7-30-15 Pennsylvania:
By the time Akbar A. Rivera was 17, he'd sexually assaulted two children.
Rivera's most recent victim was a 12-year-old girl whom he forced himself upon repeatedly in 2007 while living in south Bethlehem. Because he had an equivalent offense as a juvenile in New York, he was charged in Northampton County as an adult, where he pleaded guilty and ended up with a 21/2- to five-year prison sentence.
More than seven years have gone by since the now 24-year-old Rivera was charged and later convicted, but he remains imprisoned to this day. That's because he has refused to attend any mandated sex-offender therapy, which the officials supervising him believe is necessary if he is not to be a threat to the community.
Though Rivera has already served the entirety of his original prison term, he remains jailed as a probation violator who has seen just one day on the street since his arrest, according to state prison records.
And because Rivera has continued to spurn counseling, authorities want him to stay behind bars.
"He's refusing to get treatment. He has absolutely no interest in self-rehabilitation," Assistant District Attorney Tatum Wilson said.
Rivera is considered a sexually violent predator, a designation that brings a lifetime of registration as a sex offender and enhanced reporting and counseling requirements. Wilson said it would be "reckless" to allow his release.
On Wednesday, President Judge Stephen Baratta took testimony on authorities' request that Rivera be re-sentenced to further prison time. The hearing came as Rivera has been deemed a probation violator once before — in 2013, when he was sentenced to an additional 30 days to two years behind bars, a term that he completed without release in May.
Wilson wouldn't say how much further prison time she'd like Rivera to face. But Baratta could give him up to another seven years, the total that remains of his probationary term.
State probation officer Tina Kominsky said Rivera attended just one sex-offender treatment class in prison, when he announced his desire to "max out" his sentence and signed himself out of further sessions.
While jailed, Rivera has been cited for misconduct that includes contraband, failing to comply with guards' orders and slashing a fellow Northampton County Prison inmate with a razor in 2009, Kominsky said.
Rivera's public defender, Matthew Goodrich, highlighted that his client does not need to be in prison in order to attend sex offender counseling. Goodrich suggested that last time, Rivera was tripped up by another requirement he faced: that he find a suitable place to live, a difficulty for someone labeled a violent predator.
Goodrich also noted that if Rivera remains in jail for the next seven years, he won't be able to be kept any longer regardless of his behavior.
That's true, Kominsky said, though if Rivera continued to refuse counseling then, he could face arrest for failing to comply with his Megan's Law requirements, a felony.
"The possibility exists to keep this cycle going for the rest of all time?" Goodrich asked.
"Unfortunately, if he chooses not to comply," Kominsky said.
The hearing was recessed without a decision by Baratta, who said he will take further testimony in two weeks.
The delay came amid a kerfuffle involving a psychologist at Rockview State Prison, who was scheduled to testify by video.
The psychologist, Kevin Miskell, initially refused to do so despite a court order, according to Baratta. Eventually Miskell did appear on the video, but his responses brought ire from Baratta, who accused him of being intentionally evasive.
Miskell said he gave Rivera a psychological test under which he was recommended to complete an 18- to 24-month sex offender program. But Miskell, who coordinates sex-offender treatment at Rockview, claimed that he couldn't say whether Rivera would be a danger without the treatment.
Baratta said Miskell was acting as though he did "not know anything" about his job.
"I'm just kind of shocked about that," Baratta said.
"I don't know what to say to you, sir," Miskell stammered, before Baratta ended his testimony. ..Source.. by Riley Yates
July 30, 2015
Testimony over prison time for sex offender who refuses treatment
Kentucky man shoots down drone hovering over his backyard
Over his property? Humm, were they casing the place? Were they looking for pics to blackmail him? The point is, over his property -what are his rights-, and it will be interesting to see how the court rules..7-30-15 Kentucky:
See Also: There’s a Drone Flying Over My House. Can I Shoot It?
The way William Merideth sees it, it’s pretty clear-cut: a drone flying over his backyard was a well-defined invasion of privacy, analogous to a physical trespassing.
Not knowing who owned it, the Kentucky man took out his shotgun and fired three blasts of Number 8 birdshot to take the drone out.
"It was just right there," he told Ars. "It was hovering, I would never have shot it if it was flying. When he came down with a video camera right over my back deck, that's not going to work. I know they're neat little vehicles, but one of those uses shouldn’t be flying into people's yards and videotaping."
Minutes later, a car full of four men that he didn’t recognize rolled up, "looking for a fight." "Are you the son of a bitch that shot my drone?" one said, according to Merideth.
His terse reply to the men, while wearing a 10mm Glock holstered on his hip: "If you cross that sidewalk onto my property, there’s going to be another shooting."
The men backed down, retreated to their car, and waited for the police to arrive.
"His only comment was that he hoped I had a big checkbook because his drone cost $1,800," Merideth added.
The Kentuckian was arrested Sunday evening in Hillview, Kentucky, just south of Louisville and charged with criminal mischief and wanton endangerment. He was released the following day. The Hillview Police Department did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.
A measured approach?
The report of the downed drone comes a month after Ars reported on a similar incident in Modesto, California. But in that case, the drone operator was flying his drone over his parents’ farm, and it was shot down by a neighbor.
Here, Merideth, who operates a local trucking company, said that he had seen "two or three" different drones in his backyard previously over the last year and was disturbed by their presence. "What recourse do we have?" he asked.
The 43-year-old man claimed that law enforcement officials, including the county jailer, told him privately that they agreed with his actions. "The people that own the drones and the people that hate guns are the only ones that disagree with what I did," he said. "Now, if I’d have had a .22 rifle, I should have gone to jail for that. The diameter of those things are going to come down with enough force to hurt somebody. Number 8 birdshot is not. Number 8 is the size of a pinhead. The bottom line is that it's a right to privacy issue and defending my property issue. It would have been no different had he been standing in my backyard. As Americans, we have a right to defend our rights and property."
So what’s next in this bizarre tale?
"We have a lawyer and there's a court date and then there's going to be a hearing," Merideth said. "It's not going to stop with the two charges against me, which I'm confident that we'll get reduced or get dismissed completely."
And what would Merideth like to tell this errant drone operator when he meets him again?
"I would just like [him] to get some education on his toy and learn to respect the rights of the people," he said. "It's fine and dandy, and I think it's cool there's a camera on it, but just take it to a park or something—he's not a responsible drone owner." ..Source.. by Cyrus Farivar
July 28, 2015
Where is my sex offender now? Notices keep victims informed
This accomplishes what?7-28-15 Pennsylvania:
A new partnership of state law enforcement and victim advocates will help ensure victims of sexual violence are updated when the status of their offender changes.
The Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Office of Victim Advocate are teaming up to identify and provide thousands of additional and sensitive notifications, said Jennifer Storm, the commonwealth's Victim Advocate.
In a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, Storm said the partnership will increase the office's ability to notify victims when the status of a registered sexual offender changes -- such as release from prison, chance of parole, change of employment, change of address or noncompliance with registration rules.
The Office of Victim Advocate annually issues 20,000 to 30,000 of these notifications by letter, phone or email, and the partnership is expected to increase notifications by 5,000 to 7,000, Storm said.
Storm said every time a victim is notified of an update in his or her case, it can lead to additional trauma and emotions that victim advocates are trained to understand. Counseling and other services are then be available to the notified victim.
Since the collaboration began on May 11, the the office has identified and registered an additional 798 victims to keep updated on the status of their cases and provide supportive services, Storm said.
"That is 798 victims who are now empowered, who are now informed and who now know the status of their offender," she said.
Joyce Lukima, chief operating officer of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, said the notifications from the victim advocate group will allow for sensitive notifications that will take into account that stress.
"Survivors of sexual assault are often placed in a no-win situation, wanting to know the whereabouts of the person who has harmed them but also not wanting to constantly think about the crime that they have experienced," she said.
The partnership and additional notifications will be funded through a $143,000 grant from the Commission on Crime and Delinquency Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, said Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, who chairs that commission.
Pennsylvania State Police Captain Scott Price said sex offender information must be updated, but there is no law requiring victim information from being kept on file by law enforcement. So after a convicted sex offender is released after a lengthy prison sentence, local police are notified but there is no guarantee the victim will be notified.
Cumberland County District Attorney Dave Freed said his office often hears from victims who are worried after they have been notified of a change in their offender's status.
"We can get somebody convicted. We can get them sentenced. We can get them locked up," Freed said. "That doesn't change what happened to the victim."
Freed said he fully supported the partnership for providing more knowledge to victims of sexual violence in the state. ..Source.. by Sam Janesch
False rape accuser who caused man to be arrested is given 'strong words of advice' by police
A woman claimed she was raped, so the police went into action and did what they normally do when that occurs. They cordoned off the area where the rape occurred, and they arrested a 32-year-old male scapegoat.
One little problem. It turned out there was no rape. An innocent young man had been wrongly arrested.
So, the police went into action and did what they normally do when that occurs. They thanked the public "for their patience" while they conducted inquiries into the incident-that-never-was, and then -- they let the woman go. Not a single charge was lodged against her. Her name wasn't even mentioned in the various news articles about the incident. Her anonymity is in tact, so the next man who's wrongly arrested on her say-so won't have any way of identifying her as a serial false rape accuser.
Oh, but wait, dear reader. Don't think for a minute that that this woman wasn't punished for subjecting a young man to one of the worst things that can happen to a human being. A police spokeswoman said this: “The woman has been given strong words of advice by police for her actions.”
Read it again: "strong words of advice." Yep. Imagine if you read a story about a rapist being given "strong words of advice." What do you think would happen to that police chief? But for false rape accusers, that's as much punishment as they deserve. It's business-as-usual in our "rape culture."
Is it any wonder that rape accusers believe, with justification, they can cry rape with impunity, for any or no reason at all? A female bus driver lied about being gang raped so she could get her hours at work switched. Women have lied about rape to avoid taking the bar exam and to exact revenge on boyfriends who take too long to buy cigarettes and on men who refuse to buy them a beer. One false rape accuser was just "bored." Cab drivers are a favorite target of false accusers looking for a free fare. The list goes on and on. They lie because they are rarely punished, and they know it. As a result, serial false rape accusers aren't just tolerated, they are rewarded for telling successful lies. See here and here. And even when they are caught, their enablers in the sexual grievance industry insist they should not be prosecuted, much less punished. When a 15-year-old girl told a rape lie that got a 14-year-old boy arrested, anti-rape campaigners said "it is awful that a girl so young has been prosecuted in this way." ..Continued.. by COTWA
July 27, 2015
A look inside sex offender rehab at Juneau’s prison
See below: "of the 52 who’ve completed the program and been released, one is back in prison for a sexual offense." That is a 2% recidivism rate.7-27-15 Alaska:
Since 2010, sex offenders in Alaska prisons have been able to opt in to an intensive treatment program at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, but it’s unclear if it reduces recidivism.
A 2012 University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center publication identified a statewide benchmark; of about 240 sex offenders released from Alaska prisons in 2008, 2 percent were reconvicted on sex offenses within two years.
Here’s a look inside the treatment program at Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Audio Snip in Original:
Andrew Peabody has served about 27 years in prison for sexual assault. He said he’s scheduled to be released in February. Peabody said he used to feel numb and didn’t want to deal with what he’d done.
During an event at Lemon Creek Correctional Center earlier this year, Peabody said the sex offender treatment program is teaching him empathy “for my victim. You have to write a letter to that person realizing what you’ve become to that person, how you affected that person’s life.”
The letters aren’t actually sent.
Licensed clinical counselor Malcolm Nichols created and runs the sex offender treatment program at the Juneau prison. Nichols has a history of working with high risk populations. Prior to Lemon Creek, he ran a sex offender treatment program in Columbus, Ohio.
The 2-year program is a combination of structured group therapy and individual counseling. Some inmates are also prescribed medication for sexual urges. Nichols says the program is not supposed to be a cure. The goal is for inmates to learn to control and manage risk factors that could lead to sexual assaults.
Another assignment is writing a narrative describing the period of time leading up to their crime.
“It starts a year out from their sexual crime and then takes them 9 months, 6 months, 3 months and then 24 hours before it happened and this can be very difficult and dramatic,” Nichols said.
It’s supposed to be self-revealing. Nichols doesn’t let inmates get away with denying or minimizing what they’ve done. These are tactics, he says, to avoid change. Nichols recounted what happened when one inmate described his offense during a recent group session.
“He was telling it from his own personal position but I always want them to also give the objective, what actually happened, which he didn’t. So when I confronted him, he sort of got extremely dysphoric and broke into some deep sobbing and the whole group [got quiet]. You could hear a pin drop,” Nichols said.
The Lemon Creek Correctional Center program treats 24 men at a time. Inmates enter the program when they’re within 3 years of being released. All have been convicted of at least one sex assault and have admitted to at least one. Nichols says some have a long history of committing many sexual assaults. One even claimed to have committed hundreds.
“Some of the high risk guys have a history of sex offending going way back into their adolescence or even childhood,” Nichols said.
Alaska leads the country for the rate of reported forcible rape, according to FBI crime statistics. There are about 770 sex offenders in the Alaska prison system, which Nichols says represents a fraction of total offenders.
He says it takes a lot of patience to work with sex offenders.
“I don’t see people as necessarily the sum of their parts. I think that people are capable of choice and that I have to not shame them or ostracize them or let them think that they’re not human or they’re not incapable of change,” Nichols said.The work takes its toll. When Nichols leaves the office he tries to completely disengage with work. To avoid stress, he bikes and exercises regularly.
And there’s a lot at stake when inmates leave the treatment program and are released into the community.
“We all in this field live in dread of one of our guys getting out and committing some kind of horrendous sexual offense,” Nichols said. “And I’ve had some extremely dangerous inmates who, as they were leaving the program, I was keeping my fingers crossed.”
So far, of the 52 who’ve completed the program and been released, one is back in prison for a sexual offense. ..Source.. by By Lisa Phu
Zachary Anderson: Online Hook-Up Lands Him On Sex Offender List — Victim And Her Parents Plead For His Charges To Be Dropped
Zachary Anderson is a 19-year-old computer science major from Elkhart, Indiana. Anderson met a girl from nearby Niles, Michigan, on the Hot or Not app. The two met up for an evening of consensual sex in December 2014. Six months later, Anderson finds himself serving a 90-day jail sentence, five years of probation, and he will be a registered sex offender until he turns 44.
The girl that Anderson hooked up with told him she was 17-years-old at the time. The girl is, in fact, 14-years-old. She has epilepsy, and on the night in question, she left home and failed to tell her mother where she was going. Her mom was worried that she had forgotten to take her medicine, so she called the local police.
According to the Daily Mail, law enforcement was waiting at the girl’s house when she arrived back from her night out with Anderson. Anderson drove back home and promptly went on vacation to Florida with his parents. It was on vacation that he received a text from the girl stating they were “in trouble.” At the time, Anderson still didn’t know the girls age.
At Zachary Anderson’s trial, the girl stated she didn’t want anything to happen to him. Her mother also spoke to the court.
“I don’t want him to be a sex offender because he really is not and I know that there’s an age difference and I realize that (name deleted) was inappropriate that night, we didn’t know. I’m very sorry and I hope you’ll really consider the fact of just dropping the case. I can’t say anything more than that. I hope you really will for all of our families.”Michigan has a program for first-time sex offender who have yet to reach the age of 21. Judge Dennis Wiley decided not to use it. He gave his reason.
“You went online, to use a fisherman’s expression, trolling for women to meet and have sex with. That seems to be part of our culture now: meet, hook up, have sex, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is no excuse for this, whatsoever.”Zachary Anderson’s parents have taken to Change.org (Now over 100,000 signatures) hoping people will help. Anderson is not allowed to live in a house with an internet connection. He cannot talk to anyone who is under 17-years-old.
What do you feel should be the punishment for Zachary Anderson? Should the feelings of the girl and her mother have any influence on the incident in question? ..Source.. by Inquisitr
July 26, 2015
Sex offenders who have kids put schools in awkward spot
This reporter ought to check story facts before publishing them. Mary Devoy IS NOT "Executive Director o Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia" a defunct organization. Are other facts correct?7-26-15 Virginia:
Bayside Middle School administrators banned the father of a student this past school year after learning he had pleaded guilty a decade earlier to having sex with a 14-year-old when he was 21.
State law prohibits violent sex offenders - the father's crime fits the definition - from going on school property without a court order. Even then, the law gives school officials the final say.
The father obtained his court order. He then appealed up the school system's channels, and it eventually signed off on letting him enter the school with restrictions.
His isn't a unique case. Among the division's 82 schools, principals ban about four sex-offender parents per year, usually after other parents alert school officials, Deputy City Attorney Kamala Lannetti said.
A handful of those, like this father, are allowed back on campus with restrictions based on the nature of their crimes, she said. For example, he is not allowed to chaperone field trips or eat lunch with his children.
Because sex-offender bans come at the discretion of individual schools, division officials said they couldn't provide exact figures on bans and appeals.
Still, the process reveals the often tricky balance divisions must strike between parental rights and public safety.
"Ultimately, we're looking to do what's best for the students," said Shirann Lewis, director of elementary schools, one of three division officials who review appeals.
The court order offenders have to obtain removes any sentencing restrictions preventing them from being on school property. Once that happens, the division reviews the case and makes a decision on whether to overturn the ban. Other South Hampton Roads divisions have similar policies.
Dropping the ban means creating terms that allow the parents to do things like attend events, participate in parent-teacher conferences and pick up their children from school; lifting it also entails making sure they're not left alone with other students, officials said.
That was part of what got the Bayside parent, now a father of four, in trouble in November 2004. To avoid identifying his children, The Pilot is not naming him.
He met a 14-year-old cheerleader while he was coaching youth football, according to court records. He took the victim to a motel, prosecutors said.
The parent later pleaded guilty to felony counts of carnal knowledge of a child between the ages of 13 and 15, and he was sentenced to five years in prison.
"Given the seriousness of your conviction and the potential threat you pose to students, you are prohibited from entering all Virginia Beach City Public School properties," Principal Paula Johnson wrote in her Nov. 13 ban letter.
The father's argument to school officials: His crime happened a long time ago, and he wanted to be a responsible father, said his attorney, Kevin Martingayle.
"Everyone wants to focus on the worst-case scenario, and what they don't stop to think about is whether there are unintended consequences of keeping him away from his kids," Martingayle said.
While the Bayside father was allowed on school property, many people have reservations about such a decision. State lawmakers recently made the appeals process trickier.
As of July 1, state law requires that offenders trying to gain access to schools buy an advertisement in a local newspaper alerting the public that they plan to petition the court. Also, members of the public now may submit testimony.
Some say the law will reduce the number of parents petitioning the court to regain access.
"How many parents are going to be willing to humiliate their children by publicizing their situation in the newspaper?" asked Mary Devoy, executive director of Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia.
The law differs slightly from obstacles lawmakers typically throw at sex offenders, said Wesley Jennings, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Florida.
"It looks to me like something designed to create moral panic and grossly inflate people's concerns," he said.
Sex offenders in the category of the Bayside parent typically experience among the lowest rates of recidivism, perhaps as low as 5 percent, said Jason Rydberg, associate professor of criminology and justice studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
That is part of what schools and courts must consider when deciding whether to allow a sex offender onto school property, he said.
"The major misconception with sex offenders is that they're all cut from the same cloth," he said, "and that just isn't the case." ..Source.. by Matt McKinney
July 25, 2015
The Cruel, Petty Sentencing Practices of Judge Dennis Wiley
7-25-15 Michigan:
The guidelines were always too lenient.
Dennis Wiley is a district judge in Berrien County, Michigan. As you may have seen here, here, and even here, Wiley recently sentenced 19-year-old Zach Anderson to 90 days in jail and 25 years on the Sex Offender Registry. Anderson, a computer science student, was also banned from internet and smartphone. Wiley imposed this punishment even after Anderson’s victim—a 14-year-old who claimed to be 17 during a sexual encounter—and her mother asked the prosecutor’s office to drop the charges entirely.
During Anderson’s sentencing hearing, Wiley told him: “You went online…trolling for women to meet and have sex with. That seems to be part of our culture now: meet, hook up, have sex, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is no excuse for this, whatsoever.”
The Anderson case was not Wiley’s first foray into scolding online daters. Wiley recently put another Indiana 19-year-old, Darian Yoder, on the sex offender registry for having consensual sex with a 13-year-old who also claimed to be of age. They met via the same “Hot or Not” app that Anderson used.
Yes, these teenagers went online to meet women. People do that in 2015. Wiley chose to make an example out of Anderson and Yoder because of his own moral qualms with modernity.
es, these teenagers went online to meet women. People do that in 2015. Wiley chose to make an example out of Anderson and Yoder because of his own moral qualms with modernity.
Unfortunately, these are just the most recent examples in a long line of cases where Wiley exercised his discretion in a manner that was especially harsh toward low-level offenders.
In April 2014, Wiley was censured for misconduct after he had LaRue Ford charged with contempt. Ford spent 10 nights in jail—including Christmas—after not paying $5,000 in bond. Her crime? Muttering “fuck this shit” while in the courthouse dealing with a traffic ticket. The courthouse staff that overheard Ford mentioned it to Wiley, who then took matters into his own hands.
Curtis Pedzinski, a 21-year-old native of St. Joseph, Michiga, was sentenced by Wiley to between 14 months and 2 years in prison for “unlawful use of a motor vehicle,” or joyriding. Years earlier, Pedzinski had been convicted of breaking and entering. Wiley’s sentence was significantly more severe than what state guidelines called; Wiley justified it by claiming that proper weight had not been given to Pedzinski’s past.
There was also the case of Reverend Edward Pinkney, a high-profile black leader from Benton Harbor. Benton Harbor, along with St. Joseph, are Berrien County's twin cities. Benton Harbor is about 90 percent black, while St. Joseph, the county seat, is about 85 percent white. The area has experienced a lot of racial tension over a long period of time, and Pinkney has been deeply involved for years, rubbing a lot of powerful people the wrong way. Alfred Butzbaugh, a Berrien County judge who had presided over an election fraud case involving Pinkney was the target of Pinkney’s fondness for bombastic language in an article written for a Chicago paper. In addition to calling Butzbaugh “corrupt,” “dumb,” and a racist, Pinkney wrote:
“Judge Butzbaugh, it shall come to pass…..that all these Curses shall come upon you and your family, curses shalt be in the City of St. Joseph and Cursed shalt thou be in the field, cursed shall come upon you and your family and overtake thee…..The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning. They the demons shall Pursue thee until thou persist.”
This threat, according to Wiley, was a violation of Pinkney’s probation, saying that Pinkney’s title of Reverend gave him a “direct line to the Lord” and that a reasonable person would find this to be a serious threat. Wiley sentenced him to 3-10 years in prison because of the threat’s supposed severity. Pinkney went to prison in June 2008 and remained there until his sentence was thrown out on appeal
Another defendant, Arthur Grice, was also a victim of Wiley’s overboard sentencing practices. In 2010, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the sentencing guideline variables were wrongly scored by Wiley in Grice’s trial for resisting arrest. The Court of Appeals found that every variable in the case against Grice was scored significantly higher than it should have been, leading to a more harsh sentence of between 46 months and 15 years in prison.
While sentencing guidelines aren’t set in stone, Michigan law says that departures are allowed “if the court has a substantial and compelling reason for that departure and states on the record the reasons for departure.” Judges can’t go outside the guidelines based on race, gender, nationality, appearance, etc.
But it seems like Wiley thinks he knows better than the sentencing guidelines—which he believes are almost always too lenient, no matter the severity of the crime. ..Source.. by Andy Welch is a Mattern Intern at Reason
July 24, 2015
New R.I. law widens school buffer zone for sex offenders
High-risk offenders must now live at least 1,000 feet from schools — up from 300 feet — in law signed by Governor Raimondo.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — High-risk sex offenders must put the distance of more than three football fields between their homes and the nearest school under a new law signed by Governor Raimondo last week.
In 2008, the state made it a felony for a registered sex offender to live within 300 feet — the length of one football field — from any public or private school. The new law extends the buffer to 1,000 feet from any public or private school for Level III offenders — those deemed to be at the highest risk for committing another sex-related crime.
The law was passed despite objections from advocates for the homeless, the ACLU and the public defender's office, who argued that the law will leave people homeless and and untraceable without making communities any safer.
There are roughly 260 Level III sex offenders registered in Rhode Island, according to a list maintained by the state Parole Board. Those offenders have been designated by the Sex Offender Board of Review and/or the Superior Court as people at high risk of reoffending.
But it was one offender's presence in Warwick that prompted the legislation.
Byron W. de Weldon, the son of acclaimed sculptor Felix de Weldon and a Level III sex offender, has been living in Warwick, according to the Parole Board. De Weldon, who grew up on a Newport estate, was convicted in Rhode Island of third-degree sexual assault with a 15-year-old male and second-degree child molestation with three 11-year-old males in cases dating back to the 1990s.
"A Level III sex offender moved into my community and rented an apartment that oversees a children's game room and is in direct line of sight — an unobstructed view — of an elementary school. So parents were furious. Business owners were concerned," Rep. Joseph McNamara told the House Judiciary Committee in April. "He's like a kid in a candy store where he is now."
State records show that de Weldon's residence is less than a quarter mile from John Brown Francis Elementary School.
McNamara and Sen. Michael McCaffrey, both Warwick Democrats, sponsored the legislation that initially would have banned all sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. The amended version of the legislation that passed the General Assembly narrowed the change to apply only to Level III offenders.
During the same hearing, Michael DiLauro, a legislative director for the Office of the Rhode Island Public Defender, said that while the measure was well-intentioned, it could have unintended consequences.
"This forces offenders underground where they have less access to services and treatment," DiLauro said.
Barbara Kalil, co-director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, also argued against the measure earlier this year, saying that many landlords won't rent to registered sex offenders, making it a challenge to find housing. She said her opposition to the legislation was also personal because she and her partner — a Level III sex offender — would be forced to move from their Providence apartment under the new law.
Kalil and her partner, John Freitas, were responsible for starting the tent city known as Camp Runamuck in 2009. He was arrested while living at the camp for failing to register as a sex offender. Offenders must register with an address and their local police departments.
Kalil said she was homeless for six years before finding an apartment in Providence three years ago.
"I know that we are not going to find another apartment in our price range in Providence," Kalil said. "I am positive that this legislation is not going to solve any problems." ..Source.. by Jennifer Bogdan, Journal State House Bureau
July 22, 2015
What happened to news articles about sex offender issues?
7-2-2013 National:
It was just over 2 years ago that Google stopped their Google Reader service and I wrote about the effect that would have on sex offender advocacy; no need to repeat all the reasons news is needed for advocacy. Google Alerts kinda replaced Google Reader but does not have all the functions of Google Reader; Google Alerts are a really poor replacement but better than nothing (we have just over 100 setup).
Well here we are today wondering whats happening to News about issues surrounding sex offender laws and the registrants required to follow them? Where is the news? We are checking our Google Alerts when they show up, but, that is the problem, at best we are getting 3-5 a day when we used to get 100 or more.
Figuring the problem is Google Alerts we decided to try doing the Alerts by hand, a very time consuming task. Guess what the news just isn't being found in Google Searches, yes there are those which are very old or on topics like new crimes, and even those are few.
So it appears we have hit a slump in news, Journalists are just not writing about sex offender issues, so it seems. Has the world become complacent about these issues? Are articles written, if any, not generating enough income to spend time writing them? We just don't know.
Its summertime and that does account for slow news, but allowing for that, where do we go from here?
ACTION ALERT: Folks that do find a local article on sex offender issues, please forward the link so we can post for other folks. Please send links to eAdvocate@yahoo.comWe will keep readers updated on this essential topic. Stop back from time to time.
Thanks, we appreciate input, thoughts or suggestions.
PS: We are also monitoring Campus issues, and one issues is related to being drunk on campus. Well here is that big news today "'Drunk' squirrel reportedly causes damage in U.K. pub"
July 21, 2015
9 Investigates: Deputies question gaps in sex offender monitoring laws
Interesting, police cannot charge someone they cannot find, if true then there is no way for anyone to be charged for failure to register until they are caught and an investigation proves where s/he has been? And it is an incorrect assumption that a registrant is doing something wrong if the police cannot make contact with the registrant on a home address check. This area needs new police who can interpret laws as written.7-21-15 North Carolina:
IREDELL CO. — The number of registered sex offenders in North Carolina has doubled in 10 years, now standing at more than 20,000.
Some deputies say loopholes are stopping them from holding all offenders accountable. Eyewitness News Reporter Brittney Johnson rode along with an Iredell County deputy tasked with monitoring the county's sex offenders to learn more about deputies' concerns.
July 10, Deputy David Price started making his rounds at 4 a.m. He and his partner cover nearly 600 square miles checking whether Iredell County’s sex offenders live where they say they do.
"If you have kids, you should be concerned and you should want me out here checking them," Price said.
Price estimates he brings charges against at least four offenders each month for failing to comply with residency requirements. He says he could arrest more but that gaps in the state's monitoring requirements prevent that.
"Apparently for some reason you can go completely out of state and work in another state, and you don't have to tell us anything; we can't do anything to you," he said.
He's talking about part of the state statute that says if an offender goes to another county for more than 10 days out of the month, the offender must notify the sheriff's office, but no notification is required if the offender leaves the state.
"All of a sudden you're unaccounted for completely. They don't know you're there, and we don't know you're gone," he said.
Channel 9 rode along as Price knocked on doors, but he couldn't find three sex offenders at their registered homes. He said he's checked on one man 14 times and never made contact.
Channel 9 found there is nothing that allows Price to charge offenders who aren't home during random visits, no matter how many times an officer checks.
"That’s a huge problem," said Price.
Victims' advocate Kris Taylor works with families at Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center, in Charlotte. She says monitoring requirements are confusing and hard on victims' families.
"If sex offender registry rules are different state to state, monitored different county to county, it can be really hard again for parents to understand how to keep their children safe," said Taylor.
Channel 9 took Price's concerns to state Sen. Jeff Tarte, who worked to strengthen laws protecting sex-trafficking victims in 2013.
"Is this a priority?" Johnson asked.
"I think this is always a priority when you're involving the safety of children," Tarte said.
Tarte said he didn't know about officers' concerns regarding the monitoring gaps.
"That's obviously a huge problem, if that's occurring. I wasn't aware of it, and I think most lawmakers would not recognize that exists," he said.
He told Channel 9 if officers presented the problems along with possible solutions, he would work to tweak the laws to help deputies like Price back on the road to better protect their communities.
"In an interest of public safety, we need to know where these type of people are," Price said.
A number of other lawmakers told Channel 9 they didn't know about those monitoring gaps either. They said they want to hear from law enforcement on how they can improve the laws to make it easier to monitor sex offenders across North Carolina. Many counties are seeing 10 to 20 percent more offenders each year. ..Source.. by Brittney Johnson
July 17, 2015
Bills would ban sex offenders from Massachusetts public housing
BOSTON - A state representative has sponsored bills that would ban sex offenders from living in public housing.
State Rep. Bradley Jones, R-North Reading, the House Republican leader, proposed two bills that would ban level two and three sex offenders from public housing and from state-subsidized housing in hotels and motels.
Level two and three sex offenders are those who are considered to have a moderate or high risk of reoffending respectively and whose convictions are included in a public database.
Supporters of the proposal say it would protect people living in public housing. "Public subsidized housing is paid for by the taxpayers," said state Rep. Todd Smola, R-Warren, a bill co-sponsor. "To guarantee we protect the public safety of individuals in the program is extremely important."
But opponents say the bills would put the public at risk. Larni Levy, an attorney and director of the alternative commitment and registration support unit of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which represents indigent clients accused of sex offenses, said the move would increase homelessness among sex offenders.
"The legislation is ill advised and comes under the rubric of legislation that sounds good but actually jeopardizes public safety," Levy told the Legislature's Joint Committee on Housing, which is considering the bill.
Similar bills have been proposed in the past, but they have never passed the Legislature.
The federal government in 1998 instituted a ban on certain sex offenders living in federally subsidized public housing. This bill would extend the ban to any state-subsidized public housing.
Under current law, state housing authorities have the discretion to ban a sex offender from public housing, but they can also use that discretion to allow a sex offender into housing. The law is also not specific to sex offenders - it applies to anyone who has engaged in criminal activity which, if repeated, would threaten other tenants.
Smola, in an interview, called the bills a "reasonable proposal." He said he understands the need to balance the rights of sex offenders with other public housing residents, but he said the state should "err on the side of public safety."
Levy countered that if sex offenders are barred from public housing, many will become homeless and be separated from support networks of family, doctors or therapists. They will become harder for probation and parole officers to track. They will also lose their stability, which can be a factor in recidivism. "Frankly, no one wants sex offenders to be homeless," Levy said.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services also raised questions about whether the bill would be unconstitutional. Attorneys pointed to a 2011 case in which a sex offender challenged a law banning him from a nursing home. The Supreme Judicial Court found that without an individualized finding that the man constituted a danger to public safety, banning him from a nursing home unconstitutionally infringed on his rights to liberty and property and his right to due process.
A separate court case is currently pending before the Supreme Judicial Court over whether the city of Lynn can legally restrict where sex offenders can live.
Dr. Laurie Guidry, a clinical forensic psychologist and president of Massachusetts Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, said she understands why people have concerns about where registered sex offenders are living. But she thinks any policy needs to take account the fact that sex offenders are less likely to reoffend if they have stable housing.
"When we look at the research, we learn that stable housing, which goes hand in hand with employment, helps support positive outcomes with regards to reducing recidivism," Guidry said.
Guidry said she believes it would be more effective to have policies that allow housing decisions to be made on a case by case basis, looking at someone's criminal history but also at whether they are in treatment, are being supervised on probation, are connected with appropriate services and other factors.
"The idea would be to find a way to recognize the concerns that people have and also see if there are more effective ways we can keep the community safe while housing individuals who have these kind of histories," Guidry said. "Because doing so tends to keep the public safer than not doing so."
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker's administration has not yet taken a position on the bills. "The safety of families and children everywhere in Massachusetts – including in public housing – is hugely important to the Baker Administration, and the Governor will carefully review this proposal if it reaches his desk," said Felix Browne, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety.
Paul Bailey, executive director of the social service agency Springfield Partners for Community Action, who previously worked for the state overseeing housing authorities, said he sees both sides of the issue. "I certainly wouldn't want anyone to be harmed," Bailey said.
But Bailey said he recalls when criminal records first became available to housing authorities, and some authorities would deny a person housing solely because he had a criminal record, without looking at the details of the record. "You've got to look into it a little deeper," Bailey said. "You have to be careful, take every case individually. " ..Source.. by Shira Schoenberg
July 15, 2015
CORONA: Sex offender ordinance may change
The City Council may approve a code change to abolish some restrictions for sex offenders.
Long-standing housing restrictions for convicted sex offenders in Corona could be amended Wednesday, July 15, bringing the city into compliance with a state law passed in March.
In 2006, the California Supreme Court ruled that registered sex offenders must not live within 2,000 feet of a school, park, or other places children commonly gather, in an attempt to reduce recidivism and “help Californians better protect themselves, their children, and their communities,” according to Prop. 83, better known as Jessica’s Law.
Corona amended its city code in 2008 to reflect the decision. But the state Supreme Court decided on March 2, that the residency restriction was unconstitutional, and again the city must follow suit.
John Higginbotham, assistant city attorney for Corona, said the state’s decision has raised concerns locally.
“There was a reason they put those restrictions in place from the outset,” Higginbotham said. “We’re confident that now or in the future, there will be attempts to fix this in Sacramento. Cities can only do what the Supreme Court says they can lawfully do.”
The Supreme Court ruled that enforcing the residency restrictions restricted parolees’ ability to find housing, increased homelessness and hindered access to health treatment. The court also said that residence restrictions made it increasingly difficult for parole and law enforcement authorities to supervise sex offenders and “bore no rational relationship to ... protecting children from sexual predators,” the new law states.
The City Council is expected to adopt the resolution at its 6:30 p.m. meeting, and some residents are worried about the outcome.
“This will present danger for our children walking even short distances,” Corona resident Marcia Shoemaker said. “Why change this law? It works.”
The change would be little more than a formality because state law takes precedence, but it has prompted Corona police to add a fifth detective to monitor the 87 sex offenders registered in the city, Capt. Jerry Rodriguez said.
“We have no control over what the Supreme Court decides,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said officers will do more sweeps to ensure sex offenders comply with other restrictions, such as a law that prohibits sexual predators from living with other sex offenders in a single-family dwelling unless they’re related by blood, marriage, or adoption, per state law.
It’s too early to tell how many sex offenders are living in the formerly restricted 2,000-foot school buffer zone, he said. ..Source.. by PATRICK O’NEILL
July 14, 2015
NBC2 Investigation: The sex offender 1,000-foot rule
1,000 feet is 1,000 feet, right? Apparently not when measuring how far away sex offenders can live from parks and schools. An NBC2 investigation uncovers differences in the way the state and local law enforcement agencies measure that distance.
This law is all about distance, the amount of space between offenders and places like playgrounds. But we uncovered the distance changes depending on who is measuring.
Arturo Dominguez is a registered sex predator. He should not be living in his Cape Coral home.
“2,500 feet is 2,500 feet,” said Detective Todd Kerns with the Cape Coral Police Department.
The problem is he is living closer than that to Pelican Elementary.
“Doesn’t matter if there’s a canal that separates the house,” said Detective Kerns.
We headed to the house with Detective Todd Kerns to tell Dominguez he has to go.
Cape Coral’s ordinance is much tougher and more straightforward than the state’s.
“It’s a complex statute,” said Corporal John Poudrette with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Corporal Poudrette’s agency relies on the state to enforce the 1,000-foot rule.
The Department of Corrections doesn’t always use the same starting point to measure the 1,000 feet.
With single-family homes, the agency starts with the property line. But with a duplex or apartment, the starting point is at the front or back door.
“It is an absolute waste, 100 percent waste of taxpayer money,” said Peter Aiken, a defense attorney.
Defense attorney Peter Aiken says most offenders don’t stay in one place, making it difficult to guarantee the 1,000-foot rule.
“It’s a feel good law. All it does is make the public feel good,” said Aiken.
State Senator Lizbeth Benaquisto says wording in the law may have to be revisited.
“If it’s keeping local governments or local law enforcement agencies conflicted about how they enforce things and people are living right about or at those edges and getting in close proximity to our children. Then, we have to address it,” said Senator Benaquisto.
Weeks after we tracked down sex predator Arturo Dominguez, we found he moved to Lehigh Acres; this time within 1,000 feet of a school.
“That’s crazy. They shouldn’t allow that. They really shouldn’t,” said Irma Rodriguez, a Lehigh Acres parent.
According to DOC, he’s not breaking the law. The state only applies the 1,000-foot rule to certain sex offenses.
“I have kids, so I think it’s very important,” said Detective Kerns.
Stricter ordinances, like the one in Cape Coral, are in theory more effective. But in reality, enforcement is more complicated.
In the Cape, Lee County Sheriff’s deputies enforce the 1,000-foot rule. Cape Police officers enforce the 2,500-foot ordinance. ..Source.. by Bryan Anderson
July 9, 2015
Inside A Juneau Prison’s Sex Offender Treatment Program
7-9-15 Alaska:
Since 2010, sex offenders in Alaska prisons have been able to opt in to an intensive treatment program at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, but it’s unclear if it reduces recidivism.
A 2012 University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center publication identified a statewide benchmark; of about 240 sex offenders released from Alaska prisons in 2008, 2 percent were reconvicted on sex offenses within two years.
Here’s a look inside the treatment program at Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Andrew Peabody has served about 27 years in prison for sexual assault. He said he’s scheduled to be released in February. Peabody said he used to feel numb and didn’t want to deal with what he’d done.
During an event at Lemon Creek Correctional Center earlier this year, Peabody said the sex offender treatment program is teaching him empathy “for my victim. You have to write a letter to that person realizing what you’ve become to that person, how you affected that person’s life.”
The letters aren’t actually sent.
Licensed clinical counselor Malcolm Nichols created and runs the sex offender treatment program at the Juneau prison. Nichols has a history of working with high risk populations. Prior to Lemon Creek, he ran a sex offender treatment program in Columbus, Ohio.
The two-year program is a combination of structured group therapy and individual counseling. Some inmates are also prescribed medication for sexual urges. Nichols says the program is not supposed to be a cure. The goal is for inmates to learn to control and manage risk factors that could lead to sexual assaults.
Another assignment is writing a narrative describing the period of time leading up to their crime.
“It starts a year out from their sexual crime and then takes them nine months, six months, three months and then 24 hours before it happened and this can be very difficult and dramatic,” Nichols said.
It’s supposed to be self-revealing. Nichols doesn’t let inmates get away with denying or minimizing what they’ve done. These are tactics, he says, to avoid change. Nichols recounted what happened when one inmate described his offense during a recent group session.
“He was telling it from his own personal position but I always want them to also give the objective, what actually happened, which he didn’t. So when I confronted him, he sort of got extremely dysphoric and broke into some deep sobbing and the whole group [got quiet]. You could hear a pin drop,” Nichols said.
The Lemon Creek Correctional Center program treats 24 men at a time. Inmates enter the program when they’re within 3 years of being released. All have been convicted of at least one sex assault and have admitted to at least one. Nichols says some have a long history of committing many sexual assaults. One even claimed to have committed hundreds.
“Some of the high risk guys have a history of sex offending going way back into their adolescence or even childhood,” Nichols said.
Alaska leads the country for the rate of reported forcible rape, according to FBI crime statistics. There are about 770 sex offenders in the Alaska prison system, which Nichols says represents a fraction of total offenders.
He says it takes a lot of patience to work with sex offenders.
“I don’t see people as necessarily the sum of their parts. I think that people are capable of choice and that I have to not shame them or ostracize them or let them think that they’re not human or they’re not incapable of change,” Nichols said.
The work takes its toll. When Nichols leaves the office he tries to completely disengage with work. To avoid stress, he bikes and exercises regularly.
And there’s a lot at stake when inmates leave the treatment program and are released into the community.
“We all in this field live in dread of one of our guys getting out and committing some kind of horrendous sexual offense,” Nichols said. “And I’ve had some extremely dangerous inmates who, as they were leaving the program, I was keeping my fingers crossed.”
So far, of the 52 who’ve completed the program and been released, one is back in prison for a sexual offense. ..Source.. by Lisa Phu
Mistake on driver’s license labeled man as sex offender (and now a woman too)
A simple mistake on your driver’s license, and it could severely change your life, costing you friends, family and even a job.That mistake cost a local man his reputation even within his own family.
Andrew Stokes Flaherty got a new identification card in 2012. But the legally blind 48-year-old couldn't see what was printed in the corner. Six months later, as he pulled into NAS JAX, the numbers 943.0435 changed Flaherty's life forever.
“He had tried to get on the naval base with his brother and they almost arrested him, were very, very upset with him and said some choice things because here was a sexual offender trying to get on the naval base,” said John Philips, Flaherty’s attorney.
Phillips says Andrew Flaherty was caught off-guard. “He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, no I'm not,'” Phillips said. “It was embarrassing. His own brother even second-guessed him -- 'Hey, what are you not telling me?'”
But Flaherty was telling the truth. He'd been incorrectly labeled a sex offender by an employee who worked at the tax collector's office on Blanding Boulevard.
“Simply put, there's a drop-down menu and she clicked the wrong button,” Phillips said.
It’s a simple mistake that Action News found has repeated time and time again across Florida.
“I put it in my wallet and I left,” said Tammy Lemasters, a victim of incorrect labeling. In May, Lemasters went weeks before noticing she'd been labeled a sexual predator on her new license.
Reporters followed the Lake County mother, who has no criminal record, back to the office to confront the manager. But Phillips, who also represents Lemasters, says even though the mistake was corrected, the label will live with her forever. “In that court record it will always say, Tammy Lemasters, sexual predator,” Phillips said.
The Duval County tax collector issues licenses and ID cards on behalf of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
But for years, the state's software listed sex offender and predator right alongside other more often used selections, like insulin dependent and organ donor.
“It was easy to click the wrong box,” said Sherry Hall, the chief administrator of the Duval County Tax Collectors Office.
Hall said her staff was devastated to learn of their mistake. “Michael Corrigan (tax collector) immediately called the state and demanded some safeguards be put into place,” Hall said.
In May, a new version of that software was rolled out. Now, multiple safeguards are in place to double-check a sex offender or predator designation.
But Andrew Flaherty didn't live to see this change. He sued the tax collector, but died last year still waiting for an apology. In June, the city settled the case and paid his estate $20,000. ..source.. by Amanda Warford
Lincoln repeals overly restrictive sex offender ordinance
LINCOLN, Maine — Town leaders have repealed portions of a 5-year-old town sex offender ordinance that Town Manager Lisa Goodwin said Tuesday was so restrictive it probably was unenforceable.
The Town Council voted 7-0 during a meeting Monday night to approve changes in the ordinance that will bring it more in line with state laws when the changes go into effect in 30 days, Goodwin said.
“We were not in compliance with state law,” Goodwin said Tuesday of the ordinance, which was enacted in late December 2006. “If we tried to enforce what we had on the books, then the people [arrested or cited] would have had a case against us. We would not have had a case.”
Under the ordinance, sex offenders were forbidden to live within 1,500 feet of schools, state-licensed day care or preschool centers or within 1,000 feet of libraries, public parks, movie theaters or public playgrounds.
The ordinance also created an additional 1,000-foot boundary around those perimeters in which offenders could not loiter or stay except as part of “legitimate activity.” Violators could have faced fines of $100 per offense, with a $1,000 limit.
The revisions councilors approved on Monday reduced the 1,500-foot boundary to 750 feet and restricted its application to schools or town-owned playgrounds where “children are the primary users.”
It eliminated the ordinance’s ban on sex offenders being allowed to “stop, sit, stand, or loiter within a Red Zone for any period of time exceeding the amount of time reasonably necessary to engage in a legitimate activity within such zone and then only for the period of time when they are actually engaged in that legitimate activity.”
Another section of the law councilors voted to eliminate had prohibited offenders from being able to “lurk, stalk, loiter, threaten, solicit or communicate with children in any area of the community,” including bus stops.
Local police had not enforced the ordinance since Lincoln Police Chief William Lawrence joined the department in April. He said he could not speak to what was done before his arrival.
Town leaders were likely following a 2006 model and a natural desire to protect residents from harm when they crafted the ordinance, but a state law change in 2009 that relaxed sex offender restrictions forced towns to follow suit, said Lawrence, who studied the town’s ordinance for several weeks and recommended the changes. ..Source.. by Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff
July 8, 2015
Auditor Blasts California Foster Care Agency
7-8-15 California:
SACRAMENTO (CN) - Thousands of foster children may have been exposed to sex offenders due to California's failure to verify addresses of registered sex offenders, the state auditor says.
A blistering audit, released July 2, revealed breakdowns in the state's Social Services Department, which may have allowed as many as 8,600 foster children to be placed near the workplace or home of a registered sex offender, due to a faulty method of cross-checking addresses.
The 31-page report also found that the state could save more than $100 million by paying private foster agencies the same rate as county agencies.
The audit found that for 21 months Social Services did address-comparisons on sex offenders who were recently registered or active and "incorrectly excluded" addresses from previous months.
Social Services failed to use the entire sex offender registry and may have unintentionally placed foster children in the same facility as sex offenders.
"This error could have prevented Social Services from promptly identifying registered sex offenders who may have been living or working in licensed facilities or foster homes during the 21 months in which it used this flawed methodology," said State Auditor Elaine Howle.
Howle's report was a follow-up to a 2011 audit in which she criticized Social Services for not using the sex offender registry. The follow-up report uncovered 216 cases of foster children coming into contact with sex offenders who lived, worked or were associated with foster care facilities between 2011 and 2014.
In one instance, a foster home caregiver knowingly allowed a registered sex offender to live in the facility while he was on parole. Investigation found that both the caregiver and the sex offender struck and abused one of the foster children.
The sex offender's parole officer let him stay at the facility because she thought the foster children were actually his. Three foster children were removed from the facility after investigation.
In a response letter to Howle, Social Services Director Will Lightbourne said his agency has improved its safeguards to protect children.
"The department developed comprehensive processes to ensure a consistent and thorough approach to evaluate and investigate addresses of RSOs [registered sex offenders] as matched against all state and county licensed facilities," Lightbourne wrote.
The audit credits Social Services with improving its address checking process, but says it failed to implement cost-saving recommendations from the 2011 audit, involving reimbursement rates for private caregivers.
The audit reiterated that private foster agencies receive considerably higher compensation rates than county foster homes and that the department could save $116 million over the next five years if it adjusts the pay structure.
Howle blasts the department for its decision to wait until 2017 to revise its rate structure.
"Social Services is causing counties to continue to pay rates that do not have adequate justification," the audit states.
Howle recommends that the state improve its mechanism to track and monitor addresses of registered sex offenders and require counties to give licensed foster homes higher priority over family-run foster homes. ..Source.. by NICK CAHILL
July 6, 2015
9 Investigates uncovers proposed plan to make sex offenders pay yearly fee
Given the registry does nothing more than satisfy folks who want to know where registrants sleep for a few hours of a day, lets those folks pay for it! The registry already damages those on it..7-6-15 Florida:
ORLANDO, Fla. — Sheriff's offices all over central Florida spend tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to keep tabs on sex offenders.
But 9 Investigates uncovered one state has a plan to make the sex offenders carry some of that burden.
Channel 9's Myrt Price asked lawmakers and law enforcement officials whether that plan could work in Florida.
The offenders are required to register, and deputies work around the clock to monitor and to track those who don't provide addresses or abscond from where their supposed to be living.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said it spends about $10,000 a year to keep track of convicted sex offenders.
"While we do some supplemental funding from the state level, the counties and the sheriff bear the brunt of this monitoring program," said State Sen. Darren Soto.
In Polk County, they spend more than $200,000 a year.
"To know exactly where they are, where they're working, where they're living," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
However, lawmakers in Tennessee gave sheriff's offices a way to offset those costs by requiring sex offenders to pay $150 a year. And, $100 of that goes to the law enforcement agency where the offender is registered.
Soto believes similar legislation could work in Florida.
"I think a sliding scale may be appropriate," said Soto. "We're going to be looking into it for potential sponsorship next year."
Judd weighed in on the issue.
"It's not that I wouldn't be for it because offsetting the costs to the taxpayers is a good thing," said Judd.
But unlike Soto, he is not convinced a law like that would work in Florida.
"I just don't think the majority of them can afford to pay, and they'll quit paying, quit registering and quit showing up and be a bigger problem," Judd said.
Soto believes in order for the plan to be effective, the fee would have to be on a sliding scale, so only those who can afford to pay it would be required to. ..Source.. by wftv.com9
Mary Devoy: Has Virginia's sex offender registry kept us safe?
Further proof that Lawmakers want only what keeps them in office..7-6-15 Virginia:
Recently, Gov. Terry McAuliffe set up an independent commission to look at the 20 years since parole was abolished and determine whether it should be revived. "It's time to review whether that makes sense," he said during a radio appearance. "Is it keeping our citizens safe? Is it a reasonable, good, cost-effective way? Are we rehabilitating folks?" he asked. "Are sentences too long for nonviolent offenses? Are we keeping people in prison too long?"
All great questions!
But almost immediately some state lawmakers spun the governor's order into a fear-mongering, the-sky-is-falling, political issue. A program that claimed it would better protect society has been in place for 20 years. We owe it to our citizens to see whether it has done what was promised, is cost effective, whether justice is being served or reforms are needed.
That's the work of a state that leads: It establishes accountability, checks and balances.
The Virginia legislature had an opportunity this year to do so with another 20-year-old law that needs an accountability check, and it refused.
Sen. Emmett Hanger's bill, SJ282, would have studied the data on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry and considered possible reforms.
The General Assembly refused to even debate the bill.
In 2011, lawmakers instructed the Virginia State Crime Commission to study data on the registry, and many other laws, and determine if reforms were needed.
The commission said there wasn't enough data to reach conclusions about the registry.
Based on the past 20 years of research, however, the following reforms are well supported:
n Create a three-tiered classification system based on risk rather than a two-tiered system based on convictions.
n Require registry only for felony offenses.
n List the lowest level of offenders - and juveniles - on a private, authorized-users-only registry.
n Remove the names of low-level offenders and juveniles who have not committed another crime after 10 years.
n Allow mid-level offenders to petition for removal in 15 to 20 years.
n Set re-registration on the same date every year and notify offenders of those dates. That would eliminate the high costs of printing and mailing certified letters to every offender as many as four times a year.
n Establish an electronic registration system for offenders to update email addresses, residential, employment or vehicle information.
Lawmakers did not oppose McAuliffe's commissions on campus sexual assault or prescription drug and heroin abuse, so why would they fear a parole review commission?
The governor understood that evaluating truth in sentencing is the way to keep Virginia safe.
Why not look at the effectiveness of the sex offender registry and see whether it has done the same? Look at the vast categories of offenders the law covers, as well as the restrictions placed on them.
For the past seven years I have fought the myths, hype and fear that drove the registry's creation.
If we have the courage to find the facts, we may conclude we were duped 20 years ago by political hyperbole. If data show the registry hasn't improved safety, wouldn't it be better to know that and make it better? ..Source.. by Mary Davye Devoy, an advocate for reform of Virginia's Sex Offender Registry and laws, lives in Mechanicsville.
July 4, 2015
After their sentences are complete, sexually violent predators are allowed to register as 'homeless'
DENVER - A recently released sexually violent predator registered his Denver address as "homeless," which turns out to be a common occurrence.
Earlier this week, Denver police posted a community notification on YouTube and Facebook about the release of --. He registered his address as the 1100 block of Park Avenue West, which is near Park Avenue West and Broadway. That location is near the Denver Rescue Mission and other homeless services.
According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, sexually violent predators are given that designation because they meet certain criteria:
---A sexually violent predator is an adult who has been convicted on or after July 1, 1999 of a sex crime in accordance with statute committed on or after July 1, 1997."The only requirements are that they register. You can't mandate somebody to have a home," said Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky, program manager with Colorado's sex offender management unit. "There is no state law that requires them to be in a certain location."
---An SVP's victim must have been a stranger to the offender or a person the offender established a relationship with for the sole purpose of sexual victimization.
---An SVP must be likely to commit subsequent sex offenses based upon the results of a risk assessment screening instrument administered to the offender.
7NEWS checked and found 41 sex offenders listed as homeless in the 1100 block of Park Avenue West.
"This is a very popular block for them to register people as transients," said Josh Geppelt, senior director of emergency services for the Denver Rescue Mission. "It's kind of those Catch-22s, you may not want them next door to you in a home or an apartment, but you also don't want them homeless on the streets."
"To find residence as a sexually violent predator, and to have a landlord who would then be willing to have their address listed on a state site saying a sexually violent predator is registered here, some people are reluctant to rent in those situations," said Lobanov-Rostovsky.
"It's very dangerous because there are a lot of women out here," said downtown Denver resident Nikki Dorritie. "You should have an ankle bracelet on, to track your whereabouts, even if you're done with your time because you still have the chance to do it again."
In the case of Greer, he has served his sentence and is no longer on parole or probation.
"The law requires them to check-in more frequently with law enforcement, as a result, so there's greater safeguards in place in those situations," said Lobanov-Rostovsky. "They're expected to tell law enforcement where they're staying and if they're not staying there, they're in violation of their requirements to register and they can be charged with that as a 'failure to register' charge."
In May, another sexually violent predator, who registered as homeless in the 1100 block of Park Avenue West was arrested in the violent attack on a student on the Auraria campus. James Alphonso Holmes was charged with attempted first-degree murder and attempted sexual assault. He had been living as homeless since March. ..Source.. by Marshall Zelinger
July 3, 2015
New state law provides more oversight for sex offenders
UPDATE 7-4: A great reader reminds us they dropped the "password" requirement before passage. see #177-3-5 Tennessee:
7-3: Unfortunately there is no known advocate in TN fighting nonsensical laws. Lawmakers failed to do their research, in Georgia lawmakers also tried to force registrants to provide passwords, but federal court issued an injunction which stopped the state from requiring passwords. see White v Baker. Also in Utah the "password" issue -along with several others- was taken to court; the case ultimately ended in the U.S. Supreme court. However, the legislature REMOVED the password requirement along the way so that issue did not goto the high court but other issues did. See Doe v Shurtleff. Apparently lawmakers have little respect for rights of registrants! Makes one wonder how they got elected.
ACKSON, Tenn. -- A new state law grants greater oversight on registered sex offenders who use social media.
Previously, sexual offenders had to provide the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation with their email addresses and screen names.
Now the law requires all registered offenders to provide email addresses plus usernames and passwords to all Internet accounts.
Local law enforcement said they hope the changes will increase safety for everyone.
"It's serious, and we talk about it all the time," said Madison County Sheriff John Mehr. "Children will get on the computer, they will chat with people when they think it's their age and in fact the person is 40 years old."
The sheriff also said this is a small step in the social media requirements for registered sex offenders. More changes are expected in the future. ..Source.. by WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff
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