STD Carriers Are Not "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"

On a recent episode of Anderson STDCarriers.com founder Cyrus Sullivan was falsely accused by a woman listed on the site of having a policy of "guilty until proven innocent". Sullivan did not want to give the woman a hard time because among other things she along with the others forever earned his respect for having the courage to go on national television and confront him, but nevertheless the record needs to be set straight. To set the record straight it is important to point out the difference between the meaning of the word "guilty" and the word "accused".

The word "guilty" according to Mirriam Webster means "justly chargeable with or responsible for a usually grave breach of conduct or a crime". The word “accused” means "one charged with an offense". The two definitions sound very similar, but the big difference is the word "justly" being present in the definition of "guilty". Subjects listed on STDCarriers.com are not always there "justly" and in such cases the subjects are not "guilty" until proven innocent, the subjects are "accused" of offenses. Subjects on the list are "accused" until the accusation is retracted or disproven in which case they are no longer accused, but in no case are subjects that are not listed "justly" ever "guilty" because being "accused" is not the same as being "guilty".