3-6-2011 Illinois:
___ is a registered sex offender, but it's because when he was 17, his fiancée at the time was 16-years-old and pregnant with their now 7-year-old daughter.
__, his wife, and their two young sons were hopeful a new bill introduced to the Illinois House would allow him to shed the sex offender tag. But the House defeated the bill known as the "Romeo and Juliet” bill on Thursday leaving the family in the unknown.
"I'm a little nervous both for myself and my family," ____ said.
What makes him nervous is House Bill 1628 which prohibits sex offenders from living near child counseling centers.
"If they don't make it specific to what a counseling center could be, it could be just about anything they decide and if that bill gets passed, my family will be moving to Missouri to live with [her] parents and I'll possibly be forced to live out of my car."
"I want us to stay together because that's what we are,” she said. “We stay together because we're a family."
The “Romeo and Juliet” bill needed 60 yes's to pass. It only received 36. With that number, ___ wonders if the politicians just didn't want their name next to a bill to free sex offenders.
"I'm sure a lot of them sit there and think ‘well, if we vote for this bill when next election season comes up, our opponent will throw that back and us that they're letting rapists and murderers and everything else on the street’ and that's not the case."
Even with the most recent bill falling through, ___ still remains hopeful he'll one day be removed from the registry.
"All I can do is take each day as it comes and hopefully, someday, I'll be taken off the registry or the state will realize what they're doing is wrong and they'll change the laws,” ____ said. “Until then, we just keep doing what we're doing." ..Source.. Steve Campbell
March 6, 2011
East Moline man remains a sex offender after bill is defeated
February 28, 2011
Illinois sex offender law could remove some young offenders from registry
Personally I think any Legislature chosen age difference is a mistake, each case should go before a judge, and a decision be made on the facts presented. That would handle the extremes, if any, and cultural issues. Never forget this nation is a melting pot, and we have many from other countries as residents.2-28-2011 Illinois:
(KMOV) -- A proposed law could make big changes to the sex offender registry in Illinois. Some offenders who made it on the list before could keep their names secret. Supporters say the change will help police keep tabs on violent offenders, but police tell News 4, it could actually create more problems.
This so-called "Romeo and Juliet" legislation deals with relationships between teens at least 14 years old and their sexual partners -- no more than four years older. Those offenders could appeal the ruling to register on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, which would leave fewer people for police to track. But some officers fear it might just lead to more problems.
There are nearly 25,000 registered sex offenders in Illinois. As many as 700 are cases of "Romeo and Juliet."
Clint Wilson was 19 when he met his 15-year-old girlfriend. He served jail time, was on probation and now must registered as a sex offender for 10 years for his illicit love affair. Only now, it's no longer an affair; Clint married the girl and the couple has two kids together. But he's still on the registry.
Now Tonia Maloney is a mom on a mission. Her own son has a similar story as Clint's.
"Nobody will give him a job, and nobody wants him to live there," Maloney said. She started an organization called "Illinois Voices" in hopes of prompting changes to the law.
Police say many times problems start when parents discover their child is having sex with an adult.
'It may not even be any type of corrersion, but the fact of the matter is a minor juvenile cannot consent," Sgt. Eric Zaber, Collinsville Police Department, said.
Even so, Maloney says the answer isn't locking up the older lover.
"By eliminating these types of relationships of consentual sex, the police can focus on the higher risk, possible repeat offenders," Maloney said.
Several Illinois police departments have only one officer assigned to track the city's sex offenders, or it becomes an added duty. Sgt. Zaber said it takes "time and organization" to track them.
Maloney argues the registry could be streamlined by taking off non-violent offenders. But law enforcement is worried about creating a slippery slope, that making concessions for one type of offender could lead to loopholes in the law.
"That's the bottom line," Sgt. Zaber said. "We want to protect our kids." ..Source.. Maggie Crane
January 15, 2011
Will Texas Be Safe for Romeos and Juliets?
1-15-2011 Texas:
According to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee, the state should go its own way when it comes to the registration and monitoring of sex offenders.
In its interim study report released last week, the committee, chaired by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, recommends that the state unbind itself from federal laws that provide for minimum offender registration requirements – clearing the way for the state to devise its own methods of assessing the risks individual offenders pose to the community at large and (finally) allowing the state to create a much-needed path to allowing qualified offenders off the list.
As of Jan. 6, there were 64,565 names on the state's sex offender registry, which is maintained by the Department of Public Safety. The swift growth of crime and punishment in this area of the law has created a number of issues. While initially designed to keep the public – in particular, children – safe from predators, the number of offenses eligible for registration has ballooned since the registries were first created in 1994, via the federal Jacob Wetterling Act. Many experts – including some who testified before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee last summer – agree that the addition of so many types of crimes has diluted any positive effect the registry might have had on public safety. (The registry includes not just serial pedophiles but also so-called "Romeo and Juliet" cases, often involving youthful romantic affairs in which one party is younger than 17, Texas' age of consent.)
As we reported in September (see "Sex Offenders Exposed," Sept. 10, 2010), there are other, similar relationships, such as that of Martin Ezell and his wife, who became involved when he was already 32 and she was just shy of 17. Ezell was prosecuted and given deferred adjudication on the charge of sexual assault of a child. Though he successfully completed his sentence, he will have to register for life. In the Ezell family's case, the registry's effect seems merely cruel: He's unable to find meaningful work; the couple's three children have, at times, been ostracized at school; and the family has had to move numerous times when neighbors have discovered his name and picture on the public database and responded negatively. Researchers around the country have determined that registration does serious collateral damage to sex offenders' families. "Based on the research, [and] the testimony provided during the hearing," reads the committee's report, "it is clear registries do not provide the public safety, definitely not the way it is now."
Although state lawmakers have previously asked the state's Council on Sex Offender Treatment to devise a scheme allowing qualified individuals a path to deregistration, those efforts have been stalled because of a state statute provision binding Texas law to the federal law – which is itself in flux. At issue is whether the state will enact the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act – in essence, an update to the Wetterling provisions – that seeks to "provide consistency," as the committee describes it, among the states' registries. But implementation would require the state to overhaul its current registry. For example, while Texas has sought to classify offenders based on risk, the Adam Walsh Act would classify them solely by the offense – a situation that the CSOT and many in law enforcement believe could cause misclassifications. This system would also increase, for many, the number of times per year registration must be updated with local authorities – at the cost of those local agencies – and could significantly increase the number of individuals required to register for life, in part because the act adds additional offenses requiring registration. The AWA also requires juveniles as young as 14 to be publicly registered, a decision that, in Texas, is currently left to judges' discretion.
Finally, and importantly, implementation could cost the state nearly $39 million, while the penalty for not doing so – the loss of some grant funding – would cost just a little more than $1.4 million. "Retaining the ten percent of federal funding is not adequate incentive" to enact the AWA, writes the committee. "Sex offenses are very serious crimes. There is no debate over whether violent and dangerous people should be punished [and] monitored extensively," reads the report. "However like with most issues there are levels and gray areas. In addition there are limited resources to address all of the issues facing the state today." In the end, the committee recommends that the state not implement AWA.
Whether lawmakers will take that advice remains to be seen. Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West has filed a bill (see "This Way to the Big Top!") that would exempt from registration certain youthful offenders. However, the bill, as currently written, would also update state law to comply with the AWA. If that update remains, it would pose additional challenges for people like Ezell who have been searching for a way off the registry.*
As it happens, Ezell caught a glimmer of hope in mid-December, when then-District Judge Charlie Baird ruled that the state's registration requirement, as applied to Ezell, is unconstitutional. The registry's purpose is to enhance public safety, Baird wrote, and is not meant to be "so punitive as to be a criminal sanction." He continued, "When the remedial nature of the statutory scheme is not served by registration, and the registration requirement serves as the basis for continued criminal prosecution and causes the disruption of the ordinary course of five lives [Ezell, his wife, and their three children], the registration requirement, as applied to a particular individual, loses its remedial function and becomes purely punitive." Baird ordered Department of Public Safety to "remove all information" about Ezell from the registry.
Despite the order, the DPS has not yet removed Ezell from the list. According to an e-mailed statement from DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange, "DPS declined comment until its attorneys could review and evaluate the ruling." Indeed, the DPS is still bound to comply with the linkage between state and federal law as it applies to deregistration; nonetheless, Baird's order is valid. Interestingly, Ezell's attorney, Gus Garcia Jr., says he sent notice to DPS attorneys prior to the hearing, but no one from the agency responded. "We're hoping that [Ezell] will be able to avail himself of the judge's order," said Garcia, "because it's really like he's in limbo right now." He added that it may take legislative action – enacting the committee recommendations, perhaps – for Ezell to find a final measure of justice.
*Clarification: In the original version of this story we wrote only that Dallas Dem Sen. Royce West's bill regarding Texas' sex offenders and the registry (SB 198) would update state law to comply with the Adam Walsh Act. In fact, the main purpose of West's proposed legislation is to provide for an exemption for certain youthful offenders – that is, for Romeo & Juliet cases. The AWA enacting provision is included only because state law is currently tied to federal law and because the controlling federal law is now AWA, but not because West necessarily endorses that law. ..Source.. JORDAN SMITH
August 7, 2010
Letter writing campaign
This really is a GREAT idea, folks should join the group and see what can be do with this "Letter Writing" campaign.8-7-2010 National:
Super Idea from Member of: Families of Sex Offenders Support Group
"Everyday I meet people who have a boyfriend or a son in the same situation as my son. A teenager who had consensual and mutual gratification with a classmate, only to have the classmate yell 'assault'. In my son's case even the judge and DA claimed that the only crime he committed was 'consensual gratification with someone LEGALLY too young to give consent, altho the texts do show she did'.....they have an age difference of less than 2 years. This is a case of her writing pages (55 of them) of texts over hours enticing, encouraging and inviting over a period of more than 9 hours.
My question....has there ever been a massive letter writing campaign to the nations congressmen to look into these types of cases? I can't help but wonder if we all took a stand and wrote letters and flooded their offices with them, would that made a difference??
So many of us believed in the ERA in the 70's, but I believe it's time for a new ERA....EQUAL RESPONSIBILITY AMENDMENT. If they are truly waging a war on sex crimes then they need to have some 'rules of engagement'.....the person who FIRST sent the text, or picture, or ???, should be the person charged. In too many cases, the "victim is often the predator".
From what I understand Congress will soon be let out for the month of August (?) and the congressmen/women will be heading back to their home states. I plan to write, I hope we can organize this into a national event for families of sex offenders. How do we start? Any Ideas??" ..Source..
January 25, 2010
Court adjourns case against young Pittsfield Township sex offender until February
1-25-2010 Michigan:
An attorney for a young man accused of living near a school after being convicted of having sex with an underage high school girlfriend plans to review video of his client’s 2003 guilty plea.
That's the latest step as the attorney investigates a school safety zone residency violation levied against Matthew Freeman, 23, of Pittsfield Township.
Freeman is accused of illegally living within 1,000 feet of Carpenter Elementary School in Pittsfield Township in violation of Michigan Sex Offender Registry rules. He faces up to a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.
Freeman's attorney, David Goldstein, made a request today to adjourn the case until Feb. 12. The request was approved by 14A District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson.
It will give Goldstein time to review video of the 2003 hearing during which Freeman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with force or coercion.
By pleading guilty, Freeman admitted to having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 17. In Michigan, the legal age of consent is 16.
Why Goldstein is interested in the video is unclear. Goldstein said today the matter is "under further investigation," but did not elaborate.
Freeman entered the 2003 plea in front of 22nd Circuit Judge Donald Shelton in exchange for dismissal of a felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge. As a result of Freeman’s plea, he has to register as a sex offender for 25 years.
The police report says the victim was “not forced to commit any act” nor did she ask Freeman “not to commit any act.”
Asked by a reporter whether Freeman's fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with "force or coercion" conviction is consistent with the facts in the police report, Washtenaw County Chief Deputy Assistant Prosecutor Steve Hiller offered an explanation.
Hiller said under Michigan law, a defendant can admit to facts of a more serious offense during a plea to a lesser offense. He said the facts of the higher offense may not necessarily coincide with the lesser charge.
Freeman was originally charged after his former girlfriend's mother, Evelyn Scott, filed a complaint with Pittsfield Township police, seeking to end Freeman’s relationship with her daughter. She filed the report 12 days after Freeman's 17th birthday. She has since written a letter on Freeman's behalf and wants him removed from the registry. ..Source.. Lee Higgins
December 17, 2009
Ex-con faces year in jail for living in location police approved
12-17-2009 Michigan:
A man who was convicted of sexual assault for having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 17 faces a year in jail for living too close to a school -- even though he says police told him the location was acceptable.
By many people's standards, Matthew Freeman shouldn't even be on a sex offenders' registry for having sex with his girlfriend, two years his junior, when they were teenagers. But because the age of consent in Michigan is 16 and there is no exemption for teenagers who are close in age, Freeman was convicted and placed on the sex offenders' registry for 10 years.
A report at AnnArbor.com states that Freeman was stopped by a police officer while the now-23-year-old man was shooting hoops in his mother's front yard, where he lives. The officer measured the distance from Freeman's home to a school across the street, and found it to be 326 feet -- less than the 1,000-foot distance that sex offenders are required to keep from schools in Michigan.
But Freeman told AnnArbor.com that the police force where he lives, Pittsfield Township, had earlier told him that the location of his home was acceptable.
Freeman told the trooper Pittsfield Township police told him “it shouldn’t be a problem” to live near the school. He had registered with Pittsfield police 27 days earlier using his family's Dalton Avenue address.
The trooper aimed a laser gun at the school building and determined Freeman was living 326 feet away, the report said, breaking the law.
Freeman, 23, is charged with a school safety zone residency violation, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. He was arraigned Dec. 4 and is scheduled to return to court Friday.
Freeman says he was initially convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault -- the least serious sex crime on Michigan's books -- because his girlfriend's mother got upset at him and called the police.
For some political activists in the state, Freeman's case is a perfect example of what has gone wrong with Michigan's attempts to monitor dangerous sex offenders. A group called Coalition for a Useful Registry is pushing the state to overhaul its sex offender registry, noting that Michigan has the highest rate of registry inclusion of any state in the US. The Michigan Messenger reports:
Coalition members are united in the view that Michigan has too many people on the sex offender registry who, they argue, aren’t a threat to anyone and don’t merit the stigma of extended punishment on the registry.
With over 45,100 names and faces on the registry of convicted sex offenders –- and even some whose records are conviction-free –- Michigan holds the eyebrow-raising distinction of having the highest ratio of its citizens on a state sex offender registry.
According to an analysis earlier this year by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, for every 100,000 Michiganders, 472 are on the registry. That’s more than California (319), Florida (281), New York (148) or Illinois (158) – or any state.
“We’re trying to put a face on this,” said Lynn D’Orio, a defense attorney and member of the advisory board. “That’s why the coalition exists.”
In a sign of how broad the Michigan sex offender registry is, the Michigan Messenger noted this week that two members of the state legislature have relatives on the list.
Writing at the Daily Dish blog, Conor Friedersdorf suggests that overly broad sex offender registries could actually backfire by diluting their significance.
"You'd think that even folks whose only concern is stopping sexual predators would see that putting men like Matthew Freeman on [sex offender registries] undermines their usefulness, both by spending finite criminal justice resources on people who don't present a threat to anyone, and by sending a far weaker signal than we'd have if predator lists were restricted to actual child molesters and rapists," he writes.
Members of the Coalition for a Useful Registry now point to some "victories" in their battle to reform state law. Last month, in what the Muskegon Chronicle described as a "precedent-setting decision," an appeals court removed a man from the sex offender registry, calling his inclusion "cruel and unusual punishment."
The man in question, Robert Lee Dipiazza, was convicted of having sex with his then-14-year-old girlfriend when he was 18 years old. Dipiazza has since married the girl.
The following video was broadcast on Fox Channel 2 Detroit, December 15, 2009.
..Source.. Daniel Tencer
September 24, 2009
FL- Another Fla. 'Romeo' sex offender gets pardon
9-24-2009 Florida:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A second man in as many months has received a pardon after being convicted of having consensual sex with an underage girl he later married.
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Executive Clemency, granted the pardon Thursday to John Eugene Kemp. He'll no longer will have to register as sex offender.
Kemp now lives in Lake County with is wife, Jessica, and their three children. He was 21 and his future wife 15 when he was convicted in Volusia County. The couple said police and the news media harassed them when they lived in Deltona.
The panel also granted a pardon in late July to Virgil Frank McCranie of Panama City Beach in a similar "Romeo and Juliet" case. ..Source.. by Florida AP
August 24, 2009
NH- Some sex offenders may leave list
8-24-2009 New Hampshire:
Least dangerous would be exempt
A 20-year-old college student went online in a New Hampshire romance chat room one afternoon and struck up a conversation with a 14-year-old girl. She said she was a virgin who lived at home with her mother. In explicit terms, detailed in court records, the man asked her to meet him so they could have sex.
She agreed, and the man drove to the meeting place. He waited a few minutes, then got back in his car and left, according to court documents. The police pulled up behind him and arrested him. The "girl" he met online was actually an undercover cop.
The man was charged with two felonies. But on a negotiated plea, he pleaded guilty to attempted second degree assault, a felony, and attempted sexual assault, a misdemeanor. He received a suspended sentence and was required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
The man's mother is state Rep. Jennifer Brown, a Strafford Democrat. Brown has sponsored a bill that would exempt the least dangerous class of sex offenders, which includes her son, from registering on the public sex offender registry.
Brown said people like her son should not be stigmatized publicly.
"He didn't meet anyone," Brown said. "He got there, turned around and left so fast. . . . He went to the meeting, then said, 'I'm just leaving,' and that's what our state calls a criminal."
Brown said her son has graduated college with a degree in finance but cannot get a job. Brown said she has talked to other people on the registry who have had consensual sex with a person who lied about their age. She knows of young men who were caught in stings or lied to, she said, who "cannot speak for themselves and have no advocates."
"What happens when you're young derails your career," Brown told a House subcommittee last week. "You have none. Being on the list is an onerous responsibility."
Brown's proposed change would exempt Tier 1 sex offenders, which includes only those convicted of misdemeanors, from the public list. Those who were exempted would still need to register on a private list with the police department. A Tier 1 sex offender can currently petition to come off the public list five years after he or she completes his or her sentence.
The bill, which had a public hearing in January and was retained by a subcommittee to work on this summer, has the support of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union.
"To put all individuals who have committed an offense in a very broad category in the same pot is absurd," said Claire Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union. Ebel said she knows young men who had consensual sex with a minor who was close in age to them, and their names appear on the public list, under an old law that has since been changed.
In general, Ebel is critical of the idea of a public sex offender list.
"When you place people on the list that can put their lives and properties in danger, you're making rehabilitation a joke and reintroduction into society impossible," Ebel said. "The other part of that is that the public list itself gives a false sense of security. If you live in a neighborhood and don't find anyone on list, a parent might say my kids are safe. They're not."
More effective, Ebel said is educating children about not speaking to strangers and about telling an adult if someone touches them inappropriately. Ebel supports Brown's bill because it removes one class of people from the public list, though she said she would ideally prefer that the state set up an assessment board so that sex offenders were grouped in tiers according to their likelihood of re-offending. Currently, the tiers are based solely on the crimes for which the offenders were convicted.
The bill is facing stiff opposition from the state's law enforcement community.
Associate Attorney General Anne Rice said if the state adopts Brown's bill, it could jeopardize federal funding. According to the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, all perpetrators of sex crimes against children must be on the public list, Rice said. New Hampshire passed a law that went into effect Jan. 1 that brought the state into compliance with the federal regulations. Up to 10 percent of a federal justice grant could be jeopardized if the state changes its laws. State Rep. Steve Shurtleff, a Concord Democrat who chairs the House Criminal Justice Committee, said that up to $1 million in federal money could be put at risk.
More significant, many in the law enforcement community said Tier 1 sex offenders are more dangerous than proponents of the bills make them out to be.
Tier 1 sex offenses are all committed against victims under 18 years old. Among the offenses considered Tier 1:
• Sexual contact with a person age 13 to 18 under aggravating circumstances, which could include using physical force, touching a victim who is physically unable to resist, or coercion by a person in authority.
• Sexual contact with a person aged 13 to 15, with an age difference of five years or more.
• Sexual penetration with a person who is incarcerated, on probation or parole by a person in a position of authority.
• Violation of privacy, including sending out photographs or recordings of private body parts.
• A second or subsequent incident of indecent exposure.
• Sexual penetration or contact in the presence of a child.
Tom Reid, deputy county attorney for Rockingham County, who prosecuted Brown's son, is among those who are deeply critical of the bill. Reid is angered by the suggestions that those who would be protected by the bill are young men who have had consensual sex with a younger girlfriend. Under current law, a girl is considered unable to consent until she is 16. But if she has sex with a man within four years of her age, that man does not have to register as a sex offender.
Tier 1 includes more serious offenses, Reid said.
"A defendant who could be any age overcomes a victim through application of physical force or violence, holds a person down and grabs their sexual parts . . . that's a Tier 1 sex offender who the bill would exempt." Reid said. "You could have a 60-year-old man who fondles a 13-year-old child for sexual gratification. This bill would exempt that person."
Reid said Tier 1 sex offenders can include those who are "grooming" a child, buying the child gifts and fondling them, activities meant to lead to sexual relations. "We recognize that person poses a danger and a threat to children in our community," Reid said.
At the subcommittee work session, Sgt. Cheryl Nedeau of the state police, which oversees the sex offender registry, said the registry laws were just changed on Jan. 1.
"By changing them again quickly, it's confusing for law enforcement, the public, prosecutors, who's on the public list and who's not," Nedeau said.
Amanda Grady, Public Policy Director for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, worked with law enforcement and advocates on implementing the changes required by the Adam Walsh Act. Her organization also opposes Brown's legislation.
Grady said before the Adam Walsh Act was implemented, some sex offenders were moving to New Hampshire because of its less stringent registration requirements. And changes have already been made to protect the rights of Tier 1 offenders - giving them a process to petition to get off the public list after five years, and changing the statutory rape law to apply to only those with a four-year, not a three-year, age difference. She said that the fact that Tier 1 offenders were only convicted of misdemeanors does not mean their crimes were not serious.
"Often, we have people charged with felonies pleading to misdemeanors," Grady said.
The subcommittee will continue to meet on the issue, and must produce a report by Dec. 2. ..Source.. by SHIRA SCHOENBERG, Monitor staff
June 22, 2009
FL- EDITORIAL: Tough call, but right call
6-22-2009 Florida:
Megan's Law was not meant for people like Virgil McCranie.
This month, the 34-year-old Panama City Beach man asked the state's Clemency Board to pardon his sex-offender status so he "can give my children a life." The board, comprised of Gov. Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, should comply with that request. The sticking point, though, may not be the law. It may be politics.
McCranie had sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 19. She and her father pressed charges months after the relationship ended, and only after she learned that McCranie had impregnated another woman. According to McCranie, the 14-year-old asked him to forgive her. He claimed that he did, because he realized that she was the only woman he ever loved. Then he married her.
Though Virgil and Misty McCranie have been married for nearly 10 years and are raising four children together, that mistake continues to haunt them. Virgil McCranie pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious behavior with a child in 1994 as part of a plea deal to avoid a trial on the rape charges Misty instigated. He was placed on probation, and the judge withheld adjudication.
McCranie violated that probation when he fell behind on court payments. That violation put him under Florida's version of Megan's Law, even though his case predated the requirements of the legislation by four years. The law - named for a New Jersey girl killed by a sex offender - requires that sexual offenders in Florida convicted and released on or after Oct. 1, 1997 register with the state. Mr. McCranie said a lawyer who helped him with the probation violation recommended that he seek clemency and argue that he doesn't belong in the sex offender registry.
McCranie couldn't afford the $10,000 attorney's fee, so he pleaded his own case before the board. He says that he's lost several jobs because of his status, which also keeps him from attending his sons' games and his daughter's dance recitals. "She's my sunshine," he said of his daughter in an interview. "My children are starting to pay for something that really shouldn't be going on."
He's right, but being right won't necessarily get Mr. McCranie his pardon. Three members of the Clemency Board want to be on next year's ballot. Gov. Crist is running for the U.S. Senate; Ms. Sink and Mr. McCollum probably will face each other for governor. All three no doubt are imagining ads attacking them for being soft on sexual offenders.
"It's a difficult case," said Gov. Crist. "I'll make my ruling based on what I believe to be true." He and others don't have to condone McCranie's past. They just have to see that any system has flaws and give McCranie a shot at the present. ..Source.. Palm Beach Post Editorial
April 13, 2009
TX- Many sex assault cases involve minors
4-13-2009 Texas:
The Bay City Police Departments sexual assault detective offered some advice for parents to consider in observance of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Det. Vaughn Dierlam said the majority of the sexual assault cases that cross his desk do not involve "a stranger jumping out of the bushes and attacking."
According to Dierlam, the most prevalent form of sexual assault in Bay City is minors having unconsensual sex with an adult partner.
"If you are under the age of 17, you are not of age to give consent by law," said Dierlam.
"We have a lot of minors having (what the law sees as unconsensual) sex with older boyfriends and girlfriends and that is a felony."
Multiple partner sexual activity has become more and more prevalent in pre-teenage children and very young teens.
"I get young girls in here all the time that their parents just caught them with their boyfriend but when I start interviewing her she tells me that he wasn't the first," said Dierlam.
(eAdvocate Post)
"I have girls tell me that they've been (sexually) active since 10,11 and 12 years old."
According to Dierlam, the problem starts with the excessive amount of exposure children have to adult content.
"Kids are exposed to 100 times more sexually explicit material than I ever was," he said.
"They hear it in their music, video games and even cartoons portray sensuality these days."
While sexual education classes teach the medical ramifications of unprotected sex, they don't tell the whole story aof the consequences of the action.
"There are more and more 18-year-old kids who are going to registered and labeled a sex offender for the rest of their life because they slept with their 15-year-old girlfriend," said Dierlam.
Another aspect for parents to consider is that it is their responsibility to report such actions.
"Parents are required to report," said Dierlam.I wonder what law requires parents to report to the police when their child has a sexual experience. I have never seen such a law affecting parents. ANyone who knows of such a law please let us know, would love to see how it iw worded.
"Even if they tell you they (were not forced), it's still a felony and we will file on your for endangering a child if you don't report it."
The key issue for parents to consider is that their children will believe what they learn from their peers if the parents don't purposefully educate their kids on the ramifications of sexual activity, said Dierlam.
"If they are not educated by and educated person then they'll listen to their friends," said Dierlam.
"Parents need to sit down and talk to their kids. They need to monitor what their kids are exposed to." ..News Source.. by Heather Menzies, Bay City Tribune
March 10, 2009
VA- Students face 'sexting' charges
In today's Congressional hearing on SORNA Rep. Bobby Scott repeditally asked Laura Rogers whether a 19 year old and a 15 year old (4 years apart) would result in the 19 year old having to register, and suffer all that follows from being publically listed. I'm thinking Rep. Scott was thinking a Romeo and Juliet type of case.
Now, Rep. Scott was not getting a straight answer from Laura Rogers, she kept being what appeared evasive, saying it depends on how the person was charged and whether or not it was a felony and other factors. Rep. Scott seemed to get a bit testy hearing that more then once and asked her again.
I think I may have just understood Laura Roger's comment, here in this a case of "Sexting" (Internet Child Pornography) someone is likely to be charged with a felony according to SORNA (maybe different under state law).
In this case we have a type of Romeo and Juliet situation, as is often the case with sexting, two underage juveniles and if convicted of a felony with have to register -under AWA- for a good long time and their lives ruined.
Rep. Scott seemed to imply that certain Romeo and Juliet cases should be exempted from SORNA's effect, well look closely, so should some of the sexting cases involving juveniles, if they are convicted. eAdvocate
3-10-2009 Virginia:
Spotsylvania has received several reports of the new texting trend, but today’s charges mark the first case to be prosecuted, police say.
Two Spotsylvania students were charged this morning in connection with an ongoing sexting investigation.
Moizeis Ribeiro, 18, and an unnamed 15-year-old boy were each charged with possession of child pornography with intent to distribute and electronic solicitation, said 1st Sgt. Liz Scott of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.
The charges are the first ever placed in Spotsylvania in a sexting case.
Sexting refers to sending nude or explicit pictures over cell phone text messages and is common mostly associated with teenagers. Scott said recently that there have been several reports of the new texting trend, but today’s charges mark the first case to be prosecuted.
The charges came as the result of an investigation that began Feb. 19, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court.
On that day, Deputy S. Pyktel, who works as a school resource officer, was told about a sexting incident at Spotsylvania High School regarding Ribeiro’s possession of photos of a nude 13-year-old girl on his cell phone, the affidavit states.
Scott said through the investigation over the last several weeks by Detective J.C. Blankenship, it was found that Ribeiro and the 15-year-old boy had solicited pictures from three juveniles, including the 13-year-old who is a student at Chancellor Middle School.
Scott also said that one of the juveniles was in elementary school.
Scott said today in a release that during the investigation, seven cell phones were seized and three juveniles were identified, but authorities have yet to identify two others pictured on the phones.
She said that the unknown photos were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for possible identification. ..News Source.. by ELLEN BILTZ
December 14, 2008
AL- Illegal consent
12-14-2008 Alabama:
What some teenagers might see as an innocent relationship could land at least one them in prison if they aren’t familiar with Alabama law.
More often than not, it is an older teenage boy dating a younger teenage girl who lands behind bars and is saddled with a felony rape charge.
Of the 96 registered sex offenders in Houston County, about a third of them have been convicted of felony second-degree rape, often known as statutory rape. Many of the most recent cases are teenage boys in relationships with girls legally too young to consent in the relationship.
Second-degree rape crimes have dramatically increased across Houston County over the past couple of years while for the most part the numbers remained the same across the rest of the Wiregrass. The number of charges tripled in Houston County from 2006 to 2007, and then more doubled again from 2007 through most of 2008.
District Attorney Doug Valeska called today’s teenagers different than year’s past. He said as the numbers of these crimes continue to increase, the number of teenagers losing their innocence and youth will also continue to rise.
“My explanation as the district attorney is times are changing. Morals are not what they used to be,” Valeska said. “People have become more willing to do sexual activity. Their respect for authority has changed, for their parents and law enforcement. We still have plenty of excellent kids that don’t do these things.”
Jim Parkman, who has been a criminal defense lawyer for more than 30 years, said most statutory rape charges involve people who know each other and often people who had at least a dating relationship.
“There’s a different world out there now,” Parkman said. “Dothan High is trying to pass a dress code. These kids just don’t look like they used to, and the attitudes have changed.”
Second-degree rape differs from first-degree rape in that it doesn’t involve the use of force during the sexual act. Authorities could charge someone with the crime if they’re 16 years old or older and have sex with someone else who’s less 16 years old and older than 12. The assailant also has to be at least two years older than the victim. The assailant faces the charge even if the victim consented to the act.
Second-degree rape is a Class B felony and carries a possible punishment of two to 20 years in prison if convicted, along with a requirement of lifelong registration as a sex offender.
“It’s a sign of the evolving moral standards in the country,” said David Hogg, a Dothan defense attorney. “It’s my suspicion that you have younger people who’re sexually experimenting more. If younger people are experimenting with older people of the opposite sex, then you’ll see those type of charges.”
Houston County Sheriff’s Investigator James Brazier said it’s very uncommon for a female to be charged with second-degree rape. Brazier said there are only three women on the county’s sex offender registry, including a second-degree rape conviction. Brazier, who regularly checks to see if sex offenders are property registered, called second-degree rape the more common sexual assault than first-degree rape. He said if the victim is younger than 12 years the suspect automatically faces a first-degree rape charge.
“These guys and girls have to realize if the age difference is there they’ve got to take the responsibility to say no,” Brazier said. “If they luck up and get youthful offender they’ll still have to register for 10 years.”
A young person charged with a crime between the ages of 18 and 21 has the opportunity to apply for youthful offender status, which seals their case even if convicted.
Shaun McGhee, a contract attorney for Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford, said the impact on those charged has a long-lasting effect.
“You’re basically branded for life,” McGhee said. “It does impact their lives. They have to register as a sex offender… you’re still looking at two to 20 years in prison.”
The young men charged with the crime who are younger than 21 have the opportunity to apply for youthful offender, but McGhee said more often than not they’re denied youthful offender status. McGhee said a sound defense in second-degree rape cases is that it just didn’t happen, but his not knowing the victim’s age is not a defense.
Statute Review
Several area lawyers believe state legislators should examine the law for second-degree rape, especially the punishment that goes along with a conviction for the crime. Thomas Brantley, a Dothan criminal defense lawyer, suggested legislators review the law for second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy to allow for a psychological evaluation if the defendant’s age falls within five years of the alleged victim.
“Too often, I have found young men who’re found guilty of rape second are not dangerous to the community,” Brantley said. “It’s just a snapshot, a moment in time when they exercised poor judgement probably because of hormones. I don’t think they should have to register as a sex offender for the rest of their life.”
Eric Davis, a defense attorney who handles appointed cases as a contract attorney for Anderson, called the punishment harsh for a second-degree rape charge.
“It’s a pretty harsh penalty for an 18-year-old who’s dating a 15-year-old. He may have to register for the rest of his life,” Davis said. “I think judges should be allowed to have some discretion in the registration issue as long as it’s in the context of a relationship.”
Valeska disagreed and said legislators already changed the age of consent from 18 to 16. He said if he doesn’t prosecute second-degree rape charges, the assailant could move on to another underage victim.
“They’re stealing their youth, their innocence. It’s so preventable. They know how old these girls are, they know what grade they’re in,” Valeska said. “I can’t legislate morality as the district attorney.”
Valeska said grand juries have decided against issuing indictments in several second-degree rape cases.
He suggested one part of the charge could be reviewed, which included whether a 17-year-old convicted of the crime with a 15-year-old victim should be required to register as a sex offender. But he said anyone 18 or older should have to register as a sex offender.
“My job as the district attorney is to enforce the laws,” Valeska said. “The purpose of registration is to protect society.”
He called education a key to at least slowing down the number of second-degree rape charges.
“Ignorance is no excuse,” Valeska said. “They say it’s love, but love is not sex.”
Valeska even said lawyers from the Houston County District Attorney’s Office would go to area schools and talk about criminal law and what type of consequences a violator could face, including second-degree rape.
“They need to be informed,” Valeska said. “I hear from parents ‘He didn’t know. He thought it was not a crime if she agreed.’ I’m not advocating sex, but they should be aware of the law, and the consequences.”
Education
Houston County Sheriff’s Capt. Antonio Gonzalez said he’s been to at least one county school to talk to students about the laws, including second-degree rape. But it doesn’t just fall to teachers, school administrators and law enforcement to make sure teenagers know the responsible actions to take.
“Parents have to talk to their kids constantly, not just the birds and bees, but the legality of it, too,” Gonzalez said.
Parkman suggested education of the consequences not just the legal ones, but the health dangers as well.
“Often they don’t buy that they might go jail, and they’re convicted and have to register for the rest of their life just like a serial rapist,” Parkman said.
Houston County Schools Superintendent Tim Pitchford said the school’s doors are always open for area officials to come and speak to the students.
“It’s something as a school superintendent and principal we need to make them more aware,” Pitchford said. “The unintentional trap they might fall into, you know, what is under age and what is not under age.”
Pitchford said several parents over the past couple of years have even requested someone come to the schools and talk about second-degree rape charges.
“As the world changes, we’ve got to do a better job of educating our students,” Pitchford said. “Our responsibility is not just academics. We have a responsibility to educate our children socially as well.” ..News Source.. by Matt Elofson
October 31, 2008
TX- Teen sex offender speaks about Halloween
10-31-2008 Texas:
Harlingen teen said he is not a risk to children celebrating Halloween
Manuel Bazaldua is fresh out of a Cameron County jail.
He spent 18 months behind bars for aggravated sexual assault of a child.
"She turned 14, that's when I turned 18...at that time I'm already legal," he said.
Manuel told Action 4 News that he did his time but must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
He said his relationship with his girlfriend was completely consensual and even had the approvral of her mother.
"The mom was alright with it... it was consensual," he said. "I had permission. She even gave me permission to move in the house. I would help pay the bills. She would lend me her car."
Manuel said everything was fine until she had an argument with the neighbor who called CPS.
He said CPS made his girlfriend's mother press charges against him.
Halloween used to be Manuel’s favorite holiday.
But that was before the State of Texas said he could no longer celebrate in the traditional way.
Under his probation guidelines, Manuel can't put decorations outside of his home.
He and every other sex offender in Cameron County must report to an undisclosed location every Halloween night.
It's a level of protection Mario Bustamante felt was too stiff for his cousin.
The two live together at a home in Harlingen.
“Come on... somebody that touched a kid that's eight years old...a guy touching a boy...that's severe...or touching a little girl that's 3 years old... that's severe.... but consensual dating...I don't think that's right," Bustamante said.
But because the State doesn't differentiate, sex offenders will all placed in the same boat this Halloween.
Manuel said he does plan to follow the law.
"I'm just going to mind my business... sit there and just wait for the time to pass," he said.
But he hopes in time the public will realize not all sex offenders are a permanent risk to society. ..News Source.. by Ryan Wolf
October 5, 2008
IN- Peeling back sex offender label (A Romeo and Juliet Case)
For questions please contact eAdvocate
10-5-2008 Indiana:
A 12-year-old girl in the sixth grade became the envy of her friends when she became the girlfriend of a popular 14-year-old boy in the eighth grade. By the time she got to seventh grade, and he became a freshman in high school, they were having sex with one another.
Even though the mother of the girl was unhappy about the relationship, and did what she could to discourage it, her daughter's relationship with this boy, two years older than she, continued for a few years, until she was a sophomore in high school, and he was a senior getting ready to graduate.
That spring, her boyfriend turned 18, and became an adult in the eyes of the law. The mother of his 16-year-old girlfriend got a protective order to keep him away from her.
A couple of weeks passed, and one day the boy got a tearful phone call from the mother of his girlfriend. “I'm so sorry,” she sobbed into the phone, “I had no idea how much my daughter loves you. She's been miserable since I told her she couldn't see you anymore. I'm sorry I did this to both of you. If you want to come see her, you may.”
Not thinking, the boy hangs up the phone and rushes over to the girlfriend's house. They go up to her bedroom, and with her mother still in the house, they have a physical reunion. Why not? They've been doing so in the house with her mom right downstairs for years.
But this time, it's different. Momma calls the police, and he's arrested and taken to jail. When he gets to court, he's charged with violating the protective order that required him to stay away from his girlfriend, and because he's now an adult, he's also charged with having unlawful sexual contact with a minor.
Here's the question; is he a sex offender? (A Romeo and Juliet Case)
-But then there are:
Here’s another scenario. An older homeless man spends most of his time wandering around downtown. Sometimes he sleeps in the park; sometimes he sleeps in the weeds down by the river. He's a fixture in the community; everyone who works or lives downtown knows him, and considers him harmless.
He's in the park one afternoon, and has to go to the bathroom, so he does what he usually does; goes behind some bushes and pees. But this time, someone sees him do it, and calls the police.
He's charged and convicted of exposing himself in a public place. Here's the question again: is he a sex offender, or not a sex offender?
Both scenarios occur more often than you might think. Both the young man sleeping with his younger girlfriend, and the older man peeing in the park, were charged and convicted as sex offenders. Both are now required by law to register as sex offenders. But are they really sex offenders?
I believe that it is wrong for teenagers to be sexually active. As a minister of the gospel, I believe it is best if people wait to have sex until after they are married, and enjoy it only with the person they married.
But at the same time, in spite of whatever they might have been taught (or not) concerning the morality and the risks of being sexually active, we are dealing with two teenagers who are involved in a long-term sexual relationship that began when both of them were minors.
While I believe that their behavior is both risky and morally wrong, the question still remains. Is the boyfriend really a sex offender? You may not like this answer, but I believe the answer is no.
And what about the homeless man, relieving himself in the park? I doubt if there's a man alive who has never pulled over on an interstate highway or found some other outdoor spot to take care of an emergency. If that old homeless man is a sex offender, then so is every other male on the planet.
Sex offenses are among the most hideous and damaging crimes imaginable, especially when the victims are children. We are very angry at sex offenders, and rightfully so.
But one of the problems society is having trying to find a way to deal with sexual crimes, is that people like the two men I just described are being lumped in with far more dangerous predatory pedophiles.
The young man particularly will pay an especially heavy price, labeled as a sex offender for the rest of his life, because he had a birthday that made him an adult.
Is it wrong for teenagers to be sexually active unless they are married? I believe that it is. But does the punishment in this case fit the crime? I believe it does not. ..Source.. Opinion of: In addition to his duties as the Executive Director of Christian Formation Ministries, Richard Johnson does a lot of personal ministry. His organization has numerous volunteer opportunities available. For information, please e-mail richard@christian-formation.org, or call 812-945-0886.
