Marshall Frank Guest columnist

It’s important to be tough on crime. We must protect society, especially our children, from criminals whose past behaviors have clearly proven them to be dangerous predators. But sometimes we go overboard when the law creates more unnecessary suffering than it prevents.

Freddie Q., now 51 and with no prior criminal record, is currently in his fourth year in federal prison serving a six-year sentence as a sex offender. In reality, he’s serving a life sentence, because his restrictions on freedom do not end with his release.

Freddie will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, severely restricting residency and employment opportunities to where it will be nearly impossible for him to find a job or a place to live other than in the bushes or under a bridge. Potential landlords and employers will have access to his record which will render him homeless and unemployable.

He cannot live with friends or family because all their houses are within the restricted limits of schools, parks, libraries and so forth.

Freddie’s crime? While in the privacy of his home, he downloaded a child porn site on-line which was electronically traced by authorities. The ensuing investigation found nothing to indicate he was ever a predator. A professional photographer by trade, Freddie’s home files were replete with clean non-pornographic pictures.

No evidence exists that he ever had, or attempted to have, improper contact with children. He harmed no one. Not only is he serving six years in prison, he faces societal banishment for life for looking at dirty pictures.

These are the kinds of conditions that spawn suicide.

At what point does the justice system become the abuser? Our legislative representatives are overdoing the obsession with being tough on crime.

Child porn is rightfully outlawed. Anyone who distributes or possesses child porn should face charges because consumers are part of the problem. But we need to apply common sense and inject a little compassion over the big picture. Not everyone who is identified with the broad brush label “sex offender” is a dangerous person.

Freddie may have deserved legal censure of some kind, but this breach of human rights is utterly brutal. Not only is the justice system failing to rehabilitate, it is destroying a man’s life and his pursuit of happiness beyond serving a prison sentence.

Judge’s are handcuffed in most places with minimum mandatory sentencing rules. They don’t make law they simply dispense justice as required. The fault lies with lawmakers.

Outside the federal system, the United States currently have over 843,000 sex offenders registered, with Florida in third place behind California and Texas. One wonders how many of those were private porn watchers, or young adults having a consensual experience with a sexually active teen, otherwise non-predators. Sure they are wrong, but do they deserve such harsh conditions – for life?

In 2015, the supreme courts of three states; California, Massachusetts and New York, have struck down residency laws for sex offenders because they have not shown any positive results, compared to the infringement on the lives of ex-cons which, in turn, negatively impacts the taxpayer. I suspect the trend will continue throughout the country, including the federal system.

Applying strict registry rules to all sex offenders is morally wrong and humanly destructive. Each case should be evaluated on their own merits. It is time for state and federal lawmakers to revisit and amend registry rules and laws so they apply to the most egregious of predators.

I know Freddie Q. He’s a bright and talented tri-lingual man who is destined to become homeless and jobless when released in the fall of 2017. He has the skills to be a productive, taxpaying citizen, but will forever be painted with the Scarlett Letters; S.O. As he tries to prepare for his post-prison life, he faces an impenetrable wall of rejection. All…for looking at pictures.

We need to be diligent in protecting our children, but in some cases, we’re doing it all wrong.

Marshall Frank is an author and retired police captain. See his other columns at marshallfrank.com.