Mich. appeals court says young ‘Romeo’ shouldn’t be on sex-offender list, calls it cruel

Mich. man wins appeal to get name off sex registry

DETROIT — The Michigan appeals court ordered a man removed from the state’s sex-offender registry Wednesday, saying it was cruel punishment for a young “Romeo” who had a consensual relationship with a teen and later became her husband.

Robert Dipiazza’s lawyer said there are other men like her client who are on the list and could be removed because of the decision.

“It’s a victory for common sense,” Miriam Aukerman said. “Teens in romantic relationships shouldn’t be labeled as sexual predators.”

In 2004, Dipiazza was 18 when he had a consensual sexual relationship with a girl who was nearly 15. A teacher saw a photograph of him with his hand on her breast and contacted authorities in Muskegon County.

Under Michigan law, the age of consent is 16. Dipiazza was given a break: A case of third-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct was erased after he completed a special probation in 2005. There was no conviction but he still was required to register as a sex offender.

Dipiazza lost a series of jobs when employers found his name on the registry, which is on the Internet. The Muskegon-area man turned to food stamps to survive and was diagnosed with depression.

“The offense that (Dipiazza) committed was not very grave but the penalty has been very harsh,” a three-judge panel of the appeals court said.

The court said the registry makes no distinction between people like Dipiazza and men convicted of rape.

Public safety is “not served by requiring an otherwise law-abiding adult to forever be branded as a sex offender because of a juvenile transgression involving consensual sex during a Romeo and Juliet relationship,” the court said.

Dipiazza and his girlfriend were married in April and had a baby in the summer. Before going to the appeals court, he had only been able to persuade a Muskegon County judge to remove him from the registry after 10 years.

Since October 2004, people under 21 who, like Dipiazza, are successfully steered through a special diversion program in Michigan courts are not considered “convicted” and can avoid the registry. He missed the cutoff by a month solely because of the timing of his case.