9-7-2009 California:
Kidnap suspect morphed into alleged sex predator
Attending high school in a rural suburb east of San Francisco, Phillip Garrido stood apart from the crowd that studied hard, played sports, basked in popularity and set sights on college.
Feeling the drumbeat of the 1960s San Francisco acid rock scene, he was one of the first to let his hair grow long and to smoke marijuana. With a few friends, he formed a band that played hit songs from the likes of Jefferson Airplane and Credence Clearwater Revival. And he painted his bedroom black, covered the walls with psychedelic music posters and illuminated them with black lights.
“He was in the background, not one of the most popular,” recalled former classmate Steve Lucchesi. “I thought he was weird, but not that weird… I’m not sure if he was high all the time or saw things differently. But something went haywire.”
The clean-shaven young man with flowing hair and a nice smile began violent sexual attacks in the 1970s and is now accused along with his wife of kidnapping, raping and imprisoning Jaycee Lee Dugard for 18 years in his backyard. Both have pleaded not guilty.
His father blamed drugs and a head injury from a motorcycle accident. During his 1977 rape trial, Garrido blamed drugs and a lack of discipline at home. But psychiatrists concluded his problems were more complex than that.
The second son in a working class family, Garrido was raised in Brentwood, a suburban community near Antioch, where he and his wife lived with Dugard until last month.
At Liberty High School, he earned mediocre grades, did not participate much in school activities and was known as one of the students who started smoking marijuana and looking a little like hippies.
“They were just different,” said Lucchesi, who was a basketball player and was part of a competing band called the Village Drunks. “It was almost like they were trying to keep up with the psychedelic scene, the drug scene.”
Leaving high school in 1969 with a desire to make it big in music, Garrido soon married his high-school sweetheart, who later would divorce him. He worked odd jobs and played bass guitar with his band at small gigs.
By then, he had been using not only marijuana but also LSD and other drugs.
“In 1969, marijuana was reaching out to the rural area of Calif.,” Garrido later would recount in a letter from prison. “From that point on, my life was slowly changing.”
In the early 1970s, according the U.S Parole Commission, he was arrested twice for marijuana possession and placed on probation both times.
But his own court testimony shows, Garrido also began to act on his sexual compulsions, including public masturbation, exposing himself to children and peering into women’s windows as they changed.
He was arrested in 1972 on suspicion of drugging and raping a 14-year-old girl in Antioch, a case dropped after the victim declined to testify.
By 1977, he was serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for the kidnapping of a casino worker in Nevada. He was convicted in Nevada state court of raping the same woman after taking her to a storage facility, which an investigator described as a “sex palace” with stage lights, a bed, pornographic pictures and wine.
Three decades later, on Aug. 26, the registered sex offender was arrested in connection with Dugard’s abduction from a South Lake Tahoe bus stop in 1991. Authorities said he had sired two daughters with Dugard during her years of confinement in a makeshift compound in the backyard of Garrido’s home in Antioch.
Garrido’s father, Manuel, blames the transformation in his son on a 1968 motorcycle accident that resulted in a serious head injury. And Phillip Garrido, in a letter seeking a sentence reduction in the Nevada case, said copious amounts of marijuana, LSD, cocaine and prescription drugs were to blame for his sexual misbehavior.
Gregory Sheppard owned a liquor store Garrido frequented during his time in Reno. Sheppard testified at Garrido’s rape trial that the two aspiring musicians would often jam together and take drugs. Sheppard testified that Garrido ingested a lot of different drugs.
“I have seen him taking LSD,” Sheppard said, “pot, cocaine, downers, uppers.”
Medical experts found his problems were too complex to explain so simply. A neurological test ordered before his 1977 rape showed his brain activity to be normal. Every court-authorized mental evaluation concluded Garrido knew right from wrong, though a psychiatrist hired by Garrido’s public defender told the jury that Garrido suffered from deep-rooted sexual obsessions.
Dr. Charles Kuhn testified that Garrido’s heavy drug use exacerbated his sexual deviance and compulsions, including Garrido’s admissions that he exposed himself to young girls and roamed South Lake Tahoe neighborhoods as a Peeping Tom.
“I don’t think the drug is responsible for creating either obsession or the content or quality of the fantasy. I don’t believe the drug did that,” Kuhn testified. “I think the drug permitted it flourish, so to speak, and survive; and ultimately the drug, or the effects of the drug, permitted it to get acted out.”
Kuhn said that Garrido had a marijuana and LSD “dependence” and described Garrido as having an “intelligence somewhat better than average.”
“Without the influence any of this drug involvement, I think Mr. Garrido would pause before carrying out sexual fantasies,” Kuhn testified. “I am describing his inability to use a reasonable degree of self-control or self-discipline when it comes to doing things that are clearly wrong, clearly illegal and clearly self-destructive.”
The federal judge presiding over the trial, relying on another psychiatrist appointed by the court, found Garrido sane enough to stand trial in 1977.
Garrido took the stand in his own defense, but appeared to harm his case more than help it.
Garrido said that “had the advantage of being with many of women, with their will.”
But he also testified that LSD and cocaine acted as sexual stimulants, and that he masturbated frequently and often in public places including the “side of schools, grammar schools and high schools, in my own car while I was watching young females.”
He also told the jury that his parents taught him right from wrong and that “very unfortunately” his parents never used corporal punishment to discipline him.
Dugard’s stepfather, Carl Probyn, said Sunday he does not care what caused Garrido’s problems. “The guy is a sick puppy,” he said. “He’s going to be my pen pal,” if he is convicted and sent to prison.
“I’m going to let him know what his kids are doing, how great they’re doing (without him). I’m going to be their surrogate dad.” ..Source.. by Paul Elias
September 7th, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
CA- Kidnap suspect’s teenage shift to music scene, drug use preceded alleged predatory behavior
MI- Violent cons' release fought
What we have here is, Prosecutors wanting a second shot at the defendant, they want to a quasi-trial all over again. Prosecutors want a way around the laws and Guidelines which were established to govern the system of punishment; they do not agree with the system. Allowing prosecutors a second shot, as it were, circumvents the established system, and is likened to an ex post facto violation....
9-7-2009 Michigan:
State: Those up for parole did their time
Murderers and rapists are being released from prison with little or no input from the people who put them behind bars, say metro Detroit prosecutors, who are leading a fight with the Michigan Department of Corrections over the release of hundreds of violent offenders.
Prosecutors in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties told the Free Press that they have repeatedly tried to get the state to provide a list of convicts being considered for release so they can challenge freeing serious offenders -- but they contend the department isn't cooperating.
A list released by the state was called "largely useless" by Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper because it included only names of inmates and the facilities in which they were housed, not their crimes or the specific dates the parole board expected to interview them.
"I don't know why but they're not being forthright with us," Cooper said.
What prosecutors could decipher is that more than half of the 1,744 felons who were to face the state parole board in June and July were convicted of violent offenses, such as second-degree murder and criminal sexual conduct.
MDOC officials say the prosecutors are unfairly accusing the state of releasing inmates early.
"Every single person the parole board has paroled has served the sentence handed down by the judge," said Russ Marlan, MDOC spokesman.
Public's safety at the heart of legal battle
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper has launched a legal battle against the Michigan Department of Corrections in a feud over which convicts the state plans to release as it tries to save money.
Cooper, who filed a lawsuit earlier this year and last week asked a judge to quickly intervene, is backed by county prosecutors Kym Worthy in Wayne County and Eric Smith in Macomb County -- as well as prosecutors across the state -- who say the MDOC is putting the public's safety at risk by letting some of the most violent offenders back on the streets without giving them a chance to challenge their parole.
The feud is headed to court for a Sept. 16 hearing on the lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court. In her latest filing, Cooper accuses the MDOC of breaking the law by denying two requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act to identify potential parolees. Cooper is asking the court to impose a $500-a-day fine until the state complies.
Worthy said dozens of violent offenders -- murderers and rapists included -- already have been released in Wayne County, with more to come.
"It's been a harrowing nightmare," she said.
Russ Marlan, spokesman for the MDOC, said that the people who are being paroled have served at least their minimum sentences, and in many cases, have served more.
"The prosecutors sign off on these sentences," he said. "Prosecutors are fully aware how long a person will spend in prison."
Marlan said the prosecutors' real beef is with Michigan's sentencing guidelines, a point-based system that provides judges with a sentencing window from as little as probation to as much as life imprisonment, depending on factors such as the crime committed and the suspect's past record.
Those windows are broad, sometimes spanning decades between the minimum and maximum amount of time a person is required to spend behind bars on a conviction.
MDOC officials say they've tried to reach a common ground with the prosecutors, meeting with Worthy as recently as Aug. 26.
"We're trying to iron out the misunderstandings," he said Thursday. "It's the parole board's role in the criminal justice system to decide when someone's safe for parole, and they don't take that decision lightly. For anyone to infer that they're putting people out to save money is offensive."
Dennis Schrantz, the corrections department's deputy director, said a four-hour work session is planned for Thursday to create the data system that prosecutors are requesting. The department has made progress in talks with Worthy, he said, but when MDOC officials tried to smooth things out with Cooper, "she sued us."
"She doesn't want to work things out," he said Saturday.
Prosecutors' quest
Cooper filed a motion Aug. 25 asking Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant to order the MDOC to release monthly updates identifying potential parolees. The filing claims that Cooper's two attempts to get potential parolees' information were illegally denied.
Cooper filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act on May 26 and June 11, requesting the inmate numbers and names of convicts to be interviewed for the rest of 2009. The state first denied the request by saying the records didn't exist, Cooper said.
"And we went: 'Ha, ha, ha -- right,' " she said.
The second, more detailed request was granted in part, though the reply was postmarked four business days later than required by law, the motion states.
That request generated a list released in mid-August that both Cooper and Worthy deemed largely unreadable, requiring both offices to dedicate interns and staffers to try to decipher that information into a spreadsheet. As of Thursday, neither office had completed that work.
Worthy said she managed, through sources she declined to identify, to secure a list of recent parolees from Wayne County.
"I was astounded by what I found," she said. "I found 24 people who had been released for murder in the second degree. I found five people who had been released for child molestation. ... I found people who were the most violent of the violent.
"I was shocked that these were the people they were releasing," Worthy added. "I had no idea."
Worthy said the consequences can be dire: When announcing charges against recent parolee Glen Anthony, the 39-year-old man accused of committing a series of rapes on Detroit's east side, Worthy blasted the MDOC and said Anthony should not have been released from prison.
"That was completely unfair," Marlan said. Anthony had served more than four times the minimum sentence on his latest drug conviction, he said, and he'd previously served 15 years on a 10- to 30-year sentence for second-degree murder.
The most recent conviction, he noted, was on a plea bargain in Macomb County, meaning that prosecutors knew of his prior murder conviction when they agreed to let him plead guilty to avoid trial.
"To say that he was released early is just not true," Marlan said.
'There are going to be mistakes'
The state announced early this year that it would save about $180 million of the annual $2-billion prison budget by accelerating the release of hundreds of prisoners.
Marlan said the MDOC has tried cooperating with county prosecutors, but added that the list of upcoming parole hearings is "very fluid."
The 15-member parole board handles 375 cases a day, he said, and most hearings are set no more than six weeks in advance. Cooper disputes this, saying that the state's database shows hearings scheduled into March 2010.
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor John Pallas, chief of the county's appellate division, said that many of the people paroled have been sufficiently punished.
"There are offenders where inmates have served well beyond their minimum time, and the parole board was right to exercise its discretion," he said. "The cases we're concerned about are ... the criminal sexual assault cases, murder cases, stalking cases, domestic violence cases. They're the violent, dangerous offenders that the MDOC shouldn't be releasing."
He points to Charles Feuquay, sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison in 1997 on a criminal sexual conduct conviction. Cooper learned of Feuquay's granted parole -- which came more than two years shy of his minimum sentence -- and filed a lawsuit protesting his release. Feuquay remains imprisoned, as he awaits the outcome.
"His victim is absolutely terrified of what this man will do if he's released," Cooper said.
Cooper said prosecutors want more information about potential parolees to ensure that they have attended the schooling and counseling imposed by the sentencing judge. If they haven't, the prosecutors can protest at parole hearings in Lansing.
"Because it's an accelerated release, there are going to be mistakes made," she said. "Anybody who does anything in a hurry with a large volume is going to make mistakes. When this kind of mistake is made, it can result in human suffering." ..Source.. by AMBER HUNT, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
CA- GPS Monitoring in Question for Sex Offenders
9-7-2009 California:
EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (KCBS) -- The Phillip Garrido case has brought many issues into question regarding sexual offenders.
And now, several victims' advocacy groups and law enforcement agencies are questioning the practice of using GPS to monitor sex offenders like Garrido.
As a registered offender, Garrido was required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to track his movements.
But East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis said that proved to have no value in deterring him from his alleged crime.
GPS has one single purpose, tracking, and is not meant to be a detterent. In Garrido's case GPS was not installed until 2006, years after he had kidnapped Jaycee. Also, wearing a GPS unit -at home- where he committed further crimes against Jaycee, is useless it is programmed to allow him to walk around his own property area.
"It may show that he's at a house, but it doesn't tell us what's going on inside the house. It doesn't tell us what he's engaged in," Davis said. "It gives us one portion of security, but when you're talking about a predator, then you're talking about multiple aspects of his behavior."
Robert Coombs, a spokesman for the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault said he has many of the same concerns.
"GPS has certain tasks that it's very good at," said Coombs. "Obviously, it's very good at identifying where an offender is, there specific geographic location. But, it doesn't tell us what there doing or who there around and these are important pieces of information that I think a lot of community members don't really realize is not included in that supervisory plan."
Coombs said it's time to rely more on parole and less on gadgets. ..Source.. by KCBS.com
Two CNN videos touching on the Garrido case and other sexual offender issues
For reasons unknown CNN has not titled the videos so that they are descriptive of the actual content, but still the videos make important points worth viewing.
First is Dr. Berlin of the Sexual Disorders Clinic at the John Hopkins University, School of Medicine and Jake Goldenflame a former child molester.
It is important to remember that, as Mr. Goldenflame describes his circumstances, folks need to recognize, that he is not the typical registrant found on registries nationwide. Mr. Goldenflame speaks about his attractions, yet on registries there are many whose offense had nothing to do with attractions as you will see in a minute.
Today registries are bloated and include a wide variety of former offenders, for example, some states include persons who have been convicted of multiple times of public urination, there are those who have mooned folks and yes, juveniles, who were in love and because of the difference in age (months to years) engaged in sex when one turned 18 and it resulted in a sex conviction; hence they are on the registry. So what we have are low level former offenders, and yes a few who have not committed a sex offense at all, all the way up to the Phillip Garrido type of offender, a very wide range of offenses.
Dr. Berlin, in response to CNN questions about castration as a method of reducing recidivism, mentions several critical points the public needs to know. Castration, physical or chemical, is only appropriate in selected cases and should not be viewed as a -fix-all- for all registrants. In fact, as Dr Berlin mentions, if one is castrated, today there are still black market ways to offset the effects of castration and still allow the registrant to commit sex acts.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
OH- Young sex offender will be tutored at Springboro school's expense
9-6-2009 Ohio:
SPRINGBORO — Among students anxious to attend Springboro High School this year is a registered juvenile sex offender.
Rather than allow the student to go to class at the high school, district officials say the boy should continue his education at home with a special tutor at district expense.
“If you’re a registered sex offender, you don’t need to be around other students,” Superintendent David Baker said.
Contrary to their adult counterparts, registered juvenile sex offenders aren’t barred from school grounds. Every school-aged child — no matter their criminal record — is entitled through the Ohio Constitution to a free, public education. However, districts must work out alternatives with parents or guardians for juvenile sex offenders.
The alternatives range from being placed in an alternative school and outpatient counseling in districts like Dayton Public Schools to home-based programs paid for by districts like Springboro.
From July 1, 2008 to June 31, the Ohio Department of Youth Services released 81 sex offenders under 18 years old, according to state records, and Ohio school districts must balance their rights to a public education with the safety of other students and staff.
“Districts have to be very careful about pulling out or segregating students regardless of the intention,” said Scott Blake, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education.
In Springboro, an 18-year-old student who transferred into the Springboro school district last year is being tutored at home by the district in part because of the violence of the student’s crimes, which were committed several years ago, said Superintendent David Baker. This typically cost about $10,000 — about $2,000 more than it would if the student attended regular classes, Baker said.
“Safety is No. 1. Education is No. 2,” Baker said. “You can’t do academics in an unsafe environment.”
Asked about Springboro’s stance, Blake said, “Can the school keep him from enrolling? Not really.”
At Dayton Public Schools, registered juvenile sex offenders start out with 45 days at the Longfellow Alternative School, while the students work with probation and receive outpatient counseling.
“Following that, they are placed in other schools throughout the district,” said spokeswoman Melissa Fowler.
This year five registered juvenile sex offenders are enrolled in the district, Fowler said.
In the Xenia Community Schools, officials might allow a sex offender into regular classes or at The Academy, where classes are held near the juvenile-court complex for kids with special needs. School officials also can suggest a home-based alternative, Superintendent Jeff Lewis said.
The district looks at the crimes committed, the age of the offenders and their potential for graduating, Lewis said.
“There’s the student body and staff at-large you’ve got to be responsible for as well,” he said.
Officials also must be careful to respect the privacy rights of juvenile sexual offenders, Lewis said.
Xenia uses notification procedures developed about 20 years ago in connection with kids with AIDS, Lewis said. “You tell those who need to know.”
Lewis estimated his district typically has two to six registered juvenile sex offenders enrolled. This year, however, there are none.
Wayne Local Schools in Warren County currently have no registered sex offenders, Superintendent Patrick Dubbs said.
Former Superintendent Tom Isaacs recalled one case in his nine years when the district paid $300 a day to transport and educate a sex offender at a school in Cincinnati.
Isaacs now is assistant superintendent for the Warren County Board of Education. Although about half the board’s alternative school students are on probation, Isaacs said sex offenders aren’t enrolled. Special-needs students can attend the “virtual school” offered by the board, he said.
Citing privacy laws, other districts declined to specify the number of sex offenders enrolled in their schools. One such district is Miamisburg City Schools.
“We have on occasion had students return to the district with court-designated offender labels. Like most districts, we look at all the educational options ranging from online programs to attendance in a regular program,” Jennifer Jones, communications Officer for Miamisburg schools, said in emails.
“As a district, we consider lots of factors — most importantly the safety of the general student population, the safety of the returning student, and the safety of staff.” ..Source.. by Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer
Women's role in sex crimes resurfaces as issue
9-6-2009 National:
Charlene Williams of Sacramento lured six teenage girls and four young adults to their deaths as her husband demanded the perfect "sex slave."
Michelle Lyn Michaud, also of Sacramento, customized curling irons to help her boyfriend torture and murder a 22-year-old student abducted from a Pleasanton street.
In Utah, Wanda Eileen Barzee was accused of helping her husband kidnap 14-year old Elizabeth Smart at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City bedroom so that he could secure another "wife."
Now along comes Nancy Garrido of the Bay Area. Like the others, Garrido is accused of teaming up with a male partner — in Garrido's case, her husband of nearly three decades — and allegedly committing unthinkable crimes against other women and children.
The arrests Aug. 27 of Nancy and Phillip Garrido revealed a stunning story about the 1991 kidnapping of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard, snatched off the street near her home in Meyers. Authorities say Jaycee, now 29, had been living for 18 years in the Garridos' backyard near Antioch and is the mother of two children fathered by Phillip Garrido.
While attention focuses on Phillip Garrido's history of sexual assault, his reduced prison term and evasion of parole oversight, the case also raises haunting questions about what role his wife may have played.
Was 54-year-old Nancy Garrido a full-fledged accomplice and co-conspirator, who willingly participated in the crimes?
Was she a victim herself, a woman brainwashed or beaten into submission? Or was she something in between?
"Obviously, this is not normal behavior, unless she's a total sociopath," said Linda Barnard, a Sacramento marriage and family therapist and an expert in so-called "intimate partner battering."
"There's something going on here that will come out," Barnard said.
Accused seen as victims
Barnard has testified in numerous criminal trials in which defense attorneys have sought to minimize their clients' guilt by portraying them as victims, too. In crimes involving male-female partners, she explained, the dominant one often gains power and control by isolating and threatening the other.
Little is known publicly about the middle-aged woman recently seen in court with graying hair and oversized eyeglasses. Phillip Garrido's brother has said Nancy Garrido was "a robot" under her husband's control, and she would "do anything he asked."
She had been certified as a nursing assistant in the state of California from March 1989 until July 1995, when she did not renew her certification, according to a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health. She met her husband-to-be while he was serving a 50-year federal prison term in Leavenworth, Kan., for the 1976 abduction and rape of a Tahoe-area woman.
But Phillip Garrido was out of custody by August 1988, and the two no longer were separated by prison walls.
Jaycee Lee Dugard disappeared on June 10, 1991.
Barnard said sex crimes involving collusion by women are rare and tend to appear in cult-type cases. In 2006, for instance, two Texas women stood accused in Sacramento federal court of molesting their own children under the guise of religious ritual. Earlier this year, cult leader Allen Harrod of Folsom was convicted in that case. One of the women received a 14-year sentence.
Phillip Garrido kept his own religious-themed blog, in which the most recent post announced that "the Creator has given me the ability to speak in the tongue of angels "
Sympathetic jurors unlikely
Whatever Nancy Garrido's story turns out to be, she will not get much sympathy from prospective jurors or the public, Barnard said.
"Even if he brutalized her from day one, she's still not going to get any sympathy, because she's an adult," the therapist said. "And when an adult does not do something to intervene and take care of a child — and it's an adult woman — juries have no sympathy."
Nancy Garrido's court-appointed attorney, Gilbert Maines of Placerville, did not return phone calls from The Bee. But in an interview last week with NBC's "Today" show, Maines said his client "seems to be a little lost." The attorney said he would "pursue every avenue that was available," and that he planned to have his client evaluated to assess her state of mind.
Authorities say Nancy Garrido may have been the one who actually grabbed Jaycee while she headed for her school bus stop near South Lake Tahoe. A drawing of the female suspect seen driving away with the girl resembles photographs of the woman now in custody in El Dorado County.
Her attorney, who said in his televised interview that he had seen his client once, described her as "distraught" and "scared." Both of the Garridos face numerous felony counts that could send them to prison for life. They have pleaded not guilty.
"The question now is, is the prosecution thinking of making a deal?" asked criminal law expert Bennett Gershman, a law professor and former special state prosecutor in New York.
Partners' testimony sought
Gershman said in similar cases , prosecutors often have pressured the wife or girlfriend to testify in exchange for more lenient treatment.
In the courtroom, the outcomes for these women have been mixed.
Charlene Williams of Sacramento was released from prison in 1997 while her serial killer husband, Gerald Gallego, died of cancer in 2002 at a prison hospital in Nevada. Gallego had been sentenced to death after Williams agreed to tell prosecutors the details of their murder spree between 1978 and 1980, which left 10 people dead.
Williams admitted she had trolled for "sex-slave" victims for her husband, luring four of the teenage victims from Sacramento-area malls.
Michelle Lyn Michaud, also of Sacramento, was sentenced to death for her role in the 1997 kidnap, rape and murder of a 22-year-old student. During the trial, defense attorneys portrayed Michaud as a battered woman who would do anything to please her boyfriend, James Daveggio, who also was sentenced to death.
Ironically, Michaud and Daveggio also trolled the Tahoe area and came under scrutiny for Jaycee's kidnapping.
The Utah woman charged along with her husband in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart was found incompetent to stand trial and has been forced to take medication. Last week, a judge set a November date for the competency hearing of Barzee's estranged husband, Brian David Mitchell.
A 'Deal With the Devil'
One noted criminologist said he believes that some female offenders actually have benefited by the persistent notion that women could not possibly be the leaders — especially in a sex crime.
"The court typically throws the book at the man, believing that he was the instigator — that he initiated the attack. So he'll get the death penalty," said Jack Levin, a professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University in Boston.
"His female companion is considered an accomplice who went along for the love of her man. She gets a much lighter sentence."
That view is not always accurate, said Levin, an expert in serial murder and hate crimes.
In one case in Canada, he said, a woman caught up in a rape and murder case involving teenage victims testified against her husband in exchange for leniency.
In a move decried in Canada as the "Deal With the Devil," Karla Homolka got a 12-year sentence in 1993 for manslaughter in the murders of two Ontario teens.
Motivations vary widely
She is now believed to be living in Paris, Levin said. Her former husband, Paul Bernardo, was sentenced to life in prison in Canada, which does not have the death penalty.
But after the deal was struck, Levin said, videotapes showing the rape and torture of the schoolgirls revealed Karla Homolka was a willing participant.
"She was seen enjoying herself and participating fully," he said. "Karla Homolka was just as guilty as her husband."
But women in these types of cases can also fall into the category of being so passive they "just go along with the plan," said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.
He said besides women who are battered or psychologically controlled, some are simply "low-functioning" and dependent on their mates.
"It's not like there's a single profile," he said.
Law professor Gershman said he believes the case against Nancy Garrido ultimately will hinge on the skills of the courtroom attorneys — and the portraits they draw of this woman, who met and married a convicted sex offender.
"It could all come down to a battle of the experts," he said. ..Source.. by Sacramento Bee
CA- Not every sex offender is Phillip Garrido
Sometimes Journalists get the concept right, other times they need to do a bit more research. Here is something for everyone to chew on: Below suggests combining the laws mentioned into one massive law. While that may sound good it ignores the 10th Amendment, states do not have to follow.
However, here is something bigger, see his mention of "Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act," do folks realize that has been repealed by the Adam Walsh Act?
But when was that repealed? Thats the real question, here is what AWA says (NoteL 14071, 14072, and 14073 are "Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (JWA)":Adam Walsh Act:
SEC. 129. REPEAL OF PREDECESSOR SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM.
(a) Repeal- Sections 170101 (42 U.S.C. 14071) and 170102 (42 U.S.C. 14072) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and section 8 of the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 14073), are repealed.
(b) Effective Date- Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, this section shall take effect on the date of the deadline determined in accordance with section 124(a).
SEC. 124. PERIOD FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY JURISDICTIONS.
(a) Deadline- Each jurisdiction shall implement this title before the later of--
(1) 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(2) 1 year after the date on which the software described in section 123 is available.
(b) Extensions- The Attorney General may authorize up to two 1-year extensions of the deadline.
UPDATED: Viewers commented and are likely correct.
Preface:
Congress enacted the Jacob Wettering Act and issued Guidelines. Those Guidelines were for State legislators telling them to conform their laws to the Federal Guidelines. The Federal Guidelines were codified in Title 42 Sections 14071, 14072 and 14073. States then enacted laws to conform. Remember this!
Jump forward in time, the 2006 Adam Walsh (the new law) now says: When a state implements AWA, then immediately, the former Federal law that authorized existing State sex offender laws, no longer authorizes those state laws (Remember, those laws were enacted pursuant to that federal law mow repealed by AWA. i.e., 42 14071, 14072 and 14073 federal codification of Jacob Wettering Act)For some time now, states have been claiming to make changes to their laws based on the requirements of AWA. ex: Ohio, Nevada, and many others. But, in states that have enacted AWA the former state laws are gone, zip zilch, but I have seen folks being prosecuted under those repealed laws.
Further, if a state implemented AWA only to have that implementation declared unconstitutional in federal court. Then how do we read that, there is no sex offender registration in that state at all? Think about it, once a state implements AWA changes, then automatically the former law is repealed (according to AWA). So technically, there is no sex offender registration law there.
So we are left with this question, when are former state sex offender laws repealed: A) When the state implements ANY PORTION of AWA; -OR- B) When the state FULLY implements AWA?
Either way, there are registrants being prosecuted, and possibly under repealed laws.
Finally, given every state had a sex offender registration law implemented under JWA, and every state implemented laws collaterally attached to their version of JWA (i.e., residency laws, proximity laws, etc etc etc.), does AWA repeal them as well?
Anyone, anyone, anyone? Think hard before blowing your top, I have!!!!!!
9-6-2009 California:
As we all know, Phillip Garrido was on the California Sex Offender Registry, but got away with holding Jaycee Lee Dugard hostage for 18 years in a makeshift tent and shed village in his backyard. Although the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees probation officers, and the various police departments involved with this case. A search of Contra Costa county brought up listings for 933 sex offenders, 122 of which list Antioch, California as home. With that many sex offenders in such a small area, each of their yards can't be searched thoroughly and completely for the sake of time.
Laurie Essig said it best in her article "Why harsh sex offender laws made Garrido's crimes easier to commit" when she said "The harsher the laws get, the more people who are caught in the ever-expanding net of offenses, the easier it is for the real child abusers to go undetected," meaning too much law enforcement time is being spent on keeping an eye on streakers, public urinators, and teenagers having consensual sex.
In her article, she quoted a Human Rights Watch report, which read "at least five states required men to register if they were caught visiting prostitutes. At least 13 required it for urinating in public (in two of which, only if a child was present). No fewer than 29 states required registration for teenagers who had consensual sex with another teenager. And 32 states registered flashers and streakers."
The men visiting prostitutes requirement is a little silly. Sure, they're breaking the law. Solicitation of prostitution is a crime. But, I don't think they're sex offenders. Encouraging them to patronize a prostitute would prevent them from trying to force someone to have sex with them later. Urinating in public is not a sex crime; therefore, someone who urinates in public shouldn't be considered a sex offender. Now, if the two states that force you to register as a sex offender if you urinate in public in front of children has Crimes Against Children registries, I would understand, but even then it gets a little hazy.
Five laws exist regarding sex offender registries:
* Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
* Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act
* Jessica Lunsford Act
* Jessica's Law
* Megan's Law
All of these laws should be combined into one to produce one cohesive piece of legislation that would be written into national law.
We need to fight sex offenders smarter, not harder. Reform is needed to clear out the registries, and fill them with real offenders. Each registry should have three sections where you can determine what level of offender you would want to search for, whether it be low, moderate, or high level. Yet, all of them would be looked at the same way because they're called the same thing: sex offender. ..Source.. by Allen Glines
CA- Community Worried Over Transient Sex Offender
This has to be the day for bizarre stories. The claimed problem (actual hysteria caused by politicians and the police) is, somehow this homeless person is considered MORE DANGEROUS than any other registered offender?
It simply makes no sense, here is why: OK, they have no address to go to, to check on him WHEN HE IS SLEEPING (6 hours a day). Well, you have no address to go to, to check on every registered offender WHEN THEY ARE AWAKE (18 hours a day).
Study what they are worried about, for the most part, everything that occurs DURING THE DAY (WHEN ALL RSOs are AWAKE) and you don't know where they are either, at those times. So why does a person become LESS DANGEROUS to the community when the police can check on them -at an address- WHEN THEY ARE SLEEPING?
Someone needs to explain that to me!
9-6-2009 California:
Transients, College Students, Authorities On Edge
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- People may usually think of registered sex offenders as listing their locations at a house or an apartment. But one newly released convicted rapist has registered himself as "transient" and that has the community and authorities on edge.
Kenneth Diablo Smith was the talk of the town Friday for the homeless at St. Vincent de Paul.
"Its dangerous because he's allowed to be around homeless people," said transient Yvonne Evans .
Smith was recently released from prison after serving time for raping a Sacramento woman at knifepoint. A couple days ago he registered as a transient in Kern County.
"Yeah it's not safe especially for women. I'm scared," said Evans.
Evans isn't the only one concerned-- so are authorities.
"We don't know where he's at. He's only going to be checking in with us every 30 days. So in between him coming in and re-registering with us, we have no way of following up with him or doing any surprise visits of that nature," said Sheriff's Sr. Deputy Michael Whorf.
Even though it is legal for Smith to register as a transient, he must re-register every 30 days and list the address of any home he acquires. Until then, he's roaming the streets.
"He could do something to somebody. He could rape another victim because I'm homeless and I stay in some abandoned homes. I don't stay in shelters. I stay in alleys too and there's people who go up and down alleys, can you image a rapist? I'm scared," said Evans.
Evans is also scared for the prostitutes that roam the streets. But authorities say everyone should be cautious, especially in secluded areas such as parks, bike paths, shopping center parking lots, and college campuses.
"I mean its unsafe. That's what I think. This campus is pretty big and spread out. There's a lot of places for something to happen," said Bakersfield College student Jordan Moser.
Back at St. Vincent de Paul, fears continue to escalate.
"Because some of these shelters have children, there's no telling what he's done before you know what I'm saying?" said Evans.
If you see Smith acting suspiciously or in areas he shouldn't be, give the Sheriff's Office a call at 391-7500. ..Source.. by Turnto23.com
MO- Missing Boy Hidden in Grandma's Wall
Is bizarre getting to be normal?
9-6-2009 Missouri:
ST. LOUIS (Sept. 5) - A boy allegedly abducted in a custody dispute nearly two years ago has turned up alive, hiding with his mother in a small, specially built secret room at his grandmother's Illinois home, investigators said.
Richard "Ricky" Chekevdia, who turns 7 on Sept. 14, was in good spirits and physically fit after being found Friday by investigators with a court order to search the two-story rural home in southern Illinois' Franklin County, about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The boy's mother, 30-year-old Shannon Wilfong, is charged with felony child abduction. The grandmother, 51-year-old Diane Dobbs, is charged with aiding and abetting. Wilfong remained jailed Saturday on $42,500 bond in Benton, Ill., where Dobbs was being held on $1,000 bond. The women did not have attorneys listed Saturday in online court records.
The boy was staying Saturday with one of his father's relatives while state child-welfare workers investigated claims the father abused the child before his disappearance — allegations rejected by the dad, who's thrilled the agonizing search has ended.
"Two years? You have no idea," Mike Chekevdia, a 48-year-old former police officer who's a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois National Guard, told The Associated Press by telephone Saturday from his house in Royalton, Ill., some three miles from the home where his son turned up. "I've lost sleep. I've lost weight. I've gained weight. I wouldn't wish this on anybody."
After hearing his son had been found, Chekevdia said, "you could have knocked me over with a feather."
Chekevdia won temporary custody of his son shortly before the boy and his mother — Chekevdia's former girlfriend — disappeared in November 2007. Chekevdia said he long suspected his son was being stowed by Dobbs, although there were no signs of the boy at her home when it was searched with her consent after his disappearance. Wilfong was charged in December 2007 with abducting the boy but couldn't be found.
For much of the time since, Chekevdia said, the windows of Dobbs' home were blocked off by drawn shades or other items, presumably to prevent anyone from peeking inside.
"I had a firm belief he was in there, and yesterday it was confirmed," Chekevdia said.
Investigators, during a news conference Friday, did not detail what led sheriff's deputies and federal marshals with a search warrant to Dobbs' house Friday, when they found the boy and his mother in a hideaway roughly 5 feet by 12 feet and about the height of a washing machine.
"We let him out of the (patrol) car and he ran around like he'd never seen outdoors. It was actually very sad," Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Stan Diggs said. "He was very happy to be outside. He said he never goes outside."
"Surprisingly," Diggs added, "Ricky is in very good spirits. For someone who's been isolated in that house with no other outside beings, he's a very social, very polite, very talkative little boy."
Dobbs, the grandmother, told the Southern Illinoisan newspaper of Carbondale, Ill., last year that her daughter had been forced into hiding to keep the child from his father. Dobbs called the custody dispute a "nightmare for all of us."
Chekevdia, eager to get his son back in school and to a dentist, said waiting for Ricky to resurface required patience.
"It's hard to sit back and watch things happen when you're used to making things happen," said Chekevdia, a gung-ho military officer who served in Iraq earlier this decade. "But I just bided my time and let the system work." ..Source.. by JIM SUHR
NE- Nebraska Supreme Court hears sex offender registration appeal
A very interesting case and needs to be followed.
9-6-2009 Nebraska:
The Nebraska Supreme Court is considering whether former Lincoln strip club owner John Ways Jr. must register as a sex offender, despite the fact the time limit on his original order to do so expired while he was in prison.
Ways, 43, went to prison in 1996 for pandering after setting up a sexual liaison between a 16-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man.
He was in prison when the state's Sex Offender Registration Act requiring anyone convicted of certain offenses to register took effect in January 1997, but he did not register upon his June 1998 release. A judge would rule later that he must for 10 years.
In 2001, the state filed a request to determine whether Ways' conviction fit the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act. Ways argued it did not, because he had served part of his sentence before the law went into effect.
A judge ruled against him, and Ways appealed. In 2003, the appeals court ruled against him.
By May 15, 2003, Ways was in federal custody for possession of an explosive device and wasn't released until July 28, 2008.
Again, he did not register. In December, Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte said that his federal probation officer told Ways he didn't think he had to register because his original order required him to do so only until July 24, 2008.
While Ways was in prison, the Nebraska Legislature changed the law so the time a person is not in compliance or is incarcerated stops the clock on the length of time he or she has to register.
That prompted prosecutors to charge Ways Oct. 29 with violating the act. Ways turned himself in, and, as part of a plea agreement, the state dismissed the charge.
But in December, Otte said Ways must register until at least April 9, 2014. He also ordered Ways to serve 54 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine for contempt of court. Ways pleaded no contest to the contempt charge, served the time and paid the fine.
On Friday, Ways' attorney, James Beckmann, said during oral arguments before the Nebraska Supreme Court that the state had no right to come after him years after the original order and offense.
Beckmann said it is highly unusual -- in fact, he said he'd never heard of it in another case -- for a judge to put an end date on the registration requirement. But because now-retired Lancaster County District Judge Bernard McGinn did so, Beckmann said, Ways is off the hook and should not be required to re-register.
The Nebraska Attorney General's Office argued the state has the authority to order him to do so regardless of the original order.
The high court heard arguments and will rule at a later time. ..Source.. by Journal Star
OH- What our Esme's death has taught us
I cannot find words to express the sorrow I feel for this family, this is a terrible terrible crime. Creator, please grant them all of their needs.
9-6-2009 Ohio:
Since our daughter Esme was killed six months ago Monday, we've had the unfortunate opportunity to take a hard look at the disorganized patchwork of policies that failed to keep a psychopathic killer out of the woods near our home. In our search for answers as to how this could have happened and how it can be avoided in the future, we have learned a whole new vocabulary and seen the enormous challenges facing Ohio's criminal justice system. From our perspective, we'd like to see a common-sense approach to crafting an integrated set of criminal justice policies, perhaps based on the common principles of good parenting.
Know whom you're dealing with.
At a fundamental level, parenting is about risk assessment - knowing how much you can trust children at each point in their development. The criminal justice system also needs to be based on thorough risk assessments at every stage; decision-makers must take everything known about an offender into account when determining how far to trust them. Crucially, this assessment must remain independent of the offender's conviction - after all, prosecutors often cut deals during trials, forming an incomplete picture, which can undermine a realistic risk appraisal.
Be flexible when called for.
What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for the other - some measure of flexibility must be built into the system to deal with individual offenders. The phrase "truth in sentencing" makes a great campaign slogan; however, evidence shows that this rigid approach has caused the number of inmates to increase drastically, while incentives for inmates to genuinely participate in rehabilitation programs while incarcerated has disappeared. This alarming trend needs to change. "Indeterminate sentencing," which Ohio had until 1996, allows for more information, flexibility and discretion in determining the unique risks posed by each offender, while also providing incentives for pro-social behavior.
Be firm when needed.
Every parent also knows that sometimes you've got to stick to your guns when punishment is called for. It seems so common-sense to say, but if someone gets a seven-to-25-year sentence for a violent crime, they should serve at least seven years. Otherwise, why assign that number? A policy that combines common sense and logic, while preserving judicial and parole board flexibility, seems possible and necessary. Also, other states have instituted civil-commitment procedures for individuals deemed too dangerous to readmit into society. Ohio needs to evaluate this option.
Don't cry wolf.
The term "sex offender" is frightening, and rightly so. However, if it is applied too broadly it loses meaning and impact, and creates too large a group for law enforcement to monitor in any realistic way. Incentives are key. Every parent knows that rewards for good behavior are sometimes the only thing that can motivate a child. Similarly, indeterminate sentencing and community corrections provide behavioral tools that encourage offenders to reorient themselves into positive patterns.
We're all on the same team.
We all want to create a safe, productive society. However, there are hard realities society must accept. New offenders will continue to offend. Most people who are incarcerated get out of prison, and some will commit new crimes. No law will ever completely solve these problems. On Friday, we met with Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican state Sen. Bill Seitz. Both are committed to enacting sensible, coherent criminal justice policy this fall. Our public safety depends on crafting effective, integrated, evidence-based criminal justice policies. We owe our children that much. ..Source.. by Tom and Lisa Kenney
NV- NEVADA PAROLE OFFICERS: Sex offenders get more scrutiny
Oh yes, don't forget to check for HIDDEN SPACES in the WALLS to...
9-6-2009 Nevada:
Governor says system's failure in California provides lesson
CARSON CITY -- Parole officers in Nevada these days are taking more time to check out the backyards of the sex offenders they supervise.
Gov. Jim Gibbons said the abject failure of the parole system in California to find kidnapped and imprisoned Jaycee Lee Dugard for 18 years provides a lesson from which all parole officers can learn.
Gibbons said he wants to assure people 'that our officers are checking things they may have bypassed in the past."
Mark Woods, deputy director of the state Division of Parole and Probation, said his officers always have closely checked residences of sex offenders. Now they are being more thorough, even viewing satellite images of sex offenders' residences on the Google Earth Web site.
A backyard shed and tents at Phillip Garrido's Antioch, Calif., home is where the convicted sex offender is alleged to have imprisoned Jaycee and two girls he is believed to have fathered. Google Earth images showed the shed and tents, although the parole officers who regularly visited the 58-year-old's home never found the girls.
Neighbors even had called local police and told them Garrido, a former Reno resident who did time in a Nevada prison, was a pervert who had children playing in his backyard.
Though officials are promising vigilance, the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation has not always been up to its task. A legislative audit released in March 2008 found parole officers 31 percent of the time failed to meet the twice-monthly requirement of visiting with sex offenders.
In about half the cases, officers were not taking DNA samples from sex offenders as the law required. In some cases, their initial visits were made six months after offenders were released from prison.
John Gonska, then parole and probation director, told legislators he had been prevented from filling 50 parole officer vacancies because of a hiring freeze ordered by Gibbons. His 198 officers were supposed to supervise 18,000 parolees. He resigned shortly after release of the audit, which concluded "public safety is at risk" because parolees were not properly supervised.
Those problems have been fixed, Woods said.
There are now 263 officers on the job and 18 vacancies will be filled if needed in coming months.
Woods added that the agency now meets the requirement of having one parole officer supervising no more than 45 sex offenders.
Nevada parole officers now work in two-member teams when they visit the residences of the 1,117 sex offenders they supervise, Woods said. Most paroled sex offenders live in apartments, he added, but some live on rural ranches.
Working in pairs is safer for the officers, and the extra pair of eyes is helpful, he added.
But sometimes all the due diligence in the world isn't going to stop a sex offender or any other determined parolee from committing new crimes, he said.
Woods remembers when he was a young parole officer visiting a drug offender's home in Sparks.
"I had been there many times," he said. "One day I felt the floor move. I pulled back the rug and there was a trap door where he had dug out a basement. He hid his drugs there. It was sheer luck that I found it."
NO GUARANTEES
Gibbons concedes he cannot guarantee a Jaycee Dugard case won't happen here.
"Even if there was one parole officer assigned to one sex offender, you can't guarantee nothing bad ever will happen," Gibbons said.
But he wants Nevada to gain a reputation as a living hell for sex offenders.
The Dugard case is one of the reasons the governor said he will back legislation, if he wins re-election, to increase sentences for sex offenders and toughen release requirements to ensure they're properly supervised.
"They are going to feel if they are living in Nevada they might as well be living in jail," Gibbons said.
Garrido had been convicted in 1977 for kidnapping and sexually assaulting Katherine Callaway, then 25. She had given him a ride outside a South Lake Tahoe, Calif., market after he said his car broke down.
After conning Callaway into giving him a ride, Garrido handcuffed her and drove to a mini-warehouse in Reno where he had set up a virtual sex den, complete with pornographic magazines and a film projector.
A police officer, checking an open door at the warehouse, caught and arrested him.
At his federal proceedings, Garrido contended he lost his reasoning when under the influence of LSD. He said he would drive through Reno neighborhoods and past schools looking for young girls. He said he would expose himself.
Garrido was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison on interstate kidnapping and sexual assault charges.
He served 11 years in federal prison before he won parole and was returned to Nevada to serve his state sentence of five years to life, which was running concurrently to his federal sentence, on charges relating to the same crime.
Because the sentences ran concurrently, he immediately was eligible for parole in Nevada. He served seven months before he was released from a Nevada prison into federal parole supervision.
At the time, state Parole Commission members rated him as a "moderate" risk to re-offend. Garrido then moved to Antioch, east of San Francisco, where his mother lived.
Callaway, now Katherine Hall and living in Las Vegas, told CNN's Larry King in an interview that she moved to Las Vegas because she feared Garrido would find her, even though she was never certain he was a free man. She said she thought she once saw him come into Caesars Tahoe, where she was working.
An Associated Press report Friday said he also had been arrested in 1972 on suspicion of drugging and raping a 14-year-old girl in Antioch. The girl refused to testify.
Though Woods won't fault his counterparts in California, he can't understand why Dugard was not found for 18 years. Jaycee was 11 when she was kidnapped in 1991 from a school bus stop in South Lake Tahoe.
Daniel Burns, Gibbons' communications director, said there is "no way" the state Parole Commission today would release a sex offender like Garrido after he served just seven months. Better assessment procedures and truth-in-sentencing laws that have recently been enacted would have prevented such a scenario.
TRACKING OFFENDERS
Today there are 14,040 sex offenders living in Nevada, including 1,660 whose whereabouts are unknown to police, according to the state Department of Public Safety. They have not obeyed requirements to register and give their addresses, Woods said. But he stressed those offenders are not required to be supervised by parole officers.
Of the total, 205 have been rated as "Tier 3" offenders, or those with a high risk of reoffending.
Woods said his agency tracks all 1,117 sex offenders who must submit to supervision as part of their sentences.
Most of the other 13,000 are those who have completed all provisions of their sentences, or are not required to be supervised.
With the exception of a few cases, Woods said his division knows where every sex offender parolee requiring supervision is living.
Nonetheless, according to state statistics, 89 sex offenders have given false information about their addresses or places of business, and 453 simply never registered when they left prison or moved to Nevada. Again, according to Woods, these are offenders who are not required to be supervised by parole officers.
Woods said his agency is notified in advance when a sex offender from another state who requires supervision is scheduled to move to Nevada.
If the offender doesn't show up at the agreed time, officials begin looking for him.
Woods said he realizes some sex offenders are very sophisticated and look for ways to repeat their crimes and to avoid detection.
That requires officers to be vigilant.
"Having worked the streets for many years, I know we do a pretty thorough job," Woods said. "I feel confident." ..Source.. by LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Barnidge: Dugard case pinpoints need for better communication among law enforcement agencies
Just so folks know a commentary is coming on this article on Sunday afternoon. Why? Because I disagree with the journalist who generally is super on his facts, but this time I disagree. Stop back for my thoughts....
9-6-2009 California:
THE SORDID TALE of Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping, rape and imprisonment for 18 years is the story that launched a thousand newscasts. Less than two weeks after the news first broke, disbelief continues to mingle with outrage.
As one lurid aspect of the case piled atop another and the profile of suspect Phillip Garrido unfolded, you could feel the emotional temperature of the community rising to a full boil. And because public fervor and knee-jerk reaction often are catalysts for new legislation, it's a safe bet that some legislator already is contemplating a bill that addresses the horrors exposed in the case.
It was a similar case, the rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994, that precipitated Megan's Law, which gave the public access to information on registered sex offenders.
The rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in 2005 led to the enactment of Jessica's Law, which in California requires newly registered sex offenders to wear GPS tracking devices and prohibits them from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks.
The kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas by career felon Richard Allen Davis in 1993 provided the impetus for California's adoption of the Three Strikes Law.
So what comes next? Do we need Jaycee's Law?
"No," said U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello, as quickly as the question was posed. "I'm comfortable with the laws and sentencing we have in place. We don't need any knee-jerk legislation."
He doesn't have to look far for supporting views.
"I'm not a fan of more legislation in the criminal law area," said Professor Rory Little of UC Berkeley's Hastings College of the Law. "To me, this case looks like two things: a failure of investigation and failure of detection.
"A guy kidnapped a girl, and nobody caught him. And he hid her in his backyard for years, and nobody caught him. My guess is that a lot of people saw something odd was happening and didn't pursue government intervention. You can't legislate that."
New legislation often serves as a convenient salve for the sudden revelation of heinous crimes. If the old law has a loophole, write a new law to close it. And another after that, if needed. Politicians raise their hands and constituents applaud, but solutions seldom come that easily.
Suzanne Brown-McBride, executive director of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, explains that no law is perfect.
"When you look at the Dugard case, neither GPS tracking nor residency restrictions would have made any level of difference," she said. "Garrido was on GPS, and he didn't violate — he was at home where he theoretically was supposed to be. And he wasn't subject to residency laws. But even if he had been, his property was compliant with the requirements."
Some legislation actually results in as many negatives as positives.
GPS tracking and residency restrictions have not necessarily increased community safety, Brown-McBride said.
"For instance, the number of transient offenders — those who are registered in the system but homeless — has gone up over a hundredfold. And the information we've gotten from GPS has come at the cost of massive investment. ... to track the 6,000 or 7,000 people in California ... costs $65 million a year."
More important than new legislation, she said, is better communication and collaboration among law enforcement agencies. In other words, when a Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy was called to Garrido's house in 2006 to investigate a neighbor's complaint, he should have known beforehand that Garrido was a registered sex offender.
Another crying need, Brown-McBride said, is a means of categorizing sex offenders. Some are more dangerous, and they should be tracked more closely. ("The high-risk offenders have a high propensity for repeat offenses," she said.) Public awareness can be far more effective than legislation.
"The problem," said Little, "is people see cases like this and instead of addressing the nuances of why this wasn't detected earlier, they want to write a law that hammers the criminal and anybody who possibly could be put in this category."
That shouldn't be a concern this time. If Garrido is found guilty, you can bet he'll get the biggest hammer the justice system can wield. ..Source.. by Tom Barnidge, Contra Costa Times columnist
In Their Words: Cracking computer crimes
9-6-2009 National:
'Digital CSI' sleuth nabs Web, cell and other high-tech criminals
If you're thinking about doing something illegal on your personal computer, think again — and don't.
Guys such as Daniel Bien can seize your PC or cell phone to find the evidence to convict you. Bien is an investigator for the Computer Crimes Unit of the state police in Middletown.
The terrorists who hijacked the planes on 9/11 planned and communicated by e-mail and cell phones. After the attack, the state police expanded CCU to each troop in the state. We monitor Web sites for extremist activities involving jihadists, militia groups and white supremacists. We also investigate people who are suspected of terrorism against facilities like abortion clinics, and those who may be involved in any number of white-collar crimes. Now, how do we do that?
First, if our investigation shows probable cause, our unit obtains a search warrant to seize all the computers and cell phones in the suspect's place of residence or business, and off the suspect's person, as well. These days, there is a very fuzzy line between PDAs, smartphones and computers.
My partners and I are trained to forensically extract information that may be used in a court of law. We have techniques to open any file and find evidence without compromising the integrity of the data. We must ensure that a computer-savvy defense attorney cannot suggest in court that a CCU officer "planted" or "tampered" with evidence in a PC or phone.
We are involved in every type case, including homicides. If there's a question of who was the last person to talk to a certain murder victim on his or her cell or e-mailed the victim on a PC, we can find and extract that information. We have been able to recover a lot of deleted files that were thought to be gone forever. Think of us as digital CSI.
More than half of our time and caseload is involved in Internet-based child pornography cases. I can't emphasize how prevalent these types of crimes are.
I've recovered videos and digital photos that are very disturbing. I'm talking about children as young as three or four who are raped, or forced to engage in oral sex and pose in sexually explicit positions for the camera. And what makes this all the more insidious is the fact that seemingly ordinary, decent people have been arrested for their online activities involving children. Among those arrested and convicted have been people in law enforcement, politics and even the clergy.
Recently, CCU investigators were deputized as U.S. marshals to assist in federal investigations, the most recent being the arrests of 11 upper New York men who used the Internet to entice children for sexual purposes. This was a resounding victory for Capt.Frank Pace and his ICAC task force (Internet Crimes Against Children). I was proud to be a part of that operation.
A growing problem: Teen 'sexting'
Coupled with child pornography is this new fad called "sexting." The majority of kids across the country carry cell phones to school, and it's not uncommon for students to send each other nude photos of themselves. A boy might say to his girlfriend, "If you really 'love' me, you'll send me a naked photo of yourself." What she doesn't realize is that when she does take that photo, as soon as she presses the "send" button, she has automatically committed a felony and the boyfriend has committed a felony for possessing it.
Regarding sexting, we don't arbitrarily seize students' cell phones, and our goal is not so much to arrest these kids or have them labeled as sex offenders. We are simply trying to stop this behavior. Parent involvement is the key here.
Work and play both demanding
The job is hard and demanding. And sometimes it can be dangerous, too. When we execute search warrants or make arrests, the team always wears bulletproof vests and, of course, we're always armed. Criminals, especially those involved in the exploitation of children, sometimes feel they have nothing to lose once the police show up on their doorstep.
They do desperate and foolish things, thinking that their "life is over."
I try to divide my time between my career and my family while continuing to serve in the Army National Guard. I am a command sergeant major. I also did a tour of duty in Iraq.
Even though I love both jobs, some downtime is always appreciated. Last month, I was in the "Tour de Goshen." It's a fundraiser by cycling enthusiasts, and I am definitely one of those. I rode 62 miles that day in 90-degree heat, but that's the way I like to unwind.
Come Monday morning, I'll be recharged and ready to follow the electronic trail of some very bad people. ..Source.. by Sheldon Scruggs (Sheldon Scruggs profiles people in unique professions and odd jobs. He can be reached at sscruggs@th-record.com. In Their Words appears Sundays.)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Sarah Tofte: America's flawed sex offender laws
9-5-2009 United Kingdom:
The Jaycee Dugard case illustrates how America's sex offender registries hurt efforts to stop repeat sex crimes
Americans have been doing some soul-searching about our approach to monitoring convicted sex offenders since the recent discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard. Dugard was kidnapped in California at age 11 and held captive for 18 years in Phillip Garrido's garden. He managed to hide his secret prisoner from the police even though he was a convicted rapist and his name appeared on the public sex offender registry.
In the past, news of a horrific crime committed by a convicted sex offender inevitably led to widespread calls for increasing the scope of sex offender registration and community notification laws. Over the past 15 years, the US has expanded its registration and notification schemes to include an estimated 674,000 convicted sex offenders. Some remain on the public list for the rest of their lives, regardless of the seriousness of their offence, the current threat they might pose or their progress toward rehabilitation. The effectiveness of such laws has rarely been questioned, and they enjoy widespread public support.
But this time around, there has been a different type of discussion. Rather than just calling for tougher sex offender monitoring laws, Americans are openly wondering if a new approach is needed to deal with convicted sex offenders who have re-entered the community.
Although Garrido's case is extraordinary, it illustrates the flaws in America's sex offender registration and community notification schemes. Experts in sexual violence say that placing all convicted sex offenders on a registry for life may do more harm than good. The public nature of the registry makes it nearly impossible for convicted sex offenders to re-enter the community with the kind of support system they need to reduce their likelihood of committing another offence. Low-level offenders who pose little risk to the community are monitored in the same way as high-risk offenders, diluting police resources to concentrate on those, such as Garrido, who pose a high risk of committing another offence.
Furthermore, focusing so much public attention and resources on convicted sex offenders ignores the reality of sexual violence in the United States. It is estimated that 87% of new sex crimes every year are committed by individuals without a prior sex crime conviction. And very few sex crimes move through the system – less than one-third of all reported rapes result in an arrest.
So pouring scarce resources into monitoring all convicted offenders means there is less money for programmes to prevent sexual violence and counsel victims and for the rape investigation units, rape evidence testing and other tools that could bring justice in these cases.
Because of such concerns, Human Rights Watch called in a 2007 report for a major revamping of America's sex offender laws. Registration should be limited to former offenders who have been individually assessed as dangerous, and only for as long as they pose a significant risk. Community notification should be restricted to those who genuinely can benefit from knowledge about dangerous former offenders in their midst.
Sex offender registration and community notification laws didn't cause Garrido's crimes, but they didn't help the police stop them, either. While Americans are starting to question the value of our extensive sex offender monitoring system, it remains to be seen whether these doubts will lead to real reform.
Once sex offender laws are in place, it is hard for politicians to repeal them, because they don't want to appear weak on the issue of sex offenders. If Britain wants to do more to prevent sexual violence, it should keep its sex offender registry narrowly focused, and use the savings in time, energy and resources to implement sexual violence prevention policies that will actually keep the public safe. ..Source.. by Sarah Tofte
CO- Could a Phillip Garrido happen in Colorado?
Amazing, every single thing mentioned in this article, that Colorado would do to reveal conduct and acts like occurred with Phillip Garrido, was done in California by their officials (Parole and local police) and still the conduct slipped through. What makes Colorado DOC think it is superior to the same folks in California, whatever it is, is not mentioned in this article. Phillip Garrido is an anomaly, nothing like him before in history, and somewhere in the future there will be someone else, maybe not the same facts, but it will occur. Colorado, if your head is in the sand, a Garrido will definitely make you look bad.
UPDATE: Possibly some don't realize that, Garrido is still -up to the point of his arrest- under state and federal supervision. When he was paroled from his federal crime (kidnapping) he was put on LIFE SUPERVISION, and sent to Nevada to resolve their holds on him. When he got to Nevada they realized he was finished with his state punishment (rape) they then paroled him too. Garrido moved back to California and both Nevada and the Fed trasnferred supervion to California DOC. In 2006 when Jessica's law was enacted in California, thats when a GPS unit was attached to him (none before this time). So, at very least he will go back to prison for the rest of his life, either through Nevada or the Feds. The feds really have priority w/50 year sentence.
9-5-2009 Colorado:
Not likely, say corrections officials.
There are roughly 10,000 sex offenders in Colorado, watched by police detectives and parole officers and parents living down the street.
But how closely are they looking?
If an offender in Colorado kept a woman captive in his backyard for nearly two decades — as convicted rapist Phillip Garrido is accused of doing in California — would authorities know?
The officials most closely involved in sex-offender management in Colorado say yes, because of a comprehensive set of regulations that make Colorado among the most aggressive states in the nation for sex-offender supervision.
"Using the tools that we use, I feel pretty comfortable that if an offender was out there engaging in misbehavior, that we would be able to detect that behavior," said Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky, the manager of the sex-offender unit in the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice.
Colorado's management of the most dangerous offenders subscribes to a "containment model." Such a model — which was developed in part through the work of Colorado researchers — focuses on treatment of offenders, close supervision by authorities, coordination between counselors and officials, and lie-detector tests for offenders to keep them honest.
"The team approach really helps," said Jeff Geist, the Department of Corrections' representative on the state's sex-offender management board.
Offenders on parole or probation are subject to unannounced at-home visits by officers — as many as two a month for the most dangerous offenders — as well as additional face-to-face meetings. Parole officers have the authority to search every corner of an offender's home, Geist said, and a visit can last as long as an hour while officers hunt for evidence that an offender is even thinking of re-offending.
"We'll look to see if there's any evidence there have been kids there, or if there's something that doesn't belong," Geist said. "A children's toy in the backyard or a children's DVD, that would be a red flag we'd look at."
An offender also might be tracked by satellite. And at regular intervals — typically once every six months — the offender must take a polygraph test so that authorities can spot lies.
Such methods are gaining acceptance nationwide but are not yet universal. Polygraph exams, for instance, are still in their nascence in California, according to state reports there.
"Colorado has always been in the forefront nationally" with its sex-offender programs and supervision model, said Chris Rowe, who coordinates sex-offender programs for the state's Division of Probation Services.
That supervision model is labor-intensive. Department of Corrections guidelines say parole officers who specialize in sex-offender cases should have a caseload of only 26 parolees, less than half of a typical officer's caseload.
Geist acknowledges that sex-offender caseloads can't always be kept that low, though he said they don't climb drastically above the recommended levels.
The model also doesn't cover all of the state's sex offenders. There are roughly 3,000 offenders who are either on probation or parole and subject to the more rigorous supervision, according to state statistics. The remaining registered offenders in the community are monitored only by local law-enforcement agencies through the basic sex-offender registry.
In Arapahoe County, for instance, investigators make visits to offenders' homes to verify that they live there and to sniff out suspicious behavior. But those investigators can't search an offender's house without permission, said Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
He said public vigilance — aided by the county's online registry — helps too. "That's been a pretty effective tool."
Rowe, though, cautioned that public vigilance shouldn't be confined only to the names on a list.
"It's important for the community to know that it's not the person we're supervising who's the risk," Rowe said. "It's the person we're not supervising who's the risk." ..Source.. by John Ingold
VA- Some prisoners elibible for parole held longer than guidelines suggest
9-5-2009 Virginia:
Some 706 parole-eligible inmates are being been held longer in Virginia prisons, at $24,332 each per year, than recommended under the current no-parole sentencing guidelines.
In a report to the General Assembly on Tuesday, the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission also found that as of the end of last year, there were 575 prison inmates eligible for geriatric release.
However, the report also found that of the parole-eligible inmates still in prison, 88 percent were convicted of violent crimes and nearly 80 percent have not yet served longer than stipulated under the sentencing guidelines.
Inmates who committed crimes before Jan. 1, 1995, are eligible for parole. Those who committed crimes on or after that date are not -- they are sentenced under guidelines based, in part, on the terms actually served by inmates under the old parole system.
Inmates and advocates have complained that because of low parole grant rates, many parole-eligible inmates are being held in prison longer than if they had been sentenced under what are widely perceived to be the tougher, nonparole guidelines.
Jean Auldridge, president of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants-Virginia, said the report "gives us hard data that shows a significant number of prisoners have served longer than the recommendations in the sentencing guidelines."
She said her group had suspected as much and had been urging such a study.
But Helen Fahey, the parole board chairwoman, assisted in the study and said the findings were not surprising.
She said judges sentence within the guidelines in 80 percent of all cases, but when judges impose sentences tougher than recommended by the guidelines, the reasons they give are similar to the concerns of the parole board when it considers releases, she said.
State Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, a lawyer, said that when an attorney reached a plea deal with prosecutors under the old parole law, everyone had an idea of how long someone actually would serve for a given sentence. Ten years might really mean three, he said.
But, he added, when parole ended for new crimes and the parole board's grant rate remained low, there was some concern some of the "old law" inmates "were serving a lot more time than anybody ever intended."
"What the study was looking at was how many people were serving more had they pled under the sentencing guidelines," said Albo, vice chairman of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
State Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax and co-chair of the Virginia State Crime Commission, said a primary reason for seeking the study is "to save every dime we can, consistent with public safety." The state's budget crisis has had officials consider, among other things, the early release of some nonviolent offenders.
Howell said yesterday that she only has skimmed the report and said it will be studied closely by lawmakers.
The study found 3,735 inmates among the state's roughly 38,000 prisoners who are serving time only for parole-eligible crimes (some are in prison under both oldand new-law sentences). The commission was able to assign sentencing-guideline scores to 3,341 of them.
However, the commission report said that not all of the relevant factors could be taken into account. "For offenders serving an unusually long period of time in prison, there may be one or more aggravating circumstances not addressed by the guidelines," the report says.
For example, of the 80 parole-eligible drug offenders serving longer terms than would be required now, three out of four already had been revoked from parole at least once, and one-third had two or more parole revocations.
Other factors that could not be considered in the study included inmate behavior behind bars, victim input, or other crimes for which there are no sentencing guidelines.
Of the 706 parole-eligible inmates held longer than recommended under current guidelines, 58 were given life sentences; seven had two or more life sentences; 10 were sentenced to at least 100 years; and 10 have not reached their earliest parole eligibility date and so cannot yet be considered for parole.
Almost 300 of the 706 had served less than five years longer than guideline-recommended sentences; 246 had served five to 10 years; 125 more than 10 years; and 12 more than 20 years.
The geriatric-release provision was enacted as part of the 1994 reforms that included the end of parole and the creation of the guidelines. An inmate convicted of a noncapital felony who is at least 60 and has served 10 years; or 65, having served five years; is eligible.
However, Fahey said, "they are almost all violent criminals -- they're predominantly murderers and sex offenders. . . . They're not in there for stealing cars or writing bad checks." ..Source.. by Frank Green
