IMPORTANT QUESTION Criminal Background Check in Job Employment

[SeekDestroy]

IMPORTANT QUESTION! Criminal Background Check in Job Employment

I wasn't sure where to post this but I have some important questions. In America, many states have a law where anyone over the age of 18 cannot have any sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18. Even if it's a 1 day difference. Anyways, when I was 18, I was charged with statutory rape for being with my at then 16 year old girlfriend. I served a 6 month sentence and now am a registered sex offender.

I'm currently a biology major undergrad. I'm wondering when I do try for employment in the future, how often will they search my criminal background? How much would it effect my ability to obtain a science related job? Would it even be possible for me to obtain a job in the science field with the criminal record I have now or am I basically f**ked for life. Please be honest as possible. Any advice I will appreciate.

 

[Janus]

It depends on the employer and likely the state you live in. In Oregon, for example, in order to work in the K-12 school system, you must undergo a background check. Your particular offense would result in a automatic no-hire. Other types of employers may have no background check at all.

 

[Moonbear]

Honestly, I don't know how many employers do background checks, but most do ask if you have any felony record. I don't think you're entirely "screwed" as you put it, but you may have more trouble than most, and probably should expect to explain yourself. In some states, if there's only a 2 yr age difference, statutory rape doesn't apply, so you might have your best chances looking for jobs in those states because they may be more willing to overlook your record when they see your conviction isn't even consistent with their own state laws.

I won't go into my rant about the laws labeling people as sex offenders, other than to say if someone is still dangerous, they belong still in prison, and if they are not a threat, then they've served their time and shouldn't be branded for life with a scarlet letter.

(P.S.- don't be surprised if this thread is moved...I don't think this is the right forum for it, but they'll put it where it belongs).

 

[SeekDestroy]

Honestly, I don't know how many employers do background checks, but most do ask if you have any felony record. I don't think you're entirely "screwed" as you put it, but you may have more trouble than most, and probably should expect to explain yourself. In some states, if there's only a 2 yr age difference, statutory rape doesn't apply, so you might have your best chances looking for jobs in those states because they may be more willing to overlook your record when they see your conviction isn't even consistent with their own state laws.

I won't go into my rant about the laws labeling people as sex offenders, other than to say if someone is still dangerous, they belong still in prison, and if they are not a threat, then they've served their time and shouldn't be branded for life with a scarlet letter.

(P.S.- don't be surprised if this thread is moved...I don't think this is the right forum for it, but they'll put it where it belongs).

This incident has completely set me back. The lost of 6 months is the least of my problem. Registration as a sex offender is like a life sentence. I never thought I would ever see the inside of a jail cell as I'm the most law abiding person you'll ever meet. That arrest came as a complete shock to me and I was totally bewildered.

Before this incident, I was planning on pursing a doctoral. But now I'm not sure. I do not want to spend several more years dedicated to a career in a field that I wouldn't even be able to obtain an occupation in. I need to know that I can still have a science career if I spend these years obtaining these degrees. Should I still pursue a doctoral degree? Or is it now a waste of time.

Also on job applications where it asks if I have a criminal record, should I write yes? Is it possible to get away with writing no?

 

[hypnagogue]

Sometimes if you're asked about a criminal history, you are asked to explain the nature of the offense. That should give you a chance to clean your name to some extent.

Honestly, it's a crime that you were ever charged for anything in the first place. I'm sorry for you. I don't think that your record will hold you back very much from your desired path so long as you get the opportunity to explain how it happened to your prospective school or employer, either in writing or with an interview. Good luck to you.

 

[Dr Transport]

Don't try to work in either the medical or defense industry. The defense will require a background check and a security clearance, neither of which you will get thru. The medical in requires background checks also, a doctor cannot prescribe drugs if he has a felony background, he cannot get a Drug Enforcement Agency License.

 

[Bystander]

Can't say I've got a whole lot of sympathy for you --- that said, there are mechanisms for "expunging" records (short of burning repositories). The state in which the charge and conviction are recorded determines whether it's a possibility in your case. Don't hold your breath re. such a possibility if you've not reached some sort of civilized accommodation with the plaintiffs in the case --- they're going to have a boatload to say in any proceeding to have your record expunged if the state in question does provide for such actions.

I don't agree with the principle of "sealing" or "expunging" court records, or of pardoning offenses (you could write the governor --- that's long odds in such a case), but you asked, and you evidently didn't have a lawyer worth the powder to blow back to where lawyers grow, so, the magic words are in the quotation marks.

 

[Les Sleeth]

Can't say I've got a whole lot of sympathy for you ---

Why would that be? Are you heartless? A moralist? Sexually paranoid? Grrrrrrrrrr. . .

Do you remember being 18 years old, and trying to deal with hormones and girls? Are 18 year olds equipped to think properly under that influence, and in this society where girls a lot younger than 16 are sexually active? It was decades ago for me, but I still remember being an 18 year old boy and how I couldn't see any difference between my age group and that of a 16 year old girl. In fact, they were just about the right maturity for where I was then.

I would have expected more at a science site where we should know that it is a law with virtually no understanding of human sexual and emotional development. It likely derives from moronic religious morality about sex.

Besides all that, why say "no sympathy" to SeekDestroy, someone obviously deeply distraught? How do we know he isn't suicidal? Why not buy a knife, stick him with it, and then twist it around a few times. Geez, the guy is really worried and the best we can offer is "no sympathy" (implying he's been "bad" and deserves the hell he's faced and may face).

Sorry for the outburst, but I don't understand the "no sympathy" attitude at all unless there is reason to suspect the boy was a malicious predator.

 

[Hurkyl]

the guy is really worried and the best you can offer is "no sympathy"

He offered quite a bit more than "no sympathy".

 

[Les Sleeth]

I wasn't sure where to post this but I have some important questions. In America, many states have a law where anyone over the age of 18 cannot have any sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18. Even if it's a 1 day difference. Anyways, when I was 18, I was charged with statutory rape for being with my at then 16 year old girlfriend. I served a 6 month sentence and now am a registered sex offender.

I'm currently a biology major undergrad. I'm wondering when I do try for employment in the future, how often will they search my criminal background? How much would it effect my ability to obtain a science related job? Would it even be possible for me to obtain a job in the science field with the criminal record I have now or am I basically f**ked for life. Please be honest as possible. Any advice I will appreciate.

If, after my prior post's emotional outburst, I have any credibility with you at all, then I have a wild suggestion.

Consider writing a book about your experience. Do your homework, get the facts straight, outline the details, and write what happened to you and anyone else who was negatively affected by all this. It is the kind of story that attracts TV movies or even mainstream movies, and also a lot of readers who want to hear about injustice. You might even consider contacting a publisher first and tell him your story. They might help.

Don't shrink into the shadows if you weren't a predator in all this. If your feelings were genuine, and if at the time you you didn't feel like what you were doing was wrong, then come out strong. Don't be ashamed . . . be mad and let people know about it.

That's one man's opinion.

 

[Les Sleeth]

He offered quite a bit more than "no sympathy".

I guess I don't see it. After his opening statement, his practical advice sounds like what is said to criminal who must learn how to deal with his evil past. Is that what we recommend to someone who has suffered an injustice?

 

[Dr Transport]

Absolutely, pay your debts to society. If the debt includes a criminal record for the rest of your life, your the one who chose to break the law, you have to live with it.

 

[Les Sleeth]

Absolutely, pay your debts to society. If the debt includes a criminal record for the rest of your life, your the one who chose to break the law, you have to live with it.

Okay then. If you are Black, Jewish or female in my society where I have the power to decide how things will be, and I want you to keep your genetically inferior mouth shut, then when you open it and I shoot you . . . live with it. Is that your proposition? Might makes right, is that it? Or, alternatively, be the sheep.

 

[Bystander]

I guess I don't see it. After his opening statement, his practical advice sounds like what is said to criminal who must learn how to deal with his evil past. Is that what we recommend to someone who has suffered an injustice?

"expunge" --- to delete, obliterate, strike out.

Tell you what, sport --- read the post, then have your "dial-an-excuse" social worker's tizzy. Eighteen is an established age at which social, cultural, and legal expectations of responsible behavior have been set. Get over it.

Physical maturity in humans occurs at anything between 10 and 20 years of age. Social, psychological, or emotional maturity is observable from the age of 4 or 5 to never. You want a blood test? Hold your breath, and I'll get right on it.

 

[SeekDestroy]

Can't say I've got a whole lot of sympathy for you

I don't need your sympathy.

--- that said, there are mechanisms for "expunging" records (short of burning repositories). The state in which the charge and conviction are recorded determines whether it's a possibility in your case.

While in other states, records may be fully erasable to the public, in my state it is not. Not even charges that are dismissed are erasable. Meaning a person that has been wrongly accused for a crime and found not guilty of that crime, will still have a record to haunt him for the rest of his life.

 

[SeekDestroy]

Don't shrink into the shadows if you weren't a predator in all this. If your feelings were genuine, and if at the time you you didn't feel like what you were doing was wrong, then come out strong. Don't be ashamed . . . be mad and let people know about it.

That's one man's opinion.

I've found that while the majority of people feel such a charge like this is BS, that none seem willing to act on it or make an effort to change it. From my understanding such a scenario like this can happen in only a small handful of states as most states have the age of consent at 16 with a 3 or 5 year minimum age difference. Unfortunetely for me, I am in the state I am.

 

[SeekDestroy]

Absolutely, pay your debts to society. If the debt includes a criminal record for the rest of your life, your the one who chose to break the law, you have to live with it.

Of course, of course. Rosa Parks broke the law by trying to sit on the front of the bus. She should have that record stain her for the rest of her life and have future occupations prevented from obtaining.

This may surprise you but there are quite a lot of weird laws. There are a lot of laws. Laws you never fathomed existed. Now there is no way I will believe you or anyone has not broken a single law in their life. Go to www.dumblaws.com you will see the kind of laws that still exist today. For example a lot of states have a law preventing you from working on Sunday. Some states still have oral sex illegal. Perhaps after you get charged with a law that defies common sense you'll start to understand.

 

[SeekDestroy]

Eighteen is an established age at which social, cultural, and legal expectations of responsible behavior have been set. Get over it.

What does this have to do with anything?

 

[Chi Meson]

This is a bad situation where you were caught in the hooks that were meant for someone else. As someone already noted, in most states you are automatically inelligible for public education. IF you have your sights set on teaching, there is still the private sector.

Being forward with the charge is always the best policy. If it was as "innocent" as "I had consentual sex with my girlfriend before she was 18," people can understand that. I don't know if an affidavit from your (former?) girlfriend (once she is 18) would be legal or permissible, but a few words in defense from your so-called victim could make the difference in an application.

Again, this is legal speculation; check with a lawyer.

 

[Les Sleeth]

"expunge" --- to delete, obliterate, strike out.

Tell you what, sport --- read the post, then have your "dial-an-excuse" social worker's tizzy. Eighteen is an established age at which social, cultural, and legal expectations of responsible behavior have been set. Get over it.

I did read the post, and what I saw then is exactly the same Big Brother kowtowing you are demonstrating again, seemingly buying social standards carte blanche. Do you think the current laws and social standards came about in a day, or have they been fought out over centuries of struggle, and against oppression, ignorance and cruelty. If you were born in Roman times, would you head off for the Sunday "games" with the rest of the bloodthirsty, and tell me to "get over it" if I complained about the brutality being exhibited?

Humanity has not automatically understood how to treat other humans. What do you think, we are done now, we've got it all figured out?

Physical maturity in humans occurs at anything between 10 and 20 years of age. Social, psychological, or emotional maturity is observable from the age of 4 or 5 to never. You want a blood test? Hold your breath, and I'll get right on it.

It seems you are contradicting yourself. According to your analysis, a 16 year old could be mature enough to have sex, and an 18 year old might not be. How do we know the mature 16 year old didn't seduce the naive 18 year old? Maybe we should have put his girlfriend in jail! I know someone, now a woman, who started having sex at 11 with a slightly younger boy. She claimes it was their decision, so were they mature enough? If people mature at different ages, then how can a law that sets the age at 18 be anything but arbitrary.

The statuatory rape law was designed to protect the inexperienced from being manipulated by the experienced. But it doesn't make sense when applied to two inexperienced people! We are talking specifically about charging an 18 year old with rape who is having consensual sex with his 16 year old girlfriend. Rape? Is that what it was? Or was it, at most, ill-advised sex? If we want teenagers to stop having sex, is this really the best way to do it, and is it fair given all the sex kids are exposed to in our society?

In one of the Scandinavian countries (Norway?), they give kids protection at about 12 or 13, and allow them to have sex if they want. The documentary I saw showed happy, healthy children. Personally I don't think that's the best idea, but it does give us a clue about why we are so willing to call consensual teenage sex rape. In the US, we are uptight about sex. It has been shamed from the first Puritans who brought the attitude, and we still carry that stupid conditioning around with us. And another stupid attitude, punish every damn thing we want stopped, is behind sending kids to prison. It's just blind, ignorant, Biblically authoritarian coersion training, without understanding all the biological and social forces behind adolescent drives and behaviors.

Apparently your concept is that we should "get over" that ignorance in our legal system. The law is the law, right? OBEY, that's the priority, right? Don't question, blindly follow, go along, accept authority . . . Maybe you just don't care, which is your priviledge, but it's too bad you had to let it show at a public forum.

 

[quantumdude]

Would it even be possible for me to obtain a job in the science field with the criminal record I have now or am I basically f**ked for life.

I used to teach at a private school, and I now teach at a state school (both in NY). In neither instance was a background check conducted. I did have to answer the question, "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" But on both applications it was made clear that an answer of "yes" would not be a bar to employment. Both applications also gave space to explain the nature of the offense.

So I imagine that you could easily obtain a career in academic science (which of course will afford you the opportunity to do research).

 

[chroot]

I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the parents of the younger person have to press charges to have an incident like this go all the way to court. Did your girlfriend's parents press charges? If so, why? I suspect a bit more went on than you are telling us here. Millions of high-school kids who are just over and just under the 18-year mark have sex everyday, and law enforcement generally looks past it, even if it is technically illegal in your locality. Why did you get incarcerated?

Of course, it's your right to tell us whatever you want to tell us, or withhold from us whatever you want to withhold, but we really can't give you an answer without all the facts.

I suggest you speak with a lawyer.

- Warren

 

[Dr Transport]

Of course, of course. Rosa Parks broke the law by trying to sit on the front of the bus. She should have that record stain her for the rest of her life and have future occupations prevented from obtaining.

This may surprise you but there are quite a lot of weird laws. There are a lot of laws. Laws you never fathomed existed. Now there is no way I will believe you or anyone has not broken a single law in their life. Go to www.dumblaws.com you will see the kind of laws that still exist today. For example a lot of states have a law preventing you from working on Sunday. Some states still have oral sex illegal. Perhaps after you get charged with a law that defies common sense you'll start to understand.

I agree, there are many dumb laws out there. I still believe that you don't go about breaking a law because you do not agree with it, there are other ways to go about changing them.

If you choose to go about having sex with a minor, the rape laws are for the most part are a felony, that is why they are enforced to a much greater degree than misdemeanors. If the young ladies parents pushed it, it was their right, they were protecting their daughter, I would do the same for mine.

Okay then. If you are Black, Jewish or female in my society where I have the power to decide how things will be, and I want you to keep your genetically inferior mouth shut, then when you open it and I shoot you . . . live with it. Is that your proposition? Might makes right, is that it? Or, alternatively, be the sheep.

I have to live with my decisions everyday, My decisions haunt me day and night. Am I a better person for having made them, some say yes, others say no. Some people would say that the dicussion at hand and my past should be treated equally and I should be branded for life, just as a sex offender is. Threaten all you want, I hold my head up and take everyday as it comes and do the best I can with my past and sleep with one eye open to stay one step ahead of anyone who wants to hurt me or my family.

dt

 

[chroot]

Some people would say that the dicussion at hand and my past should be treated equally and I should be branded for life, just as a sex offender is.

You might want to be a little less callous; keep in mind that, in most states, what SeekDestroy did would not be considered a crime at all. Nor would it be a crime in (I believe) any EU country.

I am generally entirely in support of your view -- if you knowingly break a law, you deserve the consequences. On the other hand, the law is absolutely chock-full of gray areas, some intended and others accidental. It isn't fair for any person to declare any other a criminal only because that peron violated the letter of a law. We have judges and juries specifically to determine when the letter of a law is or is not more important than the unwritten spirit of the law.

If SeekDestory had completely consenual sex with this girlfriend, and the exact same act would have been legal in both letter and spirit of the law twenty miles away in the next state, I would say that it's clear that SeekDestory got caught in "hooks meant for someone else," as Chi Meson said. On the other hand, if there is more to this story, such as parental involvement or the suspicion of real non-consentuality, the waters get considerably muddier.

- Warren

 

[JasonRox]

I have the feeling most people on here never got laid at 18. The people who didn't hate those who did, and therefore, support this odd law.

In Canada, getting a pardon is not difficult at all. If you wait like 5 years, they'll give you a second chance for sure.

Note: In Canada, the age of consent is 14. That's what I'm told anyways. No, I did not do anything with a 14 year old.

Note: We don't know the full story, and he could in fact be an idiot.

Note: If he's an idiot, why try to solve a problem he is not part of. Is this what makes him an idiot?

 

[Evo]

How many 18 year old girls have been arrested, much less sent to jail for having sex with their 16-17 year old boyfriends? None?

Are we really to expect a kid that was having sex yesterday when he was 17 to stop today when he turns 18? Do most of them even truly understand what the legal ramifications are?

I blame the parents of that girl. I've seen this before, they find out that their precious little princess has been deflowered and they want vengeance on the boy in order to clear their good name. I'm not saying that they're holyroller Bible thumpers, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Maybe there was more to it, but this kid doesn't sound like he was doing anything worse than having sex with his girlfriend.

 

[JasonRox]

Maybe there was more to it, but this kid doesn't sound like he was doing anything worse than having sex with his girlfriend.

I think the kid has grown.

 

[Les Sleeth]

I agree, there are many dumb laws out there. I still believe that you don't go about breaking a law because you do not agree with it, there are other ways to go about changing them.

What if the government passes a law that says educating women is illegal, and punishable by death. Would you obey that? There is that law in a few places you know. What about the law against sodomy between consenting adults? What about the law we had not so long ago that Blacks should move to the back of the bus. Do you consider Rosa Parks a criminal or a patriot? This country was founded by people who would rather risk death than continue to obey unjust laws.

If you choose to go about having sex with a minor, the rape laws are for the most part are a felony, that is why they are enforced to a much greater degree than misdemeanors. If the young ladies parents pushed it, it was their right, they were protecting their daughter, I would do the same for mine.

Psychologically an 18 yo is still a minor no matter what the law says. As Evo suggested, who should be held most accountable if your 16 yo daughter is having sex with an older boy? The parents or the boy? Kids are horny, that's a fact of life. It is up to the parents to help them learn how to make good decisions, and not go after the boy when they fail. And what exactly are you protecting your daughter from . . . the evils of sex?

I hold my head up and take everyday as it comes and do the best I can with my past and sleep with one eye open to stay one step ahead of anyone who wants to hurt me or my family.

No one is suggesting you do otherwise, we have to protect ourselves and family. But that is an entirely different issue from the question we are debating. A value this country has always had is that law should be just. We don't do injustice out of fear! Terrible laws have always come from that.

 

[JasonRox]

I hold my head up and take everyday as it comes and do the best I can with my past and sleep with one eye open to stay one step ahead of anyone who wants to hurt me or my family.

Maybe you should spend 6 months in an institution that helps those with paranoia.

Yes, I think you should. It is the only "just" thing to do.

 

[Dr Transport]

I see that a law abiding citizen has not a chance with this bunch.

Yes, Rosa Parks was a criminal for breaking the law as it was written but a patriot for standing up for her rights under the 14th amendment.

I agree that you have the right to speak your mind and support anyone who has served to protect those freedoms. All of them.

If you impose your values on that of a different society, you may be wrong. Society has evolved to the point where there has to be some across the board freedoms, no matter the race, creed or religion.

I have no beef with anyone, my callousness aside. My paranoia is that, mine. There are some who think I should spend time in a nice quiet place. Sometimes I agree, but I know that there are people out there who would rather have a couple of me around than a buch of others.

RIP Dr Transport

 

[JasonRox]

I know that there are people out there who would rather have a couple of me around than a buch of others.

So far, you have how many? None.

 

[Les Sleeth]

I see that a law abiding citizen has not a chance with this bunch. . . . I know that there are people out there who would rather have a couple of me around than a buch of others.

Well, to be honest, I do like law abiding people, very much indeed. I have been talking like a revolutionary but I've never been arrested myself. I don't mean to demean your qualities as a good citizen.

However, I don't think you have to break the law to consider whether some law on the books is an unjust law. Rape is a serious crime, a crime of violence. Taking advantage of an innocent young person by an experienced older person isn't very nice either. The statuatory rape law was designed to protect the innocent (girls mostly) who might be duped by lecherous older persons who might say they loved them and otherwise unfairly play on naive emotions just to get sex. That really does take away "choice" from the youngster, and seems like a kind of rape.

The law was NOT designed for sex between two inexperienced teenagers with hormones raging. It certainly wasn't designed to stop teenage sex, but that is exactly how it's being used. Parents get to shirk their responsibility by pushing it off on the state which they think should make up for their failures at child rearing. Grrrrrrr . . . bad law.

 

[Evo]

What is really wrong with this type of blind injustice is the fact that this kid not only served time, but he has to register publicly as a sex offender for the rest of his life, labeling him the same as a sexual predator, a pedophile, a violent rapist.

The offense needs to be looked at in the context of the "crime" committed. I don't even feel a crime was committed in this case. Labeling someone as a sex offender for the rest of their life should only apply to cases where the person has been deemed (through evaluation and type of crime committed) to be a threat to society.

 

[chroot]

Evo,

In all fairness, you don't know all the details. He might have actually raped her.

- Warren

 

[Evo]

Evo,

In all fairness, you don't know all the details. He might have actually raped her.

- Warren

True, I acknowledged in a prior post that we don't know all of the facts in this particular case.

It just disturbs me that there is no individual case review for the lifetime sex offender status. If you found out someone you worked with or lived next door to was a registered sex offender, what would you think? That he was a sexual predator, someone to be concerned about?

Recently on the news here a neighborhood found out that someone with sex offender status was planning to buy/lease a home and they went to great lengths to prevent him from moving into the neighborhood. Who knows what the guys crime was, he's a sex offender, he's automatically one of the vilest scum on earth. Is that type of label appropriate for an 18 year old that had consensual sex with his girlfriend 20 years ago?