By Tristin Burris (Whetstone staff)

Bernard Alberts goes to work every night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

He works a job that he hates. But he has to deal with it.

Alberts is one of the seven registered sex offenders who live on New Street near campus.

Alberts was charged at age 47 with unlawful sexual contact (first degree) of a person less than 16 years old, and defying a position of trust in 2010.

Now 49, he said he is trying to turn his life around.

“The person forgave me,” Alberts said. “But a mistake was made and I have to pay for that for the rest of my life.”

Alberts said he goes through many obstacles.

“I have to go through this on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Because of this mistake, where can I get a good job? Where can I get a good apartment? I was lucky enough to have a friend that understood.”

Alberts is referring to one of the other two men he lives with – both of whom are also on the registry.

Although the person forgave him, he said he has not been able to forgive himself.

“I go to church and I thank God for that,” he said. “I have children as well, and they’re not grown, they’re young.”

In the past two years since the incident, Alberts has gone back to school and hopes to receive his GED. He would even like to go to college.

“I want a real good job,” he said. “I want to be able to support my two kids, but it’s hard because everyone is looking at the big picture.”

National statistics show that there are nearly a million registered sex offenders in the United States.

But Alberts said that no one is asking why.

“No one is looking into what makes us do this,” Alberts said. “We’ve been through it as well – verbally abused and sexually abused. So we’ve gone through it psychologically as well.”

Alberts said he will have to deal with this mistake for the rest of his life and there is probably no chance that he will get a pardon from the registry.

“I might be removed after 15 years, or after 20 years,” he said. “But there are no guarantees.”

 

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