What the future holds for an Inmate with no job skills?

[trick]

My friend is Andy Hardison and I'll give ya a bit o' background before launching into why this post.

We are just friends and have been writing oh about 7 years now. He is behind bars 1st on state charges and now on fed charges all concerning child porn on his puter and doin the nasty with one underaged. He should be parolled in about 2 years. He went in at 18 and will be getting out at 32, long past the age of twinkdom.

For about a year now it has bothered me that, to my knowledge, he has no marketable skills and when he is parolled he wants to reside with a guy he became friends with [not lovers] while he was on the state charges in Montana. The other guy was also in for similar child charges. Unfortunately, he made no attempts to take advantage of any skills training offered either in either institution.

I cannot help but think, because of his criminal past, he's going to find it tougher to land a job than either a murderer or straight rapist. Further complicating that are no job skills and all those years lost and no payments to Social Security, well he won't get much when he applies to SS at 62 or older. Course, by then I'll be dead .

Thoughts, comments????

[luckyme_in]

I suppose it would be flippant to simply say "cute"? *shifty eyes* What!??!! It's true! lol

Alas you're dead on Andy is going to have it harder than most and that is due in no small part to sex offender laws that require he notify everyone that he's moving in and should someone protest...he's back to square one. I think things finally hit home when someone put it to me this way. "I was thinking of moving into that neighborhood until I looked on the murder offender registry online and my goodness. You wouldn't believe who lives there."

A Murder Offender registry doesn't exist? Why? Good question, especially for someone who was convicted of doing something with someone underage when they were just barely legal themself. *sigh*

Sorry...no advice, but tell him for the love of Pete take a class or two in there.

[trick]

I have suggested several times during our writing that he take advantage of any education opportunities. The only time I know he said he tried is in the current fed lockup and he couldn't get in because the class was full. I don't think he has a realistic clue as to what he faces once on parole con concerning job, housing and the like. For the most part, he avoids discussing what lies ahead on the outside.

I agree with you abt the sex registry. Like many things that start out with good intentions, that registry has ppl on that should not be on the list. For instance, if I leave a bar at closing and forgot to tinkle and step behind a dumpster in a dark alley and shed water and a cop catches me, guess what...you're probably going on the registry .

Yep, I'd also like to know where the murderers, rapists, theives, burglars, et al, all reside in my neighborhood. If I have a choice of giving a forced BJ or having my throat slit and dying, guess which one I would choose.

Originally Posted by luckyme_in

I suppose it would be flippant to simply say "cute"? *shifty eyes* What!??!! It's true! lol

Alas you're dead on Andy is going to have it harder than most and that is due in no small part to sex offender laws that require he notify everyone that he's moving in and should someone protest...he's back to square one. I think things finally hit home when someone put it to me this way. "I was thinking of moving into that neighborhood until I looked on the murder offender registry online and my goodness. You wouldn't believe who lives there."

A Murder Offender registry doesn't exist? Why? Good question, especially for someone who was convicted of doing something with someone underage when they were just barely legal themself. *sigh*

Sorry...no advice, but tell him for the love of Pete take a class or two in there.

[ganto2010]

sadly to say he will probily wind back up in prison once he is out once finding out how hard he will have it on the outside and with no job skills don't make it any better for him!! you gave him advise and if the class was really full or if he was just making excuses it's his choice. you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink it!!

[Scott]

Originally Posted by ganto2010

... you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink it!!

I'll probably take some criticism for this, but the sex-offender registry system was designed for people just like this...

1. People who haven't learned by their mistakes, as indicated by his inability to plan ahead and anticipate consequences.

2. People who would immediately gravitate towards what's "pleasurable" rather than what's ultimately helpful to their success.

You get the point. So, from your limited description of this guy and his seemingly meager life-management skills, I would say he's a prime candidate for recidivism. Having sex with someone underage, when you yourself are barely legal, is one thing - the child porn on the computer is an entirely different kettle of fish. The former may represent bad choices, or even in some cases "bad luck". The latter represents a pathology which, without specific treatment, is not cured by some time in the slammer.

[bellaunion]

Yup, unfortunately he is back in custody in Utah until October of 2012. This is most likely due to the fact that he did not register since he cannot be found the the Department of Justice's sex offender list (which provides information from almost all of the jurisdictions in the U.S. and its territories).

By the way, the sex offender list does include rapists; also, the sex offender list is a good thing to have since it includes minors who have committed child rape. There is a 17 year-old boy who lives about a mile from my house, and when he was just 12 years old raped and molested two 4 year-old girls. Also, comparing public urination to sexual assault of a minor is one of the stupidest examples that I've heard.

If you kept up with Hardison's diary/blog, you would have realized that he was obsessed with sex. He had a collection of porn magazines while in custody in Montana, and he even mentioned how he wanted to be housed with some Puerto Ricans because he wanted to have sex with them. It wasn't just these two examples, but the frequency with which he wrote about sex that made him obsessed. Also, I think it was in his profile that he said that he was reported by a jealous lover - yet he conveniently left out the part about the child porn he owned that landed him in federal custody in Texas after his time was served in Montana.

Now, I'm not here to judge Hardison. He made his choices and has to deal with the consequences. He knew that what he did was a crime, and he made the choice to commit the crime. Some of the characteristics of child molesters is that they are very manipulative, narcissistic, egotistical, and charming. Based on everything that Hardison wrote about himself in his pen pal profiles and in his diary displayed each of the aforementioned characteristics. Sorry if this is offensive, but he obviously charmed the pants off of the guy that started this thread. I checked up on Hardison to see what would become of him since I found his pen pal ad close to the time of his release and since he provided so much information about his life in prison; and I wanted to see how fast he would end up back in custody. And I'll continue to follow up on him every few months to see where he goes.

[patsyrant]

Originally Posted by bellaunion

Yup, unfortunately he is back in custody in Utah until October of 2012. This is most likely due to the fact that he did not register since he cannot be found the the Department of Justice's sex offender list (which provides information from almost all of the jurisdictions in the U.S. and its territories).

By the way, the sex offender list does include rapists; also, the sex offender list is a good thing to have since it includes minors who have committed child rape. There is a 17 year-old boy who lives about a mile from my house, and when he was just 12 years old raped and molested two 4 year-old girls. Also, comparing public urination to sexual assault of a minor is one of the stupidest examples that I've heard.

If you kept up with Hardison's diary/blog, you would have realized that he was obsessed with sex. He had a collection of porn magazines while in custody in Montana, and he even mentioned how he wanted to be housed with some Puerto Ricans because he wanted to have sex with them. It wasn't just these two examples, but the frequency with which he wrote about sex that made him obsessed. Also, I think it was in his profile that he said that he was reported by a jealous lover - yet he conveniently left out the part about the child porn he owned that landed him in federal custody in Texas after his time was served in Montana.

Now, I'm not here to judge Hardison. He made his choices and has to deal with the consequences. He knew that what he did was a crime, and he made the choice to commit the crime. Some of the characteristics of child molesters is that they are very manipulative, narcissistic, egotistical, and charming. Based on everything that Hardison wrote about himself in his pen pal profiles and in his diary displayed each of the aforementioned characteristics. Sorry if this is offensive, but he obviously charmed the pants off of the guy that started this thread. I checked up on Hardison to see what would become of him since I found his pen pal ad close to the time of his release and since he provided so much information about his life in prison; and I wanted to see how fast he would end up back in custody. And I'll continue to follow up on him every few months to see where he goes.

Hi. How did you find out he's in custody in Utah? I looked on the Utah DOC website and there's nobody under Andy or Andrew Hardison. I'm curious because he was somebody I was thinking about writing to (NOT for the sex stuff, I hasten to add!). I'd been thinking that someone going into prison at 18 and coming out at 32 was going to face some very tough challenges. Sadly, it sounds like he's maybe stayed at the same age as when he went in.

[dalesgirl]

I don't understand really what your question is. If he hasn't done anything to prepare for the outside, of course its gonna be tough. He will have it really though anyway but I wouldn't support anyone who wasn't trying to support himself.

[bdwell]

After reading this my thought was lets take Hardison out of the equation. The answer is yes, it is extremely tough to get a job if you have no training, and do not even attempt to get said training. Jobs are hard to find for anyone who is truly looking, much less an ex-con. Also, I don't see the point of gay-straight etc. I know when I take applications from ppl I dont ask their sexual preference. The fact is someone coming out of the system with no marketable skills will in all likelihood return to the system within a very short time.

[patsyrant]

If anyone's interested, I did find Mr Hardison. He's not back in custody in Utah, but rather in a release program. He is seeking pen pals, so pm me if you want details..