We have some tough news to throw your way, something which is utmost importance to read and take in – it pertains to Steve/Rukario (username for the sake of total clarity) and a rediscovered situation from his past, and how this will affect PC in the immediate future.
About five days ago, veritable information that Steve is a registered sex offender was found. In order to tackle the ramifications of this, a separate Discord server was formed to discuss the situation that included HQ, marz and Nihilego. The latter two were included because of marz’s position as the leader of PC’s Discord and Nihilego as it was felt that his recently departed status did not negate the importance of the viewpoints he would have brought to the discussion.
In carefully organised conversations, we obtain required information from Steve so we could unpack as much of this as possible. He was upfront and did not attempt to dodge the consistent questioning that we had. The second purpose of the server was to decide how we would deal with this situation, both on an individual level and debating what options were now in PC’s future. This also includes how we would present this information to the rest of staff, who we universally agreed have the right to make their own decisions with the knowledge available.
http://www.sexoffendersarchive.com/offender/view/1275569
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=647.6.&lawCode=PEN
https://www.shouselaw.com/engage-lewd-conduct.html
This is publicly accessible information about and relating to Steve. He has stated to us that being placed on a sex offense registry is the result of making bad choices in his early 20s (he is now 57) and having a relationship with a female who was considered a minor in the state of California, which ended at a point where the parents decided to file charges against him. He states that this conviction is the result of a messy situation with the minor’s family that has not been repeated since in any form. Upon research, we cannot find evidence of further incidents. He does not recall the age of the minor, otherwise it would be mentioned here. There is no evidence that a child (14 or under) was involved, however, this is not something that can be conclusively stated due to the Californian legal system being tough to navigate. He sincerely wishes to express that he is not a risk to any child, or anyone in general, offline and online. There is not much more information from his side because he has stated that many memories have been lost to time, or the intricacies of the legal system mean that it is hard to obtain information. He has consistently said this at least three times to us.
He is no longer in the Megan’s Law registry in California – the reason for this is due to how the state of California does not deem him likely to reoffend. The statute he was convicted under has also had different meanings attached to it over time, the attached listing of 647(a) not being the same as the previous name of 647.6. These statutes have changed an unknown amount of times over the years, so it makes it hard to determine whether what is said on the archive matches up to what he was charged with at the time. While we stress that we do not have legal knowledge beyond what we can find on Google, we have determined two main factors: they are both considered misdemeanours and ultimately are considered forms of lewd conduct. To ‘annoy/molest’ is a vague description, but the statutes deem it as knowingly interacting with a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification, or believing that you are doing so. This can range from outright physical molestation to making sexual advances in a chatroom under the presumption that you are doing so to a minor, or not caring that one may be involved. Based on the information Steve has volunteered to us, the majority of HQ believes that his story matches with what we can find. As a result, and also influenced by their own personal interactions with Steve, the majority of HQ does not find Steve to be a risk either.
There are some on HQ who think he is outright lying about the circumstances, or do not think he is lying but still consider him a risk to others. Others believe him, or believe that we do not hold enough cards in the hand to make a decision. This is key to understanding the situation – the information available can be interpreted different ways. Steve may remember more information later on and that may change the situation for you. We have done our best to get what we can from him and he has been adamant that this is all the information he is able to give at the time of writing. The majority of us believe him. The discussions have also centred around what this means for the community if people were to leave their respective positions, and if it means letting the community down or taking a stand for what they believe is right. It has been a long debate, with strong feelings in every corner.
Most of HQ, however, have decided to leave on the viewpoint that association with PC following this news is either of detriment to their personal lives at some point in the future, or a moral problem that they cannot wrestle with. Some believe that, no matter what Steve says, there is still a risk to PC that can never be dealt with while he remains in charge. Others cannot rationalise working for him even if they believe him, one of the main reasons being that they do not want their identities tied to PC if and/or when this news gets out to an entirely unforgiving wider public. There are many emotions being felt right now and no doubt the people just finding out now are feeling the same. However, this is certain: there is a significant portion of HQ that will be tidying up their affairs and resigning their positions.
At this point, the decision about your own future on PC is in your hands. We’re not going to tell you what choices to make, we can only communicate the information we have and the choices we have made. However: while we (and on the sole personal note in this message, I) understand the importance to fully communicate your decisions, we also know that what is being delivered here will inevitably make it to the public at large. Staff have never been an airtight collective and we understand the emotions that will rise for something like this. But we strongly ask that you consider what is being said. The public will make their own decisions and, especially considering the climate today, will not be remotely forgiving. You may or may not believe Steve, but we are asking you to carefully consider how you convey those thoughts.