In some cases, it absolutely should be. Some states prosecute 18 year olds with 17 year old sexual partners. Also, alot of crimes that we don't necessarily deem to be sexual predation in our culture are still getting people on the Sex Offender Registry-- simply having your name on the list would make you a rapist. The whole system surrounding that should be rebuilt from the ground up, and placed into tiers for publicity. Why didn't anyone else notice this?

I realise this will be an unpopular view, however I believe that if someone serves out a sentence imposed upon him/her by the government, they have satisfied the governments requirements. There is a high profile case here in Aus of a convicted pedophile, who, after his release from jail, was hounded by the media and was run out of every place he tried to make a home. I don't condone his behaviour, I think it's disgusting, the man is vile. But I also think that he's a victim of NIMBYism. Whether or not he has intentions of offending again, he's still a human being. If there exists a good reason for the registry, I can't see it. If the government thinks it needs to put someone onto that registry, then it's obvious that they need to extend sentencing times rather than hound people after they've served their time and received their punishment. Instead what they're doing is painting a target on the back of the people on that list. It's only a matter of time before these lists start leading to the deaths of the people on them.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/pervert-dennis-ferguson-a-pin-up-for-child-molesters/story-e6freuzi-1225792253582

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ferguson