Stephen Marshall looked up 34
names on Maine's sex offender
registry, killing two of the men
listed. (Maine Department of
Public Safety/Associated Press)

"We've got nothing else to say. You people misrepresent everything," was the only response from a young man who refused to give his name. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the family had spoken but now they were angry at the media for how Gray was being portrayed.

Gray was one of the 34 sex offenders that Stephen Marshall researched on Maine's online registry. The site contains details of all convicted sex offenders in the state and can be searched by name or town. But it doesn't draw any distinction between men convicted of assaulting young children and young men involved in a relationship with a sexually active teenager.

As we spoke to other people in Milo, we learned that the Maine Sex Offender Registry is a very blunt instrument and that not all the people on it are really the monsters that the public might believe.

Take Michael Slobuszewski, a 26–year–old resident of Milo who was on the registry for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. When he was 20, he was having sex with his 15–year–old girlfriend. Her parents didn't like the relationship and called the police. Because she was a couple of months shy of 16, that made Slobuszewski a sex offender.

As a registered sex offender,
Michael Slobuszewski's picture is
posted in his son's school. (CBC)

Slobuszewski, one of the 34 names Marshall looked up, seemed resigned to the fact that his life is effectively destroyed anyway. Because he's on the sex offender registry, he has to tell any potential employers about his conviction. That pretty much ends the job application process right there.

And because he can't get work, he's falling behind on child support payments for his six–year–old son. And because he can't make the payments, the state has taken away his driving licence and his hunting and fishing licences, making it virtually impossible to find any kind of work in this small rural community.

"I'm not a rapist," he said, surrounded by his family – father, mother, sister, his son, his girlfriend and her two children. "I love kids. I'd never hurt them."

Slobuszewski still has years to go before his name is removed from the registry. The current law requires his name to stay on the list for at least 10 years but there's a move to increase that to 25 years. Slobuszewski and his family say that's fine for pedophiles and offenders who are a threat to others, but not for people who are only guilty of youthful indiscretion.

Michael Slobuszewski says
he's no danger to anyone. (CBC)

"I feel vulnerable about it," said Slobuszewski. "When I go out I watch my back."

Slobuszewski shares one final story with us before we leave. For him, it's by far the hardest part of being on the registry. Along with having his name and picture posted online, his photograph also hangs in local schools – including the school where his son goes. Every day, six–year–old Joseph is reminded that his father is a sex offender.

As we leave them playing together, it's clear that no one in this family believes that Michael Slobuszewski is a danger to anyone.