Sex Offenders Pursuing Healing In Adversity (SOPHIA)

Slogan: “Through Knowledge And Wisdom, We Rise From The Ashes”

Symbols: The phoenix, to symbolize rising from the ashes, and Sophia is a Greek word for knowledge)

Before I even created OnceFallen.com in December 2007, I was working on a rehabilitation project called SOPHIA. The idea was to help people convicted of sexual offenses work on both the issues that led to their decisions which landed them on the registry while also providing the resources they need to become productive members of society. While OnceFallen.com is geared towards providing resources and fighting oppressive post-conviction sanctions, we still believe in positive treatment for people convicted of sexual offenses. Thus, I’ve left the original SOPHIA mission statement up because I’d love to see SOPHIA fully completed someday. 

Mission Statement

SOPHIA is an informational and educational network of individuals dedicated to the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of Registered Persons, the reduction in sex offense recidivism, and understanding the root causes of criminal sexual behavior as well as seeking the ways to prevent deviant sexual thoughts and desires from becoming deviant sexual actions. To this end, SOPHIA believes in the following seven precepts:

  1. We believe that we are fully and solely responsible and held accountable for our deviant and criminal sexual behavior.
  2. We believe in the precepts of “restorative justice” and the twelve steps as a basis for our rehabilitation. We seek to identify our own faulty belief systems, learn to control and change our beliefs and behaviors, share this knowledge with others who have shared our faulty belief systems and actions, and make amends for hurting our victims, our families, our communities, and ourselves by our actions.
  3. We believe in a program to ensure a sex offender successfully reintegrates into society, thus reducing the likelihood of recidivism, especially during the critical first three years of release. To this end, we seek to find stable housing, employment, social support, and continuing treatment during this transitional period and beyond.
  4. We believe in identifying the root biological, psychological, cultural, and social causes of deviant sexual thoughts and behaviors, and to seek ways off addressing these ills before they escalate into criminal sexual activity.
  5. We believe in accepting the constructive and informative views of everyone in our group, regardless of differences in race, color, creed, nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or any other differences. SOPHIA is welcome to all who seek its help, and believe that every member has something to contribute.
  6. We believe that by sharing our experiences, trials, and tribulations, we can assist those who are struggling with deviant sexual thoughts or behaviors control these urges before they become engage in a criminal sexual act.
  7. We believe that knowledge and information is a key that can empower us with the tools to make the right decisions in choosing the behaviors we engage in.

The SOPHIA Network seeks to offer the wisdom and the knowledge to address the issue of criminal sexual activity in America. The causes of criminal sexual behavior is complex and varied, a combination of external factors. SOPHIA seeks to address both the internal and the external issues that are unique to those convicted of sexual offenses or those battling sexual addictions.