In 2012, when Adam Nesteikis was 25 years outdated, his buddy instructed him to tug down his pants in entrance of a younger lady. Adam did precisely that.
Adam is intellectually disabled, which suggests he did not notice he had performed one thing flawed. He additionally did not perceive what it meant when, after a trial, he was positioned on the intercourse offense registry. He simply knew that for some purpose, he misplaced the job he cherished wiping tables. He may not take part within the Particular Olympics. And he could not scuba dive—his very favourite exercise—as a result of the membership practiced in a highschool pool and he was not allowed to be close to younger folks.
Fortunately, this injustice has lastly been remedied: This 12 months, he acquired a full pardon from the Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D–Ailing.). His file will even be expunged.
“My husband and I were elated,” says Carol Nesteikis, Adam’s mother.
Adam and his dad and mom stay outdoors Chicago. He grew up joyful and social, with critical developmental limitations. He stopped wetting his mattress at 16. He at all times needed to be reminded to brush his enamel and, later, to shave. He was associates with a neighbor—a youthful man—who, it turned out, had been molesting him.
It was that younger man who instructed Adam to show himself. Each Adam and his neighbor have been positioned on the intercourse offender registry in consequence.
Registrants aren’t allowed in any forest protect or public park, which meant that Adam needed to cease strolling the canine on the path and as an alternative walked in circles across the condo. Registrants additionally should keep away from anybody beneath the age of 18, so Adam may not go to the films with youthful particular wants people.
Dropping his table-cleaning job meant he stopped having co-workers, a schedule, and any accountability. Dropping the scuba membership meant he was not good at something. In his isolation, Adam really regressed, changing into an increasing number of childlike.
“He can have meltdowns like a toddler,” says his mom. “He gets frustrated enough that you can hear him in his room, banging on things and just saying things over and over.” She worries he may by no means come again to the extent of operate—and happiness—he had loved earlier than the conviction.
Carol Nesteikis petitioned Pritzker for a pardon in 2021. Their presentation to the Illinois Jail Assessment Board went properly, and the household was hopeful.
They waited nervously for 2 full years. However then, the pardon got here by.
Nesteikis is not performed, nevertheless. The group she co-founded—D3: Decriminalize the Developmentally Disabled—is engaged on nationwide laws. She hopes to go a legislation that mirrors Virginia’s SB133, which permits courts to “defer and dismiss” felony circumstances if the defendant’s autism or mental incapacity brought on or considerably contributed to their crime.
Adam’s placement on the intercourse offense registry didn’t lower the possibilities that a teen can be molested. It merely decreased the standard of life for an individual who already had loads of struggles to beat.