A Convicted Sex Offender Will Not Have To Register Due to Circumstances of His Case

If this decision stands and is not appealed, it means that any registrant whose conviction pre-dates registration laws, will be removed from the registry and will not have to register.

The key is this statement: "when the Act contained no such requirement at the time the defendant committed the triggering offense.." which is true of anyone convicted prior to the registry laws.

Even though -as worded- it appears the above is true, my gut tells me this case would overrule ALL other previous cases about the Indiana registry. Something appears amiss!

1-7-2010 Indiana:

In Gary M. Hevner v. State, filed late this afternoon, a 6-page, 5-0 opinion, the Supreme Court concludes: "Because of the ex post facto provisions of the Indiana Constitution, the trial court may not order Hevner to register as a sex offender," reversing the trial court decision, which had been affirmed by this March 31, 2009 NFP Court of Appeals opinion.

We consider a claim that the Indiana Sex Offender Registration Act (“the Act”) constitutes retroactive punishment forbidden by the Ex Post Facto Clause contained in the Indiana Constitution because it requires the defendant to register as a sex offender, when the Act contained no such requirement at the time the defendant committed the triggering offense. ***

At the time Hevner committed his crime, a person convicted for the first time of possessing child pornography was not considered a sex offender and thus was not required to register as such. * * * While Hevner was awaiting trial in 2006, the Legislature repealed Ind. Code § 5-2-12-4 and recodified the statute at Ind. Code § 11-8-8-4.5. See Pub. L. No. 140-2006, §§ 13, 41. Effective July 1, 2007 – before Hevner was convicted but after he was charged – the legislature amended the statute to require anyone convicted of possession of child pornography to register as a sex offender regardless of whether the person had accumulated a prior unrelated conviction. * * * Thus, at the time of his conviction, Hevner was required to register as a sex offender. * * *

As a general rule, a court must sentence a defendant under the statute in effect on the date the defendant committed the offense. Biddinger v. State, 868 N.E.2d 407, 411 n.6 (Ind. 2007). Between October and November of 2005, when Hevner committed the crime of possession of child pornography, only persons convicted of a prior possession offense were required to register as sex offenders under the Act. By the time of Hevner‟s trial and sentencing the Legislature had amended the Act making it applicable to first time offenders. As applied to Hevner the Act violates the prohibition on ex post facto laws contained in the Indiana Constitution because it imposes burdens that have the effect of adding punishment beyond that which could have been imposed when the crime was committed. * * *

Because of the ex post facto provisions of the Indiana Constitution, the trial court may not order Hevner to register as a sex offender. And for the same reasons we discussed in State v. Pollard, Hevner is not subject to prosecution for violation of Ind. Code § 35-42-4-11, the residency restriction statute. * * *

However, having been convicted of possession of child pornography, a sex offense at the time Hevner committed his crime, he is subject to conditions of probation that “have a reasonable relationship to the treatment of the accused and the protection of the public.” Hale v. State, 888 N.E.2d 314, 319 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008), trans. denied. We cannot conclude that prohibiting Hevner from residing within 1,000 feet of school property is an unreasonable condition.

We reverse that portion of the trial court‟s sentencing order directing Hevner to register as a sex offender. This cause is remanded for further proceedings. ..Source.. by Marcia Oddi of the Indiana Law Blog

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Survey: More than 1 in 10 youth inmates say they were sexually abused

1-7-2010 National:

Washington (CNN) -- More than one in 10 juvenile detainees in major U.S. facilities say they experienced some form of sexual abuse or sexual victimization while in detention, according to a report Thursday by the Department of Justice.

The report's major finding is only an estimate, due to the inability to verify the information collected through questionnaires. Still, the estimated 12 percent of more than 26,000 detained juveniles reporting sexual victimization by other detainees or staff members brought a pledge of steps to address the issue.

The findings "bring into focus the dire circumstances that too many youth in juvenile correctional facilities have to endure," said a Justice Department statement issued with the report.

"While the report focuses on specific types of juvenile facilities -- larger facilities that typically hold adjudicated youth for longer periods -- the Department of Justice is committed to addressing confinement issues for all youth in all facilities," the statement said.

The Review Panel on Prison Rape -- part of the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs -- will hold hearings on the report as part of a broader effort to reduce prison rape, according to the statement.

In addition, the department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is seeking funding for a National Training and Technical Assistance Center to improve conditions and treatment services for detained youths, the statement said.

Attorney General Eric Holder appointed a working group under the Prison Rape Elimination Act to review standards proposed by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and draft national standards for detecting and preventing prison rape, the statement said.

According to the report, juvenile detainees filled in computer questionnaires about sexual victimization in their facilities. A total of 9,198 respondents out of 26,551 youths held in 195 major public and private facilities nationwide participated in the voluntary survey conducted from June 2008 to April 2009, it said.

Because the survey collected allegations from anonymous participants with no follow-up investigation or substantiation through review, "some allegations ... may be untrue," the report said.

The results showed 1,199 youths reporting "one or more incidents of sexual victimization," the report said. That figure was then extrapolated for the entire survey population to produce the estimate of 3,220 detained youths experiencing sexual victimization, or 12.1 percent of the 26,551 total, according to the report.

Other estimated findings of the survey included:

• More than 10 percent of detained youths reported a sexual victimization incident involving staff members, while less than 3 percent reported incidents involving other youths.

• About 95 percent of all youth reporting staff sexual misconduct said they had been victimized by female staff. In 2008, 42 percent of staff in state juvenile facilities were female.

• Thirteen facilities were identified as "high rate," with an estimate of at least 20 percent of their population reporting sexual victimization. For some, the estimate exceeded 30 percent.

• Among youth victimized by another youth, an estimated 20 percent said they had been physically injured and 5 percent reported they sought medical attention for their injuries. Among youth victimized by staff, 5 percent reported a physical injury and less than 1 percent sought medical attention.

..Source.. CNN

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Feds: Sex Abuse High At L.E. Rader Center In Sand Springs

1-7-2010 National:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal officials say 13 juvenile detention facilities around the country have high rates of sex abuse and victimization, where nearly 1 out of every 3 inmates reported some type of victimization.

The list includes the L.E. Rader Center just west of Sand Springs.

A Justice Department study has found that nationwide, about 12% of youths held in state and local facilities reported some type of sexual victimization -- but those rates varied widely from place to place. Six sites had reported victimization rates of 30% or higher.

About 10% of reported incidents involved staff, and nearly all of those complaints were against female staffers. The figures are based on surveys.

Read the DOJ study report: Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2008-2009 ..Source.. AP

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Rader Center to cut staff, available units

1-7-2010 Oklahoma:

SAND SPRINGS — The Office of Juvenile Affairs will begin closing units at its maximum security facility, cutting the number of staff needed at the L.E. Rader Center.

Gene Christian, the agency’s executive director, met Tuesday with staff at the Rader Center in Sand Springs to inform employees of the changes. He said the number of juvenile offenders at Rader will shrink from 106 to 66 by July.

All state agencies are working with reduced funding while the state’s revenue collections are hard hit in the slumping economy. All agencies have seen their monthly allocations cut by 10 percent in December and January. The budget cuts are expected to continue into the next budget year, which begins in July.

To deal with the cuts to the agency, some cottages that house juvenile offenders at the Rader Center are being shuttered. The cottages are in need of repair, Christian said, and the department does not have enough money to make the repairs,. The Sand Springs facility will keep its maximum security beds and a unit that houses sex offenders at Rader. The rest of the juveniles will be sent to facilities in Manitou and Tecumseh.

That means less staff will be needed to care for youth at Rader. That includes employees who work directly with the juveniles, teachers and food service employees, he said.

The agency plans to cut staff initially by not filling vacant positions and cutting contracts between now and July. Agency employees could be offered a voluntary buyout plan before layoffs, if necessary, begin in July, Christian said. OJA already has offered a buyout and is furloughing employees to cope with budget cuts.

"Money is the remedy and it doesn’t look like there’s going to be any more coming,” he said. "We’re taking to heart the Legislature’s recommendation to make changes to the agency. OJA will not look the same in five years as it looks today.”

So far, the agency has absorbed $7.5 million in cuts. Additional cuts are expected next year, Christian said. The agency’s other sources of revenues also have decreased. Parents of children in custody are required to pay child support, and those collections are half as much as they were last year at this time, he said.

While all state agencies are struggling to absorb the budget cuts, agency officials and lawmakers should look at the whole picture, said Scott Barger, deputy director of the Oklahoma Employees Association.

"There’s a great need to modernize state government,” he said. "But we don’t think agencies should be overzealous. They should wait and see what the Legislature does. Reducing the beds at the juvenile level may mean that people aren’t rehabilitated and end in the Department of Corrections, costing us more in the long run.” ..Source.. JULIE BISBEE The Oklahoman

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Cleveland Serial Killer Suspect Changes Plea

1-7-2010 Ohio:

Lawyers for a registered sex offender charged with killing 11 women and hiding their remains in and around his Cleveland home withdrew their not guilty by reason of insanity plea, Fox8.com reported.

A spokesperson for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office told the Ohio station Anthony Sowell's attorneys met with a judge and prosecutors and executed a waiver of a speedy trial until July 31.

There was no reason give for the change.

Authorities say Sowell, 50, lured women to his home and attacked them. The remains of 10 women and a skull were found in the residence or buried in the yard.

Sowell faces 85 counts including murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse in the slayings and in the attacks on three women who survived. He could get the death penalty if convicted of any of the killings.

Sowell is expected in court for a pretrial Jan. 27, and the tentative date for his trial is June 2, Fox8.com reported. ..Source.. FoxNews

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An ‘ornery’ judicial view of Mich. sex offender laws

1-7-2010 Michigan:

Retiring judge says 'root problem is that our registry includes so many more people than it needs to include'

Retiring Van Buren County Circuit Judge William C. Buhl is a rarity among Michigan’s mostly reserved black robe set.

“When things bother me, I get tired of people talking and saying this is horrible and not doing anything about it,” he said near the beginning of an in-depth interview covering his frustrations with the state’s sex offender laws.

In his southwest Michigan county, after nine elections — and never even drawing an opponent in any of them — you might think Buhl is mostly immune to the political considerations of taking on an unpopular cause. And you’d be right. But that immunity to the raw political consequences of his views has also convinced him that he has no choice but to speak his mind.

“I figure after all these years on the bench, people actually sometimes listen to you,” he mused. “I’ve got a voice and I can speak out when others can’t.”

It’s not that his fellow jurists are mute, Buhl added, just that when it comes to criticizing how Michigan handles sex crimes and especially the state’s burgeoning sex offender registry, most other elected judges legitimately worry about losing their jobs if they do likewise.

That same temerity goes for elected lawmakers, Buhl said. He cites an educational event for legislators in Lansing sponsored by the Coalition for a Useful Registry last spring. Buhl sits on the coalition’s professional advisory board. The March event featured several different information stations, each one aiming to give state senators, representatives and their staff a better understanding of how the current system works — and its shortcomings.

“I heard repeatedly, ‘Oh, we’ve got to go slow on this. We can’t do very much. Oh, it’s poison. We just don’t dare,’” Buhl said in a mocking tone. “They’re all just scared to death of it.”

Raw politics

It’s that fear that has pushed lawmakers to include anyone convicted of any of the state’s criminal sexual conduct laws on the online registry, as well as many other enhancements since the registry was created in 1994. Today, the state’s registry stands as one of the country’s broadest and most inclusive.

He said he’d like to narrow the scope of offenses that currently land individuals on the registry for a minimum of 25 years — and he said he’s not alone.

“I think that I speak for a majority, the vast majority of the judiciary,” Buhl asserted.

The reason Buhl speaks for a mostly silent majority of elected judges in Michigan — if you believe his assertion — can be summed up in one word: politics.

“It’s just scary stuff when it comes to people going to the polls and opponents will happily exploit any position you take on it that can be twisted to look like you kinda like pedophiles,” he said.

In fact, that’s what he says happened to former State Rep. Alexander Lipsey. In 2002, Lipsey, a Democrat, was defeated in an election for a Kalamazoo-based seat in the Michigan Senate by Republican Tom George, now a candidate for governor.

“George’s supporters were beating up Lipsey because he voted against going public with the registry,” Buhl recalled, noting that George himself refrained from the attack. Buhl said Lipsey was right to vote against the catch-all registry, but that didn’t matter in the end. “They unfairly accused him of being on the side of child molesters and he was defeated.”

Five years later, Lipsey was appointed to a vacant circuit judge position in Kalamazoo by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but that Senate race became part of what Buhl calls his personal “growth process” on the flaws with the current law.

A view from the bench

The cases that regularly came to his courtroom were also part of that process. He describes one that he said made the biggest impression on him.

“I had a 17-year-old who was socially immature with a 15-year-old girlfriend that was just in love with him. And she pursued him. And the parents on both sides didn’t want them together. But despite their wishes — and this girl was far more mature than he was — they got together, and then, of course, had sex,” Buhl said.

The boy was given probation for violating the state’s criminal sexual conduct law, but was still required to be placed on the housing- and employment-denying online sex offender registry for a quarter century. “I thought, what a travesty. This kid can’t even get a job at McDonalds.”

Since then, he’s seen many similar cases. “When we have people married to their victims, with children that are a product of their crime, and they have to worry about whether they can go watch their kids’ soccer games at school, it just struck me as just wrong,” he said. “And the more I saw it, the angrier I got about it.”

Fast forward to a current case on the judge’s docket — one that also makes him angry but for a different reason.

“I have a guy right now pending sentence on his seventh failure to register,” he said, noting that registered offenders must check-in quarterly with law enforcement or face further penalties. “I finally said, ‘I want to know what he did to get on the registry.’ Well, it turns out he was a 13-year-old sexually abused child that asked a six-year-old to touch his penis. And he went through the juvenile system, was treated and has never had a sex-related offense since.”

He added that “there’s no indication that he’s a sexual predator or anybody to worry about but he is a blithering idiot that will fail to register again.”

It’s cases that that one, Buhl said, that clutter his courtroom and many others across the state.

Like other advocates for reform, Buhl said part of his efforts are geared toward playing defense, stopping what they consider to be bad legislation. He pointed to two examples from 2009.

The first was a proposal to redefine “school safety zones” to include all bus stops. Registered sex offenders are currently barred from living or working within 1,000 feet of such a zone. “That would have been a nightmare first to figure out,” he said, “because they change every year.”

The second example was a proposal to include all day cares as off-limits school safety zones to offenders.

“The way they defined day care would include almost every church that I’ve ever known,” he said. “If they include churches, they would basically render most communities, most municipalities off-limits for the registered sex offender.”

The current state-of-affairs gets worse, Buhl said, because “nobody goes back to the root problem here and the root problem is that our registry includes so many more people than it needs to include.”

Reforming the system

As for the judge’s wish-list of reforms, he pointed to three main ideas.

The first would institute a new process for evaluating — and treating — underage sex offenders.

“I think we ought to treat them like we do juvenile offenders,” he said. “Have them petition into a court that takes jurisdiction over them like we petition juveniles … and put them through an educational course as to the legal and the life affecting consequences of sex, of child rearing, of child support, of sexually transmitted diseases, and just force them to endure that. Then graduate them and that’s the end of it,” he said. “Because they’re gonna do it, they’re gonna be doing it.”

The “it” Buel is referring to is, of course, underage sex.

For other accused sex offenders, Buhl suggests a new screening process and “have people put on the registry only if they’re people we need to worry about” such as violent rapists or child predators. In other words, Buhl says, “narrow the sex offender registry to people who truly are people we fear.”

Beyond a better process, Buhl said Michigan should junk the school safety zones altogether.

“They’re silly little artificial rings that make it impossible to work with people,” he said. “We have all these people who can’t live here and they can’t work there.”

He said the employment and housing restrictions that go along with the school safety zones often make near impossible to make offenders employable, paying taxes and restitution.

Lastly, Buhl thinks lawmakers should reconsider the uncomfortable but legally significant differences between criminal sexual conduct and “penetration” — an automatic felony.

“I would treat sexual penetration the same way we treat sexual contact, and that is we don’t make it a crime when two 15-year-olds fornicate, we don’t make it a crime two 15-year-olds are all over each other sexually except for penetration,” he said. “The minute there’s any kind of penetration whatsoever, finger, doesn’t matter, bang, you’re into a 15-year felony. Whether it’s contact or penetration, when they’re under 16 it ought not be criminalized.”

Entering the last year of his judicial career, this self-described “ornery cuss” is crystal clear about the problems he sees, and the reforms he’d like to see. But that doesn’t mean he’s unaware of the long-shot odds reformers like him face.

In fact, he almost seems resigned to losing.

“We all know that it’s terrible and yet it won’t be changed,” he said with a sigh. “I figure, OK, I’m jousting with windmills. I know that the odds of getting anything done are so slim. But I can’t sit and do nothing,” he added. “I just can’t.” ..Source.. David Alire Garcia

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Registered sex offender arrested; child porn allegedly found on computer

1-6-2010 California:

A registered sex offender was arrested today in Santa Maria for suspicion of possessing child pornography, police said.

___, 51, was taken into custody about 7:10 a.m. in the 1900 block of Evelyn Court.

The arrest is the result of an investigation initiated after Scott took his computer to a local company for service, said Santa Maria police Sgt. Terry Flaa. ..Source.. by Staff Report

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Sex offender's probation revoked

This is clear proof that sex offenders will not receive justice in a court of law. This man violated nothing, in fact, if the facts of the article are correct, he went beyond what was necessary to stay compliant. He was railroaded here!

1-6-2010 Kentucky:

COVINGTON - A judge revoked a registered sex offender's probation Tuesday after authorities said he broke his curfew on Halloween, communicated with convicted felons and purchased an inappropriate movie.

Garry R. Unthank, 27, of Independence must now serve the remainder of his five-year sentence. He will be eligible to appear before the parole board after serving 15 percent of that time.

Unthank already served six months after pleading guilty May 2006 to third-degree rape. He had sex with a 15-year-old girl he coached in basketball at Community Christian Academy in Independence.

Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe had declined to revoke Unthank's probation on two prior occasions, once after he admitted smoking marijuana.

He got in trouble with authorities again when he failed to answer his door during a mandatory curfew for some sex offenders on Halloween.

Unthank's attorney, Robert Lotz, said his client was home but didn't think he was allowed to answer the door. Lotz produced mobile phone records that showed his client called the probation office within a couple of minutes of the knock on his door. Unthank said he was calling to ask whether he should answer the door but it was after hours and no one answered the phone.

While Unthank's probation agreement states he isn't to answer the door on Halloween, it also states he is to allow probation and parole officers into his home for spot checks on that day.

During a subsequent search of Unthank's home, a probation officer found two open envelopes from convicted felons. Authorities said that proved he had violated probation by communicating with felons. Lotz said they were unsolicited letters.

Also found during the search was the movie "Fired Up!," a comedy about two high school boys who ditch football camp for cheerleader camp.

Authorities said Unthank's probation banned him from owning children's movies or sexually explicit movies. It was rated PG-13 but Unthank purchased the non-rated version at Wal-Mart.

Unthank had been on home incarceration with an ankle bracelet pending the outcome of the revocation hearing. He was locked up in the Kenton County jail after the ruling. ..Source.. Jim Hannah

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State Legislator Calls For Building Of Planned Sex-Offender Treatment Facility

1-6-2010 Connecticut:

A leader of the state legislature's judiciary committee said Tuesday that he is committed to the construction of a sex-offender treatment facility that would house convicts upon their release from prison.

State Rep. Michael Lawlor, co-chairman of the judiciary committee, plans to call on state officials in a press conference today to get the project back on track. The facility was supposed to be operating by July 1, 2008, but the money was never spent, resulting in finger-pointing between the judicial department and the governor's office.

"Everything was ready to roll and somewhere along the way the line went dead," Lawlor, D-East Haven, said. "At this point, everybody seems to be ready and willing to do it. And the law is requiring us to do it."

When a three-time convicted rapist was released from prison on Christmas Eve, a judge directed that he be sent to a sex-offender facility. The offender, Ransome Moody, ended up in a New Haven homeless shelter because there was no facility to send him to, even though its creation was part of a 2008 crime-fighting bill that passed by wide margins in both the House and Senate.

The legislation toughened the state's criminal laws, including the addition of a new "home invasion" law, and allocated $10 million for crime-fighting. Part of that money was to be spent on housing for recently released sex offenders who would either receive inpatient treatment in a restricted facility or, if they were capable of looking for jobs and a new home, get placed in transitional or permanent housing.

State officials moved ahead on a plan to provide 12 beds for sex offenders on probation and another 12 beds for those on parole, to be housed in an existing building at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville. The Department of Correction put the project out to bid and selected a vendor for the $2 million project.

Judicial officials said the state's recent budget woes halted the project; the governor's office said it was a matter of that department setting its priorities.

"Rather than all this finger-pointing about why this project was put on hold, it's time for us to get this project up and running," Lawlor said. ..Source.. ALAINE GRIFFIN

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Lindemeier challeges constitutionality of new sex offender registry requirements

This would be lawsuit number 3. Also, this lawsuit raises many more issues than did #1 and #2.

1-6-2010 Nebraska:

Bob Lindemeier filed a complaint in Lincoln County District Court seeking a permanent injunction barring enforcement of Nebraska’s new sex offender registry laws.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of “John Doe” on Jan. 4, was granted an ex-parte order by Judge John Murphy. The order effectively enjoins the entirety of LBs 97 and 285 from going to into effect until a hearing can be held. The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14 at 8:30 a.m.

“We’re saying enough is enough,” Lindemeier said of the new requirements for registrants. “There’s some real problems with the law when you have individuals who are nearing the end of their periods of having to register, and haven’t re-offended, now being told they have to continue registering.”

Lindemeier said in the lawsuit that what he referred to as the “New Act” is tantamount to making crimes greater than at the time they were committed.

The lawsuit stated that the New Act is punitive and constitutes additional punishment for offenders, which violates the Nebraska State Constitution’s protections against double jeopardy. It also violates offender’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the suit said.

By requiring offenders to authorize law enforcement to search their electronic devices at any time with no cause, Lindemeier wrote, the New Act additionally violates constitutional rights barring unreasonable search and seizure.

Questions of due process are also raised by the lawsuit. Lindemeier wrote that the New Act is vague and fails to define who is subject to the new regulations, what information is required to be reported, and other requirements.

The suit stated, “The New Act violates Substantive Due Process by infringing on fundamental right to defend one’s reputation, the integrity of a family, right to travel, right to earn a living, and the right to privacy of information, without adequate justification.”

Also listed among the suit’s constitutional concerns are intrusions on freedom of speech. Lindemeier wrote that the New Act suppresses and criminalizes speech in advance on social networking sites, instant messages, and chat rooms. He called the infringements prior restraint.

Legislative action that alters previous judicial orders constitutes a violation of the separation of powers, according to the suits seventh cause of action. By discarding the old classifications system, the New Act effectively classifies all offenders as Tier III (high-level to re-offend), Lindemeier said in the lawsuit.

The New Act also treads upon plea agreements, according to the action. “John Doe” entered a plea agreement, Lindemeier wrote, with the understanding that the plea would lead to the likelihood of a lesser sentence and only having to register for 10 years.

If Doe had known that he would be required to continue registering for an additional 15 years, the suit said, he likely would have not plead and contested the whole matter.

Lindemeier is seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the New Act from being enforced.

County Attorney Rebecca Harling reported that she would not be able to say much about the litigation until after the hearing and subsequent decision on Jan. 14.

Harling did say that her office, as well as the Sheriff’s Office, received a federal injunction following a decision by Judge Richard Kopf in U.S. District Court a few weeks ago.

Kopf’s decision enjoined two small sections of the massive overhaul of the registration laws. Harling said all the county attorneys and sheriffs in Nebraska received the injunctions.

Lindemeier’s lawsuit named the following parties as defendants:

• the State of Nebraska

• the Nebraska State Patrol

• Attorney General Jon Bruning.

• Col. Bryan Tuma, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol

• Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling

• Sheriff Jerome Kramer

• North Platte Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter.

The 21-page document includes a review of the new laws.

When the Bulletin ran it’s annual sex offender registry in Dec. 2009, a summary of the new laws was included as well.

The requirements for registration of sex offenders were changed in order for Nebraska to become compliant with the 2006 Adam Walsh Act, according to the Nebraska State Patrol website.

This is a result of legislation passed May 29 by the Unicameral.

According to the amended law, in addition to current registration data, offenders will be required to submit email addresses and other digital account information (Facebook and MySpace accounts, etc.) along with school information, professional licenses or certificates, travel and immigration documents, a DNA sample, and palm prints, among other things.

Failure to report all internet communication identifiers, as well as failure to report any changes to those identifiers within 24 hours, could constitute a felony offense, according to the website.

The durations for required registration will also change. All currently registered sex offenders and previously registered offenders must comply, the website said. Offenders convicted of misdemeanor offenses must register for 15 years, felony offenders for 25 years, and aggravated or repeat offenders for life. Currently, offenders must register for either 10 years or life. The new system will junk the currently utilized “risk level classification” and will inform the community of all registered sex offenders, not jus the ones considered a high risk for repeat offenses, according to the website.

With the term changes come alterations to the verification process as well. Offenders reporting for 15 years must verify their addresses in person annual, 25 year reporters bi-annually, and life reporters quarterly.

The law also expands registration requirements to all offenders convicted of sex crimes, not simply those considered to be at a high risk to re-offend. ..Source.. Ben Schwartz (North Platte Bulletin)

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Constant craving: the secret lives of sex addicts

1-6-2010 Global:

Sex addiction is in the news, but is it a real disease or just an excuse? Steve Dow reports.

Mary* was married for 30 years to a diagnosed sex addict who covered his tracks neatly. The high-flying accountant would regularly pretend to be working late or taking overseas business trips when he would, in fact, hole up in Sydney's Shangri-La Hotel, partaking of prostitutes.

Mary discovered the infidelities after her husband was declared bankrupt and left a suicide note; police later found him unharmed. But the insolvency accountants presented a damaging ledger: "He gave one prostitute $250,000 to put towards a horse syndicate," says Mary, "and $15,000 to another for her lingerie."

A psychiatrist labelled her husband a sex addict, adding: "He's just like Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy and Shane Warne." Mary was told to "take him home and get on with your life - as if he'd just had a heart attack". She's still not sure if he truly was an addict suffering a sex compulsion brain chemical trigger or whether the label provided a handy excuse.

But Mary ended her marriage because, although her husband vowed to get better and had started attending 12-step sex addicts' group meetings, she says he failed to say sorry to her and their young adult daughter, seemingly unwilling to improve his communication and think beyond himself.

Bob* meanwhile is in his late 40s, and charts his sex addiction to when he first saw pornography at age 13. At his lowest ebb, he would watch 10 to 12 hours of porn a day, often while his wife and teenage children were at home. "There were risks that I was taking where all there was between me and them was an unlocked door," he says. "I'm grateful today they never opened the door and were exposed to things that might have caused them psychological damage."

The porn was all about "building up a collection of the stuff, you know? It became more important than using it, in some ways". The compulsion grew with the advent of the internet, putting the material at his fingertips: "It's funny, there's no conscious thought process - it's more instinctive … when the material started to lose its edge I'd look for something that continued to give that bite or that thrill."

There was also serial infidelity - a couple of long-term affairs and casual sex via contacts over the internet or everyday life. "If the opportunity was there, it was taken," he says. Bob's wife grew suspicious and quizzed him "at a time I was looking to change, so it was just a matter of being honest and putting those things out there".

Bob joined a Sex Addicts Anonymous group and within 3½ months of weekly meetings and keeping in contact with his sponsor, he felt he gained control over the visual triggers that compelled him to act out sexually. He now prays every day and attends church. "It was a necessity for me to implement a spiritual-based recovery because nothing else worked," he says.

Sex addiction is once again news, following Tiger Woods reportedly seeking treatment at Arizona's Meadows Rehabilitation Centre - the same place oversexed actor David Duchovny spent time as an inpatient to rein in his proclivities - while the golfer's wife, Elin Nordegren, talks to divorce lawyers.

Woods's multiple infidelities had "thrown light on a growing problem in our society", spruiked Sydney's South Pacific Private Hospital, offering interviews and a checklist of "six signs of sex addiction", helpfully pared down from the 40 self-diagnosis questions on the hospital's website.

These are: "inability to stop … secrecy … emotional high then a crash … disregard for consequences such as STDs and finance … a feeling of entitlement … obsession".

The godfather of sex addiction research, the US psychologist Patrick Carnes, claims 3 to 6 per cent of people are sex addicts, but the figure is widely contested and experts question whether all people who blame brain chemical triggers or emotional stresses are physically powerless to stop compulsive sexual behaviour.

While Carnes created his own screening test for sexual addiction in Arizona 15 years ago, there is still no formal diagnostic classification or test, and won't be until May 2013 at least, when the next version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is released.

Yet the label sex addict is applied by support groups and counselling programs as commonly to men and women who chase the thrill of sex with multiple casual partners as it is used to pathologise isolated people - invariably men - who sit at home entranced for hours in an internet porn loop.

Psychologist Jay Spence, who works at South Pacific, at Curl Curl, tells the Fairfax the private facility now treats dozens of inpatients a year for sex addiction - two or three for several weeks at any given time - with a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and individually tailored drugs; some drugs to reduce libido, other drugs to combat depression.

The talk therapy is conducted in groups that also include alcohol and drug addicts. The most common issue for an inpatient sex addict is not promiscuity but internet porn, he says.

Spence acknowledges there is a lack of a significant body of scientific data on sex addiction while diagnosis "has been a big problem" because other illnesses such as a narcissistic personality disorder or a manic episode in bipolar disorder might prompt people to inappropriately "act out" sexually. "But there are examples of sexual addiction which seem to be showing up independent of mood or personality disorders," he says.

South Pacific says on its website that stress plays a big part in fuelling compulsive sexual behaviour. The hospital notes some researchers argue sex addicts may be dependent on the arousal caused by the chemical phenylethylamine, which the brain produces during the euphoria of falling in love.

Most people who suspect they are sex addicts do not opt for inpatient treatment. On Thursday at 8pm, some gather instead in the crypt of Woollahra's Holy Cross Church in Sydney for a meeting of Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous. At the same time in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, the similarly named Sex Addicts Anonymous meets in a white brick building.

Sydneysiders having too much sex with too many people or who can't tear themselves away from internet porn, at least on a Thursday night, can also find other support meetings loosely based on the Alcoholics Anonymous model at the Rocks on Mondays, Potts Point and Kings Cross on Tuesdays, Erskineville on Wednesdays, Waverley on Fridays and Sundays, and Newtown on Saturdays.

The numbers attending the Surry Hills meetings vary from four to 40, says John*, an organiser. "I've repeatedly contracted sexually transmitted diseases and put myself at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases such as HIV," he confides. "I've put myself in dangerous situations; I've had sex with numerous people I'm not attracted to as a result of a 'need' for sex; I've lost sleep and I've not eaten properly and hence I've not been able to function properly, as a result of being lost in a 'bubble' of sexual acting out …''

In his Melbourne University PhD thesis on sex addiction, Joel Beling says that in the years since the 1983 publication of US psychologist Patrick Carnes's book Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction, which "created" the academic concept of sex addiction, mental health professionals had increasingly "stigmatised" sexual excess among both men and women.

Beling compares the psycho-medical discourse of president John F. Kennedy's infidelities to the literature on Bill Clinton's sexual behaviour three decades later, and finds Kennedy's romps went "unscathed" while Clinton's actions with Monica Lewinsky and other casual sex partners were "pathologised".

A Sydney psychologist, Thiagarajan Sitharthan, has counselled men who spend as much as 18 hours a day watching internet porn. Sitharthan, who is also director of the Australian Centre for Addiction Research, says technically, addiction can be applied in this instance, measured not in the number of hours spent but whether they harm themselves or others: "They're not going to school or university or working," he says. "They fail their courses or their bosses have sacked them … So in that category, yes, it becomes an addiction because it's now taken over all the other activities."

People such as Tiger Woods who have sex with as many people as they can do appear to be compulsive, says Sitharthan, failing to think through consequences. But opportunism - actor Ralph Fiennes bonking in the toilet on an airplane - is also a common trait.

Sitharthan argues people seeking multiple partners are usually not motivated by other stresses in their lives; rather, they're after the excitement: "It's more of a narcissistic bragging thing as well, that's why I don't believe that depression or major life stresses are playing a big role. I think that's a cop-out, as far as I've seen from my clinical practice."

*Names have been changed. ..Source..

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Woman denies paying for child molester's beating

1-5-2010 New Mexico:

CARLSBAD — A former Eddy County Detention Center employee faces a charge of criminal solicitation after allegedly attempting to pay an inmate to beat up another inmate: the man who was convicted of sexually molesting a 12-year-old relative of the employee.

Lisa Lloyd, 38, allegedly asked an acquaintance to deposit $100 in the account of Johnny Ray Brazeal, who allegedly battered Gary Tesch in jail after he was found guilty of criminal sex charges, an arrest warrant filed by the New Mexico State Police stated.

Detention center administration reportedly acquired a letter, apparently written by Brazeal after the alleged battery, requesting Lloyd to deposit the money in his account or he would tell his lawyer.

An internal investigation was conducted at the detention center and Lloyd was fired. ECDC acting Warden Shawn Funk reportedly declined to tell state investigators the details, saying they are personnel matters and therefore confidential, the warrant stated.

Tesch was found guilty in August of criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual penetration of a minor and sentenced to 18 years in prison. The charge stemmed from an incident in December of 2008 in which a 12-year-old girl said Tesch molested her in his recreational vehicle.

Brazeal pleaded not guilty to a count of aggravated battery for the alleged beating of Tesch in August.

Lloyd pleaded not guilty to the charge of criminal solicitation. She was placed on a secured bond of $5,000 and awaits a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26 at Magistrate Court before Judge Henry Castaneda. ..Source.. Reid Wright, Current-Argus Staff Writer

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Can full-body airport scanners harm you?

1-5-2010 Global:

Since explosive materials were sneaked onto a U.S. domestic flight on Christmas Day, full-body scanning machines are far more likely to make their way to security lines at your local airport, even though they might not have detected said materials.

While the Transportation Security Administration already has 40 such devices in place, it just bought 150 to be placed in U.S. airports and says it plans to buy 300 more (they go for $170,000 apiece). On Wednesday, the Netherlands announced that these scanners would be used on passengers for all flights out of Amsterdam to the U.S., and there is talk of scanners in Nigeria as well.

So, setting aside the non-health-related question of whether the scanners will work in detecting explosive materials, are they safe?

These full-body scanners fall into two main categories: millimeter wave and backscatter. The first directs radio waves over a body and measures the energy reflected back to render a 3D image. The latter is a low-level X-ray machine that creates 2D images.

The scanners are supposed to be the high-tech (and energy-inefficient) version of a pat down, and can detect items such as nonmetallic weapons and explosives not picked up by metal detectors. (They only scan surfaces, so body cavity stashing may soon get all the more popular.)

Millimeter wave scanners produce 30 to 300 gigahertz electromagnetic waves, and reveal explosives if they are denser than other materials. This means that these scanners emit less radiation than a typical cell phone, according to TSA. Whether cell phones are harmful is of course the topic of many debates.

The backscatter machines, meanwhile, are low-level X-ray machines that expose bodies to as much radiation as about two minutes of flying in an airplane does. In other words, if you already use a cell phone and you already fly, you are already exposing your body to more radiation than these scanners will.

David Brenner, professor of radiation biophysics at Columbia University and co-author of a report on radiation scanning systems (PDF here), tells me that the risks associated with these low-level radiation scanners are extremely small.

"As far as we know there are no risks associated with the millimeter wave scanners, so my own view is that if you have a choice, you'd want to use the millimeter wave scanners, not the X-ray scanners," he said. "But that being said, the risks, if they exist, are very small. The issue is that small risk multiplied by a very large number of people gives you some population concerns."

As for privacy concerns, TSA writes:

This state-of-the-art technology cannot store, print, transmit or save the image. In fact, all machines are delivered to airports with these functions disabled...Each image is automatically deleted from the system after it is cleared by the remotely located security officer.

According to TSA, six full-body scanners are being used at airports in Albuquerque, N.M.; Las Vegas; Miami; San Francisco; Salt Lake City; and Tulsa, Okla. The other 34 are used for secondary screening of people who set off a metal detector in Atlanta; Dallas/Fort Worth; Denver; Detroit; Indianapolis; Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla.; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; and two airports in the Washington, D.C., area: Baltimore/Washington and Reagan National.

If you'd rather not give TSA officials a sneak peek at your body's personal contours, you'll have to put up with a physical pat-down instead. Hey, at least somewhere along the way there's a personal choice on precisely what form one's invasion of personal space will take. ..Source.. by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore

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Child Porn Laws Impede Airport Searches

1-5-2010 Global:

British Government Outlines New Airport Security Crackdown

The British government today outlined its plans for security crackdowns at airports but said it will need to examine the legalities of the new security regulations, as well as scramble to implement them in the wake of the Christmas Day bomb plot.

The disruption caused by Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab's failed attempt to destroy a Northwest Airlines plane with a bomb hidden in his underwear has highlighted the gaps in air travel security, and has led the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to begin an overhaul of airport safety regulations.

In an address today to the British Parliament, the U.K. Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, said the new security directives at British airports would be made effective within three weeks.

He said all British airports must now possess explosion trace detection equipment, and that the British Airports Authority was already in the process of training its staff to catch any signs of suspicious or unusual behavior in passengers that would require closer inspection.

"We will be considering all the issues involved, mindful of civil liberties concerns, aware that identity-based profiling has its limitations," Johnson said, "but conscious of our overriding obligations to protect people's life and liberty."

Full-Body Scan of a Child: Indecent Image?

Much has been made of the issue of profiling minors under the age of eighteen and safeguarding any images captured of them. Britain's child pornography laws currently prevent young people from being searched by body scanners. A scan could be a violation of laws that protect children from having indecent images taken of them.

"The government has a problem and so do the airports as the laws governing child protection are very tightly drawn," said Terri Dowty, Director of Action on Rights for Children. "The way the law stands at the moment, it is an offense for anyone to make an indecent image of a child and the legal advice is that any image that shows a child's genitals is highly likely to be indecent.

"We can't have people misapply this law for their own convenience," she said. "They would face prosecution, it's a fundamental principle. If it is inconvenient we have to go back to parliament."

Airport screeners who operate the high-tech scanners are being specially trained, and their vetting for the job includes a check of the British sex offenders' register.

The issue of civil liberties is one that the British Government will have to address carefully. The body scanners are being tried out at Manchester airport in the north of England.

When a passenger enters a body scanner, a radio wave is emitted that penetrates clothing and bounces off the body, creating an image of the person's naked body and any objects that are hidden in clothing.

Critics say the procedure amounts to a strip search.

As the passenger stands in the scanner, the naked image of the passenger is transmitted to a sole, remote operator who is stationed in another part of the airport and will not see the face of the person inside the scanning machine. The operator will then mark any objects present on the passenger and send a schematic diagram of the person's profile to the officers operating the scanner for further examination

"There are two options available if the passenger has to undergo a further search -- they will either go in the scanner machine or go undergo pat-down search if they refuse to go through the machine, which is what is open to everyone at the moment," John Greenway, Manchester Airport's press officer, told ABC News. "There will be no way to communicate between the remote officer and the machine operator, so tip-off of celebrities that come through will not be possible."

Human rights groups are questioning how the scanner will be used. It is not practical to give every passenger a full body-scan, which raises the issue of profiling.

"There are real concerns about profiling people based on race, religion, ethnicity, and it's potentially counterproductive and allows those who you wish to profile to change tactic," Isabella Sankey, Director of Policy at Liberty, an independent civil liberties group, told ABC News, "We all accept that there is a sensitivity surrounding this and that you can pick-up on a behavioral profile, but anything done based on stereotyping or racial profiling would be worrying".

British government officials say they are only doing "passenger profiling" -- a term which would rule out scanning of very young or older passengers. They say searches would not be done on the basis of race or ethnicity but would be based on behavioral profiles and suspicious conduct. ..Source.. SONIA GALLEGO

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Parents Frustrated Somer Thompson's Killer Hasn't Been Caught

1-5-2010 Florida:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Life has moved on in Somer Thompson's neighborhood, but some things have changed.

Purple ribbons still hang on Somer's school, and Crime Stoppers signs, asking for new information, are everywhere. Somer's memorial, still in front of her Orange Park home, is smaller but the neighborhood has not forgotten the hunt for justice.

"It would be nice for them to get the people that did this," said 10-year-old Cole Bello.

Cole said his life has changed forever.

"We just can't go running down to my friend's house. We have to wait for somebody to come out here and watch us," he said.

The Bellos have a few new rules and the kids said that's just fine with them. "I'm scared if I'm out front by myself, they might grab us," said 8-year-old Grace Bello, Cole's sister.

Grace and Cole's dad, Aaron Bello, said if his kids are outside, he is with them.

Two and a half months after Somer was murdered, Bello said parents are still on edge. "I think there is a sense of frustration that we can't figure out who has done this," said Aaron Bello.

Testing is still underway at the lab on a large amount of evidence, police said.

The Clay County Sheriff's Office said it is not unusual that the results are taking so long to come in because of the amount of evidence and the type of testing.

"I know the longer it goes on, the less likely we are gonna find out who did it," said Bello.

Police said they haven't lost hope. The case is far from being cold and detectives are still focused on finding Somer's killer. ..Source.. Taren Reed Jackelyn Barnard Ann Butler

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Attorney: Sex Offender Law Unconstitutional

1-5-2010 Nebraska:

Law Took Effect Monday When Judge Lifted Restraining Order, Excepting Two Provisions

A new law requiring Nebraska to post the names of all registered sex offenders on a public Web site went into effect Monday after a judge lifted a temporary restraining order.

Before the law, only registered sex offenders who were at high risk to re-offend appeared on the site.

Attorney Stu Dornan represents 23 low-level sex offenders. Dornan said the new law is unconstitutional and lumps all sex offenders together regardless of their dangerousness.

Dornan said the change affects sex offenders' family life, their right to earn a living and even their travel plans.

He said that if an offender were to be hospitalized for more than three days, it's now considered a change of address. That can lead to prosecution.

"They can be prosecuted for a felony if there're unconscious and in a hospital. That's very much a deprivation of their constitutional right to seek liberty," Dornan said. He vowed to continue his fight in federal court.

Nebraska's attorney general said the new law will help protect society from sex offenders. The case affects sex offenders statewide.

"It's funny," said one man deemed a sex offender. "I would have dropped off the list the end of next year, right after Christmas. Now, it's for life."

The man said he got two years of probation for fondling a child in 1997. He said the new law adds to punishment he has already served.

"How can the government get away with making a law that is a blatant violation of my constitutional rights?" the man asked.

Sex offenders will now remain on the site from 15 years to life. The length of time depends of the offense committed, not on the likelihood of re-offense. ..Source.. KETV.com

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Task Force to Stop, Child on Child, Sexual Abuse

1-5-2010 Florida:

Child on child sexual abuse touches and troubles the lives of thousands of children each year and the state of Florida is launching a new effort to stop it.

New research by the Justice Department shows more than a third of sex crimes against children are committed by other children.

The Florida Department of Children and Families identified more than 8300 children as either alleged perpetrators or victims of child on child abuse from 2008 to 2009.

And officials say it's critical to respond immediately. "Because many of the children that are abused at some point could later become abusers," said Alan Abramowitz, the State Director of the Family Safety Office for DCF.

The death of 7 year-old Broward County boy Gabriel Myers has sparked the DCF Secretary to form a task force. Myers was sexually abused by a 12 year-old boy and killed himself back in April. He was also on psychotropic drugs, which officials believe may have been another contributing factor. Now the group is holding hearings around Florida, gathering feedback to prevent future crimes.

"A lot of times we don't know particularly how to react to it. Either in the law enforcement side, the parental side, or the social worker side. So we've got to do a better job of preparing parents and in our case, foster parents with dealing with these issues. We've also got to do a better job of making sure the support systems are in place. Because it takes specialized psychological and emotional services to be able to deal with the child who's been victimized and equally important to deal with a child who's the victimizer," said Jim Sewell, the Special Assistant to the DCF Secretary.

The first hearing was a couple weeks ago, and there will be about five more. The Tallahassee meeting is scheduled for March 11th. Organizers are planning on submitting a report of their findings and recommendations to the DCF Secretary and then the legislature.

And for more information about this task force or reporting abuse click on the link below. ..Source.. Tara Herrschaft

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Study: Third of juvenile sex offenders target other kids

1-5-2010 National:

More than a third of sex crimes against juveniles are committed by juveniles, according to new research commissioned by the Justice Department.

Juveniles are 36% of all sex offenders who victimize children. Seven out of eight are at least 12 years old, and 93% are boys, says the study by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

The report comes as states toughen penalties for adult sex offenders and wrestle with how to handle juveniles.

"They are different from adult sex offenders," says study co-author David Finkelhor. They are more likely than adults to commit sex offenses in groups, and their victims are younger and more likely to be male.

Finkelhor says only about 10% of juvenile offenders have signs of "sexual preoccupation," an indicator of a pedophile. He says teen offenses include date rape. In the case of offenders age 12 or 13, it is often sexual experimentation with younger kids.

Early sex education is key to teaching boundaries and preventing such experimentation, Finkelhor says.

It appears that "experimentation" is now a sex crime causing one to register.

The study, based on 2004 law enforcement data, finds that juvenile sex offenders commonly target children younger than they are. Their numbers increase sharply at age 12 and plateau at 14. Female offenders are younger.

"I've seen the whole spectrum," from serious and even sadistic crimes to 16-year-old boys having sex with 13-year-old girlfriends, says psychiatrist Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic. He says research shows the vast majority of juvenile sex offenders don't become adult ones.

He says too many end up on sex offender registries. "They shouldn't be stigmatized for the rest of their lives," Berlin says.

Some states have tried to lessen punishment for older teens having consensual sex with underage ones. Most do not list juveniles on their online sex offender registries.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, however, requires states to adopt uniform registry rules or risk losing certain federal funds. The act, passed in 2006, requires teens 14 and older to register if they commit serious sex crimes, which can include touching the genitals of someone younger than 12.

Offenders have to register every three months; failure to do so is a felony. The Justice Department says only Ohio has put the law into effect. ..Source.. Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

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Washtenaw County prosecutors review case against sex offender Matthew Freeman

1-4-2010 Michigan:

Washtenaw County prosecutors are reviewing the case against a man accused of living near a school after being convicted of having sex with a high school girlfriend one year below the legal age of consent.

Matthew Freeman, 23, of Pittsfield Township, who is required to register as a sex offender, is charged with a school safety zone residency violation.

County Assistant Prosecutor John Reiser said during a court hearing for Freeman this morning that prosecutors are reviewing the case after speaking with Freeman's attorney, David Goldstein.

The case was adjourned until Jan. 25. Reiser told 14A District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson that if prosecutors decide to drop the case, they'd ask that Freeman's presence at the next court hearing be waived.

Reached by phone this morning, County Chief Deputy Assistant Prosecutor Steve Hiller declined to discuss specifics of the case because it's pending.

"We agreed to adjourn the case to have a chance to do whatever legal research is needed," Hiller said.

Goldstein said during an interview last week that he asked prosecutors to review whether the charge is appropriate.

"In this particular case, my position is there is no violation here," Goldstein said. "I presented that to the prosecutor's office, and they're looking into it."

Goldstein declined to be more specific.

Freeman is accused of illegally living within 1,000 feet of Carpenter Elementary School. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, he faces up to a year in jail.

Freeman has registered at the address of a family friend while the case is pending.

Freeman was playing basketball in his driveway Aug. 3 when a state trooper pulled up and determined Freeman was living 326 feet from the school, a police report said. Freeman had registered with Pittsfield Township police using his family's Dalton Avenue address 27 days earlier.

Freeman was sentenced to probation in 2003 after being convicted of having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 17. He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with force or coercion. In Michigan, the legal age of consent is 16.

As a result of Freeman’s conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender for 25 years.

The girl's mother, Evelyn Scott, who pressed charges against Freeman in the 2003 case, recently wrote a letter on his behalf and said she wants him removed from the registry. ..Source..

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Can the government civilly commit sex offenders?

1-4-2010 National:

On Jan. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in United States v. Comstock, a case that raises questions about the federal government's authority to civilly commit sex offenders.

In 2006, Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. 4248 as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Section 4248 authorizes the federal government to civilly commit “sexually dangerous persons” who are already in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Using this authority, the federal government can extend the confinement of these persons even after they have completed their prison sentences.

The Walsh Act defines “sexually dangerous persons” as those who “engaged or attempted to engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation” and suffer “from a serious mental illness, abnormality or disorder” that would cause them “serious difficulty in refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released.” Several states, including Kansas, have enacted laws to facilitate the civil commitment of similarly defined individuals. Like section 4248, the states' “sexually violent predator” commitment statutes have been used to confine sex offenders who have completed their prison terms continuously and indefinitely — a result that has been both praised as an innovative way to protect the public “from a small, but dangerous class of criminal” (e.g., Maleng, N., 1992) and criticized as a misuse of the institution of civil commitment for nontherapeutic purposes (for example, by a 1999 report from APA's Task Force on Sexually Dangerous Offenders).

The Supreme Court has held that the Kansas statute does not offend the Constitution's Ex Post Facto and Double Jeopardy Clauses, nor does it violate sex offenders' substantive due process rights by authorizing commitments in the absence of mental illness. Applying these holdings, lower courts have determined that section 4248 likewise does not violate these constitutional principles (see United States v. Comstock, 2007).

But section 4248 raises a new set of questions that have divided courts of appeals.

In United States v. Comstock (2009), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit concluded that Congress lacked the authority to enact section 4248. Noting that “the states have long controlled the civil commitment of the mentally ill” through “the exercise of ... general police and parens patriae powers” that the federal government lacks, the Fourth Circuit found that section 4248 cannot be sustained as a legitimate exercise of the specific powers granted to Congress under the Constitution. In United States v. Tom (2009), however, the Eighth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion, holding that “the statute is a responsible exercise of federal power over individuals subject to continuing federal jurisdiction.” The Eighth Circuit found that, because Congress had authority under the Commerce Clause to criminalize the criminal conduct of the defendant (who had crossed state lines to engage in sexual acts with a minor), it “has the ancillary authority under the Necessary and Proper Clause to provide for his civil commitment so that he may be prevented from its commission in the first place.”

The Supreme Court will resolve the disagreement between the courts of appeals in an opinion that will be issued sometime this year. If the court determines that section 4248 is unconstitutional, “sexually dangerous persons” held under that statute will likely have to be released from federal custody. In late 2008, more than 60 such individuals were confined in the federal prison complex in Butner, N.C., alone. These people may be susceptible to civil commitment under state law, and more states might enact their own versions of the commitment procedure if section 4248 is struck down.

If, on the other hand, section 4248 is upheld, the federal government will have expanded authority to legislate in the field of civil commitment — a field that generally has been left to the individual states. Thus, the Supreme Court's forthcoming decision in Comstock should be of interest to psychologists — particularly those whose practice involves the assessment or treatment of sex offenders. ..Source.. Marc W. Pearce, JD, PhD, and Leah C. Skovran, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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Sex offender registries give 'false' security

1-4-2010 Maryland:

SALISBURY -- Residents mourned the death of Sarah Haley Foxwell after investigators found her body two days after she was reported missing.

She was one of 2,185 children across the country who are reported missing each day, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The 11-year-old girl was abducted from her bedroom during the night and reported missing Dec. 23.

Police charged a 30-year-old Salisbury man with Foxwell's disappearance and expect murder charges to follow at a later date.

When investigators reported Thomas James Leggs Jr., a registered sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, had been charged with abducting the girl, many parents turned to the Internet to check the sex offender registry. The news sent parents searching for sex offenders in their neighborhoods.

But professionals who work with sexual assault victims say checking registries for neighboring sex offenders is not the best means of protecting children.

"The sex offender registry gives people a false sense of security," said Donna Leffew, a clinical director for the Life Crisis Center who has 17 years of experience with victims of child sex abuse. "When children are sexually abused, they rarely tell."

And when they do tell, many times child victims will recant their story, she added.
Residents often assume that a person not listed in the sex offender registry is safe, but the Maryland sex offender registry only includes individuals who have been convicted of a sex offense.

In Delaware, only high- and moderate-risk offenders are included in the registry. Individuals classified as high-risk sex offenders have been convicted on charges that include first- or second-degree rape, first-degree unlawful sexual contact and sexual exploitation of a child.

Moderate-risk offenders have been convicted on charges that include third- or fourth-degree rape, second-degree unlawful sexual contact and committing a dangerous crime against a child.

"The best way to protect your children is not to leave them alone with anyone," said Michelle Hughes, executive director of the Life Crisis Center.

The Life Crisis Center is a 24-hour nonprofit organization that provides support for adult and juvenile victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault.

"Most sex offenders are not convicted, and we need to do a better job of educating parents and children about the risk of child sex abuse from people they know and people in the family who are not on the registry," said Lisae Jordan, legal counsel for both the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Maryland Children's Alliance.

Requiring sex offenders to register was not enough, and in 2006, state lawmakers passed a bill that added a new law that required sex offenders be monitored for three years after the end of their sentence. Monitoring is geared toward the individual sex offender and can include using GPS devices, polygraph exams and restricting offenders from having contact with certain individuals.

"To the extent that the public rely on the registry and the government to protect them from sex offenders, we need to devote the most resources to the offenders that provide the most danger to our children," Jordan said.

Ricky Hall, a 44-year-old Salisbury resident who grew up in the same neighborhood as the man charged with kidnapping Foxwell, said additional measures need to be taken to notify neighbors when a sex offender is living in their community. Hall said he knew the suspect for most of his life, but didn't know Leggs was a registered sex offender in two states.

"One of my main concerns is that they need to come up with a better system than putting it up on the Internet," Hall said.

Hall, who doesn't have a computer, suggested media publish the names and photos of sex offenders on a regular basis.

"People beware," Hall said. "It can be anybody, anywhere." ..Source.. Sharahn D. Boykin • Staff Writer

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Lower-risk offenders: New law unfair

1-4-2010 Nebraska:

Some Nebraska residents found guilty of committing lower-level sex crimes have joined legal efforts to suspend or change parts of new sex offender laws that were set to take effect Friday.

One man convicted of sexually assaulting his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 19 successfully challenged his sex offender registry classification, getting it dropped to Level 2 and removing his name from public view after a concrete chunk was thrown at his family's home.

A Lancaster County woman convicted of third-degree sexual assault said she would not have pleaded guilty to the crime had she known new laws could allow authorities to search her work computer and make her subject to community notification for 15 years.

"These are not the guys you worry about," Lincoln attorney James Beckman said.

While Nebraska authorities, including Attorney General Jon Bruning, have said the laws are in place to provide added protection for Nebraska's families and children, the civil suits focus on the impact the laws will have on the offenders.

The two people cited above were part of a lawsuit filed by Omaha attorney Stu Dornan on behalf of 20 anonymous convicted sex offenders, as well as their families and employers.

All said in recent court filings that their lives would change once their names became public to all Nebraskans, which was slated to happen on Friday.

A Sarpy County District Court judge on Thursday granted a temporary injunction, halting the publication of the names of the low-risk convicted sex offenders and scheduling a 10 a.m. Jan. 11 hearing on the matter.

That action followed rulings by U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf last week on two federal suits. Kopf upheld most of Nebraska's new sex offender regulations, including publication of information regarding all the states' sex offenders, not just the high-risk ones.

He said most changes to Nebraska law are in line with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). But he temporarily halted enforcement of two add-ons to the guidelines by Nebraska legislators - laws that would have allowed authorities to monitor convicted sex offenders' computer usage and banned offenders from social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

In his ruling, Kopf gave a negative personal opinion of the legislation.

"I am not a fan of laws like this one," Kopf wrote. "If I had my druthers, I would enjoin the entire law and not just the portions that are probably unconstitutional.

"I am pretty sure that this enactment will divert attention and money from policing the monsters (and God knows there are plenty of monsters out there). I also worry that this law will incite a virulent form of vigilantism against the hapless.

"But, my likes and dislikes don't matter," he wrote.

Beckman, who filed one of the two federal cases, agreed with Kopf.

"I get that there are bad people out there," he said. "And these are not those people."

He said he also understood why Kopf ruled as he did at the federal level. He and other attorneys are now focusing their attention on state law. State judges in Alaska, Maine and Indiana have ruled that parts of the federal Adam Walsh Act, the guiding force driving many changes in sex offender law, are unconstitutional, Beckman said.

"There's issues of the interpretation of the state constitution and interpretation of state law as it relates to plea bargains and search and seizure," Beckman said.

He said some of his clients agreed to plea agreements years ago to get on with their lives. The John Doe he represented in his federal filing pleaded guilty to a non-aggravated felony offense almost 10 years ago.

Beckman said in the lawsuit that the man completed probation, received counseling and has led a productive life since the plea agreement. He said the man would have fought the charges in court had he known that SORNA would require him to register for 25 years and have his name, photo and place of employment displayed online.

Beckman filed a civil case Thursday in Lancaster County District Court on behalf of two John Does, including one man who had reached a plea agreement with state prosecutors years ago.

Like the Sarpy County District Court case, it seeks an injunction against the Nebraska State Patrol and several state and local law enforcement officials, claiming that the new legislation "represents a significant departure from the previous sex offender registry, infringing on core Constitutional rights guaranteed by the Nebraska Constitution." A hearing on the matter has been tentatively set for Thursday, he said.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the laws, as well as the feasibility of some of the requirements, such as the monitoring of "remote communication devices." Beckman wrote that the term could presumably cover everything from cell phones to "bullhorns, walkie talkies, tin cans connected via string, etc."

The lawsuit also asks the court to consider the damage that a published name would do to a low-risk offender.

"Each John Doe will forever be affected by public notification via the State Patrol's (Web site)," Beckman wrote in the lawsuit. "Once a registrant is listed, even accidentally or briefly, that person will forever be memorialized as a sex offender through Web sites such as familywatchdog.us and neighborhoodscan.com."

He said in the lawsuit that the 1,600-plus names of lower-level sex offenders that were to be published will result "in a dilution of information that provides little to no real useful or actionable information to the public."

Beckman said judges have written in some probation and sentencing orders that essentially the guilty party did something stupid, but showed no risk to reoffend.

Those are the people he and other attorneys are trying to protect from added public scrutiny, he said.

One such John Doe, according to the other federal lawsuit ruled on last week by Kopf, was briefly listed on the Nebraska State Patrol's sex offender registry Web site by accident.

During that time, "he received disquieting mail and became ostracized in his community," the lawsuit stated.

"He is terrified what further public notification will bring."

His name and many others remained veiled this weekend, due to the Sarpy County District judge's temporary injunction.

Beckman said he hoped to prevent that man's name, as well as those of his clients, from ever appearing on the registry, because he knows what will happen if they are ever listed.

"Even if six months from now we get this overturned, everyone knows," he said. ..Source.. CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star

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Alaska tries to comply with federal sex offender law

1-4-2010 Alaska:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It's been more than three years since Congress passed a law ordering stricter laws for sex offenders, but Alaska is still not meeting those federal standards.

The deadline to comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, was July of 2009. But because Ohio was the only state to meet those requirements on time, the deadline has been extended to July of this year.

Alaska faces unique legal and geographic barriers to complying with the law, but backers say doing so will make the state safer.

"That integrative process is good," said state Rep. Anna Fairclough. "Because then, all states are looking out for particular individuals showing up and applying to jobs in schools or trying to have access to young children."

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. It aims to create a national sex offender registry and toughen penalties on those who fail to register, including the estimated 100,000 sex offenders who are not living where they're supposed to be.

Sex offenders, however, aren't the only ones having trouble meeting SORNA's requirements.

"There are 49 other states who haven't complied, and there's a reason," Fairclough said.

The federal law would apply to all sex offenders, including those with convictions before SORNA was enacted. This contradicts Alaska's Constitution, which bars retroactive laws.

Additionally, SORNA uses a three-tier system to classify what kind of act sex offenders committed. Alaska uses a two-tier system.

Another complication is that SORNA requires perpetrators to register and update information in person. Depending on the tier, a sex offender may have to report every three months -- a point of difficulty in the Bush.

"A large proportion of Alaska offenders that are registered on that sex offenders list in our state are in rural communities," Fairclough said. "And so there's a different travel pattern that would be expected from them."

In fiscal year 2009, Standing Together Against Rape reported almost 3,000 crisis calls. The organization was involved in more than 590 child assault investigations.

STAR's director, Nancy Haag, says over the years she's seen a rise in the number of cases.

"I think anything we do to make the community safer is an important and valuable investment," Haag said. "I know that it's also an expensive investment, but I think that from the recent reports from the governor, that he's welcoming whatever he can do to make this a safer community in terms of sexual assaults."

When Gov. Sean Parnell announced his 2011 budget proposal in mid-December, a top priority was ending domestic violence. Parnell's proposal sets aside $7 million to pay for public safety officers in remote villages and a new position in the Department of Law to address the problem.

"I think we need to work at making the federal law the best that it can be," Fairclough said. "And if it needs to be revised, I think that we need to speak with our congressional representatives, talk to our senators and say what challenges Alaska faces, and how are those similar to the other states." ..Source.. Christine Kim

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N.C. builds a better rap sheet

1-3-2010 North Carolina:

RALEIGH -- Wake County prosecutor Patrick Latour can search a defendant's criminal history through either of two computer programs. The difference is like switching between Pong and a Wii.

The current system presents page after page of dizzying white letters and numbers on a black background requiring complicated, tedious commands. The state's new system is as simple as ordering pizza online.

Latour, a drug prosecutor, is among a handful of Wake County law enforcement and court officials testing the new database. The system gives users quick access to criminal records across the state, probation information and state prison files; it soon will include county jail records. It even sends an e-mail alert to prosecutors if a defendant in a forthcoming case is arrested again, effectively a "You have jail" message.

Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services, as the system is called, is a direct response to the 2008 slaying of Eve Carson, student body president at UNC-Chapel Hill. Two men charged in the case were on probation. Their earlier offenses while on probation went unaddressed by probation officials partly because of the 1980s-technology computer system now in use that didn't alert them.

"If anything positive can come out of Eve Carson's death," said Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby, "this is attributable to folks in the legislature saying, 'What can we do?'"

What remains unsettling with the new system is that, though it will bring prosecutors light years forward in technology from where they are, it offers the sort of computer capability that online retailers such as Amazon.com deployed a decade ago.

A visit to Latour's office offers a look at both systems. The old program is an antiquated labyrinth through which prosecutors must navigate each day. To enter the database, Latour flips through six computer screens with their DOS-style white letters on a black background. He enters login information twice and then can get detailed information - but only about Wake County. For other counties, he has to log out and then log in to a different area.

"All I can get is what they're convicted of," Latour said. "I don't know if they're on probation, if they're in jail."

For jail information, he has to log out and go into a database that includes only information from the Wake County jail. He types the defendant's last name, a comma, first name and no spaces. If he accidentally puts in a space, he gets nothing. He uses a series of commands that sound like a computer programming class circa 1982: F2, put a slash next to the listing he wants, then F11 for the next listing. The computer freezes. He typed something wrong. Log out. Start over.

"If you use the mouse, you're going to get screwed up, quite frankly," he said. "I can get more information on my cell phone."

Such obstacles are incomprehensible to a public accustomed to shopping, trading stocks and tracking down far-flung high school classmates in a matter of seconds.

"People watch 'CSI' and say, 'Look at all that,' and they would be amazed at what we don't have in terms of automated computer systems," said Kay Meyer, program manager for data integration at the state controller's office, who is helping coordinate the new system.

Prosecutors handling major felonies such as homicide and rape must take the time to retrieve background information from the cumbersome system. They know the defendant's full rap sheet when they go into Superior Court. But district court prosecutors, with 150 or more cases in a single morning, are retrieving as much data as possible on a laptop in the courtroom as they go. These are the cases that will most benefit from the new system.

In the aftermath of Carson's killing, the legislature approved the data-sharing software as a means of giving law enforcement personnel statewide important details about warrants, arrests, prison conduct and more. A handful of Wake County officials are testing the program, built by software giant SAS of Cary. A countywide pilot program is expected to start by the end of June.

The cost business

The estimated cost over three years is $27 million, but the program has funding only for the $9.1 million that will carry it through June 30 and the end of this fiscal year.

For a glimpse of the new program, step back to Latour's office. He launches Internet Explorer, uses a secure login and is greeted with the sort of Windows-based, type-information-in-the-box page that is familiar to most computer users. In the old system, Latour needed a defendant's birth date. In the new one, age or an age range will do. Names are logically grouped together, and a red "VIO" marks defendants with a violent history. In one search, he sees 29 previous cases for a defendant, four pending charges and that the defendant was on probation and imprisoned in the past. Latour can retrieve details by clicking on any entry.

The prosecutor and, ultimately, a police officer on the street, can pop up a color-coded timeline of the defendant's entanglements with the courts -orange and yellow bars mark months in prison, for example.

"It's more intuitive and a quicker way to work," Latour said.

A maze of data

The struggles now lie in compiling the data. Records are being drawn from different counties and different levels of government that use inconsistent pieces of identifying information. Older records lack data that is now routine. The system's next step is to add all county jail information and, by June, driver's license records, juvenile court files and the state sex offender registry. A later phase will include sources such as concealed handgun permits. Officials must carefully navigate restrictions, such as confidentiality of juvenile records, along the way.

"There are literally hundreds of regulations, departmental policy rules and statutes that affect how this information can be shared," said Lorrin Freeman, Wake County clerk of courts, whose office is among those testing the program.

The accuracy and details are important because a mistake can put the wrong person in lockup or, conversely, set the wrong person free.

The system is being developed by state advisory teams on criminal justice information along with the steering committee overseeing BEACON, the state's data integration effort, which made news in 2008 for producing a series of state payroll errors.

Once the system is operating countywide in Wake, Meyer and others will evaluate how it is working before rolling it out in other parts of the state. ..Source.. MARK JOHNSON - Staff Writer

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