New state law provides more oversight for sex offenders

UPDATE 7-4: A great reader reminds us they dropped the "password" requirement before passage. see #17

7-3: Unfortunately there is no known advocate in TN fighting nonsensical laws. Lawmakers failed to do their research, in Georgia lawmakers also tried to force registrants to provide passwords, but federal court issued an injunction which stopped the state from requiring passwords. see White v Baker. Also in Utah the "password" issue -along with several others- was taken to court; the case ultimately ended in the U.S. Supreme court. However, the legislature REMOVED the password requirement along the way so that issue did not goto the high court but other issues did. See Doe v Shurtleff. Apparently lawmakers have little respect for rights of registrants! Makes one wonder how they got elected.

7-3-5 Tennessee:

ACKSON, Tenn. -- A new state law grants greater oversight on registered sex offenders who use social media.

Previously, sexual offenders had to provide the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation with their email addresses and screen names.

Now the law requires all registered offenders to provide email addresses plus usernames and passwords to all Internet accounts.

Local law enforcement said they hope the changes will increase safety for everyone.

"It's serious, and we talk about it all the time," said Madison County Sheriff John Mehr. "Children will get on the computer, they will chat with people when they think it's their age and in fact the person is 40 years old."

The sheriff also said this is a small step in the social media requirements for registered sex offenders. More changes are expected in the future. ..Source.. by WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff

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Hord case cited in state audit

This is one reason why registrants MUST get a signed receipt, or copy of, every document or transaction with authorities. File it forever...

5-29-15 Tennessee:

The office of Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Justin Wilson has released its reports of cash shortages, caused by theft, fraud or other problems in local government.

One report covers county governments, while the other covers cities and towns, and other government-related agencies such as utility districts.

Hord case

The only finding related to Bedford County was the case of sheriff's deputy Rebecca Hord, who was indicted in 2013 after a cash shortage was found in accounts related to the Sexual Offender Registry. The case was retired earlier this year.

Hord held the rank of captain before she was terminated in 2012 for allegedly driving her county-issued patrol car to Nashville and Kentucky for non-work related reasons and "other non-specified violations of department policy."

According to an investigative audit by the Comptroller of the Treasury released in late 2013, a cash shortage of at least $31,460 was found in 2012 from the sheriff's department's sexual offender registry office (SOR). The investigation covered the period Jan. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2011.

Poor or no records

After Hord was fired, the new SOR questioned a sexual offender regarding $150 in fees the database said he owed. The offender presented a generic, unofficial receipt documenting the payment, but the department had no record and could not trace it to a deposit.

Several receipts from sexual offenders also could not be traced to the accounting records of the department, or to the SOR, the audit reported, and an investigation was initiated.

From 2006 to 2011, at least $42,198 should have been collected, and due to the condition of the records, there could have been more sexual offenders who were required to report to the department that auditors could not determine.

Four documents submitted by Hord to the TBI indicated that the offenders were indigent and could not pay their required registration fee. However, all four had paid, and former sheriff Randall Boyce told auditors that his signature on those documents was forged, appearing to be photocopied.

No reports

The audit also indicated that sexual offenders were not required to report to the sheriff's department in person, in violation of state law, and that the sheriff's department did not inquire as to why a sexual offender either quit reporting or stopped paying the administrative fee.

At the same time the criminal case against Hord was retired, attorneys on both sides asked that a wage and hour and discrimination lawsuit by Hord against the county, the sheriff's department and Boyce be dismissed.

Statewide

The state's 95 counties began the last fiscal year with $775,221 in cash shortages that had not been recovered. During the year, $675,742 worth of new shortages were detected. Counties were able to recover $661,981 through restitution payments, insurance claims or other means. That left a net unrecovered shortage of $788,981 at the end of the fiscal year.

For the cities, town and agencies, fiscal year 2013 began with $1,640,277 in unrecovered cash shortages. During the year, $4,485,021 in new shortages were detected. A total of $4,932,640 was recovered during the fiscal year, leaving an unrecovered shortage of at least $1,154,633 as of June 30, 2013.

Thefts continue

"These reports show why Tennesseans should join our office in helping make government work better," Wilson said. "I am pleased to note the continuing efforts to recover substantial amounts of public money, but theft remains a problem. I encourage all government leaders to follow auditors' recommendations and take the necessary steps to prevent fraud, waste and abuse of public money."

Both reports provide explanations of how the shortages were discovered, methods used to steal the money, corrective steps taken to prevent future thefts and legal actions taken against those responsible. ..Source.. by T-G STAFF REPORT

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Fees offset cost of tracking sex offenders in Hamilton County

Did they apply for and get any GRANTS?

5-26-15 Tennessee:

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office has spent $37,000 so far this fiscal year to monitor 368 of the county's registered sex offenders, but the office also has received $26,400 from offenders to offset that cost.

The sheriff's office is tasked with checking the addresses of registered sex offenders, ensuring they follow the rules of the registry and registering new offenders.

The revenue comes from an annual $150 fee that every registered offender in Tennessee is required to pay. Of that, $100 goes to a local agency that monitors the offender and $50 goes to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The money from the fees can be used only on registry-related expenses, said Don Gorman, director of administration at the sheriff's office.

Those expenses often include computer equipment, cameras and overtime for deputies who work special sex offender operations, Detective Mike Cox said. He is the one full-time officer who handles the sex offender registry at the sheriff's office.

The revenue from offenders is also used to replace Cox's car every four or five years, Gorman said. In the proposed budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, the sheriff's office asks to increase the sex offender registry budget from about $46,000 to $68,000, and that's earmarked for a new vehicle, he said.

"It can only be used by the detective who works in sex offender," Gorman said. "We put 30,000 to 40,000 miles on those vehicles a year, so by five years they're pretty beat up."

Registered sex offenders are also required to check in either quarterly or annually with the sheriff's office. In 2014, deputies took out 93 warrants on sex offenders who violated the registry in some way, Cox said.

Offenders can violate the registry in myriad ways, from failing to pay the annual fee to stepping foot on public school property when children are present.

There are about 567 registered sex offenders in Hamilton County. The offenders who are not monitored by the sheriff's office are tracked by their probation and parole officers. ..Source.. by Shelly Bradbury

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City notification to include KPD fliers, newspaper ads, website

12-1-2014 Tennessee:

KINGSPORT — The city of Kingsport plans to establish a community notification system where residents, schools and child-care facilities would be informed of newly arrived sex offenders in the city. Notification could come through fliers posted at the Kingsport Police Department, notices listed in local newspapers or posted to an online website.

Though the law allows for local law enforcement agencies to mail letters to residents informing them of sex offenders newly arrived to the neighborhood, by a recent action of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, that means of delivery will likely not be taking place.

The matter that went before the BMA earlier this month dealt with implementing the new notification system, in accordance with state law, and for the establishment of a new $50 fee to offset the cost of the notifications. The fee would be paid annually by the sex offender and be in addition to the $150 fee they already have to pay when moving to a new community.

"Currently, if someone wants to obtain information about sex offenders in Kingsport, what they have to do is go to the TBI website and navigate it, then go through the counties to find Sullivan," said Police Chief David Quillin. "This (new system) allows us to notify citizens in Kingsport in a couple of different manners and makes it easier to have the information. It allows (the department) to be a little more proactive."

One method discussed at a recent BMA work session is the creation of a website, specific to Kingsport, where the police department would post notifications of sex offenders moving into the region. Quillin said in the coming weeks, the department plans to push out a mobile app, where subscribers would have access to information about the police department, including a link to the sex offender listings.

The BMA, on a 6 to 1 vote, chose to remove the option of notifying residents about sex offenders via mailed letters from the ordinance governing the system.

Alderwoman Colette George, who made the push to remove the mailing option, said the written notifications could create liability issues for the property owner, the city and the police department.

"What we deal with on a day-to-day basis in real estate is sellers are required to disclose adverse facts about their home. Adverse facts are different in everybody's book," George said. "If I got written notice, threw it away and in six months decided to sell my house, it's probably not going to be something I remember. But I have received written notification. Someone could potentially come in and say your city has a policy, they notified you in writing, you didn't disclose it, therefore I'm suing you."

George said she would disclose such information to a buyer with small children, but with an older individual, the matter might not enter her mind as much.

"The disclosure form directs buyers to websites to research sex offenders. It's not the seller's job to do that," George said. "We tell them if this is important to you, you need to research it."

Alderman John Clark voted against removing the wording about mailed notifications, asking how someone like his mother, in her 80s with no access to the Internet, would know if a sex offender moves into the neighborhood.

"Is disclosure or notification more important? I think notification is what we're trying to do," Clark said.

Quillin said many of the sex offenders are transient in nature and if the department did mail notices to residents, the work would be time consuming and labor intensive.

George said there were other issues with the mailings: if there were rental properties would the letter go to the renter or the owner; and if the owners lived in other states, would it go to them or the residents.

"It's not the best way to notify people and it could put people in a bad situation without them realizing it," George said. "I just don't think the mail is the right method to tell people a sex offender has been released and moved into their area. I don't think it's the most effective, most realistic (method) and there's too many loopholes. It gives people a false sense of what's happening." ..Source.. by Matthew Lane

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Talking (Very Frankly) About Sex On Campus

11-28-2014 Tennessee:

"Losing Your (Concept of) Virginity." "Negotiating Successful Threesomes." "Vagina 101." These aren't your parents' college classes.

Consider this a syllabus for Sex Week, a series of workshops, discussions and screenings dedicated to, well, you know what, that are becoming popular – and controversial – on campuses around the country.

Yale University held one in 2002 and since then there have been at least 20, including at the University of Chicago, the University of Maryland and Harvard University.

While the seemingly brazen subject matter has certainly ruffled some feathers, organizers say the goal isn't to sensationalize, but to encourage community dialogue around healthy sexuality.

"Students really know that they need this information," says Nicky Hackenbrack, a senior Biology major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She's a member of a campus group there that's organizing Sex Week for 2015.

She says Sex Week is all about cultivating "sex-positive" attitudes – encouraging open communication and informed dialogue about safe and consensual sex.

For Sex Week 2015, slated for April 6-1, organizers are designing programming aimed at a spectrum of identities, including discussions on religion and sex, asexuality and non-intercourse sex. Typically more than 4,000 students get involved each year, Hackenbrack says.

It's true that some of the events focus on – let's say, techniques. But many seek to engage students in thoughtful dialogue about the queer experience and gender issues, such as female genital mutilation or Beyonce's place in feminism, says Alli Shapiro, a junior journalism major and Co-Chair for Sex Week at Northwestern University.

"I think that Sex Week is not necessarily based around how-to," she says. "It's very much based in sexual education and LGBT issues and feminism."

"People who disagree with that shouldn't be forced to pay for it"

Critics, however, say Sex Week sounds more like Woodstock than a high school health class, and too often glosses over the consequences. And some students are worried that Sex Week falls short of its claim to be an inclusive dialogue, often pushing away students of religious communities.

In Tennessee, for example, administrators pulled $11,000 of state funding two weeks before the 2013 Sex Week at UT Knoxville, in response to pressure from state representatives. Months later, the Tennessee legislature passed a resolution condemning the $25,000 program as "an outrageous misuse of student fees and grant monies," citing a drag show, condom scavenger hunt and an aphrodisiac cooking class.

"People who disagree with that shouldn't be forced to pay for it," State Senator Stacey Campfield told WVLT Nashville in March.

Now, UT students must "opt-in" to allocate $20 of their student fees to fund events like Sex Week that "may be considered by some to be controversial or personally objectionable," according to the University of Tennessee Student Life page.

UT is hardly the only campus that's seen this controversy. The first annual Sex Week at University of New Mexico last year triggered an avalanche of phone calls, media hype and an act of vandalism from an anonymous pro-life protester.

"While we knew not everybody would be into it and agree with it, we certainly weren't expecting anything like what happened," says Summer Little, the Director of the Women's Resource Center at UNM. "Because we're not in Tennessee, we're not in the South, so I think we just had a different expectation."

As the conversation spilled into the surrounding community, student organizers say they fielded daily calls complaining Sex Week was pushing a radical agenda and squandering taxpayer dollars. The backlash spurred UNM Vice President of Student Affairs Eliseo "Cheo" Torres to issue a public apology for the program after Sex Week ended.

"While the university administration believes that it is important to offer opportunities for sex education to college students, it should be done in a careful and respectful manner," the statement reads. "We will do a better job in the future of vetting and selecting programs offered through campus groups."

Back in Evanston, Illinois, junior Alli Shapiro says officials at Northwestern University have been largely hands-off since she got involved with Sex Week.

"We're definitely careful with not making them too uncomfortable," she says of the administration. "You'd be surprised. We've done a lot."

What's in a name?

While they recognize the titles can seem offensive, student organizers counter they entice students to participate in a larger conversation about healthy relationships — something they hope can help stem sexual assault on campuses, a topic that's much in the news lately.

At UNM, organizers say Sex Week was a way to expand their sexual-assault prevention training in a fresh, engaging way. For the past two years, UNM has hosted a sexual education seminar called "I Love Female Orgasm" that attracted around 700 students for each year. The popularity of the event inspired her team to put their modest budget toward a week of similar programs.

"We want to come at it from a positive perspective and say we all are adults, let's have a conversation about this," says Little. "Our primary goal was kind of just having all these different topics to open up that conversation and decrease that feeling of apprehension and awkwardness."

To spark that conversation, Omar Torres, the university's program assistant for men's health programming, says the team chose provocative titles such as "How to Be a Gentleman and Get Laid" so students would actually show up and talk about important topics of consent, communication and boundary-setting.

"The only way [to draw students] is to give people something to be interested about," says Torres. "No one wants to go into a workshop that's called 'How to Have a Good Relationship.'"

But some student took issue with their approach. Sade Emsweller, a junior and the vice president of the campus group Students for Life UNM, wrote a letter to the dean of students protesting Sex Week's edgy programming. She argued that it inadvertently objectified women and rarely discussed consequences of sex, such as unplanned pregnancy.

"I think the titles were controversial, and students didn't know what [the programs] were about," Emsweller says.

She adds that Students for Life is looking forward to working with other groups to organize a Sex Week next semester that will have renewed focus on sexual violence prevention and self-defense.

"If you're going to say you're talking about sexual assault then let's actually do it," says Emsweller. "We all have the common goal of helping women, we just have different approaches." ..Source..Many Links in Original Site. by Lindsay Sandoval NPR Radion

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Lincoln County begins sex offender notification program

This is the ultimate in stupidity. And, it is only for Sheriff's offices that choose to use it. I wonder, do they hire limos to bring folks who don't have transportation to view sex offenders on monitors/pics/etc. in public buildings? A Tennessee Rube Goldberg system..

10-15-2014 Tennessee:

FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. (WHNT)– The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office wants to make sure you get a good look at sex offenders who may live in your neighborhood.

You can always use the Tennesee Bureau of Investigations website to view them, but in a community meeting some rural residents told county leaders they don’t have access to that.

“Sex offenders were in the area and the people weren’t able to be notified because they didn’t have computers, or access to computers or the internet,” said Sandra Metcalf, Sex Offender Registrar at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Metcalf and Sheriff Murray Blackwelder brought this to the attention of state representatives, and helped craft House Bill 1860, which passed and was signed into law last June.

With that in place, cities and counties voluntarily establish a community notification system for sexual offenders, create a notification fee to be administered to sex offenders in order to pay for it, and define where to put the notifications so the public can see them.

“It gives people an awareness they didn’t [all] have before,” said Blackwelder.

In Lincoln County right now, notices about registered sex offenders including their names, addresses, offenses, and photos are distributed through LCD monitors placed in the courthouse and sheriff’s office.

Later, letters, mailers, newspaper postings, and other means will be used to get the word out.

“That gives us the ability to catch everyone at some point in time,” said Blackwelder. “It’s a slow process, but we’re going to get it out there.”

Metcalf said it took a lot of work to get this in place, including deputies traveling to each offender’s home to confirm where they live.

Right now, this notification system only distributes the information for offenders monitored by the sheriff’s office.

“[We are] educating the people, wanting them to know what’s going on around them,” said Metcalf.

The funding for the notifications comes from a yearly fee all sex offenders must pay. It may take a while to get all the means of notification in place while the money rolls in.

Sheriff Blackwelder said Lincoln County played a huge part in getting the law passed.

“It’s satisfying to see it from start to finish,” he said. ..Source.. by Kristen Conner

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Man spent 11 years in prison for rape he didn't commit

6-5-2014 Tennessee:

NASHVILLE — Randall Mills didn't rape that 12-year-old girl in March 1999.

It's a truth he bore for 11 years and three months in a Tennessee prison cell. Few believed him until DNA evidence in 2008 proved he didn't sexually assault a preteen neighbor. Three more years passed before he was released from prison — and even then he still faced being tried on the charges all over again.

But April 4, in light of the DNA evidence and a wavering victim, prosecutors in Marshall County finally dropped all charges.

"You're kidding me, man," Mills recalled saying when he got the news. But he never had stopped trying to clear his name.

"We kept on it," he said last week. "I wasn't about to give up on anything until I proved my innocence on it."

Mills' case is one of a growing number of exonerations across the nation. The dismissal came within days of a study published in the National Academy of Sciences estimating that 1 in 25 convicts on death row are actually innocent. It all adds to a growing acknowledgment from both authorities and the public that the criminal justice system doesn't always get it right — and that the consequences can be grave. ..Continued.. by Brian Haas, The Tennessean

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Sex Offender Notification Bill Advances In Tennessee Legislature

In this bill is a $50.00 fee charged to every registrant every time they move. Supposedly the cost to notify the neighborhood where s/he moves to.. News article poorly written!

Correction, the bill as worded is far worse: HB-1860 As introduced, allows county, metropolitan form of government or municipality to establish a community notification system to notify certain residences, schools and child care centers that a sexual offender or violent sexual offender is residing within a certain distance of such residences, schools and child care centers and authorizes a fee of up to $50 for each offender in the jurisdiction to defray the notification costs. And which is in addition to $150.00 they already get (see bill).

This may result in overlapping jurisdictions causing certain registrants MULTIPLE fees...

3-20-2014 Tennessee:

A push for tougher sex offender notification laws in Tennessee came one step closer to reality Tuesday, part of an ongoing effort that originated in Lincoln County several months ago.

A committee in the Tennessee Legislature approved HB 1860, a bill that would allow municipal and county governments to mail written notices and post flyers in communities that convicted sex offenders move to.

Tennessee lists all of its registered sex offenders on a state website the only legal method of notification the Volunteer State currently has. But Lincoln County Sheriff Murray Blackwelder said residents who don’t know about the site, or those who don’t have internet access, are vulnerable to potential danger. Blackwelder said issues with the current system came to a head at a community meeting in a rural part of the county last year.

“They [residents] were concerned because they weren’t notified that sex offenders were living in their communities,” said Blackwelder. “When we discussed the TBI website, it became evident that a lot of these people did not have access to the TBI website nor access to the internet.”

Sheriff Blackwelder decided to contact state legislators about the dilemma, a brainstorming session that gave birth to the Tennessee Community Notification Act. Blackwelder said it guarantees awareness for parents, and is cost-effective.

“This gives parents the knowledge of who is in their community,” said Blackwelder. “It doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime… In this bill there is an additional 50 dollar fee assessed to the sex offender. That 50 dollars will be earmarked for community notification.”

Alabama and several other neighboring states already have similar laws in place. Lincoln County officials said it’s one reason why several sex offenders have recently moved north of the state line.

Both bodies of the Tennessee Legislature are expected to formally vote on HB 1860 in the next few weeks. ..Source.. by Nick Banaszak

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Tennessee Rep. Wants to Print “Sex Offender” in Red on Every Sex Offender’s Driver’s License

2-28-2014 Tennessee:

Matthew Hill, a Tennessee state representative who ran for office with an image of a fetus on his campaign fliers, has entertained the notion that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and previously proposed legislation to force Tennesseans to exclusively speak English while at work, has got another bright idea. Hill is sponsoring a bill that would print the words sex offender—in three places, and in red lettering—on the driver’s licenses of everyone listed on the sex-offender registry in the state.

Hill says that he was moved to support the legislation after a constituent raised the specter of sex offenders dropping into schools and day cares and scooping up their children, though he admits he’s never heard of such a thing happening. He added that the law could also come in handy at “malls, grocery stores, retail outlets—all kinds of places where children are.”

At a meeting on Wednesday, Tennessee House transportation committee chair Rep. Vince Dean pushed back against the bill. “Is it your intention to cause that person embarrassment if they, say, go to buy a pack of cigarettes or a pack of Copenhagen?” he asked, adding: “It brings to mind that, maybe, a scarlet letter put on his breast might work as well.” “Well, if you thought that was necessary,” Hill replied, “that would be fine.”

Like many states, Tennessee already has dozens of regulations for controlling the behavior of released sex offenders, including requiring them to stay 1,000 feet away from schools and day care centers under most circumstances. But the law does allow registered offenders to drop off and pick up their own children at schools, day cares, and rec centers and to attend meetings with administrators, so long as they’ve notified the institution of their sex-offender status at the time of their kid’s enrollment. The state also prints a code on the backs of sex offenders’ driver’s licenses that alerts police to their status and allows inquiring minds to search the state’s registry for the names, locations, and photographs of offenders on the list. ..Continued.. by Amanda Hess

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Bill would place 'sex offender' on convicted offender's license

Forcing aa registrant to "carry the gov't message" on his/her license is likened to "forcing a person to carry the gov't message" on their car license plates which was held unconstitutional in Wooley v Maynard; hence this should also be unconstitutional?

2-27-2014 Tennessee:

Should sex offenders have the status marked on their driver's license in Tennessee?

The idea received a good bit of debate Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

A new bill (HB 1747) would require the words "sex offender" to be stamped on a convicted offender's driver's license in red three times.

It would increase state expenditures one time by $150,000.

The sponsor of the House bill, Rep. Matthew Hill of Jonesborough, told a sub-committee he got the idea from a constituent at a daycare where people have to show identification to be on a list to pick up children.

Critics pointed out the stamp would open offenders up to another level of ridicule.

The bill, first filed in late January, was put on hold to give lawmakers time to think. ..Source.. by WKRN.com

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Innocent man has record wiped clean after 31 years in prison

2-5-2014 Tennessee:

An innocent man imprisoned for 31 years, who has been trying to get his record cleared since he was released four years ago, finally got his day in court Monday and is now a man without a criminal record.

Lawrence McKinney had been falsely accused of rape and burglary in 1977 in Memphis.

DNA evidence showed he was never on the scene and had nothing to do with the crime, and 31 years into the sentence, the district attorney and judge released him from custody.

But getting his record wiped clean had been a much more difficult struggle.

The Memphis district attorney had McKinney's record expunged on Monday.

McKinney and his wife, Dorothy, have been waiting for this day for years. It was such big news that people from Immanuel Baptist Church in Lebanon left work just to come and congratulate him.

"It was done in 15 seconds. Thirty-five years of wrongfully labeling this man was undone in 15 seconds. There really is a sermon there. It was very emotional. It's like a family member's been freed," said the Rev. John Hunn of Immanuel Baptist Church.

McKinney attends Bible study five days a week and can now go on a mission trip with Immanuel Baptist Church that before he could only dream about.

Plus, he can now vote again. ..Continued.. by WSMV-TV

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High-tech tools help investigators catch child porn suspects

9-30-2013 Tennessee:

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - New high-tech tools are helping Mid-South investigators catch child porn suspects in the act of sharing. Only 60 task forces use technology like it across the country.

The Memphis Police Department has a handful of investigators who do nothing but fight child porn on the Internet. They say new tactics are getting results.

Lt. Wilton Cleveland manages MPD's Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which is a group of investigators who have been busy.

"We have made a lot of arrests lately," said Wilton.

Ten suspects were caught in September, and more arrests are in the works. William Keltner, Alejandro Barrios, and Luis Hernandez are accused of having and sharing child porn.

Court records indicate these men shared child porn with the police without realizing it through a file sharing program.

Cleveland declined to get specific.

"These cases have made themselves available using certain tools that we've been able to hone in on the guys that we've been looking for," said Cleveland.

Some of the child victims and their fates are known, but some are unknown.

"These children are being abused, basically, over and over again every time somebody views an image and every time somebody views a video," said Cleveland.

Cleveland says national averages show the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program has a lot of work left to do.

"Statistically, we're only arresting one percent of the guys out there that are downloading, viewing, and producing child pornography. So it's a bigger problem than sometimes we want to admit," he said. "We're going to continue to go after these guys until hopefully we get them all."

Cleveland says they share information with task forces across the country the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to try to ID and find the children who are not known. ..Source.. by Nick Kenney

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Dade County Man Speaks Out After Molestation Charge Dropped

8-31-2013 Tennessee:

Phillip Brown is a Dade County businessman, part of a family-owned tire shop on Highway 301. He's also the father of three kids, who had his world shattered in May of last year.

"I would never ever do anything like this. I just want people to know that I'm a good person and I'm not what they made me out to be. I'm not a child molester, I'm a good person, I love my children, I love my kids."

This spring, the charge of an "immoral and indecent act" against a child was dropped by the District Attorney's office, in exchange for Brown signing away the parental rights to his youngest son.

"I went through over a year of uncertainty not knowing what was going to happen to me not knowing if I was going to go to prison. Then I was faced with a decision if I just signed my rights away they would just drop it. If they had anything on me, if I had really molested my son, I don't think they would have dropped the charges like that."

Assistant District Attorney Len Gregor did not return our calls, but in a recent statement said the charges were dropped "based upon what is in the best interest of the alleged victim as expressed by his mother and psychologist, and upon termination of the defendant's parental rights."

"This torments me, every day, when I wake up in the morning, when I go to bed at night I'm tormented by this and I'll always be tormented by this. This decision to sign my rights away, I never ever will get over this. It's just so hard, it's just undescribable, words can't explain how this hurts inside," said Brown.

Brown's two other children continue to live with him...as he tries to get his life back together.
"Me and my two older children are just trying to get by the best they can. I just want everyone to know that this is not right, from what I was charged with, you know they should be a lot of investigating before someone is charged. I have not gotten to see my son in over a year and three months now. I love my son, I love all my children more than I can explain."

Brown says he's also received support from Tonya Craft. She was prosecuted by the same D-A's office in 2010. Craft was acquitted of 22 counts of molestation in May of that year. ..Source.. by Webb Wright

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Audit reveals offenders monitored after their deaths

10-1-2012 Tennessee:

An audit of the state board of parole found that annual arrest checks were completed on behalf of at least 82 parolees who had been dead, the comptroller announced Monday. In at least one case a parolee had been dead for more than 19 years.

At worst, officers documented contact indicating offenders were still alive, a news release said.

The audit also noted that many files managed by probation and parole officers were not in compliance with all board supervision requirements and were not regularly reviewed by management, according to a news release. In some cases, officers failed to complete or document their attempts to complete all of the required face-to-face contacts with parolees.

In other cases, officers did not perform required home visits of regular offenders, the release said. The audit also showed some sex offenders tracked by GPS equipment had not been properly monitored.

“Inadequate supervision of offenders results in increased public risks and jeopardizes public safety,” Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said in the release. “If parole officers are supervising dead people, this is a waste of taxpayer dollars and makes us wonder about the supervision of parolees living in our communities.”

Auditors also found a number of other issues with the board of parole’s operations, including questionable practices for providing notice of hearing decisions and upcoming board meetings. ..Source.. by The Tennessean

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Witnesses Use Bat and Hammer to Stop Rapist

8-16-2012 Tennessee:

A woman with a baseball bat and a man with a hammer attacked a suspected rapist Tuesday morning in South Memphis to help a teenaged victim.

Police have charged 25-year-old Lorenzo Kirk with rape, after witnesses described him and told police in which direction Kirk had run.

A woman who goes by “Mecka” said her son first pointed out something strange while they were on the way to school just after 7:00a.m.

“He was saying, Momma, look at that boy taking that girl into the bushes. I said, what boy taking what girl in the bushes? And when I looked to my left, I slammed my breaks,” Mecka said.

Near the corner of South Parkway East and South Main, Mecka stopped and yelled out the window to the girl.

“I said, baby do you know him? She said, no ma’am, please, please help me.”

Mecka’s son then helped to get an aluminum baseball bat out of their trunk.

Mecka said, “I got that bat and I went to work on him. I’m talking about, I was swinging. I know I was hitting him hard. He wouldn’t let her go! Then Sam came.”

Mecka and Samuel Pigues happened to know each other. Sam was on the way to work, when he pulled up right behind Mecka.

When he realized a man was trying to rape a teenaged girl, he jumped into action too. He said he looked for any heavy object in the car and found a hammer.

“I went over there and I first yelled at him. He didn’t pay me no mind, he just kept doing what he was doing. And I plucked him with that hammer; he kept doing what he was doing. I plucked him again; he jumped up. He must have felt that one.”

The hammer was no more than a foot long, but Sam said it did the trick. He used the flat side of the hammer to strike the suspect’s back.

Both Mecka and Sam said they didn’t hit the suspect in the head or face. They weren’t trying to kill him, but just wanted him off the girl.

It was a particularly horrifying moment for Mecka, who became a rape victim herself when she was 13.

“Only thing that was going through my head was me picturing myself laying on that ground,” she said.

While the nightmare of old memories never stops, Mecka was at least able to stop it from happening to another girl.

Sam told News Channel 3 he knew he had to help, because it could have easily been one of his own children or grandchildren.

Both Sam and Mecka said they believe people ought to work together to protect their community. ..Source.. by Natasha Chen

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Bill would define holding hands, kissing as "gateway sexual activity"

And how long will it take from simply a term in sex education, to being a crime punishable by __ jail or prison?

5-8-2012 Tennessee:

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - Tennessee senators approved an update to the state's abstinence-based sex education law that includes warnings against "gateway sexual activity."

In a new family life instructions bill, holding hands and kissing could be considered gateways to sex. Planned Parenthood said that allowing state government to define local sex education curriculum could backfire.

According to a 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Study, 61 percent of Memphis City high school students and 27 percent of middle school students have had sex. That's higher than the national average.

Planned Parenthood said these numbers are why a new sex education bill promoting abstinence is not realistic.

"If the state of Tennessee gets to create the curriculum, it has to create something that umbrella reflects everyone," said Planned Parenthood Director of Education Elokin CaPese.

Tennessee House Bill 3621 and Senate Bill 3310 are currently up for debate.

In the bill, a uniformed policy on sex education is defined with terms like "gateway sexual activity." Also listed are statewide instructions on how to teach family life curriculum.

"It's not detailed enough in a health-based way," said CaPese.

The bill prohibits teachers from demonstrating gateway sexual activity. CaPese said that would include health education models.

"It makes it very clear that you can't promote contraception," said CaPese.

If an instructor goes beyond the curriculum, the bill gives parents more legal rights, stating, "The parent or legal guardian shall have a cause of action against the instructor or organization for actual damages."

"They can opt out, and that means that parents already have the power that we want them to have," said CaPese.

The bill goes before the House Education Committee next Tuesday. ..Source.. by Jerica Phillips

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New Bill in Tennessee: Affecting Certain Sex Offenders and their Property

4-8-2012 Tennessee:

Not sure why I spend time reading the nonsense proposed by Lawmakers, but here is one from Tennessee, and another Lawmaker introduces the same thing; this is a wild proposal. I hope their are registrants willing to testify against this nonsense.

HB 3398 by Maggert which is supposed to do the following:

Sexual Offenders - As introduced, provides that the conveyance of real or personal property of a sexual offender used to violate a provision of the sex offender registry is subject to forfeiture if the victim was a minor. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5.

So if a sex offender whose victim was a minor, violates any provision of the REGISTRY, today or in the future, they will subject ALL of their Real or Personal Property, to forfeiture!

UPDATE: PARAGRAPH DELETED: Lets assume such a registrant fails to sign a form, or fails to register on time, or any other miniscule technical violation of the REGISTRY. Bye bye to their HOME and all other PERSONAL PROPERTY (belongings, clothes, computers, TV, car, toaster, dog, parakeet, etc.... I wonder if they would evict registrant and any family, from their home they paid for (or are paying for), with the registrant naked!

REPLACED WITH: Having been advised of an amendment, which is not shown under amendments but was found under Summary, which says:

AMENDMENT #1 specifies that this bill applies only to violations regarding the residential and work restrictions of the registry provisions (and not to technical violations). This amendment also specifies that such property would be subject to judicial forfeiture, and clarifies that such forfeiture would apply only if the person is convicted of the violation.

So, assuming failure to register a home address on time, or, failure to timely register a change of "job address or other work restriction" (there must be a list somewhere, therefore it may be long), or "residential restrictions" like moving into a place which may violate a footage prohibition, would immediately cause a violation, and upon conviction -which is assured by the footage violation- all forfeiture mentioned above would take place. RSOs have no way to be assured, beforehand, of footage distances, this is most likely the violation to take place (registrants move frequently), and would lose everything they own. Given the bill must be read -as worded- the registrant could still lose the clothes off their back (Personal Property), there are Prosecutors that will go overboard and enjoy the harm caused.

Is this sane? Do Lawmakers ever give a second thought to what they propose?

I don't think so...

For now, have a great day and a better tomorrow.
eAdvocate

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Sex Offenders Could Lose Their Ride Under Proposed Bill

The public is more focused on "FEELING SAFE" than actually "BEING SAFE." Laws that tells folks "do not do this (here go into parks)" have not stopped crime down history, so how will this proposed law be effective? OH YES, it will make folks FEEL SAFE! Reality can be a slap in the face...

3-23-2012 Tennessee:

Tenn. – It was a quick stop for lunch Thursday and a chance for five-year-old Kaden Woodard to enjoy the park. His mother, Jennifer Woodard, was always close by knowing she can't risk taking her eyes off her four kids because there are people out to hurt them.

"It's a real concern for me as a parent," Woodard said.

Last fall, Hendersonville Police arrested 42-year-old Keith Barcus, a registered sex offender, rode his bike to a nearby park anyway. He was later charged with a sex offender registry violation.

Now HB3398 would allow investigators to not only arrest offenders, like Barcus, for violating the terms of their release, but also seize their property or vehicles as well.

"People who prey on children look for any way to get into that area," said Sergeant Jim Vaughn with the Hendersonville Police Department.

Vaughn says the idea could be a good deterrent to keep sex offenders away from places they aren't supposed to get near in the first place. "So people won't want to go to the park because they're aware if they go in there and if they get caught they're going to lose that vehicle that got them into the park," he said.

"We're just looking for ways to try to make them understand that they've got to stop hurting our kids," said Representative Debra Maggart, R-Hendersonville, who sponsored the bill.

Maggart says she hopes this will stop repeat offenders. "Sex offenders are usually very clever people. They're very manipulative people and so they're always looking for a way for whatever law we put in place," she went on to say.

That could make parents, like Woodard, feel like their children are a little more safe. "You try to protect your kids at all costs and if there's certain laws that's going to help do that then it makes you feel a little bit better as a parent," she said.

The bill would amend current law to allow law enforcement agencies to seize any personal property used by sex offenders convicted of preying on children. That means anything used to get them to places they aren't supposed to be could be sold to benefit child advocacy centers, court appointed advocates and the child abuse prevention fund.

The bill is still making its way through committee in the Senate. It's scheduled to go before the House next Wednesday. ..Source.. by Adam Ghassemi

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Bill would add pimps to sexual offender registry

3-2-2012 Tennessee:

Pimps would join child molesters and rapists on Tennessee’s sexual offender registries under a bill moving through the state legislature.

The House of Representatives voted 89-0 to pass House Bill 2853, which makes people convicted of promoting prostitution add their names to the sex offender lists. First offenders would see their names on the list for 10 years; second offenders would be there for life.

Despite the unanimous vote, the bill drew quite a bit of discussion, as lawmakers questioned exactly what is meant by “promoting” prostitution. State Rep. Debra Maggart, R-Hendersonville, insisted it would be applied only to pimps, but legislators asked whether it might also be used on prostitutes who “self-promote” (via an online ad, maybe) or people who run escort services.

State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, offered the oddly specific example of a dance troop manager who has a showgirl who prostitutes herself.

State Rep. Mike Kernell, D-Memphis, also offered a philosophical objection against the bill, which describes pimping as a violent crime.

“I have a problem listing it when it’s not violent with thing that are violent,” he said. “I think the public has a right to know who they are,” Maggart replied.

Supporters argued that the law will stop exploitation of women. State Rep. Jim Gotto, R-Hermitage, complained it ought to be extended to johns who solicit prostitutes.

The issue goes over to the Senate, where it is yet to be heard in committee. ..Source.. by Chas Sisk

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"John Doe" Orthodontist Who Sought To Stay Off Sex Registry Has To Enroll

2-24-2012 Tennessee:

A Hixson orthodontist who filed suit to try to stay off the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry has finally had to enroll.

Dr. Henry Buhl went on the registry earlier this month after his appeals ran out.

The suit was filed in Chancery Court with the plaintiff listed only as "John Doe." Chancellor Frank Brown ruled against the plaintiff and so did the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The case was closed out after the time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court had expired.

His attorney, Jerry Summers, said "John Doe" had been convicted of misdemeanor sexual abuse in 1982 in Kentucky and of felony abuse shortly afterward in Ohio.

He moved to Hamilton County in 1989 and has had no other offenses, it was stated.

"This is an exceptional case," attorney Summers had stated in court, arguing that requiring his client to register now as a sex offender would result in a "media frenzy" and destroy the man's reputation as a law-abiding professional in the community.

"If this restraining order is lifted, his name is out," the attorney said. "Even if we prevail later on, it won't make any difference. It's kind of like we're going on a witch hunt."

But Tennessee Assistant Attorney General Ben Whitehouse, arguing for the state, said what would be unfair and inequitable would be to waive the enforcement of the state law in this one case.

"There are 17,850 people currently on the registry," the state attorney noted. "How is (Mr. Summers') client any more special than those 17,850?"

The registry says Dr. Buhl, 62, lives in Hixson, but his car is registered out of Fort Payne, Ala.

His classification is listed as "violent" and his prior offense as "sexual imposition." ..Source.. by The Chattanoogan.com

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