A convicted male sex abuser who now identifies as a woman has filed a lawsuit claiming that being listed on the Wisconsin state sex offender registry is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that violates his Eighth Amendment rights and prohibits him from exercising his “right to self-expression as being a female.”
The man, identified only as “Ella” in court documents, was adjudicated delinquent in Shawano County after he pinned down a half-blind autistic boy and sexually assaulted him in 2016. “Ella” did not identify as transgender at the time of the incident, and only began using a female name after having spent time in a juvenile detention center in Irma, Wisconsin.
According to court records, the Shawano Police department received a complaint from a 15-year-old boy with disabilities on May 10, 2016.
The boy, who is referred to as “Alan,” told officers that “Ella” had held him down and forcibly performed oral sex on him. Department of Corrections records indicate “Ella” was 6-foot-5 and weighed 345 pounds at the time; the boy was 5-foot-10 and weighed 110 pounds.
After a police investigation, the State filed a delinquency petition against “Ella”, alleging one count of sexual assault of a child under sixteen years of age, and one count of disorderly conduct. At the time of conviction, “Ella’s” attorney moved to stay an order requiring he be listed on the sex offender registry, which was denied as he was considered a “high risk” to re-offend. “Ella” was sent to serve six to ten months at Lincoln Hills School, a juvenile detention facility.
“Ella” subsequently filed a motion to change facilities, claiming that Lincoln Hills was unsafe for him and stating that another youth assaulted him. According to records, Lincoln Hills staff told the court that, “Ella was partly to blame for that incident because [he] told other youths they were cute,” and, “a room search revealed that Ella had written a number of letters inappropriately referencing teachers.”
Following a second complaint regarding “Ella’s” safety, he was transferred to Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, a facility designed to offer “comprehensive mental health services to teen boys whose highly disruptive behavior and failure to respond to standard treatment has warranted their transfer.” Court records state the reason for this transfer was “in part because [he] was transitioning as a transgender youth from a male to a female identity.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court debated the case on Thursday, February 17, weighing whether self-declared gender identity should take precedence over transparency and public safety in regards to sex offenders.
A January 2021 Wisconsin State Court of Appeals decision, which had denied his request for a name change and removal from the sex offender registry, outlined “Ella’s” arguments as follows:
“Ella contends the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion by denying the stay. In addition, Ella contends that, as applied to her, requiring her to register as a sex offender violates her First Amendment rights because the statute’s prohibition against legally changing her name restricts her right to self-expression as being a female. She further contends that because the prohibition is a content based restriction, we must apply strict scrutiny. By applying strict scrutiny, Ella asserts that her right to self-expression outweighs any government interest in limiting her use of another legal name. Finally, Ella contends that requiring her to register as a sex offender constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, thereby violating her Eighth Amendment rights.”
In addition, “Ella’s” attorney argued that the law forces him to out himself as a male anytime he is required to present his legal name.
According to Fox 11 News, reporting on the Supreme Court hearing, “The state noted the sex offender registry does not prohibit Ella from using an alias of her choosing to conform with her gender identity. But the law freezes into place the name from the time of the offense as a tool for the public’s protection, the state argued.”
The prior ruling denying his appeal made by the state of Wisconsin in January 2021 stated that: “Ella’s argument regarding the Eighth Amendment fails because our Supreme Court has held that Wisconsin’s sex offender registration requirement does not constitute punishment at all. Wisconsin’s registration statute does not evince the intent to punish sex offenders, but rather it reflects the intent to protect the public and assist law enforcement.”
A decision on the case has not yet been reached and isn’t expected for another several months.
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