Why is John Pilati No Longer on the Sex Offender Registry?

In case you're not familiar with John Pilati, a Franklin county lawyer who once served as district attorney, but who eventually served two separate sentences in federal prison for various crimes, here's a news snip from a 2011 Al.com article:

Former Franklin County DA John Pilati in 2004

A federal appeals court today ordered that a former Alabama district attorney will have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison next month.

Former Franklin County District Attorney John Pilati was sentenced in March 2008 to serve 42 months in prison for fondling five men -- ages 17 to 20 years old -- during searches while he was serving as prosecutor in that northwest Alabama county. He was convicted on five misdemeanor civil rights counts.

Recently a reader asked why his name was omitted from the Franklin County sheriff's website. We looked into it and were told it was an accident. Now the Franklin County School Board has nominated Pilati for a public position--albeit one which should entail no contact with children/teenagers. When we mentioned this in a casual FB remark yesterday, we were told that he had been removed from the registry. Upon checking, this proved to be true.

So just how was Pilati, who as far as we know has still to regain his license to practice law, removed from the registry? We know some businesses who won't advertise in his publication due to his status as a sex offender. Over the years, we've been told that Pilati came from a moneyed family, made a good salary as DA, and now owns a small Franklin County newspaper--so he has money to spend on legal battles.

We're sure there are many on the registry who would like to be removed. We have always had sympathy for the 18 year old man who is charmed by a 15 year old wearing enough slap to pass for 30. Yet second degree offenders are made to register for life. We have no sympathy for Pilati who took teenagers into his home, teenagers who were vulnerable due to their legal status.

Now we hope the citizens of Franklin County and the rest of northwest Alabama will demand some answers.

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We constantly acquire new readers, so we feel the need to reiterate this. It is our policy that once anyone serves their sentence we do not mention their crime unless they re-offend or place the public in some type of danger. Sex offenders, as far as we have known, remain on the registry for life and are therefore subject to any public scrutiny at any time.

This is the first instance of an offender being removed from the registry in Alabama that we know of. We hope soon to have some answers for those who have inquired about this.


Shoalanda