Thousands Support Teen in Appeal of 25-Year Sentence to Sex Offender Registry

Zach Anderson, 19, is shown with his parents, Les and Amanda Anderson, after his release from jail after serving a 90-day sentence on a sex crime. (Photo via Facebook)

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An Indiana teen at the center of a sensational Michigan case that landed him on the sex offender registry for 25 years because he had sex with an girl who told him she was 17 has won backing from around the country as he prepares for his appeal.

In a hearing Wednesday, Zach Anderson, 19, of Elkhart, IN, will ask a Berrien County District Court judge to throw out his guilty plea to a fourth-degree criminal sexual assault charge.

The case has sparked outrage across the country, directed both at the now 15-year-old Niles, MI, girl who lied about her age and the sentencing judge who condemned a culture of “meet, hook-up, have sex, sayonara, totally inappropriate behavior,” according to court records.

Many of those commenting on a Patch.com story questioned why the girl wasn’t charged. Others were indignant that the judge handed down a harsh sentence that places Anderson in a class with some of society’s most despised people: registered sex offenders.

Patch’s Earlier Report:

• Teen Ordered To Register As Sex Offender For 25 Years

For the next 25 years, not only must Anderson add his name to the same rolls as violent rapists and child molesters, he is forbidden to live in certain places, including his family home, and he faces tight restrictions on where he can work.

Aside from immediate family, he cannot speak to anyone younger than 17. He must observe an 8 p.m. curfew. He cannot own a smart phone. He cannot use a computer. He cannot, therefore, pursue a career in computer science at a local community college.

In total, the judge imposed 61 conditions of probation, and unless the conviction or sentence is reconsidered Wednesday, Anderson will be 44 when his name comes off the registry in 2040.

“Wrong, Harsh and Unfair”

More than 150,000 people have signed an online petition supporting Anderson.

He met the then 14-year-old girl through a dating app last winter. They live 20 minutes apart, and he drove to to meet her in Niles, where they had sex. He was arrested two months later on criminal sex charges, and has already served a 90-day jail sentence after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

The teen’s parents, Les and Amanda Anderson, wrote on the Change.org petition site that their son only agreed to plead guilty because he believed he would be a candidate for Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act. The sentencing option allows first-time offenders between the ages of 17 and 21 to avoid harsher penalties – like a 25-year listing on the sex offender registry – and get a chance to have their records expunged.

Anderson’s parents wrote that the sentence is “wrong, harsh and unfair” – an assessment many Americans share, gauging from comments on news stories and in social media.

Patch readers said the judge was “heartless” and “unethical,” and accused him of pursuing his own agenda from the bench.

“This is a very sick judge who brings his religious beliefs to work,” Carmel Jones wrote. “Shame on him.”

“Seems the judge is more outraged about how they met than the act itself,” DownUnderDude wrote. “Lumping the guy under the same umbrella as serious sex offenders is just insane.”

Judge Was ”100 Percent Right”

Another reader, a former probation officer, said the sentencing order ignores the reality of today’s digital society.

“There is no consistency in this situation with the sentence and with the crime. How does a person live in today’s society without being able to use the Internet?” the commenter, who posts as Karen, wrote. “There are rapists that get less severe sentences. This judge should be banned from being a judge …”

Not everyone thought the judge got it wrong, though.

“The creep is a predator, electronically bypassing this girl’s security structure, and raping her as soon as he enticed her away from her home,” Tim posted, noting he thinks the judge was “100 percent right.”

But Brenda Treesling disputed that, arguing that there’s no evidence Anderson bypassed the girl’s security settings, and that she “was on a dating app which she had no business being on at her age.”

“... He is not a predator, he did not seek out an underage girl, he even asked her age, if she had been truthful I doubt he would have pursued her,” Treesling wrote. “This girl admitted she lied, she did not say no or claim it wasn’t consensual. In fact, it looks like she snuck out to meet him; otherwise why would her mother report her missing?”

“She Is he Real Sexual Predator”

Treesling is among many who think the girl should face criminal charges.

“What crime was committed?” norganicmolecule asked. “The only crime I see is that the girl lied about her age because she wanted to (have sexual relations with) the guy. She is the real sexual predator, not him.”

“The girl is the guilty one, why did she lie about her age?” Ron White agreed. “Because of her stupid lie, she ruined someone’s life. I do not understand why they did not go after her and charge her with a crime.”

“I think this is sad, and frankly this boy’s life has now been ruined,” Bea Dery wrote. “Where is the justice? The girl lied and admitted she did, it wasn’t rape, and he served 90 days for his mistake, which I am sure he won’t ever repeat. Cut this kid some slack; having him register? Come on, this is taking the letter of the law too far; in justice there has to be limits.”

A reader who comments as Kim suggested the girl who lied about her age “also needs to face some charges and be banned from the Internet... .”

But others defended the girl.

“She is the minor. The man is the adult in this situation,” Bruce Wayne wrote. “Even if she was 17, that still isn’t the age of consent in most states. What if this was some 35-year-old man doing it to a 14-year-old girl? Is that still acceptable if she lied to him about her age? I am in my 40s, and even back when I was young we asked girls for IDs. He is getting what he should get!”

Lesson: Avoid Internet Hookups

Steven Sheldon said he thinks the girl’s mother should shoulder some responsibility.

“I think the girl’s mother is to blame,” Sheldon wrote. “My children don’t have access to dating apps and they won’t.”

“This breaks my heart,” superdude posted. “Poor boy made a mistake and should have been more careful but he doesn’t deserve to have his life destroyed for it. ...

“Teens are going to have sex, and all we can do is hope they use protection and educate them as best as we can, and part of that education should be about age-of-consent laws, but should part of that education also be asking for ID?,” the reader continued. “That just sounds insane to me. I really hope this poor kid gets off that list. What a crazy world we live in.”

User Linda said law enforcement and judicial officials should worry more about “all of the real pedophiles who are roaming freely,” but said there’s a lesson in Anderson’s ordeal for other young men: “Maybe Internet hook-ups are something to avoid.”

Anderson’s hearing is at 2:30 p.m. at the courthouse in Niles.