- [Interviewer] All right, Ian. Ian, where'd you grow up?
Where you from originally? - [Ian] Ohio. - [Interviewer] And tell
me about your family, you had both of your parents growing up? - [Ian] My mom and step-dad. - [Interviewer] And how would
you describe your childhood? - It was good. - [Interviewer] No
abuse, nothing like that? - Nothing. It was happy. - [Interviewer] That's great. What kind of kid were you in high school? - I started off as an athlete,
then kind of slacked off. Then, I went to a
vocational and got trades. - [Interviewer] What kind
of jobs did you have? - All kinds, mainly construction. - [Interviewer] You've been
married, you have kids? - Nope. - [Interviewer] At one
point you got convicted of a sex offense? - Yep. - [Interviewer] Tell me about that. - Attempted lewd or lascivious battery. I got caught in a sting operation, and pretty much, couldn't afford a lawyer. So I got sent to prison for three years. - [Interviewer] And now
you're branded a sex offender for the rest for your life? - Yep. - [Interviewer] You have to
register, what, every year? - Six months. - [Interviewer] Every six months. And does that affect your
job opportunities, or - Oh yeah. - [Interviewer] How does
it affect your life? - Well, I'm stuck living here. (both chuckle) - [Interviewer] Yeah. - I can only go so many places. I gotta stay in the county. I have a curfew. And this is gonna go on for three years. - [Interviewer] So it was just one offense that you got convicted of? - Yep. - [Interviewer] How old was the girl? - They said between 14 and 16. - [Interviewer] And tell
me about what happened. - I go online for a hookup site, (sighing deeply) and I
went to a bunch of them. One responded back, talked to her, and then finally she said she was 14. And I said, you're just a
kid, so why're you on here? But then the next night, I
went on all the same sites, got responded again, it was the same one. I ended up going to meet her. Stopped at the gas station, got all these weird texts, saying she's a virgin,
what're you gonna teach me, blah blah, I was like, yeah, that's probably a bad idea. But a cop pulled up to the gas station and recognized me and said I look like I'm
not from around there. So I didn't go to the sting house, but I was close enough, so they convicted me with traveling with a minor. - [Interviewer] So you never
actually touched anyone? - No. - [Interviewer] You just looked like, you attempted to, or you tried to meet with her? - Yeah. - [Interviewer] What lesson
have you learned from this? - Don't do a bunch of drugs. (both chuckling) - [Interviewer] Were you doing drugs? - Yeah. - [Interviewer] Yeah,
that would kinda set the, it changes your ability to - Your perspective? - [Interviewer] To choose right and wrong. - [Ian] Yeah. - [Interviewer] And how has
this affected your family? Your relationship with your family? - [Ian] My relationship's
fine, they know who I am, but I can't see them 'cause
I can't leave the county. They can't come down here 'cause of COVID. I couldn't see them for three years 'cause I was in prison, so kind of lost some connection, but still talk to them all the time. - [Interviewer] Yeah And do you have friends? - [Ian] Yeah, mainly family, brothers, people I work with, guys around here. - [Interviewer] What kind of emotions do you deal with over this? I mean, is it anger, is it depression, is there anxiety? - I was gonna name those three. (both chuckle) Anxiety being the biggest. - [Interviewer] Yeah. What's the anxiety over? What are you worried about? - This box I have on my ankle. Like last night, I have to carry this thing around, and it went off last night
telling me to go home when I was at home. And then it never cleared,
so they called me, "Where you at?" "I'm at home." My probation officer
called me this morning, she said, "What're you doing?" Like I promise you I was at home. She said, "Well, it doesn't say you were." I was like, "I don't know what to tell ya." I was at home. 'Cause this was after curfew. - [Interviewer] What is your curfew time? - 10 o'clock. - [Interviewer] 10, you
gotta be home by 10? - Yeah, unless I'm at work. - [Interviewer] And
what're you working as, what are you doing for work now? - I'm cooking. It's about the only jobs we can get. Can't work on people's houses 'cause there may be kids around, I'm not supposed to be
around minors, period while I'm on probation. - [Interviewer] Yeah. And you're in this mobile home park where it's nothing but sex offenders. - Correct. - [Interviewer] So you guys have to, you're in a situation where
you're staying away from kids? - 'Cause we're very limited
to where we can live. - [Interviewer] Right. And when you give your ID for something, job applications, something like that, does it come up? - Yeah, but I bring it
up first thing because - [Interviewer] There's no hiding it? - No, not at all. And I don't wanna hide it. I mean, I made a stupid mistake, but now I'm paying for it, so I have to acknowledge it. - [Interviewer] Do you
still have an attraction to young girls or was it just the drugs kind of changed your - I was just looking
for someone that night. I don't have an attraction
to young girls or boys. - [Interviewer] What's
the most painful part of all this for you? - Not seeing my family in Ohio, and of course, the money. I got a $6,500 bracelet, so. - [Interviewer] And how
do you feel all this, that this experience has changed you? - It sobered me up. - [Interviewer] Has it? - It made me realize that
life goes by pretty quick. - [Interviewer] What advice
would you give to somebody else who's living a reckless
life like you were? - Take a step back, look at yourself, see if you're doing good or bad, just try to get sober for a minute, so that you could actually see yourself, and don't do something stupid. My stupid mistake ruined my life. Other peoples' stupid mistakes
could take someone's life. So, at least, I only hurt myself. - [Interviewer] All right, Ian, well, thank you so much
for talking with me, and good luck with the rest of your life from here. You're on the right path
now, which is great. - Yeah, just trying. Worst part is a lawyer told me
he'd get me off of everything for $10,000, but I didn't have that. So I went with a public defender who told me to do an open plea, said I'll probably just get probation. And the judge said, I'll just throw in three years probation after three years DOC. And by the way, you gotta register the rest of your life. And I'm like, oh, great, thanks. Lawyer looked at me and said, sorry bud. So, if you get stuck in a situation, do your best to get the
money to get a lawyer, because sex offenders, any sex offense, whether it be victimless or whatever, judges don't care, they don't like it. Unless you have a good lawyer, and they can find all the rules. - [Interviewer] And this
ruins your life for how long? - [Ian] The rest of it. - [Interviewer] The rest of it? - [Ian] I gotta register
the rest of my life. - [Interviewer] Is that right? Wow. - [Ian] It determines
where I live, where I work. - [Interviewer] Okay,
Ian. Thank you so much. - Yeah, thank you.
