12-31-2009 National:
Twenty-four percent of teenage girls have a sexually transmitted infection according to research published in the November issue of Pediatrics. How is it that our children can be so ignorant about sexual health or fail to act on what they know?
A recent study also published in Pediatrics gives us some insight into that question. We talk too little and too late about sex. Forty percent of teens have sexual relations before we’ve had any meaningful discussion with them about sexuality, pregnancy and health.
This is not a surprise to most parents. Talking about sex with our children feels uncomfortable, both for them and for us. We avoid topics that are embarrassing. We worry that perhaps we’ll say the wrong thing, or give too little or too much information. We are uneasy that we may be asked personal questions about our own sexual behavior or history. Do we really want to discuss with our kids our first sexual partner or how often we have sex with our spouse?
Our avoidance of these topics leaves our kids ignorant and vulnerable. Some kids will search the Internet for information, and acquire all kinds of myths about their sexual development. Even when kids know what to do, they don’t do what they know. Among sexually active teens, 53 percent of boys and two-thirds of the girls reported that condoms are not always used in sexual intercourse.
We avoid discussing many other important topics with our children, such as death, divorce, suicide or sexual abuse. Our intentions are good. We want to protect them and not overwhelm them with adult issues. We are fearful of making a mistake and causing problems rather than eliminating anxiety.
We don’t tell them about our health problems or issues with our spouse. We warn them about “stranger danger,” but the greatest risk of sexual abuse comes not from an unfamiliar person but trusted relatives and friends. How can you discuss those issues with your kids without scaring them about all relationships?
I’m amazed by how much kids know about family secrets, including their parents’ marital problems and infidelities. I can certainly understand why these would not be dinner topics of conversations. However, kids know just enough about this stuff to leave them suspicious, angry and anxious.
For parents who have been able to engage their kids in discussions of sensitive issues, the impact has been incredibly beneficial on their relationship. When parents are open, direct and honest about tough issues, kids respond by allowing parents entrance into their own private worlds. This results in a kind of emotional intimacy that really connects parents and kids.
This sounds great, but how parents accomplish this? Part two of this series will address that question. ..Source.. Gregory Ramey, Contributing Writer
December 31, 2009
Not having the sex talk will only put kids at risk
Tougher law is sought on sex offenders
12-31-2009 New York:
Dec. 31--Efforts to eliminate "weak parts" in the state's civil confinement law that have allowed paroled sex offenders, including 100-year-old Theodore A. Sypnier, to remain free were unveiled Wednesday by state lawmakers.
A proposed amendment to the 2007 legislation would automatically require repeat sex offenders to receive a psychiatric examination before they are considered for release from prison, according to Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, who addressed a news conference in downtown Buffalo.
I find it interesting that, this lawmaker, wants a psych exam, when it is well known that sex offenders are not considered mentally ill! So, the purpose of a psych exam is just another hoop for offenders to jump through? Or, isn't it more likely that, since it is well known that no one will put their name on a psych exam, for fear that the offender will reoffend, that, such will stop the offender from being released?
In addition, the state's Office of Mental Health would no longer have exclusive authority on petitioning the state attorney general's office to pursue court action to confine an individual for as long as life, if the examiners believe it is necessary.
The revisions were prompted after Hoyt and fellow lawmakers read Buffalo News reports indicating Sypnier planned to establish relationships with several of his great-grandchildren he never met.
Other newspaper stories quoted Sypnier's grown daughter and a teenage girl describing how he sexually attacked them as children. They spoke on the condition that it might help in making a case to halt Sypnier's release.
Hoyt said the amendment, if approved in the upcoming legislative session that starts in about two weeks, would not be retroactive to include Sypnier.
Sypnier, who has three sex offense convictions involving children, was released Nov. 6 from prison after serving 15 months on a parole violation for failure to attend classes that provide counseling to sex offenders.
He told The News that he saw no need to attend the classes and wanted to hire a lawyer to fight the remainder of his parole, which concludes in May 2012.
"Civil Confinement was enacted to protect the public from sex offenders who are unable to control their behaviors," Hoyt said. "If Ted Sypnier does not qualify for civil confinement, then we have to re-examine this law and make some changes."
Citing statistics that indicate individuals with sex offense convictions are being released back into society who shouldn't be, Hoyt said that in the first year of the legislation, 1,603 cases were referred to the Office of Mental Health with only 173 of those individuals undergoing psychiatric evaluations. Of that number, 139 were referred to the state attorney general for court proceedings in an attempt to confine them or place them on intensive parole -- an alternative under the confinement law.
Sypnier was never evaluated by a psychiatric examiner, according to information received by the lawmakers.
At present, there are believed to be about 200 sex offenders who have finished their prison terms and are confined at secure state psychiatric hospitals because they have mental abnormalities that make it likely they will reoffend.
State Sen. William T. Stachowski represents the part of Buffalo's East Side where Sypnier currently lives in a halfway house.
"Mr. Sypnier's release into society clearly indicates that our civil confinement system needs to be fine-tuned at least when we consider the potential for a repeat offender to commit these horrendous acts time and again," said Stachowski, D-Lake View.
Also on hand was Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Niagara Falls. ..Source.. The Buffalo News
Prosecutors weigh reforms to state sex offender registry
12-31-2009 Michigan:
Michigan's overly broad sex offender list includes some kids younger than 13
LANSING — Anthony Flores doesn’t fit the profile of the card-carrying ACLU member agitating for reform of Michigan’s broadly inclusive sex offender registry, because he isn’t.
He was a prosecutor for a dozen years through the summer of 2005, holding a variety of front-line criminal-pursuing positions in both Mecosta and Ingham counties.
More recently, he’s worn a different hat. At this month’s meeting of the Coalition for a Useful Registry in one of the committee rooms of the state Capitol on Dec. 2, Flores, chairman of the group’s professional advisory board, announced he’ll be leaving his position at the end of the year.
But that doesn’t mean that his determination for reforming the state’s sex offender registry is relaxing — or that his time as a prosecutor doesn’t continue to inform his views.
“I was a career prosecutor, I loved prosecution,” he said in a recent interview.
When he worked in the Ingham County prosecutor’s office, Flores said he handled just about every kind of criminal case that came through the courtroom doors — “everything except appeals and child support cases.” In 2001, he was made chief of the unit responsible for prosecuting the state’s criminal sexual conduct laws, the division responsible for child molestation cases. “I zealously prosecuted child molesters. I make no bones about it,” he said.
“It was one of the things that gave me longevity in my career,” he added. And he explained that the experience gave him a unique perspective on all sorts of criminal behavior, the victims of crimes and perpetrators both. “I could understand somebody caught in the cycle of drug addiction. I could understand being angry because you caught your wife cheating and you strike out in violence, I understood the behavior,” he said. But there was some behavior he couldn’t understand.
“I could never understand why anyone would beat or molest a child,” he said.
Over the past four years, Flores has taught full-time at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, leading courses on trial skills among others. But reflecting on his time as a prosecutor in the CSC unit in Lansing convinced him that state laws are forcing too many people on to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry — especially those convicted of having consensual but underage sex — and not allowing the public to use the online registry to actually identify predatory child molesters nearby.
“When I started looking at it, I got offended,” he said. “At some level, it really insulted the victims of these really heinous offenders when you lump them all in.”
With more than 45,100 names and faces on it, Michigan’s public sex offender registry has the third-highest percentage of its citizens on it of any state registry, and the second largest number of offenders overall. It went online in 1999, and has been amended several times since then, usually to add more requirements for registrants to follow such as housing restrictions or mandatory quarterly address updates, which are then listed on each offender’s unwanted webpage.
Flores would like to see it amended again, but this time to add new requirements that all juveniles accused of committing criminal sexual conduct — from severe first-degree cases to less serious fourth-degree charges — be professionally evaluated prior to sentencing them to, on top of other penalties, a minimum 25-years on the online registry. Currently, all CSC convictions include 25-years on the registry.
“The juvenile system has always been meant for rehabilitation,” he said. “We shouldn’t just knee jerk put them on the registration.”
Flores notes that most people would be surprised to learn that there are registrants as young as 13, and a few even younger than that. Flores said that he’d also like to see judges given “the discretion and tools to put the right people on” after receiving thorough pre-sentencing evaluations.
In an interview with Michigan Messenger, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy disagreed with Flores’ give-judges-more-discretion view. “No, I don’t think that judges should be making that call,” she said. But Worthy did suggest she’s open to other reforms that people like Flores’ also support.
She noted that a 2004 amendment to the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act does allow some juvenile offenders age 17 to 21 stay clear of the registry and have their convictions expunged if they complete the terms of their probation. “That’s a good thing,” Worthy said. But she points out that there’s a three-year time limit on offenders’ ability to petition to have their name removed from the registry — a limit she’d like to see lifted.
Referring to a legislative proposal from her office this year, the prosecutor with the state’s busiest office sought an “indefinite” time limit. “In other words, there would be no time period,” she said.
While that would-be reform has yet to find a sponsor, the earlier 2004 reform wasn’t retroactive — although a recent appeals court decision may open the door to revisiting hundreds of cases adjudicated before the new petitioning process was established.
Worthy, a former Wayne County judge as well as an assistant prosecutor for a dozen years before that, cites what she calls a “fairness issue” in so-called Romeo and Juliet criminal sexual conduct cases.
“I don’t think it’s fair to have them be on the sexual offender registry forever because of that. If it’s a non consensual situation, of course that’s a different story,” she said. “But that shouldn’t be something that people are settled with especially when an awful lot of people did it when they were that age and there was no such law.”
She added: “Let me just say we’re not condoning teenage sex at all. We’re just saying it shouldn’t be criminalized and you shouldn’t have a permanent record because of it.”
Flores agreed with that but went further by suggesting that too often prosecutors don’t really have the discretion to decide against prosecuting underage, consensual sex crimes, citing the intense pressure that can come from parents — or even political pressure to avoid appearing too lenient. “Sometimes we don’t have prosecutorial discretion. Sometimes the parents demand prosecution.”
Worthy, however, disagreed. “The prosecutors absolutely have discretion, and it may be a hard decision to make, just because the parents are yelling for the boy to be charged because their previously quote-unquote innocent daughter has been violated by this boy. [But] it doesn’t mean that we don’t have discretion. We still have the absolute discretion not to charge it.”
Flores’ fellow agitator for comprehensive reform of the state’s sex offender laws, Van Buren County Circuit Judge William C. Buhl, noted that while prosecutors may technically have the discretion not to prosecute a Romeo and Juliet relationship, the political reality usually demands such prosecutions.
“Kym Worthy is right,” Buhl said in an interview. “The prosecutor can do that. But she knows full well that politically it’s not a popular thing, and somebody’s gonna come out and beat you over the head with it. They’re gonna accuse you of being soft on sex crimes or favoring child molesters, and of course under the law, if they’re under 16, they’re children and they can’t consent.”
In the end, there’s probably an age-old philosophical debate over different ideas on reforming the state’s sex offender laws — or not. On that count, Worthy very much fits the profile of the tough crime-fighter.
“I have to say as a prosecutor, I have more compassion for the victims. We have parents of defendants and defendants themselves who certainly feel that they’ve been violated,” she said. But turning to what she called “the hell that some of these victims have to live with for the rest of their life because they were victims,” she added: “The defendant chose to be a defendant. The victim did not choose to be a victim. Their lives are sometimes ruined and changed forever. So I have to say that my compassion is really for the victims of these crimes.”
Flores, asked to respond to Worthy’s view, snapped back at even the suggestion that he has any less compassion for victims of crime.
“No. I have compassion for the scars that are left and the victimization,” he said. “I have so much compassion that I don’t want to insult them by putting their case next to something that’s not like it. I don’t want to put them in a sex offender registration that doesn’t mean anything.
Flores added: “I don’t disagree with her. I just think we’ve done it the wrong way.” ..Source.. David Alire Garcia
Judge blocks part of new Neb. sex offender law
I take exception to two comments made by this judge, they are:12-31-2009 Nebraska:
"By and large, Nebraska has only done what Congress (and the Attorney General of the United States pursuant to a delegation from Congress) permitted or required. p-1" -and-
"In a democracy, we have legislatures to make public policy choices, and a black robe does not legitimize nullification of those legislative decisions simply because I find them dumb or distasteful. p-18"
The first, which is repeated elsewhere in the decision, because it implies that Congress is a sort of, god and can do no wrong. History proves, through a long list of unconstitutional laws enacted by Congress, that Congress is not a god and has far too often exceeded its constitutional boundaries when enacting laws (Here Congress has said "AWA Guidelines are a floor not a ceiling" such gives states the right to exceede the Congressional will, and they have done so here).
The second because it is the job of the judiciary to interpret the constitution and place limits on Congress and state legislatures when they have exceed their constitutional boundaries, and to declare an enactment unconstitutional when it is so; here the judge already believes two State provisions are unconstitutional by blocking them from enforcement.
It is this writer's belief that, this judge has not taken all "rights" into consideration, at this point in this case. It appears the judge has divided up the plaintiffs into two groups, those under some sort of state supervision, and those not under any supervision and have completed their sentences.
While I do not disagree with his decision as to the later group, I do disagree with his decision as to those under supervision. Effectively, he has said, because they are under supervision they have no constitutional rights; I strongly disagree.
There are many cases which have declared -supervision constraints on constitutional rights- to be unconstitutional. i.e, First and Fourth Amendment rights. Hopefully the Plaintiff's lawyer will seek a rehearing as to these folks and their rights.
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked portions of Nebraska's new sex offender registry law, including provisions that sought to monitor convicted sex offenders' computer usage and prevent them from visiting certain Web sites.
Judge Richard Kopf did leave most of the law intact, saying it came close to meeting criteria set for the state by Congress.
Kopf said lawmakers may have gone too far in two areas _ both provisions that weren't required under the federal legislation. Those provisions prohibit sex offenders from using social networking sites used by children, like MySpace and Facebook. They also require sex offenders have hardware or software installed on their computers and other electronic communication devices to monitor their activities and to consent to such searches.
Convicted sex offenders who have completed their criminal sentences and are not on probation, parole or court-ordered supervision won't be subject to those provisions, according to Kopf's ruling, which granted a limited preliminary injunction.
A phone message left Wednesday night for Stu Dornan, an attorney who sued earlier this month to challenge the revised law's constitutionality, wasn't immediately returned.
Attorney General Jon Bruning issued a statement saying he's pleased most of the changes to the law will move forward.
"These bills were designed to protect children and today's ruling is good news for the parents and children of Nebraska," he said.
The rest of the law will take effect Friday, including changes that will make public information about all sex offenders and not just those considered high-risk, as has been the state's practice.
The case stems from a federal lawsuit Dornan filed Dec. 16 on behalf of 20 sex offenders, their relatives and employers. It sought to stop the law from taking effect.
Dornan argued the new law would allow for retroactive criminal punishment, amount to double jeopardy, permit unreasonable searches and seizures, and violate the rights to due process and free speech.
Kopf emphasized in his ruling that federal courts have consistently upheld state sex offender registry legislation amid constitutional challenges.
"Bluntly put, I am unwilling to allow this suit to become a backhanded way of neutering (the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act,)" he wrote.
Nebraska lawmakers changed the law earlier this year, saying the revision was needed to comply with federal legislation passed in 2006. That legislation said that if Nebraska and other states don't publicly register all people convicted of sexual offenses and make other adjustments, they could lose out on federal grant dollars for local law enforcement.
At least 30 states have passed legislation in an effort to comply with the law and many others are studying it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. ..Source.. JEAN ORTIZ
Court keeps convicted fondler off sex offender list
12-31-2009 Maryland:
A Montgomery County man convicted of fondling an 11-year-old girl and then violating his probation won't be forced to sign up as a sex offender, Maryland's Court of Special Appeals has ruled.
My Thien Nguyen, 41, pleaded guilty to assault and a sex offense in 2006, admitting that he had intentionally touched the private parts of an 11-year-old girl, court records show.
Nguyen was sentence to 18 months in prison, but Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Dugan Jr. limited his prison term to the three months Nguyen had already served and gave him three years probation, court records show.
State law allowed Dugan to decide whether Nguyen was required to sign up for the state's public database of registered sex offenders.
Dugan ruled that Nguyen did not have to register because he had no recorded history of similar crimes and was considered a "low-risk" sex offender by a clinician who had performed a psychological evaluation, according to court records.
The clinician's evaluation came with the caveat that "one should not assume [Nguyen] will not re-offend given the length of time he's struggled with his sexual behaviors," court records show.
A year after he was sentenced, Nguyen was back in court. Dugan revoked the probation because Nguyen had failed to report to his probation officer or complete sex offender and alcohol treatment sessions.
Dugan also said Nguyen needed to be on the sex offender registry so that the public can see where he lives and can "at least ... protect their children," court records show.
But Nguyen's attorney argued that his client shouldn't have to register for the sex offender list because Dugan had not mentioned registration might be imposed if Nguyen violated his probation.
The Court of Special Appeals agreed, noting that being on the sex offender registry can "adversely affect" defendants who are looking for jobs and housing, and reversed Dugan's order on Tuesday.
The decision comes in the midst of a debate in Maryland over the toughness of its sex offender laws, sparked by the Christmas discovery of a dead 11-year-old Salisbury girl who police say was abducted by a registered sex offender.
Sen. Nancy Jacobs, R-Harford County, said Nguyen's case is "another perfect example" of why state laws need to be strengthened, including mandating that people convicted of sex crimes against children be required to register for the sex offender list. ..Source.. Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
Sarah Foxwell update: Thomas Leggs Jr. denies child’s murder, more victims, and rape of teenager
12-31-2009 Maryland:
Sarah Foxwell was kidnapped from her Salisbury, Maryland bedroom on Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Her body was found on Christmas day, an autopsy revealed that she had suffered multiple injuries. Now, the man accused of kidnapping her, Thomas Leggs Jr., denies that he murdered the child.
The two-state registered sex offender is sparking discussion of lapse sex offender laws statewide as information surfaces regarding his previous crimes. Thomas Leggs Jr., was convicted of raping a 16 year old girl in Delaware. He met the young victim while she walked along the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk and raped her there. How could a man who had raped a girl in 2000 be free to kidnap Sarah Foxwell only 9 years later?
Public Defender for Thomas Leggs Jr., Arch McFadden insists that his client is innocent of all wrong doing and is not connected to Sarah Foxwell’s kidnapping and murder. Thomas Leggs Jr. was arrested after a juvenile witnessed him in the bedroom with Sarah.
Though a registered sex-offender in Maryland and Delaware, he had dated Sarah Foxwell’s aunt, Amy Fothergill. Fothergill had legal custody of Sarah and her younger sister. Authorities state that Leggs knew where a spare key was kept and believe that he used that key to enter the residence and abduct Sarah. He was charged with kidnapping and burglary on December 23, 2009 and has been described by authorities as uncooperative with their investigation.
The Wicomico County State Attorney, Davis Ruark addressed the possibility of more victims as well. "I have reason to believe there are other victims out there who have not come forward before.” He said that authorities have received information about adult victims as well.
Davis Ruark also stated that additional charges will be filed against Thomas Leggs Jr. within a month. They are waiting for the autopsy report to be finalized so that they may charge Leggs accordingly.
A funeral service will be held for Sarah Haley Foxwell on January 2, 2010 at the Emmanuel Wesleyan Church at 142 Shamrock Drive Salisbury, Maryland 21804-4619. The service will begin at 11:00 a.m.
Many have given anonymous donations to the Holloway Funeral Home in memory of Sarah. ..Source.. Charisse Van Horn
Fla. child abuse deaths rise in bad economy
12-31-2009 Florida:
FORT LAUDERDALE — About 200 children were fatally abused in Florida in 2008, a roughly 20 percent increase from 2007. Unemployment rates and drug use also increased in the state — a factor in many of the deaths, according to a preliminary report.
The number of kids fatally abused who had involvement with the state child welfare agency also increased 20 percent, the State Child Abuse Death Review Committee determined in a report obtained by The Associated Press. In 2008, 79 children were killed who had some type of involvement with the Department of Children and Families in the past five years, compared with 66 children who died in 2007.
It marks a return to 2006 levels, when 76 kids who had DCF contact died.
"The numbers should be a call for careful scrutiny and accountability, especially when so many of the children were already known to the department or the hotline," said Andrea Moore, child advocate and Broward County attorney who represents foster children.
The investigation verified 198 child abuse deaths in 2008 and six deaths from previous years that weren't verified until 2008. That's an increase from 163 child deaths in 2007 and 170 in 2006.
Florida has one of the highest per-capita rates of child deaths reported to the state abuse hotline in the country, partly because its figures count such events as car accidents, drownings and suicides, which aren't included in most other states.
Twelve of the children died while in foster care, the Department of Children and Families said. Eighty-six percent of the deaths could have been prevented by a state agency like DCF or a caretaker. Seven percent were not preventable, according to the report.
But DCF officials said most of the children came into state custody as a result of abuse or with a pre-existing illness that led to their death, not because they were abused while in state care.
"The more I know about child abuse and domestic violence the more convinced I am that the roots are in substance abuse and mental health," DCF Secretary George Sheldon told The Associated Press. The agency has begun focusing more resources on treating those problems in adults and educating caseworkers on recognizing the symptoms.
Experts say the sour economy also contributed to the problem. Florida's unemployment rate jumped from 4.1 percent to 6.2 percent in 2008, accounting for the loss of about 339,600 jobs.
Unemployed men between 18-30 who watch the children while the mother is at work are the most common abusers, according to the report. Crying, toilet training and feeding are the most common triggers of physical abuse in young children.
"The fact that many of these males are unattached, non-biological fathers contributes to their inability to cope with crying and they very often lack appropriate knowledge of child development and parenting skills," the report says.
Many of the men also have criminal records and histories of substance abuse and domestic violence.
Among the deaths was a 3-month old boy who was thrown out a car window by his mother's irate boyfriend in Tampa in May. Jasmine Bedwell told caseworkers Richard McTear Jr. beat her on two occasions and threatened to harm her son. DCF determined caseworkers didn't take the threats seriously because she promised to get an injunction against him.
Sheldon said he's troubled by an increase in the number of violent child deaths, especially shaken baby deaths. He gets an e-mail alert on his Blackberry every time there's a report of a child dying from abuse.
The number of traumatic injuries increased from 45 physical abuse deaths in 2007 to 59 deaths in 2008.
About 465 deaths were reported to the Florida Abuse Hotline in 2008. Of those, 201 were verified as child abuse or neglect, according to the report.
The report comes after a newspaper investigation showed thousands of calls to the hotline each month aren't forwarded for investigation. Agency records show DCF screened out allegations of physical or sexual abuse, medical neglect and inadequate supervision of very young children. Calls from judges, social workers, school counselors and hospital workers are among those that have gone without investigation, according to The Miami Herald.
DCF has said they would review referrals from the hotline to prevention workers within 24 hours among other changes. ..Source.. KELLI KENNEDY
Who's clicking on your kids?
12-31-2009 National:
___ loves taking photos of her three young children and sharing them with family and close friends. But the South Charlotte mom won't post them on Facebook or other social networks. She's afraid.
“I'm kind of paranoid posting photos of them,” said 33-year-old ___, a former Bank of America employee turned stay-at-home mom. “I don't want to give up our privacy.”
___, a mom of two boys who owns a Charlotte cleaning service, also refuses to put her children's pictures out there for public perusal.
“My fears are based largely on watching too many news programs like ‘To Catch a Predator' or even fictional dramas like ‘Law and Order SVU,'” Wills confessed. “I know child predators lurk all over the Internet and I don't want to put my kids in harm's way.
“Keeping that info private is just one more level of protection, kind of like not putting their names on the backs of their T-shirts or book bags.”
While neither ___ nor ___ has experienced problems with online photos, they know others who have. ___ recalls a disgruntled neighbor who found a photo of the neighborhood president and her sons on a Web site and made a poster disparaging her. “It was creepy,” ___ said.
And there are other stories from around the country. ___, a mother of two and professional photographer, had an awful run-in with the dark side of the Internet. Someone had created a fake profile on a Brazil Web site using headshots of ___'s 4-year-old daughter. The site gave her a fake name and a relationship status that said she was interested in making friends and dating men. The site deleted the profile after ___ complained.
Such is the stuff of parents' nightmares in the social networking age, when Facebook is rapidly taking the place of the baby book. Young parents are flooding photo-sharing and social networking sites – Snapfish, Twitter, YouTube, even Match.com – with images of their children dancing, singing and bathing.
Not everyone is sure that all that sharing is such a good idea. Several groups on Facebook rail against people posting children's photos. On Parenting.com, the editor, Susan Kane, says the debate “is constantly going on.” And on blogs, school listservs and at kitchen tables, the argument flares: should young children's photos be shared online?
Just consider these recent postings on MomsCharlotte.com, the Observer's Web site for parents:
“I wouldn't post pictures of seminaked kids or anything that would reveal too much; i.e. a picture in which my home address or car license tag is on display.”
“I so rarely put photos online, it's not really been an issue. I don't see much harm in posting photos, really ... I realize cyber-pervs are out there lurking, but merely showing my or my kids' faces online shouldn't be cause for panic.”
“I post mine on Facebook but I'm starting to get weirded out by that. I've seen pics of friends' friends' friends and I don't like the idea of the kids faces being out there in cyberspace.”
Haphazard rules
Like other parental debates – whether to spank or when to let children travel alone – the issue tends to divide parents into two familiar camps: the vigilant and the laissez-faire. Some parents want to protect their children from what is unlikely but still tragically possible. Others say children will do best when learning to live with the realities of the Web.
Squashed in the middle are parents who impose their own haphazard rules: Only post on password-protected sites. Leave out names. Yes to Flickr, no to YouTube. And for heaven's sake, no bathtub photos.
___, a west Charlotte mom of a 1-year-old, says it's no big deal posting photos of her son online, as long as they aren't of him naked or show revealing details on where they live.
“I am just another random person among millions in my online life, same as I am in real life, and merely having my or my family's faces posted online should not be cause for alarm,” ___ said.
Other parents see a case of dangerously mixed messages: How can you teach a child not to share private information if you post a picture of him wearing his baseball uniform – with the town name – as your profile photo on Facebook?
Seeing ‘techno-panic'
Parental fears about sexual predators are misplaced, experts on online safety say.
“Research shows that there is virtually no risk of pedophiles coming to get kids because they found them online,” said Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute. While the debate makes this crime seem common, he said, all the talk is really just “techno-panic.” Professor David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, says TV shows like the “Dateline NBC” program “To Catch a Predator” have falsely inflated the danger of the Internet.
“There is this characterization of pedophiles using the Internet as an L.L. Bean catalog, but this is not the way it happens,” he said. Predators are much more likely to look in chat rooms or other sites, he said, where teenagers are suggesting that they may be open to a sexual relationship.
The real danger is that a photo is appropriated and mistreated.
___, a blogger from Westminster, Colo., discovered a young woman on MySpace passing off pictures of her baby as her own. “It turns out she had faked a pregnancy online and needed a baby to show for it,” ___ said. ..Source.. Staff and News Reports
December 30, 2009
Maryland Sex Offender Denies Killing Kidnapped Girl
12-30-2009 Maryland:
SALISBURY, Md. — An attorney for a man charged in the disappearance of an 11-year-old Maryland girl says his client denies harming the child.
Authorities say Sarah Haley Foxwell was abducted from her home last week. Her body was found in the woods on Christmas Day after a search that involved thousands of volunteers.
Registered sex offender Thomas Leggs Jr. was charged with kidnapping and burglary a day after the child was reported missing.
His public defender says Leggs "has denied and continues to deny any involvement in this crime."
The 30-year-old is being held without bond. Police say he is being separated from other inmates. ..Source.. FoxNews.com
Decision denies access to sex offender treatment
12-30-2009 New Zealand:
Corrections decision denies access to sex offender treatment
“The Department of Corrections decision to employ its own clinical psychologist in Nelson, forcing the Nelson Sex Offenders Programme to close, flies in the face of government’s recent announcement about tackling justice sector fragmentation”, says Kim Workman, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment.” He was commenting on an announcement to that effect (Nelson Mail, 29 December 2009)
“That decision not only denies access to group therapy for Corrections clients. It denies treatment to CYFS and community referrals, or from people who self-refer. Earlier this month, the Minister of Justice, Simon Power, promised that the government’s ‘Drivers of Crime” strategy would focus on improving outcomes by tackling fragmentation, ensuring ministerial and chief executive co-ordination of justice sector agencies, improving value for money, and improving the relationship between government and the community. This decision flies in the face of that.”
“Earlier this year, the NZ Taskforce on Sexual Violence proposed setting up of a community based programme which was to be available to Corrections clients, and also to people referred from within the community who had committed sexual offences but who had not been before the courts. These people are sometimes referred to as non mandated offenders as there is no court sentence mandating their attendance at the treatment programme.”
“New Zealand crime survey statistics show that only 9% of victims of sexual violence report it to the Police.”
“If the nation wants to achieve a long term reduction in sexual violence there has to be options to address sexual violence for the offenders who commit the 91% of the sex crimes not reported to the Police. We are starting to see in some areas of New Zealand, increasing confidence in the community about referring sexual abusers to community treatment organisations, knowing that they will not be subject to criminal prosecution. This is particularly so in the case of family sexual abuse.”
“Currently there is no funding stream for treatment of non mandated people who have sexually offended against adults. That is also a matter that the Ministry of Justice needs to address.” ..Source..
Treating Sex Offenders
12-30-2009 Utah:
All individuals sentenced to prison for a sex offense - both new commitments and parole violators - will receive a treatability assessment from a member of the Sex Offender Treatment Team. The offender's name and the results of the assessment will then be placed on the Department's Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) tracking list.
Offenders who pass the assessment will be listed as being eligible for the SOTP when their name comes up on the priority list. Offenders are placed into treatment based on the following factors: availability of a treatment slot, level 3 privilege classification or higher, amenability to treatment, and a priority classification from the Board of Pardons indicating that the offender would likely parole if satisfactory progress is made in treatment.
Not all offenders who have committed a sex offense will be eligible for SOTP. Some possible reasons for exclusion from treatment may include, but are not limited to: no possibility of parole, poor motivation, violating institutional rules, the offender does not want treatment, disciplinary measures and write ups, test results that suggest incompatibility with treatment.
Offenders who are eligible for SOTP and 1) fail to successfully participate in treatment 2) refuse to participate 3) remove themselves from treatment, or 4) are removed by staff from treatment may lose a parole date.
The SOTP is designed to last a maximum of 18 months. Upon being accepted into SOTP, the offender will participate in a 30-day evaluation to determine treatment needs. The offender will begin SOTP after the evaluations are complete and the SOTP treatment team determines the inmate is an appropriate candidate for treatment. SOTP is based on best-practice principles. The SOTP is best described as Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy with a strong relapse-prevention component. Therapy consists of group psychotherapy, psycho-educational classes, homework and therapeutic activities with other offenders in treatment. The therapy is based on the offender's skill level. All therapists providing treatment to offenders are mental-health professionals with specialty training in Sex Offender Treatment.
The main component of Sex Offender treatment occurs at the Special Services Dormitory. This facility houses up to 135 residents. Completion of the program varies from nine to 18 months. ..Source.. Utah Dep't of Correction
Sexual predator law came with price
12-30-2009 Kansas:
State lawmakers have shown no enthusiasm for building a proposed $42.5 million, 90-bed expansion of the state's Sexual Predator Treatment Program at Larned State Hospital. And no wonder — with a $300 million-plus hole in the next state budget, spending even a dollar more on sex offenders seems like a really bad idea.
In an election year, it also would be politically awkward to slash state funding for public schools, social services and prisons yet build nice new digs for sexual predators.
"If the money is not there to do it, then it is not there to do it," said state Rep. Bob Grant, D-Cherokee, when the House-Senate Building Committee recently heard the proposal from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
"If we have $42 million, it would not be in my top priority list to put it into that kind of a program," said Rep. Jerry Williams, D-Chanute, echoing experts' doubts that sexual predators can be treated effectively at all.
The problem is that the Larned program — effective or not, budget shortfall or not — is the state's responsibility and cannot be neglected indefinitely without consequences.
As it is, there have been reports in recent years of understaffing and poor conditions at the facility, and concerns that the costs of the sexual predator unit could undercut the hospital's ability to care for severely mentally ill patients elsewhere on its campus. Keeping a predator in such a program can cost four times more than keeping him in prison, and very few of those committed are ever released.
Legislators of 2010 face this costly problem because of a 1994 law inspired by the rape and murder of a Pittsburg State University student by Donald Ray Gideon, who was on parole after serving prison time for another rape.
Meant for sex offenders who have finished their prison time and been deemed a threat to society and civilly committed, the law also passed constitutional muster on a 5-4 vote in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997, back when there were nine individuals in the Larned program. When then-Attorney General Carla Stovall successfully defended the law again before the high court in 2001, the program held 70 predators.
With 189 in the program now and predictions that it will hit its 214 capacity by 2012, the program's benefits and sustainability are questionable. Lawmakers who see nothing wrong with civil commitment for the worst sex offenders need to accept that doing so comes with a price. Or if locking up predators is the priority, at least drop the "treatment" pretense and do so with longer prison sentences. ..Editorial.. by Rhonda Holman
December 29, 2009
Idaho Supreme Court overturns no-contact order
12-29-2009 Idaho:
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Idaho Supreme Court has reversed a district court order banning a convicted sex offender from being within 100 feet of any minor, including his two young children.
The justices were asked to reconsider a similar decision reached by the Idaho Court of Appeals, which ruled in December 2008 that the order imposed on Brian C. Cobler went too far and violated his parental rights.
The case marked the first time the appeals court had ruled on whether a no-contact order violated a right to parent.
The Idaho Attorney General asked for the review by the Supreme Court. The justices ruled the lower court abused its discretion and was not consistent in denying Cobler's motion to modify the protection order.
The order also prevented Cobler from contacting his children by letters, phone calls and e-mails. ..Source.. ABC6.com
Senate takes up measure to jam cell phones in prisons
The Senate Bill is S-251 -and- the related House Bill is HR-560 and here is the Senate Report 111-079 - SAFE PRISONS COMMUNICATION ACT OF 200912-29-2009 National:
WASHINGTON The man calling Texas state Sen. John Whitmire could recite the names, ages and addresses of Whitmires daughters. The lawmaker was terrified: The caller was Richard Tabler , a two-time convicted murderer calling from death row.
On Wednesday, Whitmire pleaded with the Senate Commerce Committee to back legislation allowing technology in prisons that would “jam” cell phone transmissions. The October incident made it clear that current techniques for finding and confiscating prisoners cell phones dont work, he said.
When Whitmire began to investigate how the inmate got a cell phone in prison, Tabler threatened to have him killed.
If the contraband cell phones are left in place, they said, they can be wiretapped to get valuable information.
Wireless industry representatives, however, are concerned jamming technology would work too well, blocking legitimate cell phone calls or calls to 911 from those who live near prisons and arent incarcerated.
Senators routinely expressed support for the bill in the hearing, with Sen. Mark Begich , D- Alaska , signing on as a co-sponsor. With the addition of Begich, the Senate bill has eight co-sponsors, including Sens. Barbara Mikulski , D- Md. and Joe Lieberman , I-Conn.
The Senate panel is considering a bill sponsored by its top Republican, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas , which would allow cell phone jamming technology in prisons. The Federal Communications Commission has been barred from blocking any kind of radio signal since 1934.
Two new items will be added to the bill next week, Hutchison said, that will address concerns raised by the wireless industry advocates. One would require prisons to get approval from the FCC before using the jamming devices, and the other would require the devices to be tested before being put to use.
“The states clearly have a responsibility” to address the cell phone problem, said Hutchison, “but we have a responsibility as well.”
“My family was in danger, as well as all the citizens of the state of Texas ,” Whitmire said. “I cant stress to you how serious a public safety issue I think this is. We need this additional tool.”
With a cell phone, an inmates can organize an uprising inside the prison, plot an escape, or conspire to kill witnesses set to testify against them, law enforcement officials said, adding that the problem is growing. Also, traditional methods of finding cell phones random searches, sniffing dogs and body orifice scanners are expensive and dont always work.
Wireless industry advocates, however, are skeptical that prisons could properly install the technology so it wont interfere with legitimate calls. Inmates have been smuggling letters in and out of prisons for decades, noted Richard Mirgon , the president-elect of the International Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials in Carson City, Nev.
Rep. Kevin Brady , R- Texas , has introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives , and prison officials in 26 states have signed a petition to allow cell phone jamming.
Cell phone jamming is “not a panacea,” and new technology that locates cell phones would be a better solution, added Steve Largent , a former Oklahoma congressman and the president of CTIA, a wireless industry advocacy group whose clients include Verizon , T-Mobile , and AT&T .
“We dont believe (jamming) is effective,” he said. “Some inmate with an engineering background, or who is just plain creative, will find a way around this.”
The numbers are growing. Last year California prison officials said they confiscated over 2,800 cell phones, more than double from the year before, said Gary D. Maynard , the secretary of Marylands Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services .
The phones are usually smuggled in by corrupt guards, thrown over prison walls, or hidden in packages shipped into the prison, said John M. Moriarty , Inspector General for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice .
Commentary: Jamming cell phones in prison
The phones can net smugglers big bucks Tabler, the death row inmate who threatened Whitmire, paid $2,100 for his. They can also be used by multiple inmates. The cell phone Tabler used logged over 2,800 phone calls the month before it was discovered and was used by nine death row inmates. ..Source..
Maine sex offender first in US to be committed by federal court
2-13-2009 Maine:
A Maine man with a history of sexual assaults on teenage boys was ordered held by a federal judge yesterday as a sexually dangerous person, making him the first person in the country to be successfully committed by a federal court, according to US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan's office.
Jeffrey Shields, a 47-year-old from Bath, was committed under the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, the first law that allows federal commitment for sexually dangerous offenders. US Judge Patti B. Saris issued her ruling after a 10-day trial in September that showed Shields had groped teenage boys on multiple occasions and that he had suffered sexual abuse himself as a child.
The judge's ruling means Shields will be held indefinitely under the jurisdiction of the US attorney general's office and receive sexual offender treatment. Once he has undergone treatment, he can petition the court to prove he is no longer a risk to reoffend. Where Shields will be held has yet to be determined.
After serving several state prison terms, Shields was convicted in federal court in 2002 of possessing child pornography, and federal prosecutors sought to have him committed after his release from prison in 2006.
One of his lawyers, John G. Swomley, said yesterday that he was disappointed with the judge's ruling, noting that a 12-member jury that was created in an advisory role declared that while Shields had a mental illness, it could not conclude by a unanimous decision that he would be likely to reoffend.
"The jury that heard the case couldn't reach a decision, and if 12 good citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts couldn't decide he was sexually dangerous, it's disheartening that a judge did and could," he said.
Swomley said he also plans to appeal the ruling on grounds that the child protection act is unconstitutional, saying a federal judge in the Fourth Circuit in North Carolina - the only other place in the country where such cases are heard because of the availability of prisons with sexual offender treatment programs - has ruled that the federal government does not have the authority to commit people as sexually dangerous. Swomley said the constitutionality of the act has not been challenged in Boston because this is the first time someone has been committed.
Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office in Massachusetts, would not comment on Swomley's plan to appeal.
Under the child protection act, Saris had to decide not only that Shields had a mental illness or disorder, but also that he was likely to reoffend. The judge based her decision on Shield's history of abuses: fondling a 13-year-old boy and other teenagers, sexually assaulting a 9-year-old in a bathroom, and assaulting a 6-year-old boy outside a school, among other offenses.
Saris also stated that Shields has failed in sexual offender treatment before, pointing out that he once said that a 12-year-old he groped was a prostitute rather than a victim. ..Source..
Neb. attorneys ask to combine sex offender cases
See earlier posts: HERE -and- HERE -and- HERE -and- HERE.12-29-2009 Nebraska:
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Attorneys for the state have asked a federal judge to consolidate two cases challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska's new sex offender registry law.
The request involves a federal lawsuit filed Dec. 16 and another filed in Douglas County District Court on Thursday. The latter case was moved to federal court on Monday. Omaha attorney Stu Dornan represents plaintiffs in both cases.
Both lawsuits seek to stop Nebraska's revised sex offender registry law from taking effect Jan. 1. Among other things, the new law will make public information about all sex offenders, not just those considered high-risk.
A judge is expected to rule in the first case this week. ..Source.. KCAU-TV
December 28, 2009
Removing shoes at courthouse detector upsets county prosecutors
12-28-2009 California:
With sensitivity dialed up on the courthouse metal detector, Shasta County's attorneys - prosecutors in particular - are complaining that they now have to take off their shoes more often when they enter the courthouse.
"For people who have to go to court several times a day, it's a little bit humiliating," said Stew Jankowitz, the county's senior deputy district attorney and homicide prosecutor.
"For a prosecutor to appear to be a security risk in front of jurors, in front of witnesses and in front of defendants ... it's inconvenient and humiliating for us. It's also inconvenient for the public."
Jankowitz isn't alone.
His boss, District Attorney Jerry Benito, is also complaining that the machine has been turned up to the point that even small amounts of metal in a person's shoes sets it off and prosecutors now have to strip down to their socks to pass through the Shasta County Superior Court weapons screening station.
The shoe issue has caused a rift between Benito, his prosecutors and court administrators and the Shasta County Marshal's Office.
Benito and Assistant District Attorney Robert Maloney skipped out on a meeting in October to discuss pedophile treatment programs with Court Executive Melissa Fowler-Bradley and two judges.
In an e-mail exchange obtained by the Record Searchlight, Fowler-Bradley e-mailed Benito to ask why he and Maloney hadn't shown up.
Benito responded that it was because the prosecutors had to take off their shoes.
"Neither of us will enter the courthouse under those types of conditions, especially when my own staff (investigators) can enter without the same type of scrutiny," Benito wrote. "We will try to attend the next meeting, but won't enter if we are subjected to that type of search. Maybe a different location could be arranged."
Benito said in a recent interview that the security screening matter is still under discussion, but the talks have been amicable.
"We'll have disagreements from time to time, but we'll work them out," he said.
Prosecutors contend they should be allowed to walk around the weapons screening station like badge-carrying law enforcement officers.
Prosecutors note that the investigators at the District Attorney's Office, who are sworn law enforcement officers, are able to bypass the weapons screening.
But court administrators say that allowing prosecutors through would amount to special treatment, since defense attorneys wouldn't share the same privilege.
Administrators are quick to point out that all lawyers can cut into the front of the weapon screening line in front of jurors and other members of the public.
Even so, Benito also notes that recently retired public defender Neal Pereira also had expressed his attorneys' frustrations at the screening requirements.
Other attorneys have likewise complained, Fowler-Bradley said.
In response to the complaints, Shasta County Marshal Joel Northrup in October posted a letter at the courthouse that was addressed to all the attorneys in the Shasta County Bar Association.
The letter says sensitivity was turned up on the court's metal detectors to meet factory-recommended settings.
The adjustment caused the detector to pick up on small amounts of metal that had previously not registered, Northrup wrote.
He wrote that other courts in California don't give attorneys a free pass through their screening stations, either.
"Although the Marshal's Office does not expect an attorney to bring a weapon into the court facilities, you are well aware that the foundation of our court system is fair, unbiased and equal treatment of all citizens," Northrup wrote.
Even so, Fowler-Bradley said that there has been some discussion about opening up a second screening station at the West Street side of the courthouse.
But to do so would cost around $300,000.
With budget cuts forcing the courts across the state to impose employee furloughs once a month and plans to move the court to a new building in a few years, that option is looking less and less likely, Fowler-Bradley said.
In the meantime, between 1,400 and 2,200 people each day will continue to pass through the courthouse metal detectors, she said.
Of them, about 28 percent will have to go back through because the detector beeped.
In 2008, 307,548 people entered the courthouse. That year, even before the metal detectors were turned up, deputy marshals confiscated 10 guns and 5,089 knives, Fowler-Bradley said.
Jankowitz, Benito's homicide prosecutor, said he understands the point of the screening, but he's never heard of a time when a prosecutor smuggled a weapon to court and hurt someone.
A prosecutor for nearly three decades, Jankowitz says he knows the deputy marshals on a first-name basis.
He said he doesn't know how much longer he can handle the degradation of having to strip down to his socks.
"It's easier to get into a transatlantic flight than it is to get into the Shasta County Courthouse," he said. ..Source.. Ryan Sabalow
When is sexting just a huge mistake and when is it a crime?
12-28-2009 Texas:
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Teenagers text-messaging explicit photos of themselves or classmates is undeniably a mammoth lapse in judgment.
But is it a crime?
It's a question that experts say has confounded law enforcement agencies nationwide as the trend known as "sexting" grows in popularity. It's also one that authorities in Tarrant County, Texas, will have to answer after allegations were made earlier this month at a Keller district middle school.
A girl alerted her mother about a group of students at Hillwood Middle School who were sending one another explicit photos of female students, according to Fort Worth police. Some parents said the students involved were in a club called The Cause.
The mother notified officials at the school. School officials then contacted police.
Investigators have obtained photographs from students' cell phones and will turn them over to Tarrant County juvenile prosecutors, who will determine whether they are evidence of a crime, said Sgt. Pedro Criado, a police spokesman.
In a letter sent to parents, the principal explained that sexting can be a felony.
Sexting has already led to prosecution of several teenagers across the U.S. for obscenity, even child pornography. One Florida teen was placed on a sex offender registry.
The severity of the charges has led some states to create specific misdemeanor charges related to sexting among teens. This summer, the American Civil Liberties Union sent letters to prosecutors, lawmakers and educators in Ohio urging them not to pursue criminal charges against teens for sexting, calling the punishment too harsh.
Under Texas laws prohibiting child pornography, someone in possession of a nude picture of someone under 18 can go to prison or juvenile detention. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott warned in May that teenagers' transmissions of explicit electronic images could meet the definition of child pornography and that teens could face 10 years in prison.
About 20 percent of teen girls have sent nude or seminude photos electronically, according to a study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
"One consequence that no one fully expected to come out of this growing trend is the legal entanglements," said Bill Albert, spokesman for the group, which released a report on sexting this year. "I think what you are seeing is attorney generals and law enforcement agencies trying to figure out what to do about this stuff."
The investigation at Hillwood was not the first in North Texas involving inappropriate text messages.
In March, Fort Worth police investigated four students at Northwest High School after nude photographs of a 16-year-old female classmate were thrown in the air in a crowded hallway.
The photos were first sent to a student by cell phone, police said. The message was forwarded to at least two other students, one of whom printed the photos and made about 20 copies.
Police at the time said the students could face obscenity charges - a Class A misdemeanor that could be enhanced to a state jail felony because there were more than a half-dozen copies. Authorities, however, declined to pursue charges.
In an unrelated case in Denton County, a Sanger Middle School student spent a night in juvenile detention last year for having a nude photograph of a 13-year-old girl on his cell phone.
Tim Bednarz, chief of the Tarrant County district attorney's juvenile division, said his office has reviewed several sexting cases but has determined that none rose to the level of a crime. Overall, he said, the cases remain rare.
Prosecutors consider the circumstances of each case before deciding what charges could apply, he said. The possibilities range from Class A misdemeanor obscenity charges to felony child pornography charges.
For child pornography charges to apply, however, a provision in the Texas Penal Code requires that the defendants be at least two years older than the victims, he said.
If they are not, prosecutors could still pursue other charges, he added.
"It would also depend on what exactly the images were depicting," Bednarz said. "There are provisions in the penal code that deal with basic public decency and displaying material that is harmful to a minor. It just depends on the facts of each case."
Teens would be wise not to take any chances, he said.
"Those engaging in that activity are treading in dangerous water," he said.
The possibility of arrest for sexting catches most teens by surprise, Albert said.
"The emotional and social consequences are pretty clear," he said. "But they tend not to see possible criminal charges coming."
Some prosecutions have drawn national headlines. An 18-year-old Orlando, Fla., man who sent a naked photo of his 16-year-old girlfriend to her friends and family after they argued was convicted of a felony count of sending child pornography. He was sentenced to five years' probation and was required to register as a sex offender.
In Pennsylvania, three teenage girls successfully sued a prosecutor to prevent him from pursuing felony charges after racy photographs were found on their classmates' cell phones.
The impact on victims has also been documented. The hanging suicide of an 18-year-old Ohio woman was blamed on nude photos of her that her ex-boyfriend allegedly forwarded to her classmates after they broke up.
The rash of cases has led lawmakers in several states to propose laws meant to guard against excessive punishment while still deterring teenagers from sexting. In Vermont, for example, minors charged with sexting are now dealt with in juvenile court instead of facing sexual-exploitation charges and being required to register as sex offenders.
Legislation was also passed in Utah and Ohio setting misdemeanor charges for juveniles who distribute pornographic material.
"We don't like it if two consenting 16-year-olds are exchanging naughty pictures; it's not a good thing," Albert said. "But the question is whether it is something that should follow them around for the rest of their lives. That seems like an awfully heavy sword."
Smart, promising students are getting caught up in the trend. Kevin Clancy, a Dallas attorney who handles juvenile cases, said he has not yet defended any clients charged in sexting-related cases but has been contacted by worried parents.
"You would be surprised: Eighth-grade, straight-A, beautiful girls are sending these photos to boys," he said. "And, of course, the first thing those boys do is send them on to other people. Parents are worried."
Abbott, the attorney general, has touted education as a powerful tool against sexting and has urged parents to have frank conversations with their children about the consequences, both legal and social, said Jerry Strickland, his spokesman.
"This is an emerging issue that has impacted schools across the state," Strickland said. "Parents should pay close attention to their kids' use of technology." ..Source.. ALEX BRANCH - McClatchy Newspapers
Update: offender plea garners attention
12-28-2009 Georgia:
In this economy finding a job is tough, and as a registered sex offender — it’s almost impossible.
The Rome News-Tribune featured Otto Jabar Orr’s predicament as a registered sex offender in October. Orr wants to work with-
in the system but is finding that increasingly difficult.
The Christmas season has been a keen reminder of his situation: no job equals no money, which in turn means no home and no ability to provide for his children.
Through the charity of others, he has a place to stay and some food, but for a 27 year-old able-bodied man who wants to work that situation can chafe.
“I’m still looking, but everything I’ve had I couldn’t do because the restrictions don’t let me work there,” Otto Orr said.
Right now he’s living with Roger Covington — president of a local prison ministry — and helping him work on cars to pay his way.
Orr’s current entanglement with the legal system began at age 18, when he pleaded guilty to a statutory rape charge filed against him when he was 17. Although the sex was consensual, the girl was underage.
Orr said he’s been clean and arrest-free for four years. He’s been trying to comply with his probation requirements and was working for some time before being laid off.
The article garnered some international attention, and two French journalists from Zone Interdite, a news show, flew in to interview Orr. The show concerns the sex offender registry in the U.S., said journalist Pierre Toury.
“We’re trying to understand how it works and who is on it,” Toury said.
“It is about the law and how it has been applied — and the consequences of people who are not really meant to be on it.”
Toury said they also traveled to Florida to interview those who, because of that state’s laws, are forced to live under a bridge.
“Lawmakers need to decide the difference between the rapers and the others,” Toury said. “It’s not the best thing for 50 percent on the registry.”
He said the documentary will air sometime in March on the station M6 in France. ..Source.. John Bailey
Sex offender registry laws driven by fear, not reason
12-28-2009 Michigan:
It is heartening to know that Matthew Freeman ("Pittsfield Twp. man struggles with sex offender label" - Ann Arbor.com, Dec. 15) and others with similar stories are coming forward, and that members of the media are telling of their plight.
Sex offender registries in Michigan and nationwide are growing by leaps and bounds. Sex offender laws implemented in recent years cast a wide net and catch many fish that are awarded equal status with the shark. It’s a system that offers no measurable gain, but creates substantial loss.
Taxpayer dollars are lost to pay for implementation of sex registry laws and oversee compliance. Taxpayer money is lost to fund prosecution, incarceration, or to manage the probation of “offenders.” We’ve lost a controlled and focused sex offender list to a watered-down version that makes it harder to target and prosecute true offenders. We’ve lost rationale and logic to what often amounts to a whipped-up frenzy of fear.
Most sad is the human potential and emotional health lost or diminished when individuals are unfairly demonized and penalized by inclusion on a sex registry. The stigma and restrictions put on anyone who appears on a sex offender list are creating a growing under-society of people who face serious employment, residential and social limitations, and who can do little, if anything, to rise above their circumstances.
Think of the craze to catch “witches” during the Salem Witch Trials. Think of all the “communists” of the McCarthy Era. Sex offenders - regardless of whether they truly are or not - are the latest demons to fear and persecute. One can only hope that more and more “offenders” follow Matthew Freeman’s example . . . that they step out of the shadows and work to bring understanding and change to the emotional force driving unjust and costly victimization. ..Source.. Nancy Byers
New Ill. laws hit texting, cover shoes, not budget
I must admit laws for sex offenders get dumber and dumber, can you imagine how quickly a computer would be rendered useless if worthless temporary files were not deleted. Its like how quickly a car would be destroyed if one never changed the oil. Is there a lawmaker anywhere that knows anything about a computer, or the Internet?12-28-2009 Illinois:
UPDATE: Will there be a law enacted, so that, if a sex offender buys a computer, that the delete key must be removed?
While Illinois lawmakers were unable during their last legislative session to resolve a mounting budget crisis, they were able to reach agreement on the passage of 300 new laws that take effect Jan. 1.
These new laws range from warning bowlers about the dangers of wearing bowling shoes outdoors to seeking help for compulsive hoarders over the age of 60.
.....
Internet Safety
A law targeting Internet safety prohibits a convicted sex offender from accessing a social networking Web site while on parole, mandatory supervised release, probation, conditional discharge or court supervision...Source.. Courier Press.com
Another law targeting sex offenders makes it illegal for them to use computer software to delete information on any computer used by the offender.
December 27, 2009
Md. girl's death sharpens criticism of sex offender laws
There is nothing more heartbreaking than a story like this, our hearts go out to the family of this little girl. It appears the police have not yet finished gathering evidence so that they can properly charge the offender -alleged to be this Thomas Leggs fellow- with murder along with what they have already charged him with (kidnapping) and anything else that evidence may reveal.12-27-2009 Maryland:
Given it has been reported that Mr Leggs is an ex boyfriend, I wonder if the registry played a part in making him an ex boyfriend? Yet, he does fall in the Department of Justice identified group known as "family, friends and close acquaintances to the victim," which is known to commit the majority of sex offenses, but -at the moment- we do not know if a sex offense has been committed. Another unknown factor is, did Mr. Leggs take sex offender therapy while incarcerated on his past sex offense?
Again, being an ex boyfriend, and the fact that he has quite a bit of violence in his background (other news reports of past charge and a new one pending, none being sex offenses) I wonder if all this implies a motive of domestic violence gone awry? Hopefully the police will come up with a motive.
In the following article there seems to be a call for harsher sentences which I see a problem with, being longer sentences merely put off releasing an offender and if he is bent on committing an offense he will just do it in the future. A smarter solution is to build in a prevention program such as sex offender therapy and even re-entry programs so that an offender can become a productive member of society. What will lawmakers do? Act smart or vindictive, following this horrendous act?
Not even a full day after police found the body of an 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped, authorities say, by a registered sex offender, the Salisbury tragedy was spotlighted by Maryland activists who consider the state's child protection laws inadequate.
Jerry Norton, who heads Citizens for Jessica's Law in Maryland, a group that for years has fought to fortify laws against pedophiles, was calling lawmakers Saturday, underscoring his position.
"My heart goes out to the friends and family of this 11-year-old child," he said. "We need to make it clear to citizens of Maryland that we are not going to let these pedophiles molest our children with just a slap on wrist. We're tired of these watered-down sentences -- they come out and do it again."
On Christmas, police found the body of Sarah Haley Foxwell after a search that brought 3,000 of her Wicomico County neighbors together to comb fields and forests.
Police said the girl had been taken from her bedroom Tuesday night by a registered sex offender, Thomas James Leggs Jr., who has been held since Wednesday in the abduction. Leggs briefly dated the girl's aunt, who had custody of her and her two siblings.
Although police call the girl's death murder, they haven't brought additional charges against Leggs. He is being held without bail at the Wicomico County Detention Center.
Rather, on Saturday, officers with the Wicomico sheriff's office, some of whom have not slept for days, continued the investigation, collecting and processing evidence.
"We are following up on any leads that we get," said Sgt. Timothy F. Robinson. "We will continue to work though the weekend, and we'll regroup on Monday."
Meanwhile, the family's pastor was setting up a fund to pay for Sarah's funeral and burial. Funeral arrangements will be made once the body is returned.
The Rev. William Warren of Allen Memorial Baptist Church said the family wanted to thank the community for its outpouring of support. "They're grateful to the police and the law enforcement officers, the people who searched, the people who brought food and everybody who prayed," he said.
The suspect
Leggs, 30, is listed in the Maryland registry because of a third-degree sex offense conviction in 1998.
In Delaware, he is listed as a "high-risk" sex offender in connection with the rape of a minor in 2001.
Norton is flabbergasted that a man who raped a minor could be free so soon and associating with children.
"What . . . is he doing back out on the street, and what is he doing having contact with this child?" he said. "I think the problem is with these guys going through a revolving door."
Legislators
State Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford) co-sponsored Maryland's version of Jessica's Law, a bill passed in 2006 that set sentencing guidelines for child sex offenders. It's named for Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida girl who was kidnapped, sexually abused and killed by a convicted child sex offender.
At the urging of activists such as Norton, Jacobs and other legislators have tried unsuccessfully to tighten the law to prevent offenders from getting parole. She thought Sarah's case would "absolutely" inspire legislators to reinforce the law.
"I've already had e-mails from people asking about it," Jacobs said. "It's about how far can we go, and I'm in favor as going as far as we can."
Jacobs also said the case exposes weaknesses in how Maryland communicates with other states about child sex offenders. If Leggs was considered "high risk" in Delaware, she thinks he should have been in Maryland, too.
Bills filed
Del. Mike D. Smigiel Sr. (R-Cecil), who, heading into the 2010 legislative session, has pre-filed three bills that would tighten child sex offender laws, said he has been "seething" over the Salisbury case.
He's considering such options as civil incarceration, cracking down on plea bargains and allowing wiretapping of suspected child sex offenders.
"We have very strict laws in Maryland, but I think more has to be done," he said. "These child predators are incorrigible. We have to find ways to deal with this threat to our community." ..Source.. Jill Rosen, Baltimore Sun
Court wants sex offender law revised
See earlier report for comments and court decision.12-27-2009 Maine:
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that a 1999 law requiring certain sex offenders to be placed on a sex offender registry for life cannot be applied retroactively.
In its ruling, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court gave the Legislature until March 31 to revise the law.
The case was brought by Eric Letalien, a Dixfield man who was 19 when he was convicted of rape in 1996 for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. At the time, he was required to register as a sex offender for 15 years, but was also allowed to seek a waiver from the registry after five years.
Under changes to the law in 1999, he was required to register as a sex offender every 90 days for the rest of his life. The updated law also took away his right to ask for a waiver.
In its ruling, the court said it was unconstitutional to apply those changes retroactively.
David Sanders, Letalien’s attorney, said the ruling was a victory for his client. He contends his client and others among the 3,000 people on the registry are not at risk of repeating their sex offenses.
“If this was truly administrative, wanting to protect society from individuals, then you have to find that the individual in question who’s going to be ostracized, who’s going to be humiliated, who’s going to be shamed, is in fact a risk to society. A mere conviction doesn’t prove that,” he said.
Attorney General Janet Mills said the justices did away with the more punitive aspects of law as they are applied retroactively while affirming the state’s interest in having an Internet sex offender registry.
It’s now up to the Legislature to make the changes the court is seeking, she said.
“We’re comfortable the court has given us guidance,” she said.
Sanders said his client did his time and had counseling. He’s now 35, is married, and has a daughter and stepchildren.
“He just wants to get on with his life and that ought to be allowed,” Sanders said.
The sex offender registry has gone through a number of changes since it was created in 1992.
It attracted national attention in 2006 when a 20-year-old Canadian man killed two sex offenders in Maine after randomly getting their names from the state’s online registry.
One of the murdered men, Joseph L. Gray, 57, of Milo was on the registry as the result of a 1991 conviction in Massachusetts. As a result of the court’s decision Tuesday, Gray’s name most likely would be removed had he not been killed.
Last year, lawmakers allowed some registered sex offenders to be removed from the registry, upon their request, provided they complete their sentences, commit no additional crimes and meet other standards. In November, the state announced that 100 names of people convicted of offenses that happened between 1982 and 1992 had been removed from the list. ..Source.. Clarke Canfield
