Family members of offenders speak out against sex offender registries

Vicki Henry never expected to wake up to more than a dozen armed officers at her front door to search her home, but that is what happened after her son, who had been charged and convicted of possession and distribution of child pornography while he was serving in Iraq, moved into her home.

“The federal parole officer was standing outside, and the neighbors were terrified, saying ‘there’s (child pornography) over everything,’” Henry said. “She came in and told me ‘there’s child pornography all over the computer,’ and I said ‘no.’”

Henry said officers asked her husband to get out of the shower, placed the couple on a couch and took her son into the kitchen in handcuffs.

The ordeal got to the point where Henry’s son passed out, she said.

“I just thought, ‘You can shoot me if you want, but I’m going to my son,’” Henry said.

A final report from the search delivered to the Henry’s several months later stated that no child pornography had been found.

Henry has since become a vocal advocate against post-release policies for sexual offenders, helping found the group Women Against Registry.