SOMERVILLE, N.J., July 20 (UPI) -- Two teenagers can be classified as sex offenders for their entire lives after being convicted of criminal sexual contact, a New Jersey appeals court says.
In their ruling Monday, the three judges on the panel acknowledged the decision seems severe, The (Newark) Star-Ledger reported. The boys were 14 when they committed the actions that led to the ruling and are now 16.
"We are keenly aware that our decision may have profound lifelong ramifications for these two boys as well as others similarly situated," Judge Jose Fuentes said in the court's opinion.
One boy was convicted after a family court trial and the other pleaded guilty. The conduct, at least in the case of the boy who was tried, involved placing his unclothed rear end on the faces of two 12-year-olds.
"I was trying to get my friends to laugh," he told a judge.
Defense lawyers did not challenge the sex offender registration on the grounds of the boys' age. New Jersey courts have already ruled Megan's Law can be applied to teenagers as young as 13.
Instead, they argued the boys' actions, while unpleasant, did not justify the literal application of the law.
