reporternews.com: Former ACU football player: I am registered sex offender.
Former Abilene Christian University football player Tony Washington disclosed during the NFL Combine in Indianapolis that he is a registered sex offender.
Washington, an All-American offensive tackle for the Wildcats the past two seasons, was convicted of having sex with his 15-year-old biological sister in May 2003 while a student at Alcee Fortier High School in New Orleans. Washington was 16 at the time and received five years probation. He didn’t serve jail time but he had to register as sex offender wherever he lived. He told scouts and college coaches the sex was consensual.
Washington, 24, told SportsFanLive.com: “I made a mistake at the age of 16 and for that, I am deeply sorry. I will not try and excuse or justify anything. I have worked extremely hard to do everything right so that I might have an opportunity to give back. I only hope that someone in the NFL will give me the same opportunity that Abilene Christian and Trinity Valley gave me.”
After his performance at the combine, Washington, who is 6-foot-7, 305 pounds, is considered to be a high-round draft choice.
With every-increasing numbers of Americans being labeled on the sex offender registries across the nation (estimated at 700,000 and growing each day) , these high profile cases should highlight the need for reform of the sex offender laws. The more people we put on sex offender registries, the more we dilute the stated purpose of the registries. We need to limit sex offender registration to only the most high-risk and repeat offenders. We must give first time offenders a chance to prove themselves and "work" their way off the registry. And we must allow judicial review of individual cases to establish risk levels (all of which the Adam Walsh Act does not allow).
