A clear case of media vigilantism. The article title indicates that sex offenders are "LURKING around hotels" when the facts show they are living there. There is no reason to misrepresent the facts except to sensationalize them as this article does. Given such when it is not necessary to tell the story fits our definition of media vigilantism. Further, there are differences between "predators" and "sex offenders" but again the story labels all predators.
11-26-2008 Florida:
Before you check into a motel during the holidays, run the address through the state's online sexual-offender registry.
With few other options, convicted sex offenders sometimes settle into motels and hotels. And Florida's Web site will show you whether a predator is checked into the room next door.
Reader Cameron Cahill was "stunned" to see that a sex offender lives in an extended-visit hotel in Melbourne where relatives often stay.
"They have never been told when they checked in that there was a sex offender staying just a few doors away," Cahill told me by e-mail. "I asked the hotel what their policy was, and they said that they 'respect the privacy of their patrons, and don't ask.' Perhaps they should be respecting the safety of the patrons as well."
Turns out, the hotel is within its rights.
"There is not a requirement to notify guests," said Kristen Perezluha, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which monitors offenders and maintains the registry.
I won't name the establishments -- you can check for yourself -- but I ran the addresses for a dozen Brevard County hotels, and found offenders living at three of them, including the one Cahill mentioned and two independent motels that let guests rent by the week or month.
Florida's database -- online at offender.fdle.state.fl.us -- includes background details on the type of crime the offender committed and how long it has been since the offense.
Neighboring states have similar databases. ..News Source.. by News-Press.com
November 26, 2008
FL- Some sex offenders lurk in Florida hotels, motels
WA- Wash. Supreme Court justice called US AG 'tyrant'
11-26-2008 Washington:
State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders says he was speaking his conscience when he stood up and yelled "tyrant!" at U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week, during a speech in which Mukasey later fainted.
State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders says he was speaking his conscience when he stood up and yelled "tyrant!" at U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week, during a speech in which Mukasey later fainted.
Mukasey was the keynote speaker at a black-tie dinner Thursday night in Washington, D.C., for The Federalist Society, a conservative legal group. In his speech, Mukasey offered a defense against criticisms about the Bush administration's policies in the war on terrorism.
In a statement released Tuesday, Sanders said he "passionately" disagrees with those policies and felt compelled to say so. Sanders, who is a Federalist Society member, said that he wasn't heckling Mukasey, and left shortly after his outburst.
"I believe we must speak our conscience in moments that demand it, even if we are but one voice," he said in the statement, citing access to the legal system for detainees at Guantanamo Bay and the importance of the Geneva Conventions.
Sanders released the statement after blogs, political TV shows and news reports said that Mukasey had been heckled during the speech and that Sanders might have been the source.
Sanders initially dodged reporters' questions about the incident this week, refusing to comment on anything he might have said at the event.
A video on the Federalist Society's Web site shows that Sanders' outburst came just over 17 minutes into Mukasey's speech, after Mukasey talked about what he said was the "casual assumption among many in media, political and legal circles that the administration's counterterrorism policies have come at the expense of the rule of law."
Shortly after that point on the video, a voice is clearly heard yelling: "Tyrant! You are a tyrant!"
Mukasey can be seen briefly stopping and looking up from his speech. Other members of the audience can be heard shushing the yeller, and another voice is heard saying "sit down."
A few minutes later, Mukasey began shaking and slurring his words. He repeated a phrase - "as a result" - three times and then slumped forward on the podium. His FBI security detail ran to catch him as he fell. He was released from the hospital the next day and his office said he had suffered a fainting spell.
Sanders said he had already left the speech before Mukasey collapsed, and did not learn of it until the next day.
"It should go without saying that, despite our vastly different views on what constitutes upholding the rule of law, I hope he continues to recover and remain in good health," Sanders wrote.
Chief Justice Gerry Alexander said Tuesday that he was very concerned about the outburst's potential damage to Sanders' reputation, and to the court.
Alexander said he planned to speak privately to Sanders to express his disapproval about the incident, but said he has no authority to discipline him.
"People have a First Amendment right to speak, but that's not conduct that I would like to see judges display," Alexander said.
Sanders first was elected to the Supreme Court in a 1995 special election, and was re-elected in 1998 and 2004. He next faces voters in 2010.
Sanders, a self-described conservative and defender of individual freedoms, is known for his sometimes passionate dissenting opinions. His personal biography says that, as a judge, he "regards protection of our constitutionally guaranteed liberties as the first duty of our highest court."
In 2005, Sanders was given an admonishment - the lightest possible punishment - by the state Judicial Conduct Commission for touring Washington's sex predator commitment center at McNeil Island while residents had appeals pending.
The commission said Sanders went to the center, which houses sex offenders who are kept in custody indefinitely after their prison sentences are served, at the invitation of some inmates.
Officials said Sanders told the inmates he couldn't talk about their specific cases, but accepted documents from some and brought up issues that were before the court, including that of "volitional control" - whether sex predators can control their criminal impulses.
Sanders appealed his admonishment all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to review his case.
He previously was cleared of breaking judicial canons of ethics for attending an anti-abortion rally at the state Capitol. ..News Source.. by RACHEL LA CORTE
A mother tells the story of her son and chatting online
November 25, 2008
MN- County seeks commitment though man not convicted of sex crime
11-25-2008 Minnesota:
Olmsted County authorities are seeking civil commitment for a 26-year-old man they say is a sexually dangerous person though he has not been convicted of a sexual offense.
Don Ray Saltou is due to be released from prison next month. He was convicted of making terroristic threats stemming from an offense in Rochester in November 2004. Senior Assistant Olmsted County Attorney Geoffrey Hjerleid has filed a petition seeking Saltou's indefinite commitment as a sexually dangerous person or sexual psychopathic personality.
According to the petition, Saltou has admitted to offenses for which he has never been charged that constitute a course of harmful sexual conduct. Hjerleid said the conduct has been continuous and has included contact with children.
Saltou is scheduled for supervised release on Dec. 1. His sentence will expire on April 29, after which he will not be under any supervision in Rochester. He has no release plan and would likely live in emergency housing upon his release, the complaint says.
He was charged in Olmsted District Court in November 2004 with felony making terroristic threats for allegedly threatening to kill a woman. At the time, he lived in Austin. When sentenced in June 2005, his address was in Waltham.
Saltou initially was put on probation for five years and ordered to serve time in jail. That sentence was amended on Sept. 17 this year, when he was ordered to serve 15 months in prison when he violated the terms of his probation. With credit for time served, officials said he would be released after serving about two months. ..News Source.. by Post-Bulletin
NY- Too Sexy Too Soon: A New Teen Trend?
11-25-2008 New York:
It seems to be everywhere - the sexualization of teenage girls in magazines, on television, at the mall and even in school hallways.
These images are impacting the clothes girls wear to school, the way they behave with boys and what they're doing on their cell phones.
We sat down with ten teens from local high schools and a local modeling agency, Mary Therese Friel, LLC. Overwhelmingly, they said some of their peers are revealing too much.
”They think if I dress this way, throw myself at the boys, there'll be more attention,” said Blythe Luong, a 17-year-old from Hilton.
“My boyfriend's in college and sometimes I'm scared that since he's seeing other girls that look older, he's going to be like, 'oh you look too young'," said Stephanie Pafka, 15-year-old from Greece Olympia High School.
The problem goes beyond impressing boys. There are more pressures than ever to dress and look like the young women on television and the Hollywood stars on the pages of teen and celebrity magazines.
"I think that's where it starts,” Luong said. “The media makes it look like it's appropriate.”
“Definitely, there's no question about it,” said Leanna Sherman, a 15-year-old from Greece Olympia. “Where else would you get these ideas?”
Reality shows like "The Hills" on MTV have caught the eyes of thousands of teen girls. The show follows the lives of young women in Los Angeles as they cope with their relationships, while television shows like "Gossip Girl" portray high school students drinking at clubs, having sex and wearing skirts so short, it's no wonder they're allowed inside the walls of their private school.
“Younger girls and teens are like, ‘oh well, she's wearing a shirt that shows her mid-drift, why can't I?,’” said Jessica Land, 16, of Greece Odyssey.
The girls say the pressure inside the walls of real schools is very real too.
"There are girls in my grade that dress that way because they have older siblings and they see older girls,” said Paige Walton, a 13-year-old from Pittsford.
“I know girls who come up to some girls and say, ‘why don't you show off your body, you're so pretty!’,” Sherman said.
Kerry DeGrave has also noticed teens are dressing skimpier. She's been teaching for almost 30 years and is currently a health teacher at Greece Olympia high school.
She says the school enforced a dress code because the girls were leaving the house wearing low-cut tops and baring their mid-drifts.
“You hear the kids in the middle school talk about changing on the bus or their parents see them when they leave and then they change their clothes,” she said.
Some teen girls are now behaving sexy too, sending nude photos and provocative videos over their cell phones, over the Internet to their boyfriends or worse -- to guys they don't even know.
“I've heard kids talking about different girls texting pictures,” DeGrave said. “I've heard of kids getting pictures and they don't even know who they're coming from.”
The girls we talked to know the act as "sexting." And most of them say they know someone who's done it.
"It's the nude pictures, it's the videos and it's also just like dirty talk through texting as well,” Luong said.
"It's not a new thing,” Sherman said. “When it was new it, was probably like 'oh that's hot' but now…it's getting out of control.”
The girls agree something needs to be done.
“I think there should be a big sister/little sister program where you can take the little kid and help them out, so they don't feel like they need to be that pressure,” Land said.
“Be a role model because you don't need to look like that,” Blythe said.
“You have all the time in the world to dress sexy and show things off,” Pafka said.
Tune in to News 8 at 11 Tuesday night to learn how parents are having the conversation with their kids and why it’s so urgent to have that discussion while your children are young. ..News Source.. by Meghan Backus
OH- THE ADAM WALSH ACT ON APPEAL
A judge discusses the current cases on appeal in Ohio that pertain to reclassification of offenders required by the newly enacted Adam Walsh Act.
11-25-2008 Ohio:
Ohio’s first sex offender registration statute was enacted in 1963 at former R.C. Chapter 2950. The first major revisions were enacted in 1996 in what was referred to as Megan’s Law, which included registration and community notification requirements. Megan’s Law was a federal law passed in 1996 that authorized local law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living or working in their communities. Ohio had 15,716 registered sex offenders as of May 30, 2007.
The most recent development occurred when Ohio adopted the Adam Walsh Act, AWA, effective on January 1, 2008. This changed the former law in several significant ways.
Prior to the AWA, trial courts were required to determine whether sex offenders fell into one of three classifications: (1) sexually oriented offender; (2) habitual sex offender; or (3) sexual predator. The sexual predator classification required a finding by the court, following a hearing, that the defendant had committed a sexually oriented offense and was likely to commit another sexually oriented offense in the future. In reviewing a sexual predator determination, an appellate court reviewed the determination under a civil manifest weight of the evidence standard. A trial court’s determination would not be disturbed if it was supported by some competent, credible evidence.
The AWA abolished the requirement that the trial court conduct a hearing and find that the offender was likely to commit another sexually oriented offense in the future. The Megan’s law prior classifications of sexually oriented offender, habitual sex offender and sexual predator were replaced with new classifications. The AWA automatically places sex offenders into one of three tiers based solely on the offense of which they were convicted. Tier III includes the most serious sex offenses, such as rape and sexual battery. The AWA also requires the Ohio Attorney General to reclassify, by tier based on the offense committed, all offenders who were classified prior to its enactment.
The AWA also increased the registration and community notification requirements of sex offenders. Under the former law, sexually oriented offenders and habitual sex offenders were required to register with the county sheriff where they resided once a year for ten or 20 years, respectively, and sexual predators were required to register every 90 days for life. Under the AWA, Tier I offenders are required to register once a year for 15 years; Tier II offenders must register every 180 days for 25 years; and Tier III offenders must register every 90 days for life. As to community notification, under Megan’s law, the sheriff notified the offender’s adjacent neighbors, local schools, and day care centers of the offender’s name, address, and conviction. Under the AWA, the sheriff must give this notice to all residents, schools, and day care centers within 1,000 feet of the offender’s residence. As with Megan’s law, the registration and notification requirements of the AWA are retroactive in that they apply to offenders whose crimes were committed before the effective date of the statute.
Finally, the AWA prohibits all sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school or day care center. It allows the owner of property who lives within 1,000 feet of such institutions or the local law director to file for an injunction to enforce this provision.
There are now pending in our court about 40 cases wherein the appellants assert various constitutional challenges to the AWA. They include challenges based on the AWA’s alleged violation of the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution and the retroactivity clause of the Ohio Constitution; procedural and substantive due process; and the separation of powers doctrine.
To date, the Second, Third, Fourth, Eighth, and Ninth Appellate Districts See, State v. Desbiens, 2d Dist.No. 22489, 2008-Ohio-3375 (no ex post facto or substantive or procedural due process violation); In re Smith, 3d Dist. No. 1- 07-58, 2008-Ohio-34 (no ex post facto, retroactive clause, or separation of powers violation); State v. Longpre, 4th Dist. No. 08CA3017, 2008-Ohio-3832 (no ex post facto or retroactive clause violation); State v. Holloman-Cross, 8th Dist. No. 90351, 2008-Ohio-2189 (no ex post facto violation); In re G.E.S., 9th Dist. No. 24079, 2008-Ohio-4076 (no ex post facto or separation of powers violation). Each of these courts relied on the Supreme Court of Ohio’s decision in State v. Cook, 83 Ohio St.3d 404, 1998-Ohio-291 as precedent. In Cook, the Court held that, although Megan’s Law is retroactive, because the purpose of its registration and notification requirements was to protect the public from released sex offenders and the law was remedial and not punitive, it did not violate the ex post facto clause or the retroactivity provision. To date, no Ohio Appellate District has found the AWA to be unconstitutional.
The Ohio Supreme Court has recently held that an amendment to Megan’s Law which, like the AWA, prohibited sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, could not be applied retroactively because the former statute was not expressly made retroactive. Hyle v. Porter, 117 Ohio St.3d 165, 2008-Ohio- 542. As a result, the Court held it could not address whether the residency restriction violated the prohibition of the Ohio Constitution against retroactive laws. Since the AWA also does not expressly provide the residency restriction is retroactive, it would appear that Hyle is precedent to a similar challenge under the AWA.
In State v. Ferguson, Slip Opinion No. 008-Ohio-4824, the Supreme Court held three other amendments to Megan’s Law do not violate the ex post facto and retroactivity clauses: (1) the provision that the former sexual predator classification and duty to register remain for life; (2) the provision that offenders are required to register with the sheriff where they work and go to school, in addition to where they reside; and (3) the provision that any information required to be provided in the registration process be included on an internet database. Since these provisions survive in nearly identical form in the AWA, it appears that Ferguson will be precedent to similar challenges made to the AWA.
In light of the aggressive manner in which these issues are being appealed, I would expect the Ohio Supreme Court will rule on them in the near future. ..Source.. by Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice, 11th District Court of Appeals
OMG, teens R "sexting"
11-25-2008 National:
Remember the 15-year-old Ohio girl who faced child pornography charges for distributing naked cellphone photos of herself? There comes news that the charges were dropped, and the case will be dismissed if she completes a diversion program. But, most interesting of all, she revealed a typically teenage oh-by-the-way revelation during the hearing: Three of the male students who received her digital offerings also sent her back X-rated snapshots of themselves; now they might face charges, too.
That's not all in the way of teens being punished for "sexting," as it is now being called. Two teenage girls in Seattle were suspended from their cheerleading team after school officials discovered that they had taken nude cellphone photos of themselves that were circulated among students. One girl sent a topless photo to her then-boyfriend, which was "accidentally" leaked to other students; the other had a female friend take a nude snapshot, which also mysteriously ended up in other students' hands.
Now the girls' parents are suing the school, accusing "administrators of violating the girls' due process rights, needlessly sharing the photos with other school staff members and failing to promptly report the matter to police as possible child pornography," reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The school did not punish the students -- including a reportedly large number of football players -- who were in possession of the photos.
And there's more: Two 14-year-old girls in Livingston County, Mich., recently circulated nude cellphone pictures. In one case, the photo was sent to "as many as 200 people," according to the Detroit News. Nineteen students were suspended and roughly a dozen cellphones were confiscated by police. The other case is still being investigated.
There's a tendency to look at cases like these and dismissively conclude: Oh, well, those girls are damaged. That may be the case, sometimes -- but we certainly don't make the same assumption about a teenage boy who shares nude photos of himself. Not to mention, cases where the photos are discovered by school officials might be relatively uncommon, but I suspect that the practice of "sexting" is anything but.
It's hard to understand being very surprised at a girl taking a sexualized self-portrait, or even that she might want to share it with a boyfriend, or friends. Typically, this is not at all a safe or smart idea -- the Seattle cheerleaders being a case in point -- but we are talking about hormonally driven teenagers, after all. If we are shocked by this behavior, I think we're lying to ourselves about girls' sexuality -- especially those of us who were once teenage girls. ..News Source.. by Salon.com
NY- Advocates: Imprison sex offenders; keep psychiatric services
11-25-2008 New York:
ALBANY - Mental-health advocates are asking that officials look first at trimming the state's expensive sex-offender treatment program to help during New York's fiscal crisis rather than reducing services for people with mental illness.
State law provides that sex offenders who have completed their prison or parole terms but are considered too dangerous to live in society be placed in psychiatric institutions and receive treatment. Advocates for people with psychiatric disabilities have argued that the sex offenders should be housed in prisons or with intensive supervision in the community.
"We've always maintained that it was bad public policy, that it was costly and that it was an inappropriate setting," said Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association of New York State.
Now, as the state's financial problems become more acute and additional cuts for mental-health care more likely, groups like the Mental Health Association want the governor and lawmakers to take a second look at how much is spent on sex offenders. There are fewer than 200 sex offenders housed in psychiatric hospitals as part of the state's $50-million-a-year sex-offender program when people whose cases are still being adjudicated are subtracted, Liebman said. That means the real cost is about $400,000 per person, with a large price tag for treatment and security staff, he said.
If they were in a correctional setting, absolutely you wouldn't need such staffing," Liebman said.
He noted that the need for mental-health services goes up when the economy is poor.
The sex-offender program costs $48 million a year, and the annual cost per bed is $225,000, said Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for Gov. David Paterson's Division of Budget.
The Budget Division will look at the recommendation, Gordon said. The governor is scheduled to present his 2009-10 budget proposal Dec. 16, and the administration is not commenting or speculating on what it will include, Gordon said.
"Of course we're going to be looking at the cost of reducing the program along with every other program the state administers," he said.
The number of sex offenders in mental-health facilities was 177 as of Nov. 13, with many of those in the middle of the civil commitment process, said Jill Daniels, a state Office of Mental Health spokeswoman. Of the 177, 122 were in Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy, Oneida County, and 44 were in St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County. The rest were at Manhattan Psychiatric Center, she said. Most trials are in New York City, so some stay at Manhattan Psychiatric during those times.
State spending to treat sex offenders will only grow over time since many people placed in civil confinement are there for the long term, said Harvey Rosenthal, head of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. It would cost the same amount of money to build a new psychiatric center every few years, he said.
"We understand that this is a time when we're looking to make economies, and accordingly we think reconfiguring how we house and treat the sex-offender group would be a way to make economies that both protects the public but doesn't unravel the mental-health system," he said.
When the state passed civil-confinement legislation for sex offenders in 2007, there was an agreement that paying for it would not take money away from mental-health services, Rosenthal said. Advocates believe that has started happening "and is on schedule to do that at an alarming rate," he said.
A number of sex offenders in the mental-health system predate the state's civil-confinement law. New York began civil commitment for sex offenders three years ago under then-Gov. George Pataki. The state's highest court found that the Pataki administration had improperly used mental-hygiene law to confine the offenders after the end of their prison terms.
Sex offenders likely don't need hospital-level care in many instances, Rosenthal said, but an intensive "community incarceration" kind of program with mandated supervision, anklets and other conditions. That kind of treatment would be cheaper and would prevent the loss of mental-health funds for people with psychiatric disabilities, he said.
Services for children and adults that are known collectively as a mental-health safety net received two rounds of cuts this year. One was 2 percent, which was included in the budget lawmakers passed in April. The second, in the summer, was a 6 percent across-the-board reduction to areas like day centers, case management, peer-support and other programs that are critical to helping people stay safe and in treatment and out of hospitals, prisons and homeless centers, Rosenthal said. The combined financial impact was an estimated $40 million to $50 million, he said. ..News Source.. by Cara Matthews • Albany Bureau
VT- Special Report: Peering Into Minds Of Sex Offenders
11-25-2008 Vermont:
Watch Exclusive Interviews With Convicted Abusers
In the summer of 2008, sex crimes against children were thrust into the forefront of North Country residents' minds when a 12-year-old Braintree, Vt., girl went missing, only to be found days later in a shallow grave -- the apparent victim of a violent sexually motivated murder committed by a family member, according to federal prosecutors.
Brooke Bennett, a basketball and lacrosse player who had just finished seventh grade, disappeared June 25 after being seen with her uncle at a local convenience store. She was found dead a week later, buried not far from the home of her uncle, Michael Jacques, who police say drugged, sexually assaulted and killed Bennett by putting a plastic bag over her head.
Police have said Jacques was part of an online sex ring that involved Bennett's former stepfather and a young relative Jacques had been sexually abusing.
Jacques had a history of sex crimes against minors and had already spent time in jail for kidnapping and sexual assaulting a teenager in 1992. Court papers also tell of a female relative Jacques began sexually abusing when the girl was just 8 years old, which culminated in his arrest in 1985.
The documents, including a 1985 affidavit from an Orange County court, outline seven years of alleged sexual abuse that included oral sex and vaginal intercourse, which eventually resulted in the then-15 year-old girl being impregnated by Jacques.
Despite his past, Judge Amy Davenport allowed Jacques to be removed from probation seven years early in 2006, according to court documents. This came after a state Department of Corrections parole officer recommended it in 2004.
When Jacques' past came to light, it drew outrage from parents, politicians and others who were puzzled at how a man with such a history could be released.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas asked the corrections commissioner to review all of its policies related to this case -- how it monitors offenders, whether treatment is effective and how it deals with violent sex crimes.
A legislative panel met several times in the summer and fall to weigh proposals for cracking down on sex crimes against children.
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin announced a series of special committee meetings and public hearings to discuss the matter.
Still others called for the death penalty and mandatory sentencing laws, sometimes referred to as Jessica's Law. Douglas even called for a one-day special legislative session for lawmakers to vote on a civil confinement law, an expanded sex offender registry and mandatory minimum sentencing law.
Many Vermonters rallied for tougher child sex laws and thrust their support into a Jessica's Law mandatory minimum sentence.
But there is one key player in the debate that has yet to be heard from -- the sex offenders themselves.
In order to gain some insight into the mind of a sex offender, particularly one that would abuse a child, NewsChannel 5's Stephanie Gorin sat down with two convicted sex offenders for in-depth interviews, but agreed not to divulge the names of the men she spoke with.
In exclusive interviews with NewsChannel 5, the convicted offenders' voices have been disguised to protect their identities. The men interviewed have no connection to the Bennett case and their victims were not killed.
"Fred" is a convicted sex offender from the Champlain Valley. He admits he sexually molested a young girl and said he knew it was wrong while it was happening.
The Champlain Valley man said he "felt guilty immediately afterward, but at the time I really couldn't control it. Arousal is a very powerful thing."
Watch Full Interview With "Fred"
He turned himself in and was eventually sent to jail. When he was released, he went to counseling. There he says he learned why he manipulated, controlled and abused the 9-year-old girl.
Fred underwent group therapy, individual therapy and polygraphs routinely to make sure he wasn't reoffending. In regards to therapy, Fred had this to say: "It's not easy. But it shouldn't be. What we have done is extremely devastating to our victims."
Fred explained that he started having negative thoughts about children when he was very young, but didn't act on them until he became addicted to Internet pornography. He said he groomed his victim and told her it was their "little secret." When he realized the abuse was escalating, he turned himself in.
Fred said there is no cure for sex offenders; there are only tools that they can use to control and manage their thoughts. Fred believes he was once a danger to society, but not anymore. He said counseling turned his life around.
"For the first time I started learning how to control things and what to look for. And for the first time I felt there was hope that I could change."
"Joe," a convicted sex offender from the Champlain Valley who had sex with a young teenager, has a similar story. He too served time in jail, and has completed counseling.
Some days "all I can do is wish I never caused the pain in the first place," Joe said. "If I never put her in this spot, she wouldn't have to deal with it. That's the bottom line."
But Joe knows "the people out there could care less the pain that I'm in."
Joe's not sure if there's a cure for sex offenders, but he is sure that some can be rehabilitated. He said he's living proof.
Joe spent 2 1/2 years in counseling. "I wanted to get better. I want to know why I hurt this person. I want to be a good person. I was a good person before and to this day believe I'm still a good person, with a bad mark now," Joe said.
Through group and individual therapy, Joe said he learned how to control urges and how to extinguish any negative thoughts quickly. He said he couldn't graduate without a safety plan that he carries with him every hour of every day. It contains the people to call and places to go if he feels himself going down the wrong path.
"I can't change what I did. It is what it is. What I can change is understanding it and controlling it."
In early November, Vermont lawmakers called for new sex crime legislation allowing prosecutors to bring a new charge against sex offenders. The new law would allow an aggravated sexual assault charge on a child younger than 16 years old to carry a mandatory 25-year minimum sentence.
Just days prior to that announcement, Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers filed paperwork in court arguing over whether prosecutors should have a deadline as they decide if Jacques will face the death penalty in the Bennett case. ..News Source.. by WPTZ.com
