by Paul Elam

Created on: December 31, 2008

At sixteen, Ricky Blackman was fairly typical of teen-age boys. He loved sports, especially basketball and football, and played them well enough to have realistic hopes for a scholarship. He liked socializing and hanging out with his friends. And girls. Of course there were always the girls.

His Middle American upbringing produced unsurprising ambitions. He dreamed of serving his country in the Navy after school and ultimately of a career in law enforcement. He was, by all accounts, a healthy and well adjusted young man.

Skip ahead three years and you'll find Ricky and his life have changed radically. He takes some college classes on-line because he isn't welcome on a campus. He no longer trusts the law he once wanted to serve, and when in the presence of young women he panics and withdraws. In fact, his life, once so full of promise and hope, is now little more than a daily struggle to survive, and a challenge to even find reasons for doing so.

While the way that Ricky sees the world around him differs greatly from his younger days, it is nothing compared to the way the world around him now sees Ricky. He has become the ultimate pariah and outcast. He is, at least in the eyes of most, pernicious persona non grata; human refuse hardly worthy of life itself.

It all started before his seventeenth birthday. Ricky was at a local hang out for teens and met a girl there. Amanda was from his area, said she was fifteen years old and they seemed to have much in common. They began seeing each other and eventually had sex on two occasions.

The encounters would undo the rest of his life.

Like many young people trying to impress someone they like who is older, Amanda lied to Ricky about her age. She later told Ricky's mother, Mary Duval, that she was only fourteen and pled with her not to let Ricky know. Mary promptly told her son of the confession and he cut off the romance immediately. They found out later that she still wasn't being entirely honest.

The police became involved with Amanda sometime later as a runaway and discovered her prior ties with Ricky during questioning. She admitted the sexual relationship. She also admitted that she had lied to Ricky about her age. After evaluating the situation, Amanda's parents weren't interested in pressing charges and the police weren't interested in making an arrest. Or so it seemed until the Dallas County Iowa District Attorneys office got wind of the case.

Shortly after Ricky turned seventeen he was questioned by the police. His

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