Harsher punishment for predator teachers

10-1-2014 Florida:

32 new laws go into effect including Stop Harassing Underage Teens Act

Thirty two new laws passed by the 2014 Florida legislative session and signed by Gov. Rick Scott got into effect Wednesday. One of the new laws will bring stricter penalties for school officials who take advantage of students sexually.

This law was actually introduced by a group of high school students who wanted to crack down on teacher predators. Local attorney Gene Nichols said this law will affect not just school teachers, but any authority figure at a school.

Nichols said with this new law a charge can be upgraded or reclassified from a third degree felony to a second degree and a second degree to a first degree, meaning stricter punishment.

"As long as it helps someone, if it keeps a young person or two or 10 from this happening to them, then the law is well worth it," said Nichols.

About 50 teachers a year lose their licenses in Florida because of sexual misconduct with students, and with the new laws, those crimes could carry much more jail time and higher fines, and in certain cases, possibly a life sentence Nichols hopes this law sends a strong message.

"It has put teachers and school officials on notice that if you were to commit a crime against a student, a child who happens to also be a student, the punishments are now more harsh than what they have before," said Nichols.

The law is called the Stop Harassing Underage Teens Act and was created by students from a Tampa High School. Nichols says the law likely won't affect first degree felony charges but will allow a second or third degree felony charge to be reclassified to a higher charge.

"Kudos to the young people who brought this to legislature to help enforce and make tougher penalties for people who sexually abuse a student," said Nichols. ..Continued.. by Elizabeth Campbell,

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ACLU Holds Forum on Sex Offender Registry Restrictions

3-19-2014 Florida:

This past Saturday, the ACLU of Florida held a forum on the efficacy of sex offender residency restrictions. The event, moderated by CBS 4 Reporter Jim DeFede, sought to answer the question of whether the residency restrictions imposed on sex offenders are based on evidence or politics and, more importantly, whether they are actually making our communities safer.

The panel for this forum was comprised of Jeanne Baker; an ACLU cooperating attorney who has worked on cases challenging residency restrictions, Gail Colletta; President of the Florida Action Committee, Dawn Thompson; assistant executive director Kristi House child advocacy center and Marc Sarnoff; Miami City Commissioner.

Surprisingly, although the panel included a children’s advocate and one of the commissioners who was responsible for architecting measures to zone sex offenders out of communities, the panelists all agreed that the restrictions were based on politics, ran contrary to empirical evidence and studies consistently show they are ineffective and that they are not making our community safer.

The most shocking facts to emerge from the forum were that of the 2,017 sex offenders in Miami-Dade County. 82 are incarcerated and 42 are deceased, leaving 1,893 in the community. Of those; 342 (18%) are registered as “Transient” (homeless) and 224 (12%) are listed as “Absconded” (have gone underground to avoid registration/residency requirements). An unintended consequence of residency restrictions is that almost one-third of registrants are harder to track.

Those who have absconded are likely in the community; police just don’t know where they are and certainly cannot check up on them. Those who are transient lack housing stability and are removed from family support; both are triggers for re-offense.

Not only have the residency restrictions created an intolerable and inhumane lifetime punishment imposed on registrants, but they are endangering the citizens of Miami-Dade. ..Source.. by Florida Action Committee (FAC)

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Task force: Sex offender restrictions pointless

3-25-2013 Florida:

WEST PALM BEACH — — Harsh local restrictions on where sex offenders can live should be lifted, the Palm Beach County public defender said.

And prosecutors and law enforcement agreed.

Their consensus is a turn in the way safety officials think about regulating the movements of the most restricted class of ex-convicts. Dozens of sex offenders are homeless in Palm Beach County, sleeping outside on benches or under foliage, because living nowhere is easier than living somewhere.

Meanwhile, more than 100 sex offenders populate a remote cluster of duplexes, surrounded by sugar cane, two miles outside Pahokee. Known as Miracle Village, it is perhaps the most welcoming community for sex offenders in South Florida.

"Any laws about public safety should be grounded in evidence-based policies, not by hysteria and misinformation," said Gail Colletta, president of the Florida Action Committee, which lobbies for restrictions that are based on the risk posed by each offender.

Colletta is also a member of a task force expected to recommend new residency restrictions to the county government. The Sex Offender Re-Entry Task Force, which includes lawyers, deputies, parole officers and elected officials, met Friday and heard from residents of Miracle Village.

"We took one of the worst parts of Pahokee and turned it into one of the safest parts of Pahokee," said Pat Powers, director of Matthew 25 Ministries, the Christian group that oversees Miracle Village.

Of the 909 registered sex offenders in Palm Beach County, 62 of them are homeless.

They report to their probation officers daily, and deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office say they are easier to watch.

"They have to tell us where they're going to be at," said Rosalyn Baker, of the Department of Corrections. "The corner of this, the corner of that."

The state law on sex offender residency says they cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center, park or playground. Palm Beach County further restricts them, pushing the zone to 2,500 feet. Some cities and villages flesh out the remaining patchwork of ordinances.

But residency means dwelling; it's where the offender sleeps between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Some of them, Baker said, could live near a school all day then leave at night.

Ultimately, the task force seems to agree, none of this is relevant. The residency restrictions offer merely a "semblance of protection," they argue.

"These residency restrictions have not been shown to be effective in reducing recidivism," Public Defender Carey Haughwout said.

The rate of recidivism among sex offenders nationally, studies show, is between 5 percent and 10 percent over a decade. One study in Minnesota determined that residency restrictions would not have prevented any of the 224 sex offenses researchers examined.

Although county law enforcement officials agree residency restrictions should be repealed, they insisted on the dangerousness of sex offenders. Five percent recidivism is still 5 percent, they said.

"We're talking about kids who have been raped and killed," Sheriff's Office Detective Kevin Umphrey said. ..Source.. by Ben Wolford, Sun Sentinel

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Sex Offender Monitoring Problematic In Florida

12-21-2012 Florida:

28% Increase In Registered Florida Sex Offenders

LABELLE, FL. -- Since 2005, the number of registered sex offenders residing in Florida communities has increased by 28%, while the number of absconded offenders has continued to decline, according to a study by OPPAGA.

In Hendry county there are 30 offenders registered, all male, mostly in Clewiston including two transients, one who has absconded and one in jail. In Glades county, there are 22 including one female, one transient, and one in jail. ......

But, almost 25% of sex offenders are unable to obtain identification cards because they lack the needed documentation or money. State and local agencies have developed a stopgap measure, providing sex offenders with a letter that acknowledges that they attempted to obtain identification.

Monitoring homeless sex offenders is problematic as it is time-consuming to verify their location and provide required public notice. In addition, some offenders may claim a transient address to avoid legal requirements and restrictions.

Florida is 1 of 15 states substantially compliant with federal requirements, county sheriffs’ offices report compliance with statutorily required registration and public notification activities.

Local practices vary and some sheriffs could better coordinate with the Department of Corrections so as to not duplicate address verification efforts, says the study.

Approximately 1,100 registered sex offenders were minors at the time of their offense. While many youthful offenders are subject to registration requirements, Florida law provides some exemptions for “Romeo and Juliet” cases and some other juvenile offenders.

Florida provides citizens official websites for locating offenders as well as a means to be notified by email when an offender changes addresses. ..Source.. by Southwest Florida Online Blog

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