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Man Taken Off Sex Offender List

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By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 7, 2007

DADE CITY - Four years ago, Austin Harden and his then-girlfriend made a poor decision in the eyes of the law when they started having sex.

He was 16. She was 14.

Although the sex was consensual, Harden was convicted last year of lewd and lascivious battery and labeled a sex offender.

Thursday, Harden, now 20, became the fourth person in the state removed from Florida's sex offender registry under the so-called 'Romeo and Juliet' law, intended to draw distinctions between teens convicted of having consensual sex with other teens and adults preying on children.

The statute, which went into effect July 1, allows judges to remove the sex offender designation from defendants under certain conditions. Victims must have been willing participants, between the ages of 14 and 17 and no more than four years younger than the defendants. Defendants can't be removed from the registry if they've been convicted of other sex crimes.

'The law was designed for people specifically in Mr. Harden's situation,' Assistant Public Defender Jason Bavol told Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa on Thursday. 'He is not why the sex offender registry was created in the first place.'

The victim, now 17, and her mother told Siracusa they didn't object to Harden's removal from the list.

'I wasn't manipulated or pressured into anything I didn't want to do,' the girl said. 'I will not dispute this as long as he stays away from her,' her mother added.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains the registry of people convicted of sexual crimes. Defendants are labeled as offenders or predators, with the predator label for defendants deemed more dangerous.

Harden is the second Pasco County resident stricken from the registry, FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said.

Last week, Siracusa denied a request from a Land O' Lakes man seeking removal from the registry. Jonathan Evans, 26, was 18 when he had sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend in 1999. Evans, who spent a year in jail for his conviction, met the criteria for removal except one: He was more than four years older than the victim.

Harden is in jail for violating probation. He was sentenced to two years in prison and four years' probation after pleading no contest last year to charges of grand theft auto, arson and armed burglary.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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