Online Victimization

One man believes he’s being victimized after doing the right things to clear his name. Henry as we’ll call him is a convicted sex offender. He’s gone through years of treatment and acknowledges his crime. Last year Henry petitioned and won in the courts to have his name taken off the state and national sex offender registry.

Recently he learned that his name and a four old picture of him was on a website that’s easily accessed by anyone if they are searching for Colorado Springs registered sex offenders. Henry said, “I’m so distraught about this. I go through the courts to make things right.” He tells me that he contacted the company to tell them that the courts had taken his name off the government sanctioned sex offender registry. They told him a resounding no to taking his information down. Website management said it’s public information and even if it’s old, he’s still a convicted sex offender. However, the website would take his name down for a price. He was told 100 dollars would make that happen. Henry told me that he isn’t going to pay because he’s already paid the courts to take his name off official sites. Henry says it’s also the principle of the whole situation that he’s not going to be held hostage.

Sgt. Bill Dehart with the Colorado Springs Police Department also sent an email to the company to confirm everything that Henry had done to get his name off the sex offender registry. Sgt Dehart says at this point, Henry’s situation doesn’t rise to the level of a criminal investigation. Henry is consulting with an attorney to take on the website. Sgt Dehart reminds everyone you can look at the most updated information on sex offenders on your local police and state registry websites. Go back to the front page of KRDO.com, links we mentioned and you’ll see the sex offender registry links.