4-29-2011 Tennessee:
LIVINGSTON, Tenn. - A Van Buren County sheriff's deputy is under investigation for allegedly sending racy text messages to a woman he arrested for DUI.
"He actually programmed his name and his number into my phone," said Melody Cummings.
At the time, Officer Brandon Walker was working for the Livingston Police Department. Cummings said Walker sent her dozens of suggestive text messages and then a graphic photograph. She took the messages to her attorney.
"When she brought the text messages I was just floored at how inappropriate the conduct was by the officer," said attorney Sean Frye. "He directly was soliciting sex for favorable treatment on a defendant's case when it came time to go to court."
Frye and Cummings brought the text evidence to District Attorney Randy York.
"There's no question it was inappropriate. There's no question about that. Once a police officer arrests someone they should not have contact with that person, particularly on a personal matter," said General York.
Livingston Police Chief Greg Etheridge confronted Walker who immediately resigned. Etheridge said Walker admitted sending the explicit message and photo.
The District Attorney dropped the DUI charges against Cummings and she decided not to file an official complaint if Walker left law enforcement.
"She wanted to be done and over with and go one with her life," said General York.
But then Cummings learned Walker took another job as a sheriff's deputy in Van Buren county.
"It burned me up. That burned me up," said Cummings.
Cummings has now filed an official complaint and General York has opened a criminal investigation.
Neither Walker nor the Van Buren county sheriff responded to NewsChannel 5's calls for comment. ..Source.. by Nick Beres
April 29, 2011
Law Enforcement Officer Under Investigation For Racy Text
April 28, 2011
Sex-offender residency laws / A pointless effort
4-28-2011 New Jersey:
The state Senate is scheduled to vote today on a law that would give municipalities the authority to restrict where sex offenders can live. Lawmakers would be better off not resurrecting this issue.
Municipal laws restricting where convicted sex offenders could live were so popular in 2005 that passing them seemed like a fad. More than 100 New Jersey towns adopted such ordinances, including Galloway Township.
Galloway's restrictions - making off limits any place within 2,500 feet of a school, park, playground, day-care center or anywhere children were likely to congregate - turned two-thirds of the township into an exclusionary zone.
As the courts that struck down these laws noted, the state already has a comprehensive set of rules for dealing with sex offenders once they serve their sentences. Megan's Law requires offenders to register and submit to monitoring. It limits them to living in places approved by their parole officers and requires notification of neighbors when someone convicted of a serious sex offense moves into an area.
The courts said local residency restrictions could undermine efforts to protect all residents of the state. They suggested the restrictions could make it so difficult for offenders to find housing that they could drive them underground.
The other problem with residency restriction laws is that they can give parents a false sense of security. Most sexual offenses against children are committed by people they know, not strangers who live too close to schools.
The bottom line is that these laws don't make children safer and may, in fact, make them less safe.
Meanwhile, the state has no shortage of problems that need to be addressed by lawmakers.
On Tuesday, Gov. Chris Christie listed some of them when he took a shot at what he called the "do nothing" Legislature with a report card full of "incompletes."
Obviously, Christie has his own agenda, but he also has a point.
Instead of laws that make everyone feel good but do nothing to solve problems, our lawmakers should be wrestling with the real issues: securing the pension system for state workers, taking up ethics reform and getting more control over the spending of "independent" authorities.
Still, at a time when campaigns are nuance-free zones composed of sound bites, no politicians want the blurbs about them to say they are soft on pedophiles.
This is true on the local level as well. If this legislation becomes law, it will encourage council and committee members throughout the state to once again pass restrictions that may be good public relations but do nothing to make children safer. And when those restrictions are challenged in court, these same officials will feel obligated to spend scarce tax dollars to defend them.
It's hard to escape the conclusion that efforts like this are less about helping children than they are about finding an easy issue to help incumbents get re-elected.
And that's not why we send legislators to Trenton. ..Source.. by Press of Atlantic City.com
SC looks to prevent other states from sending sex offenders here for treatment
4-28-2011 South Carolina:
SC - Rep. Limehouse, Murphy and Horne are working on a new bill they hope to introduce as potential legislation shortly. Among other things, it would prevent other states from sending sex offenders to South Carolina for treatment.
The bill is being considered after 4 teenagers escaped from the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility. Three of those teenagers have been found. Law Enforcement is still searching for the fourth. He is believed to be a 19 year old.
News 2 talked to several neighbors who live in Oakbrook Commons, a neighborhood just down the road from Palmetto Health facility. Some neighbors said they didn't have any idea that teenagers with violent pasts were treated at the location. They said they want to have better notification, and they support legislation that would prevent sex offenders from other states from being treated in South Carolina.
We spoke with Rep. Chris Murphy. He said he is in Columbia along with Rep. Limehouse and Rep. Horne working on the potential legislation. Rep. Murphy says they met with officials from Palmetto Behavioral Health this morning to discuss concerns and what can be done to make their facilities more secure.
Murphy says a 1st draft of the legislation has been written, and they are editing it before preparing an actual bill to be submitted to the Legislature. Rep. Murphy expects to have a bill submitted either later this afternoon or in the morning.
Murphy says they are also looking at how DHEC may be able to have a role in helping solve the problem. ..Source.. by Raymond Owens
April 27, 2011
State may discourage overpass camp
4-27-2011 Oregon:
ODOT ready to put up no-trespassing signs
Robert Morrical says he can’t get a job because he is a registered sex offender. He’s says he drinks because he can’t get a job. He can’t stay at Helping Hands shelter because he drinks. So he stays under the bridge.
Morrical, 43, is one of a handful of men living under the Pacific Boulevard overpass near Albany Station.
“That’s what we have in common,” he said as he sipped a High Gravity malt liquor. “We have different reasons. We are all alcoholics. It’s a condition of the heart.”
Morrical and the others may soon have to find another place. Responding to complaints by passersby, Albany police say the Oregon Department of Transportation is about to put up no-trespassing signs under the overpass, part of the state highway system.
Morrical says that if he could get a job, he would get himself and his “family” — the other men staying under the bridge — off the streets for good.
Police say if folks wouldn’t give them money, they would move on without being forced.
But several of the men said they are there because they can’t stay at the nearby Helping Hands shelter. One said because it is full, the others because it does not allow alcohol.
One man used to stay in a nearby gazebo. Complaints from neighbors and nearby businesses put a stop to that.
From January to March of this year, Albany police had 17 calls complaining about “panhandling,” compared to 28 in all of 2010.
“We are seeing an uptick in panhandling-related complaints,” said Lt. Casey Dorland.
The number does not include complaints made to the mayor or other city officials, said city spokeswoman Marilyn Smith.
There is no city ordinance against panhandling. “It’s protected free speech,” Smith said.
“Ordinances such as loitering and vagrancy were struck down years ago as unconstitutional,” added Capt. Eric Carter of APD.
Panhandlers run afoul of the law only if they step into traffic during a green light, change the flow of traffic, harass someone, or keep others from using the sidewalk. In some cases, the individual could be cited for disorderly conduct. Waiving a sign is not considered harassment.
In cases of disorderly conduct or harassing, the person bothered also must be willing to sign a complaint and be willing to act as a witness or a victim.
“People say, ‘I don’t want to be involved,’” Carter said. “Then we can’t do anything about it.”
Officers at APD could not recall any car accidents caused by distraction over panhandling.
If that were to happen, the driver handing out the cash could actually be cited for impeding traffic.
Along with trash, there have been reports of human waste on and around the overpass steps, so ODOT put lime down recently as a sanitation measure.
The Pacific overpass itself is the property of ODOT.
The state department has agreed to put up no trespassing signs “any day now,” according to Dorland. When it does, police will be able to enforce it.
“Usually, when we start issuing citations, word gets out, and we start to see it fall off,” Carter said.
The captain said the individuals he sees under the overpass are some of the same folks he has seen over the past 15 to 30 years. They have been offered services but choose the homeless lifestyle instead.
“They don’t fall under the category of ‘lost their home because of the recession,’” he said.
Police advise against giving money to panhandlers for several reasons.
“Don’t roll down your window,” Dorland said. “You don’t know who they are. You don’t know what their history is. You are inviting in the potential for something that is going to be very negative.”
If you want to help, donate to a recognized charity. Otherwise, police say, more often than not, the money goes to feeding an alcohol or drug addiction.
“Then when they service their addiction, we get disorderly conduct calls,” Carter said.
Lee Beam, 63, is a Vietnam veteran from West Virginia living under the overpass.
He said Veterans Affairs sent him from that state to Seattle for care. After treatment, Seattle sent him to White City, and from there he was sent to Eugene, where he says he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. From there he was sent to Roseburg. He said after he received drug and alcohol treatment in Roseburg, the VA drove him to Albany and dropped him off.
Beam has multiple sclerosis, pancreatitis and is nearly blind.
He holds a sign. The most money he has ever gotten was in Eugene. A man handed him a bank envelope with $212 in it.
“He said, ‘thanks for your service,’” Beam recalled. In Albany, the most he has received through holding a sign is $20. ..Source.. by AnneMarie Knepper, Albany Democrat-Herald
April 26, 2011
Panel passes measure to clarify sex-offender registry
4-26-2011 Colorado:
A Senate committee today gave unanimous approval to a bill aimed at streamlining and clarifying sex offender registration.
House Bill 1278, sponsored by Sen. John Morse D-Colorado Springs, would make several changes to the law about who must register as a sex offender in Colorado, as well as clarifying the responsibilities of law enforcement and the court system in processing sex offenders.
Under current law, the state may classify a person as a "sexually violent predator" based on his or her classification outside Colorado. HB 1278 defines what classifications meet this requirement, and also gives such people the right to appeal the classification.
The bill makes second-degree kidnapping a crime requiring registration as a sex offender if the victim is sexually assaulted, and also mandates that those registered as sex offenders on Native American tribal lands register as sex offenders in Colorado as well.
"It attempts to make the law clearer," Morse said.
The bill also addresses concerns surrounding re-registration of sex offenders. Maureen Cain, an attorney testifying on behalf of the Sex Offender Task Force of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, told the committee the task force supports the bill because it would help overcome certain obstacles to the re-registration process.
Cain said some sex offenders fail to re-register by the required date because they are in jail for other crimes, and the law enforcement agency they need to report to does not know they are jailed. HB 1278 would require the sheriff of a county jail to submit the re-registration information of any sex offenders booked into jail.
The bill would also give sex offenders a 10 day leeway for re-registration as a sex offender. Instead of re-registering on his or her birthday, the bill would allow a sex offender to re-register from five days before that date until five days after.
The bill previously earned House approval under the sponsorship of Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs. It must now win initial approval from the full Senate. ..Source.. Kyle Glazier, The Denver Post Staff Writer
Assembly backs clearing the records of certain sex offenders
4-26-2011 Nevada:
The Assembly on Monday gave unanimous approval to a bill that would let victims of sex trafficking clear prostitution convictions from their records.
Assemblyman John Hambrick R-Las Vegas, said Assembly Bill 6 was designed to give those individuals who are the real victims a break by freeing them from having to admit they have a criminal history in situations such as applying for a job.
“It gives them a break, gives them a leg up on starting a new life,” he told the body.
Hambrick said the measure is just one more thing lawmakers can do to address “the scourge of human trafficking.”
AB6 goes to the Senate. ..Source.. by NevadaAppeal.com
2 Mass. lawmakers: Shut down sex education website
4-26-2011 Massachusetts:
BOSTON - Two state lawmakers are calling on Gov. Deval Patrick to shut down a sexual education website funded in part by state grants.
Rep. Marc Lombardo, a Billerica Republican, said the site inappropriately speaks to teenagers about sex and abortion.
Lombardo also faults the site for using graphic language and teaching teenage girls how to avoid parental involvement in the abortion decision while downplaying risks.
The site - www.mariatalks.com - is maintained by the AIDS Action Committee, which receives state funding.
The group says the site helps young people avoid sexually transmitted diseases and reduce their risk of unintended pregnancies.
In Massachusetts it’s legal for someone under 18 to get an abortion with the consent of one parent or a judge.
The letter also has the backing of Rep. Colleen Garry, a Dracut Democrat. ..Source.. by Boston Herald.com
Court to weigh pedophile parental visits
4-26-2011 New York:
Court of Appeals expected to decide if teacher imprisoned for molesting boys can see his child
ALBANY -- Convicted pedophile Christopher Culver is serving 12 years in state prison for sexually molesting eight young boys in a Clifton Park classroom.
But the disgraced ex-teacher did not think that's any reason to keep his young daughter from visiting him in the jailhouse -- and a state appeals court agreed with him.
So now, the Court of Appeals will be expected to decide whether Culver, 36, who admitted to a 49-count felony sex crime indictment in January 2008, will be allowed to visit the 5-year-old daughter he has not seen since she was 18 months old.
The 3-2 decision from the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in March upheld a lower court ruling from Saratoga County Family Court Judge Courtenay Hall.
The judge not only allowed the visits, but ruled that Culver's ex-wife, Kristi Van Patten Culver, should pay for the child's counseling before each visit -- as well as telephone conversations between her daughter and the inmate.
The appellate court ruling said the father should bear those costs, but still stunned national advocates for women and children, who were well aware of the ex-teacher's crimes at the Okte Elementary School in the Shenendehowa School District.
Culver was found to have fondled first-grade boys over a five-month period in 2006 and 2007, at times in a hidden portion of his classroom set aside for tutoring.
Authorities suspect he planned to flee to South America rather than face trial when a judge signed an order to seize his passport.
"This is a travesty of justice -- and it's inexcusable," said Randy Burton, a former chief prosecutor of sex crimes in Houston who founded Justice for Children, an advocacy organization. "A child should not be forced by court order to have contact with or visit a parent who is a convicted child molester ... This child cannot be expected to form a healthy emotional bond with a father who sexually abused his students."
Marcia Pappas, president of the National Organization for Women for New York State, has noted that a mother in Brooklyn was jailed for 50 days because she refused to allow her 9-year-old son to comply with a court order to visit his father -- a serial rapist.
And on Long Island, she added, a Suffolk County Family Court judge permitted overnight visitation of children to a father convicted of raping a minor and possessing child pornography.
Pappas said she plans to set up an appointment with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office and key state lawmakers to pass a law banning such visits between children and sex-offending parents.
"The thing that really is disturbing about this is in our society, I think we all agree that sex offenders not have access to children," Pappas told the Times Union, noting bans on sex offenders in places such as playgrounds and school areas. "Yet we have judges who are saying, 'well, if you are the sperm donor, if you're the father, that doesn't matter ... it is such a contradiction in terms of how we look at protecting children."
The Culvers, whose child was born in 2005, separated without a custody agreement in March 2007.
In November 2008 -- after Christopher Culver was convicted and the couple were divorced -- the convicted sex offender filed a petition requesting regular visitation with the child, who lives three hours from his cell at Clinton Correctional Facility.
After Hall, the Saratoga County Family Court judge, allowed the visits, Culver's ex-wife appealed to the Appellate Division. She argued that while her daughter and Culver had a "decent father-daughter relationship," she did not know him.
The mother opposed any visitation.
The appellate decision, issued March 3, noted a child psychologist, Jerold Grodin, had testified the visits would be "healthful and safe" and in the best interests of the daughter.
Another mental health specialist, Steven Wood, testified the visits could be traumatic for the girl -- but the majority of the court still allowed them.
"While the father's prison term is long and the offenses for which he is incarcerated are undeniably disturbing -- and visitation will likely not be easy -- we cannot say that Family Court's discretionary conclusion is unsound," stated the ruling, written by Associate Justice Edward Spain and supported by Associate Justices Leslie Stein and Bernard "Bud" Malone.
Dissenting were Associate Justices John Egan and Karen Peters, who downplayed the significance of the prior life between father and daughter.
"During the time this 'relationship' was forming, the father was sexually abusing young boys in his classroom," the dissent stated. "A 'relationship' may have existed, but one cannot conclude that it was a healthy parent-child relationship. Moreover, at the time of the fact-finding hearing, the father had not engaged in sex offender treatment. Strikingly, in testifying at the hearing, he refused to acknowledge his criminal conduct and declined any need for sex offender treatment, instead asserting that he had been 'railroaded.'"
In January 2010, Culver lost his criminal appeal on convictions of first-degree sexual abuse and course of sexual abuse against a child. ..Source.. by ROBERT GAVIN Staff writer
April 25, 2011
Minn. Supreme Court excludes civil commitment proceedings from cameras-in-courts pilot project
4-25-2011 Minnesota:
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Supreme Court has added a restriction to a two-year pilot program allowing camera coverage of some trial court proceedings.
The high court decided in March to allow news cameras in civil proceedings with the consent of the judge starting July 1, but excluded criminal cases and certain kinds of civil cases.
In an order released Monday, the Supreme Court added civil commitment proceedings to the list of exclusions. Civil commitments can include cases of people suffering from mental illness, as well as predatory sex offenders.
The court had already excluded child custody, divorce, juvenile, child protection and paternity cases, and petitions for orders for protection.
News organizations are hoping the tryout in civil courts will show that camera and audio coverage won't be a problem at criminal trials. ..Source.. by The Republic
1,000 cops may face discipline for viewing sex case reports
This is a weird case, wonder who the woman was?4-25-2011 Illinois:
More than 1,000 Chicago police officers could face discipline for viewing the arrest reports of two fellow cops accused of sexually assaulting a North Side woman.
Police department officials said Saturday they are investigating why so many officers accessed the arrest reports, and said the officers could face disciplinary action. The police union, however, says the officers did nothing wrong.
Last month, two Town Hall district officers were stripped of their police powers amid allegations they had sex with an intoxicated woman in her home and in a police SUV while on-duty. A third officer was also stripped of his powers soon after the alleged March 30th incident.
According to a memo sent department-wide Wednesday by the Internal Affairs unit, accessing the electronic report constituted “misuse of department equipment.” The memo warned that “access of information for personal or other reasons is strictly prohibited.”
The memo said officers had accessed and printed the reports “without reason or authorization to do so.” It recommended that those officers receive a written reprimand that would stay on their personnel record for a year.
On Saturday, police spokeswoman Lt. Maureen Biggane confirmed “the Internal Affairs Division is looking into the matter, including who accessed the reports and for what purpose.”
Biggane said it was unclear how many officers were involved. Police sources said it was more than 1,000.
But Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said there was nothing wrong with looking at reports unless the reports were printed and distributed to the media.
“Police officers use those computers on a daily basis, looking at various arrest reports,” he said. “It’s just a basic part of the job and it’s not misuse of department equipment.” Camden said the department could have blocked access to the reports, but didn’t.
Camden said he’s never seen such a threat of “blanket disciplinary action.
“On this magnitude, this is a first,” he said. ..Source.. by TINA SFONDELES Staff Reporter
April 24, 2011
Catholic Children's Home seeks changes after attack
4-24-2011 Illinois:
Facility wants state to better screen residents
ALTON — An attack on a jogger has prompted the executive director of Catholic Charities to seek state policy changes that would give Catholic Children’s Home full disclosure of residents’ criminal histories.
"We are doing a temporary closure on (residential) intake. We are not doing any intakes until we get an official response from DCFS," Steve Roach, executive director of Catholic Charities Springfield Diocese, said Thursday.
Complete information on the potential residents, particularly felonies, would come from the director’s office of the Department of Children and Family Services before a youth is placed at the home, which is at 1400 State St., the request says.
The children’s home also wants the ability to reject any forthcoming youth or expel a client from its residential program — which it cannot do now, according to its contract with DCFS.
"We operate under a ‘no decline contract,’" Roach said. "When we discover a child is not appropriate, we request removal of a child, but the removal process can take months or years. We have no ability to require immediate removal of kids from the program."
The residential program can house up to 15 residents, all males, but only a few are true troublemakers, he said.
"We’ve got to know these backgrounds," Roach said. "What we’re seeing is, one or two kids responsible for the vast majority of incidents. We know who they are; the vast majority — 99 percent — do not go out to the community to commit crimes."
The home wants a policy that says the state would not send felons to it. New residents would be placed under a three-month assessment period to determine appropriateness for the program with extra supervision. And the home could request removal of any youth determined to be inappropriate or having needs beyond the scope of its program. The home would give a 24-hour notice, and the police department would provide temporary detention facilities.
The children’s home also would develop a community task force to monitor the program and make recommendations. It would hold a quarterly neighborhood forum for the public and set up a 24-hour hotline number for neighbors to reach home officials. ..For the remainder of this story.. by LINDA N. WELLER
April 23, 2011
April 20, 2011
Univ. identifies student sex offenders
4-20-2011 Maryland:
Office of student conduct finds four students guilty of assaults in 10 years, CNS reports
Four university students have been found guilty of sexual assault over the last 10 years, including a former Terps quarterback who left the university without explanation in 2006, according to information obtained by a group of student journalists.
The Office of Student Conduct released the information to student reporters at the journalism college's Capital News Service last month after more than three years of university resistance and an opinion by state Attorney General Doug Gansler last year that rejected the university's argument that the names were private information.
According to a CNS report that aired Thursday, ___ was suspended for sexually assaulting another student on the campus, although the details of the actual incident were not released by the university. He subsequently transferred to Jacksonville State, a Division II school.
The other three students found guilty in Office of Student Conduct investigations over the years were ___, ___ and ___; no further details on their incidents were available.
Allison Bennett, director of the university's Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program, said the fact the list only includes four students doesn't mean the crime isn't happening frequently at this university — according to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in five women will be sexually assaulted while in college, and only 5 percent actually report it.
"This shows that a lot of people are not being held accountable for these crimes," she said. "Often survivors do not want to come forward, so there are few actual suspects. This is a tiny, tiny percentage of people actually being found guilty. There are a tremendous number of people getting away with this and that is unacceptable."
CNS broadcast bureau Director Sue Kopen Katcef, a journalism professor who oversaw the investigation, said even though she had heard a rumor that an athlete had been punished for sexually assaulting another student, she was still surprised to see his name on the list three years later.
"We were stunned," she said. "We had no idea what we were going to get, whether we were going to get nothing or volumes of material. We just decided we wanted to able to quantify what was being done by the administration on this issue. That's really at the core of what we wanted to find."
Statham could not be reached for comment yesterday. Athletics spokesman Doug Dull declined to comment.
CNS students first began uncovering the prevalence of on-campus sexual assaults in 2008 through a six-month investigation that resulted in a Terp Weekly Edition radio report entitled, "Out of the Shadows." CNS student and journalism major Danielle Lama conducted the final investigation and put together last week's most recent report.
Kopen Katcef said her students asked the university to release the names but were told the information was protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects students' records. Student Conduct Director John Zacker agreed to comply after Gansler's opinion. Last month, after paying more than $300 in processing fees that Lama fundraised, the student journalists finally got the list.
University and CNS alumna Alex Moe, who worked on the project last spring when Gansler's opinion was released, said the information was the public's right to know.
"We weren't really sure what we were going to uncover," she said. "It doesn't matter if it's an athlete or whoever. The fact is, there are 35,000 other students on this campus who deserve to know."
Bennett said she has faith that the university prosecutes all students found guilty of sexual assaults. However, based on the scarce information released by the Office of Student Conduct, she said it's hard to say whether the punishment fits the crime — only one of the students found guilty was expelled, and the other three were suspended for a year and forced to meet certain requirements, such as staying away from the victim and writing reflective essays.
And although the released information still leaves many questions to be answered, Bennett said she is hopeful the CNS report will encourage students to come forward when they are assaulted and show that anyone — even an athlete — is capable of committing such a crime.
"I think people will be surprised by this," Bennett said. "It's often assumed offenders are creepy men who don't have access to consensual sex and need to prey on women to get sex. But often, it's someone who is in a position of power and uses that to victimize women. They use those positions of power to hurt people." ..Source..
Sex Offender Program May Need Some Rehab
4-20-2011 Minnesota:
ALBERT LEA, MN--As Freeborn County is getting another sex offender, state leaders are hoping the entire system will go under review.
Across Minnesota, mental health experts, prosecutors, and judges say the state may be wasting money by committing everyone as sex offenders, even when five men in the system were convicted of no crime.
The heavy security system costs $120,000 a year for each offender. And local law enforcement say the system, put in place in 1994, could probably stand some changes.
Chief Dwaine Winkels says, "Can it save money? Does it make a lot of sense to incarcerate an 89-year-old man that's not very mobile, or is he that great of a risk that he will harm someone? It only takes one victim to suddenly reverse the tale, 'Oh we need to do this'."
Winkels says this issue will be difficult to redefine at the state level. "The public and the government needs to ask itself, okay this program has been open since '94, not one individual that's been put in there has been cured, yet they keep receiving treatment."
Winkels says not all offenders can be painted with the same brush, but likewise he isn't promoting any of them moving into the Albert Lea area. ..Source.. by KIMT TV.com
Pedophile sting in NW Ga. nets arrests, charges of entrapment
4-20-2011 Georgia:
The 30 men in a Catoosa County Jail cell block didn’t appear to be the usual kind of inmates locked up on an October weeknight in rural northwest Georgia.
“This was a group of people walking around shell-shocked and stunned about where they were,” said Steven Donaldson, one of the inmates.
It only took a few moments to realize the connection they all shared: Craigslist.com.
“This entire cell block is sex offenders,” said Donaldson, whose case is pending in federal court. “I had one guy walk up to me and say, ‘Are you on Craigslist?’ There were businessmen there. A man from Chattanooga. A kid straight out of the Navy.”
These men claim they lead good lives and are not criminals. They insist they never planned to meet underage boys and girls for sex but were tricked or pressured by undercover officers to agree to a meeting.
Law enforcement officials, however, say these men are predators. Police set things up, officials said, but those arrested could have just walked away from the electronic conversations once the person posing as a child admitted that they were underage.
Donaldson, 51, and other suspects were allegedly lured with promises of no-strings-attached sex with boys and girls in their teens and younger by a joint federal-local Safe Child Task force that has made dozens of cases in northwest Georgia and many more nationwide.
Most of the men walked into law enforcement traps when they responded to ads placed under WFM -- women for men -- in the "casual encounters" section on Craigslist.com.
The wording of the ads is benign. "Lonely & bored ... Take me away." "School's out. I'm simply bored to tears." "There must be somebody out there to take me away." "Hey guys, we're back in town. Looking forward to return engagements with old friends. Drop us a line."
But the follow-up emails are titillating with graphic sexual descriptions, according to accounts at trial and in court documents.
Law enforcement officials say these men are "predators" who can't help themselves. Attorneys for some of the defendants disagree.
"These guys are the real predators. They're bullies," said attorney McNeill Stokes of the police. Stokes is representing eight men arrested in the northwest Georgia operation.
"It's like the ‘Minority Report'," Stokes said, referring to the futuristic film about authorities who can read minds and make arrests before crimes are committed.
Authorities are stepping up efforts to catch these "travelers" -- suspects who travel great distances for arranged meetings -- with a "proactive approach rather than a reactive approach," according to testimony that FBI agent Kenneth Hillman offered in one of the trials.
Hillman said in court he wanted to catch pedophiles before they can actually hurt a child.
The FBI declined to discuss the operation, and local law enforcement officials were unable to say how many cases had been brought since this particular task force was created three years ago to operate in the sparsely populated northwest corner of the state.
But those cases are now being brought to trial. A conviction could mean as many as 20 years in a state prison, or life if in federal court.
In just one week in Catoosa County, five cases were scheduled. Only three men had gone on trial before time ran out for Catoosa's spring term for court, and all were convicted.
“There is no rational way in a normal person’s mind to understand these guys,” said Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Kermit McManus, the prosecutor in neighboring Murray and Whitfield counties.
McManus wonders why men continue to solicit underage girls and boys despite the media spotlight on such undercover operations. For example, a NBC news series, "To Catch a Predator," ran for years, showing men coming to meet young girls they had met on the Internet for sex. The FBI has issued dozens of news releases announcing arrests and convictions that resulted from the work of the Safe Child Task Force.
McManus said there is “no pressure" put on the men to agree to meetings in isolated places. "It’s the choice they are making,” McManus said
But Stokes said local officers and federal agents are “entrapping … lonely men who responded to ads placed on an adult Craigslist site where the posters are certified to be over the legal age of 18.”
They are drawn in by “role-playing fantasies … They were not pedophiles,” Stokes said.“They are enticing these people. They are just wrecking people’s lives. They [law enforcement] are creating the crimes.”
But a legal expert at Emory Law School, Kay Levine, said these operations are much like situations in which an undercover officer dresses like a hooker and walks the streets in areas known for prostitution. She said entrapment is almost impossible to prove.
"It was decided several years ago ... we didn't want to interfere with undercover officers," said Levine, whose specialties include criminal procedure and sex crimes. "The fact that the undercover officer is the first one to suggest illegal activity does not make the entrapment defense."
Augusta lawyer Pete Theodocion, who has defended several people accused of sex crimes involving children, agrees such law enforcement approaches are legal. Still, “there’s something real wrong about law enforcement taking part in criminal activity that otherwise would not have taken place. ... It’s a unique and sometimes unsavory aspect of criminal prosecution.”
Dr. Michael Vitacco, a psychologist and assistant professor at the Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta, said there are many reasons adult men pursue sexual encounters with underage girls and boys.
"Part of the issue clearly revolves around the easiness of the Internet and the anonymity surrounding that," said Vitacco, who has not evaluated any of the men charged in the Georgia cases. "Children are much more accessible than they've ever been... These [Internet] sites allow them to be predators in an anonymous way where they won't be accountable for their actions. These men often lack social skills. They find these children are their social equals."
Donaldson was an unemployed electrical engineer who had time to cruise the Internet. His electronic exchanges started with an agent posing as adult. And after a few messages, the undercover agent suggested bringing a boy to the proposed sexual encounter.
“We began talking about some adult role playing and he interjected, ‘I’ve got a 12-year-old boy,’ and he sent me, without my asking, a picture,” Donaldson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He kept after me. One day I agreed but said ‘I want to meet you in public.’ I never believed he had a kid.”
Their rendezvous was at a gas station just off Interstate 75 in Ringgold, where police were waiting. Donaldson was in jail 40 days before getting out on bond; if convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. No trial date has been set.
Legal experts have said for years that child molesters often are not caught until they are older, sometimes already senior citizens, and until then they have seemingly normal lives.
"A lot people mask pedophile tendencies. They lead otherwise law-abiding lives. This is their secret addiction," Levine said.
The program is “designed to ferret out these predators that are using the Internet to make contact with underage girls for purposes of having sex with them,” McManus said.
Otherwise, McManus said, these men “don’t have bad criminal records. Most defendants are great people otherwise. They’re great fathers, great workers, great breadwinners." ..Source.. Rhonda Cook
April 18, 2011
Match.com to Screen for Sex Offenders
Performing this check is absolutely stupid! At what point does an adult take responsibility for them-self? There is a public registry which anyone can check, why didn't she do that? Further, once the entire Match.com database is checked and cleared of registered sex offenders, whats to say that one of the cleared accounts doesn't become a sex offender. Match.com is really not smart bending to such request rather than making people responsible for themselves. Then of course, what about murderers and so on?4-18-2011 National:
She wants Match.com to check members' names against public sex offender registries.
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Days after a woman sued dating site Match.com, the president announced they will begin conducting criminal background checks on their users.
In a statement to the Associated Press Sunday, Match.com President Mandy Ginsberg said the company will starting screening both current and future subscribers against the national sex offender registry.
She also said they avoided doing such checks in the past because of the unreliability of the database and that users of the site should not have a false sense of security.
Last Thursday, an unidentified female Hollywood executive and other Match.com members are filed a civil suit against the online dating site.
She claimed she was brutally sexually assaulted by another Match.com member who had been convicted for sexual battery six separate times.
Attorney Mark L. Webb said his client, identified as "Jane Doe," met the suspect last year at Urth Cafe in West Hollywood after finding each other on Match.com.
She agreed to see him for a second date. That's when the suspect allegedly followed her home and raped her.
After the alleged assault, the woman went online and found that the suspect had been convicted of several counts of sexual battery, Webb said.
"This horrific ordeal completely blindsided me because I had considered myself savvy about online dating safety," the woman said in a statement released through Webb last week.
"Things quickly turned into a nightmare, beyond my control."
The suit asks for temporary restraining order requesting no more members be signed up for Match.com until there's a way to screen out sexual predators.
Webb told the Los Angeles Times that his client wants Match.com to check members' names against public sex offender registries.
"It's not a guarantee," he told the Times. "But don't you think something is better than nothing?"
Match.com has called the alleged incident was "horrifying," but said cases like this are extremely rare. ..Source.. KTLA News
April 16, 2011
Why Match.com shouldn't screen members
4-17-2011 National:
An assault victim sues and calls for a ban on sex offenders. It's a misguided move -- and potentially dangerous
A young Hollywood entertainment executive was charmed by a man she met on Match.com and went on two "pleasant" dates with him -- and then he allegedly followed her home and sexually assaulted her. After the attack she discovered that he had six convictions for sexual battery in Los Angeles County. Now the woman, identified as Jane Doe, is suing the company and calling for it to screen out sex offenders. This case could prove a watershed moment for the online dating giant and the industry as a whole. It's a horrific story and Jane Doe's aim is understandable -- but I'm sorry to say that she's wrong.
The woman's attorney Mark L. Webb explained, "We are calling for reputable online dating sites to consider voluntarily instituting a basic screening process that disqualifies from membership anyone who has a documented history of sexual assault." They are doing more than calling on the sites to institute this policy, though. As the Los Angeles Times reports, her attorney plans to "ask a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for a temporary injunction barring the site from signing up more members until his client's demands are met."
The first question here is whether it's reasonable to ban anyone on a sex offender registry from Match.com. The truth is that a record only tells you so much. It's unlikely, but a charge of possessing child pornography could stem from something as minor as a high school "sexting" incident. Besides, we already make it hard enough for offenders to reenter society, and further ostracizing them only encourages recidivism.
Also, why limit the background checks to sex crimes? What about people with domestic violence rap sheets? How about murderers -- are they any less dangerous to online daters? Even someone with a DUI in his or her past could pose a threat to your safety. And once you start down that road, why not require Match.com to get friends and relatives to confirm that a person really is as good a catch as they say they are? Should the site be required to check marital records to eliminate husbands and wives who are posing as singles? What about birth certificates to verify that users are really as old as they say they are? Maybe a reference letter from their employer and a bank statement would be good too? Once you start pulling at that string the whole cloth starts to unravel. ..For the remainder of this story.. Tracy Clark-Flory
ACLU: State Police Using Cellphone 'Extraction' Device
See Video "ACLU Says State Police Could Be Breaking 4th Amendmant Rights"4-16-2011 Michigan:
DETROIT -- The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is questioning the Michigan State Police's use of cellphone "extraction" devices.
The ACLU said MSP has used the devices to access information from cellphones that officers ask drivers they have pulled over to give them.
"It can contain information that many people consider to be private, to be beyond the reach of law enforcement and other government actors," said Mark Fancher, an ACLU attorney.
The ACLU is asking why the state police is using devices that can gather data stored on cellphones, and why it is not telling the public about it. The ACLU said the devices could violate Fourth Amendment rights.
"There is great potential for abuse here by a police officer or a state trooper who may not be monitored or supervised on the street," Fancher said.
MSP released a statement this week that said it is working "in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act."
"The State Police will provide information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act ... there may be a processing fee to search for, retrieve, examine and separate exempt material ... ," MSP said in a statement.
Fancher said MSP priced that information, pertaining to five devices, at about $500,000.
"This should be something that they are handing over freely, and that they should be more than happy to share with the public -- the routines and the guidelines that they follow," Fancher said.
The national ACLU has asked similar questions about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's use of devices to gather information from travelers' computers and cellphones. ..Source.. ClickOnDetroit
April 15, 2011
News 7 explores differences in punishment for local sex crime cases
4-15-2011 Virginia:
Are Virginia courts fair with how they sentence sex offenders? Two local cases involved the same crime, but ended with very different punishments
We've seen a number of cases recently involving teachers having in-appropriate sexual relationships with underage students.
In some instances the punishments have been very different for those committing the same crimes.
Diana Canter and Rick Witt are two ex-teachers convicted of having sex with underage students.
Look at how they were punished and you'll see a big difference. Witt was sentenced to four years in prison. Canter received no jail time.
"When you talk about child sexual abuse crimes, they're very fact specific and you have to evaluate each case individually," said Liberty University Law School professor and former prosecutor, Basyle Tchividijan.
He says sex crimes often come with different punishments because of how they're tried. Some are decided by a jury, others by a judge.
"When you have a judge making a sentencing decision, they're bound by what we call the sentencing guidelines," Tchividijan.
Those guidelines leave room for discretion, which lead to disparities in sentencing.
"Each case is different and one size does not fit all," said Defense Attorney Deborah Caldwell-Bono, who believes discretion is a good thing.
"If the crime deserves the punishment, the person usually gets it," said Caldwell-Bono. "Our system generally works."
She believes mandatory, stiffer punishments don't work.
"We don't need a machine sitting up there pushing a button saying 'oh you did that, off to the penitentiary and sex offender registry for life,'" said Caldwell-Bono. "You have to look at the people involved and what exactly was done."
Tchividjian believes in discretion, but says the courts need to get tougher on all sex crimes.
"I'm hopeful as a country, we can stand firm in making sure that these type of offenses are always considered the most serious," said Tchividijan.
Some have wondered if there's a double standard when it comes to punishing men vs. women for sex crimes. Tchividijan says he saw that as a prosecutor, especially in cases decided by a jury. He believes attitudes are now changing and that women are getting punishments roughly equal to that of men facing the same charges...Source.. Tim Saunders, Reporter/Lynchburg Bureau Chief
Senate OKs barring teen sex offenders from schools, parks, daycare centers
Punish generations for the acts of one! If we were to follow that lead then no lawmakers should have been elected after Mark Foley, because they may do what he did with Congressional Pages. Everyone should be personally held responsible for their acts, and not for acts of others.4-15-2011 Illinois:
SPRINGFIELD — Teenagers convicted of rape or kidnapping would join the list of sex offenders required to stay away from schools, public parks and day care centers under a bill the Illinois Senate passed Thursday.
The bill passed 42-2 with eight voting present. It now goes to the House. Sen. John Millner (R-Carol Stream), the bill’s chief Senate sponsor, said the proposal could have helped mothers such as Dora Larsen, who runs the Illinois group, Support for Homicide Survivors. Her daughter, Victoria Larsen, was murdered in 1979.
“One of our victim family members, Dora Larsen, had her 9-year-old daughter brutally sexually abused and murdered by a 15 year old, and if this law was in place that wouldn’t have happened,” Millner said.
The bill would prohibit teenage sex offenders from coming within 500 feet of a school building or park. It also establishes a 100-foot barrier for juvenile offenders at school bus stops along and forbids them working at a day care center.
Ten years after completion of of their sentences, juveniles can file for a waiver to be relinquished from the various restrictions — but only after a court ruling.
Critics of the bill argued that treatment programs for juvenile sex offenders have a successful track record of stopping repeat offenses upon release.
Sen. Shane Cultra (R-Onarga) believes the current system, which allows a judge to determine on an individual basis how to a handle a juvenile sex offender’s release, is the best solution to prevent repeat offenses.
“To paint all of them with the same brush is an injustice on them,” Cultra said. ..Source.. by STEPHEN DI BENEDETTO Staff Reporter
April 14, 2011
Official: Female sex offenders not the norm
4-14-2011 Indiana:
VALPARAISO | Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek said it is still unusual to see girls accused of carrying out the violent type of sexual offense that surfaced this week in Valparaiso.
What has become more common is for underage girls to unwittingly cast themselves in the role of perpetrator by sending out nude photos of themselves via their cell phones, said Polarek, who handles most of the sex crimes for the prosecutor's office.
Portage authorities reported Wednesday a 14-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl sent out nude photos of themselves to boys and everyone involved faces legal consequences.
Polarek said girls who put themselves in this type of situation are not considered victims, but rather face the potential of being charged along with those possessing the illegal images.
Each case is addressed according to its circumstances, yet the potential impact is the same.
"Once that image is taken and you send it, you have no control over where it goes," she said.
Much more unusual, she said, are the allegations this week a 16-year-old girl and 14-year-old girl from Valparaiso bound and sexually battered a 17-year-old boy, who has special needs.
Polarek said when females are accused of these types of offenses, they and their victims are handled the same as if a male is charged.
According to Porter County's sex offender registry online, just four of the 161 sex offenders registered as living in the county are females. ..Source.. Bob Karasda
Sex offenders living mostly in black neighborhoods
4-14-2011 Illinois:
Significant numbers of white and Hispanic sex offenders are living in nearly all-black communities on Chicago's South and West sides, according to the Chicago Police Department's Registered Sex Offenders website.
The five communities include East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, West Englewood, Washington Park and Roseland. The population of each is 98 percent black, according to U.S. Census data.
In West Englewood, 14 percent of the 136 registered sex offenders living in the community are not black. In a community where only 1 percent of the population is white, 12 percent of the sex offenders are white.
In West Garfield Park, a community with 1 percent Hispanic population, four of the 45 sex offenders, or about 10 percent, are Hispanic. So what explains this phenomenon? Racial makeup of the sex offender list and the need for housing may be contributing factors, experts say.
"The sex offender registry is made up of about 78 percent white individuals," said William Mingus, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago who is researching the trend.
Lack of housing options could be a reason that sex offenders of all races show up in some communities, said Robin McGinnis, a social worker. They need affordable housing that meets parole restrictions limiting proximity to schools and other facilities for children.
"There's no place for them to get housing," McGinnis said. "What are you left with? You go where you can."
There is only one licensed half-way house for sex offenders in Illinois, according to the Illinois Sexual Offender registry list. The facility in East St. Louis only accommodates 20 individuals. McGinnis said the problem needs to be managed statewide, and more transitional housing would help.
Thomas Gradel, spokesman for 2nd Ward alderman Robert Fioretti, said the offenders were community outsiders.
"A lot of times these offenses are not committed in the ward," Gradel said. "Generally they're moving into these communities after they are released."
Fioretti's ward includes East Garfield Park and West Garfield Park.
But Aime Eipers, a social worker who works with sex offenders, said that is not common.
"My experience is that people are not returned to communities where they're not from," Eipers said. "When they come out of jail or prison, they go back to their home community." ..Source.. GINA HARKINS
Medill News Service
Bill to require special IDs for sex offenders defeated
Unless the ID has some sort of GPS type locator, there is no way it would help in a lost child situation. Sometimes I think lawmakers live in the clouds.4-14-2011 California:
Even though it failed to garner enough support, a Riverside County lawmaker says he won't abandon a proposal that would require convicted sex offenders to carry special identification at all times.
AB 885, sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Beaumont, failed to garner
enough votes in the Assembly Committee on Transportation on Monday.
Eight votes were needed to advance the bill. Four Republicans and two Democrats voted yes, while committee Chair Bonnie Lowenthal and another Democrat opposed the measure. Five Democrats and one Republican abstained.
"I'm disappointed that the bill didn't pass, but I'm not deterred," Cook said. "Requiring the worst sex offenders to carry ID would be of great help to law enforcement in the early hours of an abduction of a child. We have a long way to go in keeping kids safe."
Maurice Dubois of Escondido, whose 14-year-old daughter Amber was raped
and murdered by convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III in February 2009, had endorsed AB 885.
Under the bill, any person designated by the California Department of Justice as a ``sexually violent predator'' -- including those convicted of assaulting a child -- would have been required to carry a driver's license or ID bearing a unique code on the card's magnetic strip. They would have to keep the card in their possession wherever they go.
The code would be immediately recognizable by law enforcement, but not the general public, according to Cook.
Right, the police have some sort of X-Ray vision. Doesn't reality strike lawmakers, if its visible at all the general public will see it too.He said the state's Megan's Law database listing the last known residences of convicted sex offenders is not always reliable, and AB 885 would bolster law enforcement's ability to quickly track down predators during an investigation.
An analysis by the Committee on Transportation questioned the practicality of trying to enforce the law, noting that some ex-cons may go by aliases or refuse to carry their licenses or ID cards.
The California Public Defenders' Association argued in its opposition letter to the bill that a person "interested in committing a sex offense ... would likely not carry the card identifying them as a (Penal Code section) 290 sex registrant."
The committee analysis also raised concerns about the amount of time the Department of Motor Vehicles would have to spend processing license applications for convicted sex offenders. ..Source.. City News Service
April 13, 2011
Sex offender law creating concerns for school officials
4-13-2011 Tennessee:
Sex offenders in Tennessee cannot be within 1,000 feet of a school. But there are a few exceptions that were added to the sex offender law last year. A registered sex offender can drop off and pick up their child at school if they give notice to the school. And they can attend a parent teacher conference at the school if approved by a principal.
"We will have folks that actually weigh all those what the request is and if we can accommodate their request and it's in the guidelines of what we're talking about we will try to make sure we keep the peace within the family, but not at the expense and the safety of the children," said Dr. Jubal Yennie, Sullivan County Director of Schools.
One school system official in the Tri-Cities said they would possibly expand the sex offender guidelines to include other school events. Sullivan County District Attorney William Harper believes the sex offender law should be very limited when it comes to allowing sex offenders on campus.
"They've carved out limited exceptions, but I guess others have tried to expand that exception even further. I would have a problem with them expanding that," said William Harper, Sullivan County Assistant District Attorney. ..Source.. by Bill Christian
Bill would allow state to list low-level sex offenders online
A State Registry that is the way it is supposed to be, and is about to be destroyed by the Adam Walsh Act.4-13-2011 Oregon:
PORTLAND, Ore. – In almost every state you can search the Internet for sex offenders in your neighborhood but in Oregon you can only search for about 700 of the most serious.
That could change if a Senate bill becomes law. Then information on 14,000 to 15,000 sex offenders could be available instantly online.
Currently, if you want information on a sex offender convicted of a minor sex crime, you have to request it, and it takes a week to get a list.
“Under Oregon law we can post persons who are designated predatory, who present the highest risk of reoffending and require the widest range of community notification,” said Vi Beaty, who manages Oregon’s online sex offender registry.
Right now users of the state’s website can only get information on predatory sex offenders living in their neighborhood.
Once on the site they can search by name, city or zip code. The site displays pictures of the offenders and their method of offending, and it lists their height, weight, age and other physical descriptors like tattoos.
If Senate Bill 67 passes, state police would be able to make the same information available online for lower-level offenders, as well.
That would include people convicted of things like sexual misconduct, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor and even public indecency.
It will be instant access to information that some may see as trivial but others have been pushing to have for years “in order to provide a tool for parents to better supervise and provide safety for their children,” Beaty said.
Oregon has been slow to add this information to the Web. Almost every other state, including Washington, already lists information of lower-level sex offenders online.
The bill has passed the Senate unanimously and now goes to the House. ..Source.. by Margy Lynch KATU News and KATU.com Staff
Maine House kills sex offenders-schools bill
4-13-2011 Maine:
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine lawmakers have killed a bill to allow towns without police departments to increase the distance between schools and the homes of registered sex offenders.
The 93-56 House vote Tuesday followed last week's Senate rejection of the bill. It would have expanded the allowed distance between sex offenders' addresses and schools from 750 to 2,500 feet.
Opponents said the Legislature's already dealt with the issue and that passing a law would create a false sense of security. ..Source.. NECN.com
Lebanon one step closer to having new rules for sex offenders
4-13-2011 Ohio:
LEBANON, OH (FOX19) -
Tuesday night, the Lebanon city council discussed an ordinance that would forbid any registered sex offender from loitering within 300 feet of parks, playgrounds, the YMCA and other areas where children hang out.
"I am really concerned and I am a concerned citizen," said Sarah Scott, parent. "I have children and I am concerned about all the other children living here. It's a big deal."
Scott went to Tuesday night's city hall meeting to express her support.
The ordinance allows police to use their discretion in questioning any suspicious person hanging out within 300 feet of parks, the library, churches, or any other common place where children can be found.
"Having been a school teacher all of my life, having raised a daughter and having two children I think that is a fair law," said Faye Curran.
Sex offenders that violate the law will be fined $500 or could spend six months in jail. Sponsor of the ordinance, Councilman Matthew Rodriguez, said the ordinance has the council's support.
"I think the consensus here is that this ordinance will pass," said Rodriguez.
The ordinance will be voted on at next city council meeting on April 26. ..Source.. by Cory Stark
April 12, 2011
Michigan governor to sign sex offender registry bills affecting 'Romeo and Juliet' cases
On the surface this bill seems to be great for these cases, but hidden within the legislation is severe harm to others. Effectively, while partially good, is really a wolf in sheeps' clothing.4-12-2011 Michigan:
LANSING, Mich. — Many teenagers cited for having consensual sex with minors no longer would be listed on Michigan's sex offender registry under legislation headed to Gov. Rick Snyder.
The governor was expected to sign the sex offender registry bills Tuesday morning.
Under the measures, youthful offenders wouldn't be listed for having consensual sex with partners who were between the ages of 13 and 16, provided the offender was not more than four years older than the victim.
The legislation calls for a petition process to let those young offenders currently on the registry be taken off if a court determines the sex was consensual.
The bills also add the most dangerous sex offenders to the registry for life and require them to report to the police every three months. ..Source.. by KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
Civil rights advocates challenge constitutionality of sex-crime law
4-12-2011 Louisiana:
In Louisiana, civil rights advocates are challenging the constitutionality of a centuries- old sex-crime law. The law makes requesting payment for oral or anal sex a crime, and requires those convicted to register as a sex-offender. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, 40% of those registered as sex offenders in Orleans Parish are on the registry as a result of this law. From New Orleans, Zoe Sullivan has more.
..CLICK for AUDIO.. by Zoe Sullivan
April 11, 2011
Senate nixes sex offender restrictions
4-11-2011 Maine:
Augusta — The Midcoast's three Republican state senators were divided last week on a bill that would have allowed communities to set greater restrictions on where convicted sex offenders could live.
The state Senate voted 19-16 on April 7 to reject the minority recommendation of the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee for approval of LD 8.
State Sens. A. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, and Michael Thibodeau, R-Winterport, voted for the bill. State Sen. Christopher Rector, R-Thomaston, voted against the measure.
After defeating the minority report for passage, the Senate took a voice vote to approve the majority report of the committee that the bill be defeated. The House has yet to vote on LD 8.
The bill would have allowed municipalities that have no police chief to prohibit certain sex offenders to live within 2,500 feet of a school. For communities with a police chief, the municipality could restrict the sex offender from living within 750 feet of a school.
People convicted of felony sex offenses against children younger than 14 years old would have been covered by the legislation. ..Source.. by Stephen Betts
Animal Abuser Registry Considered in Maine
4-11-2011 Maine:
Supporters say it will help stem an increase in animal abuse, but critics worry it will be too expensive to operate.
Convicted animal abusers would go on a state registry and website for 15 years under a measure Maine lawmakers are considering. Rep. Sara Stevens, a Bangor Democrat, there have been far too many instances of animal abuse, and without a registry, she fears it will increase.
"There are many stories that we as a state have heard in recent years--horrific puppy mills in our state where animals are neglected and malnourished," she said.
But while the measure has some support among lawmakers, some worry it will be too expensive to operate, according to Capitol News Service. The current sex offender registry and website costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to update and maintain. ..Source..
The Editorial Board Gets it Wrong: Confuses Sex Offender Registry with Child Abuse Registry
Did anyone fact-check the story below? If they did they obviously do not know the difference between the sex offender registry and the state child abuse registry.4-11-2011 Texas:
Simply look at the numbers: The article claims Texas has 654,000 sex offenders, when it should say that many belongs to the child abuse registry. The article cites the Dallas Morning News, but they have it right. see Editorial: The state’s abuse registry needs to be reformed -AND- Texas' central registry of child abusers is called into question
.
Reading this article below shows us they simply do not get the differences between the two registries: "Sex offender tag must be accurate by Express-News Editorial Board
Labeling an individual a sex offender can change a life for forever.
Registries for convicted sex offenders are an effective way to continue to monitor them after they have had their day in court.
In Texas, however, some state employees have the authority to place men, women and even children older than 10 on a sex offender list with little or no due process.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has been keeping the registry since the mid-1990s and includes the names of more than 654,000 people, including more than 36,000 children 10 to 18 years of age, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Only state protective services employees have access to the registry, but the information on the registry can be used to keep individuals on that list from various jobs and volunteer opportunities involving children.
A name can be added to the registry after a protective services department caseworker investigates and finds evidence of abuse.
The accused are notified of the abuse finding, but they are not told their names are being added to a registry. That makes it difficult for them to request a review of the findings and seek an appeal before an administrative law judge if they are unhappy with the outcome of the review.
That is unfair and unjust.
Rep. John Zerwas, R-Katy, has introduced legislation that would require the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to provide a person a copy of the allegations against them and allow them to appeal before they are added to the department's sex offender registry.
Since March 2006, about 3,300 people whose names have been included on the registry have requested reviews and 1,245 have had their names removed, the Dallas newspaper reported.
No one should be placed on a sex offender registry without having an opportunity to address the allegations
Last summer, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals took the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to task for allowing correction officials to classify some parolees as sex offenders although they have never been convicted of a sex crime.
The court took issue with the fact that the alleged sex-offenders were never allowed a hearing and allowed to correct false information.
Being labeled a sex offender is a serious matter. The unconvicted-but-accused deserve an opportunity to defend themselves. ..Source..
April 10, 2011
Tennessee bill would shield juvenile sex offenders registry from public
4-10-2011 Tennessee:
In a controversy highlighted by several local cases, Tennessee lawmakers and officials across the nation are debating how to manage minors who commit rape and other violent sex crimes.
This week a Shelby County judge will decide what to do with Memphis' youngest known rapists, ages 7 and 9, who admitted luring a 2-year-old neighbor from her yard in August.
A previous Juvenile Court judge removed the boys from their families over concerns about their home environments. The case is being appealed Wednesday before a new judge.
A 15-year-old is awaiting trial in adult court on charges of raping and beating a 23-month-old girl last summer in Cordova.
The boys were among about 100 juveniles accused of violent sex crimes last year, said Larry Scroggs, the court's chief administrative officer.
"It's very disturbing," he said. "It reflects the environment and what they're exposed to."
Last week, a 14-year-old was charged with sexually assaulting a 2-year-old relative.
Many juvenile offenders first victimize siblings or cousins and later progress to attacking strangers, schoolmates, neighbors or dates, Scroggs said.
For the past few years, state lawmakers have fought over whether residents should have access to the names of these minors.
The debate centers on how to balance the public's right to know -- and protect children from sexual predators -- to a juvenile offender's right to a second chance.
A 2006 federal mandate initially required states to create a juvenile sex offender registry accessible to the public.
Yet, five years later, Tennessee and 45 other states have yet to comply, said Linda M. Baldwin, director of the federal Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART).
Due to the sluggish response, federal officials made the significant concession this year of allowing the registries to be private.
And SMART officials, who are part of the U.S. Department of Justice, extended the deadline until July 27. After that, states not in compliance could lose millions of dollars in federal Byrne grants, dispersed to local law enforcement agencies.
State Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, is sponsoring a bill he feels will pass this year due to some major tweaks. He is working on the most significant change -- making the registry private.
That means, unlike the adult registry, the list would be accessible only to police, prosecutors, judges and court officials. Since offenders would have to update their address anytime they moved, it helps police track their movements.
Lawmakers initially debated a public registry, but critics quashed the measure.
Opponents said juveniles and their families would be ostracized at school, church, work and their neighborhoods. Being labeled a "sex offender" could hinder the minor's college and job prospects, said Linda O'Neal, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.
"For a young person going on a registry, they feel like their lives are ruined," said O'Neal, who lobbied to defeat bills for a public registry.
"For most of them it's not a calculated decision to do this. It happens."
The state's proposed registry would only encompass those age 14 or older who commit or attempt the following violent sex crimes: rape or aggravated rape; rape or aggravated rape of a child, if the victim is at least four years younger; or aggravated sex battery.
Judges would have discretion to keep juveniles off the registry.
The TBI has maintained a similar registry for adult offenders since 1995.
There are currently about 14,000 on the list, including more than 2,000 sex offenders in Shelby County.
Some minors, guilty of the most egregious cases, are already on the registry after they were sent to adult court and convicted as adults. Their names can be viewed by the public.
But most juvenile sex offenders are shielded from public scrutiny.
That's because the state's juvenile code is designed around treatment, not punishment, with a mission to "remove from children committing delinquent acts the taint of criminality and the consequences of criminal behavior and to substitute, therefore, a program of treatment, training and rehabilitation."
Similarly, national juvenile criminal records have long been considered sacrosanct, accessible only to prosecutors, judges, police and others in the criminal justice system.
But one teen, herself a victim of a juvenile sex offender, helped shatter that shield of silence.
Amie Zyla was age 17 in 2006 when she convinced lawmakers in her home state of Wisconsin to pass "Amie's Law," allowing police to notify neighbors if a potentially dangerous juvenile sex offender lives nearby.
Zyla, of Waukesha, Wis., was 8 when she was abused by a 14-year-old, who later went to prison for preying on boys. Zyla thought the boys could have been protected if the community had known of her abuse, said Brad Schimel, Waukesha County district attorney, who prosecuted Zyla's abuser.
Wisconsin already had a juvenile registry, but it initially was kept private.
Zyla's story motivated federal lawmakers to pass the federal mandate.
A key reason to create private registries is that juvenile sex offenders are much more amenable to treatment, compared to adults, said clinical psychologist Sidney Ornduff, who evaluates the Memphis minors.
"Children are not simply little adults," she said. "They're still developing."
With the proper mental health counseling and guidance, most minors are less likely to repeat their inappropriate sexual behavior, whether it's as minor as flashing someone or as serious as rape, said Ornduff, director of Juvenile Court's Clinical Services.
Some studies show the national recidivism rate for adolescent sex offenders who receive treatment as low as 5 to 14 percent, according to the National Center on Sexual Behavior of Youth.
Of 162 Memphis minors accused of sex crimes in 2009, only five -- or 3 percent -- have since committed another sex crime, according to a
Juvenile Court study completed last month.
Tennessee lawmakers will take another vote on the proposed private registry this spring as a last attempt to meet the federal deadline. ..Source.. by Beth Warren
