex offenders (name, picture and location are some of the common elements included).
The judges wrote they were “keenly aware” of the ruling’s life-long ramifications for the boys and for others like them. But, they contended that, with certainty, the law requires — regardless of age — that their actions be labeled and punished as such.
Defense lawyers didn’t argue against the sex offender registration based on the boys’ ages, as New Jersey courts have already ruled that children as young as 13 can be tried under Megan’s Law. The defense, instead, claimed that their actions, while certainly problematic, did not warrant such a literal interpretation of the law.
The judges sent both cases back to a lower court to consider whether one boy can withdraw his guilty plea and whether the other received effective counsel. MyCentralJersey.com writes:
Under the ruling, a Family Court judge now must hold separate hearings that could result in either a new trial or a chance for the defendants to strike a new plea agreement with prosecutors.
On Fox News, legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. explains that he believes the court was correct in finding the boys’ actions to be more severe than mere horseplay. But, he says:
“I believe in the end that these boys will not wind up on that watch list in the state of New Jersey, but we need to look at; is Megan’s Law effective in the United States?”
Watch Johnson’s comments, below:
Certainly, the literal interpretation of the law should be explored, especially in murky cases in which offenders are young children. The conclusion of this story may be somewhat more favorable for the boys, though they have most certainly learned a valuable lesson about bullying.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(h/t Fox News Insider)




















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Comments (175)
Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:37pmIf that is horse play,I wonder what kind of Play they would get in jail?At least get taught another use for their buttocks for sure!
Report Post »BlazingInSC
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:15pmSilly boys. Haven’t they ever heard the old expression – “Horseplay leads to foreplay”?
Report Post »OhSuzieQ
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:18pmBUT…14 years old..give them a break!
Report Post »Old Truckers
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:44pmWell, there goes their prosperous future down the drain.
Report Post »Let this be a warning to all young boys (and girls) to listen to their parents advice and behave yourselves.
Bullhorn Guy
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 3:55pmThis is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! Sex offenders! Rediculous. I’ve seen guys do worse things to each other. This is a clear example of parents overreacting and getting the law involved. What a bunch of babies!
Report Post »Marci
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 3:57pmI think they should be held criminally responsible, but unless they can prove they were going for sexual contact, I don’t think this is a good idea. Why? Our system cannot seem to keep up with the massive amount of offenders in the system and we don’t need to clog it up more with “examples”. Assault would have worked. But as it stands, our real sex offenders are given fairly light sentences, and end up back on the street to do more of it because the system isn’t taking it that seriously. And we all know that a pedophile will do it again, but will we be lucky enough that they won’t kill their victim? They have escalated to doing this to cover their tracks.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 4:15pmAny law named after a dead child is either on its face or in application be found to be unconstitution.
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 4:40pmJust goes to show that “crack does kill” and is no laughing matter…
Report Post »nhbmaing
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 7:03pmHAHA….gross
Report Post »allredtail
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 8:11pmWell, If you have seen worse, then this is OK. If you have witnessed a murder, then torture would be OK. I just will never understand how you stupid liberals think. No rules, just do what you want. You are just expressing yourself.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 11:09pmI wonder if POTUS former “Safe Schools Czar” was one of their defenders? This certainly sounds like something right out of his agenda?
Report Post »SEXUAL MOLESTATION IS THE SAME WHETHER IT’S DONE BY 14 YR OLDS OR 40 YR OLDS, THESE BOYS WILL BE TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE, AND THESE OLDER BOYS NEED TO FACE UP TO THE FACTS THAT ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!
Watcher47
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 12:29pm“Teabagging” is what the kids call this action. It is something that boys do at sleep overs. I found this out when my son and his friends were laughing about it at breakfast one morning from a sleepover (13 yo) 2 years ago. I told them I better never hear of that happening at my house or to my son ever. That being said, when Anderson Cooper and liberal media starting using the ********* phrases during the Tea party rallies I was furious. Then the conservative media started using it….these people really need to learn how to use google search. It is a vile joke and should not be tolerated, but, they should not be listed as sexual offenders.
Report Post »Michael600r
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:33pmI’m 46 years old, it would have never occurred to me to do something like that. What is wrong with kids these days?
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:05pmYou’ve led a sheltered life. Bless you.
Report Post »dietrdeb
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:09pmA sheltered life…or a smart one? If you have seen that kind of gross display or been a party to it, you hang out in the wrong circles. Either that or your GAY. Just Sayin.
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:11pmMadonna, Lady GaGa, and violent video games.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:19pmI’ve never done things like this, but I’m not the teasing/bully type, nor have i experienced worse that a wedgie, thank you. But I have known boys who like to fart in others faces, and moon people. This isn’t too far a stretch for me to imagine, and I don’t see anything sexual in it, just gross boy antics, and having been a gross boy in my youth I can imagine how they think.
I’m gown up now, though I still find farts funny and get a bunch of us guys together for poker and we might compete for the loudest.
A lot of you sound like girls, “Boys are gross”. Yes we are, yes we are. And that‘s isn’t necessarily a crime.
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 3:44pmYou obviously weren’t a future democrat.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 8:00pmIt’s just a recruitment tool for Barney Franks fan club?
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 12:50pmThanks… I was beginning to think I was the only one…
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:08pmThank you. That is what I have been thinking too…
Report Post »eat-more-bacon-USA
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:32pmHorseplay? More like foreplay.
Report Post »dietrdeb
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:12pmFunny!
Report Post »OhioMarcus
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:29pmI was bullied a lot as a kid and had stuff done to me, but I think this is over the top – kids are stupid, do stupid things, but to put them on the sex offenders list for something they did at this age seems a bit much. Do they need punished? Definitely. Their actions were definitely wrong, but sex offenders list? No. If everyone had a permanent record of what they did at that age, we’d all be in trouble
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:42pmWhen a penis touches the lips and may have parted the lips, that’s beyond horseplay. And they were using their age (they were at least 2-3 years older) and thus stronger as intimidation. If it was my son that was 11 or 12, I’d press charges, too.
Report Post »VTDave
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:17pmloriann12
Report Post »Judging from what the offending boys were doing it seems that the penis contact was not intentional but happened as a result of having, more or less, sat on the victims faces with their bare butts. For crying out loud if half of the crap that was done to me as a kid by others a little older then me was dealt with as harshly as this I would have suffered even more ridicule and bullying. Had these bullies actually forced the victims into performing sexual acts then yes, by all means, throw the book at them. This, however, was just a stupid act of bullying that should be dealt with with appropriate punishment. Labeling these boys, falsely, as sex offenders for the rest of their lives is not appropriate.
melmatmic
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 7:27amOh, I think the majority of young people have NOT done things like this. If they had done this to girls what would they be charged with. It should be the same for this example.
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:25pmI think the “boys” got what they deserve. How funny do they think it is now. We could send them to jail and let some older “boys” hold them down and do the same thing to them … oh, can’t do that it would be a sexual attack on the little darlings.
Report Post »lordaction
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:34pmIt’s great to see that you think sexual assault is a fitting punishment for a crime. How very civilized of you.
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:45pm@LORDACTION … so you are admitting that the darling boys did sexually attack the young boys and should be registered. It can be both ways. Either it is or it’s not. And read it again I did not say sexual assault is a fitting punishment for a crime. I said we can’t do that because it WOULD BE A SEXUAL ATTACK on the little darlings just like they sexually attacked their victims.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:55pmMrdon, you can’t be so naive as to think that what would happen in jail would be even remotely like what they did. You are implictly advocating an assault in jail to punish these kids. Frankly the blyth acceptance that such things happen in prison is disgusting. Prisons are confined areas supposedly ruled by armed guards under the authority of the state that we support, and yet we allow it to become a jungle. Shame.
Report Post »Bullhorn Guy
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 5:01pmMrDon2012=moron
Report Post »RememberMe
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 6:33pmAs a former prison worker or “armed guard” (No one is armed inside the prison, BTW!) for the feds, I can tell you with certainty that sexual assault RARELY occurs inside the prisons (federal anyway) at all levels, low to max. If it is happening and found or reported, the victim is sent for a rape kit and the perpetrator is punished, arrested and tried, just like on the street. Sexual assault (or assualt of any kind) is taken very seriously in the prisons!
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 7:59pm@BULLHORN GUY, lets send your kids and these two perverts to a cabin in the mountains for an unsupervised weekend of fun and games.
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 7:02pmhmmm … so BULLHORN I take it that you wouldn’t send one of your kids off to a cabin with 2 bigger stronger pervert darlings that … oh just wanted to do “stupid kid stuff.” Why? Oh yeah because it‘s your kids not some kids you don’t know. If you don‘t like it then change the law don’t bitch about perverts that are prosecuted under it. Oh, and thanks for letting your true colors some shinning through. You are such a nice guy, little sensitive when a issue hits home but hey … some guys like sensitive guys =)
Report Post »GodsPuppet
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:23pmIf society allows children to be exposed to raunchy movies and video games, and porn, and sex at younger and younger ages, we can expect the perverts to emerge at younger ages, All the more reason to register them early. God Bless America
Report Post »momprayn
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:44pmSadly, agree.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:58pmThat is insane. You are casting a broad definition of a vile and dangerous category. Do you know that public urination can be classified as a sexual offense, because it involves publicly exposing one’s privates? This irrational literalism only encourages fascism.
Report Post »dietrdeb
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:11pmGo behind a bush, at least then you can claim that you tried to conceal yourself. If you were to take a piss on front of my kids…trust me the sex registry would be the least of your penisless problems.
Report Post »jobanadana
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:22pmThe value of the sex offender registry is in protecting the public, not as a method of punishing the offender. To what degree does the public need to be protected from these 2 pubescent boys? Do they have a proclivity for sexual attacks or for bullying? I had already begun to question how meaningful being registered was before this story, which only waters it down more. Even without registration, these boys will endure punishment every time they are rejected from a college or job, because their actions turn up in a background check.
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:34pmand maybe this is what it takes to keep these punks from turning into child molesters and rapists. Sounds like they were on the brink as it is. To bad so sad next think before you pull down your pants, hold a younger boy down and rub your ass on his face … doh! that kind of sounds like child molesting now doesn’t it.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:12pmMrdon, frankly it doesn’t sound like rehabilitaion is really of great concern to you. The worst form of punishment is that which has no termination date. This is a form of life sentence, which is fundamentally unjust. Punishment should be only to reform the guilty or to protect the public, neither of which is served here.
Send these kids to boot camp for a month. That will improve their outlook without scarring their souls. If you want to turn kids into criminals treat them as you are advocating by lableing them as garbage with no hope of redemption and keeping them in the street.
What a stupid, stupid policy.
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 7:22pmISLESFORDIAN, I really don’t care about about these little punks. They have been getting away with being bullies and got caught this time and this time it was a sexual attack. These kinds of behavior patterns only escalate if not stopped. What they did is not normal behavior, they are young sexual predators on their way to becoming full blown sexual predators. If making an example of them stops them and prevents another person from being the victim of a sexual attack then good. When they pulled down their pants and held down a smaller younger person down so they could rub their butts on their face they lost their rights. When those young victims can forget what happened then these perpetrators can get their names off the sexual registry. You think the victims will ever forget, it’s going to be with them for the rest of their lives so why not the perpetrators also. Ask any victim of sexual abuse, it never goes away.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 11:23pm@islesfordian
Report Post »re : Punishment should be only to reform the guilty or to protect the public, neither of which is served here.
****
And if they hadn’t been caught and tried this time, “How many more younger boys would have been held down while they sat on their faces, and since it was accidental contact with the penis this time, once they had time to get together and brag about it, what would happen next time and the next?” Stopping a molester in the beginning may protect a whole lot more kids than you can imagine! As for sweeping it under the carpet, ask the Catholic Church if they’d recommend it?
Brizz
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:16pmWell another classy story about the youth in NJ. Maybe the boys can get a spot on Jersey Shore. Youtube killed the swirly.
Report Post »NetGear
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:16pmCompletely unacceptable behavior. Unfortunately, I would bet that or something similar has happened way too often in this “civilized” society. Our society has become so legislated in an effort to force morality, so now these stupid kids may be sex offenders for life. Is it lack of proper parental upbringing or have many kids literally become mentally ill as a result of all the drugs, gaming and role playing? I don’t like the sound of a re-training camp, but don’t screw-ups like those two need some serious attention? Maybe they have no clue, literally. Maybe they need to be reprogrammed? I know it sounds Orwellian, but their behavior is indicative of some really dangerous, twisted thinking.
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 12:58pmRight. And what entity will determine what is NOT ‘twisted’ thinking?
Report Post »NetGear
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 12:39amUltimately, “Society” will. But, hopefully you know that, and your question was more rhetorical than anything else.
Report Post »Mary Just
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:15pmCorrupt overbearing police, corrupt judges, corrupt courts, corrupt states and the corrupt Federal government. How much is enough cowardly Americans.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 11:29pm@Mary Just
Report Post »Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:15pm
Corrupt overbearing police, corrupt judges, corrupt courts, corrupt states and the corrupt Federal government. How much is enough cowardly Americans
***
And imagine if these Corrupt kids hadn’t been caught and had grown up to be on any of those corrupt entities?
Obama_Sham
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:10pmThe boys were probably “born” thinking that that kind of thing is horseplay…
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:38pmYup.
Report Post »SiToNiTsOrOs1
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:09pmThis is an example of the Nanny State gone wild. Socialist lawers and political correctness are tools of the left, liberals, and progressives. These are some of the reasons our country is on the brink. Where is Gov. Christie on this one?
Report Post »mossbrain
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:08pmI agree with the decision. The law is the law. It‘s just too bad that the old Asian hag who molested the TSA agents breasts isn’t charged as a sex offender. Asians get preferential treatment under the law more times than not.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:23pmI was going to respond about what a legal possitivist fascist you sounded, but then I saw it was you Mossbrain.
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 4:35am@ Mossbrain
What a stupid thing to say. TSA gropers sexually assault people every day, violating their Fourth Amendment rights. They also tend to steal things from luggage and molest children.
All felonious activity.
What that woman did was nothing. Just expressing her extreme displeasure at having HER rights violated. Of course, a stupid liberal will ALWAYS take the moral low road. Liberals have no ethics.
Report Post »MaxineFloyd
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:06pmI would be interested to know how todays sex offenders viewed sexual horseplay when they were children. It seems to me that the mindset of these juveniles is consistant of sexual preditors. Register them as such and monitor their behavior as they grow up.
Report Post »nysparkie
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:06pmHey if it was my face…..I’d want them both keelhauled. Maybe some other little ding dongs “MIGHT” think twice if they know they would be marked for life as sex offenders.
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 12:53pmyeah.
Report Post »tmkphx1962
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:03pmI disagree that this was horseplay. This is sick behavior that should be punished. These boys are bullies pure and simple. I do not agree with many of these types of judgements but this one I do.
Report Post »silentwatcher
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:12pmthat stunt has been out there for several decades. I had it happen to me,,,,,and when I broke free I taught the ‘jokesters’ a really, really good lesson that it wasn’t funny. In reality,,,it is not a joke,,,,it IS a sexual criminal act. However, I don’t think they should be registered as a sex offender,,,,that sticks to them for life and the stunt was not meant as a sexual act,,,,but as a joke. They should pay for their act,,,,but not for the rest of their life.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:50pmsilentwatcher
Report Post »If this has been going on for deacdes, this is a good way to stop it. Some kid is going to get free from his attacker and kill him. Where I grew up, in the time I grew up, I could easily see that happening. This is sick s*#t and if it takes making an example of these two to stop it, so be it. Maybe times have changed but, shoving your penis in some guy’s mouth against his will is grounds for lethal force where I come from. These two are lucky.
silentwatcher
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:57pmI took a ballbat to them when I broke free. Yes,,it’s a terrible stunt to play on someone and should be illegal, but the kids did not mean it to be a sexual attack. All I‘m saying is that they should think long and hard before labeling someone ’for life’ as a sexual predator for a stupid act committed in their youth.
Report Post »Hibernocon
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:03pmMr. Defense Lawyer needs to have his lips parted by a penis, then he’ll understand something is seriously wrong with these boys.
Report Post »Knight Templar
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:01pmIf you can‘t do the time don’t do the crime. 14 years old is old enough to know better.
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:10pmI agree. The bottom line is right from wrong; no exceptions, qualifications, or sentimental justifications.
Report Post »Rogue
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:59pmIf you choose to be a bully and sexually humiliate others, then you get what you deserve. No sympathy for these two punks. Let them serve as an example to other bullies out there.
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:09pmNo doubt.
Teenage boys are really getting “odd” to put it mildly. Not long ago, there was a kid who told me that when he was a member of his high school basketball team and they were on the road watching the state basketball playoffs, one of the weak links of the team was the victim of being held down and sodomized by the fingers of various teammates. At first, I thought there’s simply no way the a male would even think about doing such a thing, let alone take part in it – in a violent situation on top of it.
I am wondering if we all realize just how messed up a good percentage of kids are???
Report Post »mrdon2012
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:28pmExactly … people want some good to come out of this … well maybe some other little “darlings” will think twice before they bully younger kids sexually.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:28pm“Let them serve as an example.”
Javert could not have said it better. Lock them up and throw away the key. Reformation? Correction? Naaaw. That’s for liberal sissies.
Maybe we should just put their heads on pike over the city walls. Now THAT’S an example.
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:06pm@ISLESFORDIAN. No one is saying to behead and spike these boys. Quite simply, reformation and correction is not the role of government or the court system. The court system deals justice. Individuals, churches, and families reform. Sentimentality is at best a poor gauge, and at worst an enabler… your comment here is a distinctly sentimental statement. Liberal sissies fall back on sentimentality.
The law must have no compassion, but individuals absolutely must. This is the only a way a society can function without dissolving into an Orwellian-nanny-Communist-you-name-it state.
Report Post »Countrygirl1362
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:58pm“the court said sexual contact applies to touching for the purpose of humiliation.” Is that not what TSA does, touch for the purpose of humiliation? What the TSA’s does sure is not for security. They humiliate people to control them. Sounds like a lot of TSA and HS people need to be in the courts under this law.
Report Post »Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:58pmUm…Horeseplay? Horseplay is snapping bra straps or goosing someone. What was described seems like prison rape.
I kinda gotta agree with this one.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:03pmI’m with you.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 2:29pmI think someone who’s actually been raped in prison would say, “I wish”.
Report Post »Gavinwcaf
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:14amA gang of boys holding another boy down and putting there penis in his mouth, is not horse play it is forcible sodomy. A felony in every state i know.
Report Post »texasfarmer
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:56pmBet they never played “doctor” when they were kids. Probably just “judge and jury”.
Report Post »cloudsofwar
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 3:59pmi didn’t know playing doctor when i was a kid was a sex crime. oh crap
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:55pmThese boys are just being stupid, mean, and mindless, but that does not warrant this action. Way over the top!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:06pm“one of the boys’ penises touched the lips of a victim and might have parted the lips”
Report Post »Ok, let me try that on you and see what you have to say then.
Gonzo
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:55pm“at least one of the boys’ penises touched the lips of a victim and might have parted the lips.”
Report Post »That goes beyond horseplay in my book.
UBETHECHANGE
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:01pmYou would know?
Report Post »Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:06pmNote to self…stay away from UBETHECHANGE on the playground.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 1:09pmFrom your comment, I guess you think it’s all good fun. You’re in San Francisco I take it?
Report Post »cb77northwest
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:07pmHaha.
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 12:51pmWow.
Report Post »