Man in motorized wheelchair gets DUII conviction thrown out

12-30-16 Oregon:

The Oregon Court of Appeals on Thursday threw out the conviction of a man who was found guilty of driving under the influence of intoxicants for operating his motorized wheelchair while drunk in a crosswalk.

James Richard Greene was under the influence of alcohol and other drugs when he piloted his wheelchair into a Lincoln County crosswalk and struck the side of a moving pickup truck on Oct. 16, 2012, according to an Appeals Court summary of the case. Greene was injured, and about a month later, the Lincoln County District Attorney's Office charged him DUII.

A jury found him guilty after a two-day trial in June 2013.

But the Appeals Court agreed with Greene's lawyers that Greene was a "pedestrian" under the definition of Oregon law and his motorized wheelchair didn't fit the legal definition of a "vehicle" under the circumstances of his case.

The Appeals Court, however, didn't make any explicit findings about whether different circumstances could lead to a DUII conviction, such as if a drunk person was driving a motorized wheelchair down the lanes of a road or in a public parking lot. ..Continued.. by Aimee Green

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Bill Would Ban Adults Without Kids from Playgrounds

See also: Editorial L.A.'s proposed ban on single adults near playgrounds is fear-based policy making at its worst

12-29-2016 California:

A City Councilman in Los Angeles, Mitch O’Farrell, has proposed a bill to keep playgrounds “free of creepy activity” by not allowing anyone unaccompanied by kids to enter one.

Shamefully, that is already the rule here in my burg, New York City. This has lead to the arrest of two women who dared to eat donuts on a playground bench in Brooklyn (exposing kids to potential predators AND processed food!), and to the ticketing of seven guys who were playing on chess tables too close to a Mahattan playground (tables placed there by the city, but whatevs). The fact that the guys had been playing chess there for years and even taught some kids the game was of zero import to the authorities determined to see only potential evil, not actual good.

Kudos, then, to the Los Angeles Times for objecting to this grandstanding law. As the paper put it in an editorial titled, “L.A.’s proposed ban on single adults near playgrounds is fear-based policy making at its worst“: ..Continued.. by Free Range Kids

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Proposed bill could decrease punishment for 18-year-old sex offenders in Montana

12-26-2016 Montana:

BILLINGS - A proposed Montana bill that is set for a hearing next week would decrease the punishment for an 18-year-old convicted of having sex with a minor, if no force was used.

Senate Bill 26, which is sponsored by MT State Sen. Sue Malek (D-Missoula), would amend Montana law regarding the crime of sexual intercourse without consent.

The age of consent in Montana is 16, meaning a minor under that age can not legally consent to sex even if the minor has sex with another person willingly.

Any adult who has sex with a minor under the age of consent can be sentenced to prison and required to register as a sex offender.

Sex offenders are ranked on a tier system, where 1 is the lowest risk to re-offend and 3 is the highest risk.

All sex offenders are required by law to register an address and phone number with the state and give notice when that information changes.

SB 26 would not make it legal for an 18-year-old to have sexual contact with a person under the age of consent.

But if it was determined that no force was used and the offender is not a risk to the public, an 18-year-old offender could be exempted from registering as a sex offender, according to SB 26.

"[This applies if] the court finds that the alleged conduct was consensual as indicated by words or overt actions indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual contact,” the bill reads.

The bill would also cap the maximum penalty at five years imprisonment for such an offender.

The bill states that the offender must be 18 or younger and the victim must be 14 or older at the time of the offense for these proposed changes to apply.

The hearing is set for January 5. ..Source.. by Aja Goare

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Porn block on new PCs to ‘fight trafficking’ – unless you pay $20

12-22-2016 South Carolina:

Proposing a bill that requires computers sold in a state to block access to online porn on the grounds that it “would be another way to fight human trafficking” is an interesting approach to crime prevention. That’s what Bill Chumley, Republican state representative, is suggesting in South Carolina.

But if you’re an adult who might want to enjoy legal adult entertainment in the privacy of your own home, you can, under the provisions of the bill, pay a $20 fee to remove that lock.

Outwardly, Chumley’s Human Trafficking Prevention Act resembles morally intentioned ransomware that would be a pain in the neck to administer but easy to bypass.

If the bill became law, every computer sold in the state capable of accessing the internet (ie all new computers) would by default have to “install and operate a digital blocking capability that renders obscenity inaccessible”. It’s not clear how software blocking would filter pornography from other content, although large social media sites would be exempt.

Buyers over the age of 18, sellers and manufacturers could have the blocking deactivated for a one-off fee.

Chumley explained the scheme: “If we could have manufacturers install filters that would be shipped to South Carolina, then anything that children have access on for pornography would be blocked. We felt like that would be another way to fight human trafficking.”

It seems unkind to point out the bill’s flaws, although they are numerous. ..Continued.. by John E Dunn

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Sex Offender Facial Recognition System

12-20-16 Iowa:

MASON CITY, Iowa – More sex offenders could soon be off of the streets thanks to a new project that will help identify them.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety is currently seeking funds that will be used to create a state-wide facial recognition system to identify sexual offenders.

Once the software is in place, it will connect with other databases and cross-reference sex offenders through photos using a biometric system.

“It’ll be a great advantage for law-enforcement because potentially we’re going to get some alerts on sex offenders in places and then I suppose it will be a better public safety basically and holding the sex offenders accountable,’ says Sheriff Kevin Pals, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department.

Mary Ingham, the Executive Director of Crisis Intervention in Mason City, says the program sounds good in theory but has its limitations.

“I think any other resources that law enforcement can use to better track registered sex offender’s is obviously great, but there’s also the downside of that where I become concerned is that then sometimes community members might not realize that the only people on the sex offender registries are the people that have been convicted of sex offenses,” says Ingham.

Sheriff Kevin Pals says their goal is to capture as many sex offenders as possible.

“To stop some of that sneakiness and actions from these people even though there they know that they’re not supposed to have a Facebook page or social media outlets, we can catch them doing something wrong,” says Pals.

As for Mary, she says she hopes the victims of sex crimes will also be taken into consideration.

“Where is the state really balanced where is the best use of our money? Is it for technology for facial recognition for a handful of sex offenders or is it to make sure that children that are sexually abused are getting the therapy that they need close to home?” ..Source.. by Stefanté Randall

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Lawmaker seeks more limits on where sex offenders live

Never have I seen a lawmaker show a need for such legislation other than "Its a good idea" which proves nothing. This is an idea looking for a problem..

12-10-16 Texas:

AUSTIN — Small cities have trouble keeping registered sex offenders from living near schools and other places where children gather, but one lawmaker says the state may finally be ready to give them that authority.

Unlike larger cities, municipalities with populations less than 5,000, known as general-law cities, don't have the power to dictate where registered sex offenders may live, according to some interpretations of a 2007 opinion by Gov. Greg Abbott, then the state's attorney general.

With no state limits, nothing prevents sex offenders from being around children once they’ve finished their sentences in those small communities.

Nearly four-dozen general law cities have adopted limits, but threatened legal action prompted nearly a quarter of them to repeal the rules. About the same number have been sued, according to the Texas Municipal League.

Rep. Drew Springer, R-Gainesville, said he plans to settle the matter with a bill allowing small cities to create child safety zones of no more than 1,000 feet around schools, day cares, playgrounds, youth centers, public pools, arcades and facilities that hold events geared toward children.

Registered sex offenders could transport a child they’re legally permitted to be with into the zones. They may travel through the zones for work.

The proposal also exempts those who've lived in a zone before it was created.

“I think I’ll have bipartisan, strong support,” said Springer, whose proposal is backed by the Texas Municipal League. “It’s rural Texas values.”

He called it a “quality-of-life” measure.

Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League, said 96 percent of the state is outside the jurisdiction of cities, which leaves plenty of space for sex offenders to live outside child safety zones.

“We’re not in support of legislation that would ban sex offenders,” he said. “You’ve got to live somewhere, but not within 50 feet of a school.”

But Richard Gladden, a Denton attorney who works on behalf of Texas Voices for Reason and Justice, a group that advocates for those required to register for sex-related offenses, said similar bills have failed in the past.

Courts elsewhere are increasingly throwing out such restrictions, with a federal appeals court in Michigan ruling one unconstitutional.

Gladden said research doesn't support the idea that residency rules make children safer.

In fact, making offenders' lives less stable, by requiring them to live far from their jobs, could raise the odds of re-offending, he said.

"Politicians don’t inform constituents of that,” he said. “They leave that out so that they can appear to be tough.”

In some cases, those who've been convicted don’t register rather than face restrictions on where they can live, he said, even if neglecting to do so is illegal. That makes it harder, not easier, for police to know their whereabouts.

In Oklahoma, Tulsa has lost track of hundreds of sex offenders who simply quit registering, according to media reports.

Springer said limits on small cities came to his attention a few years ago, when a sex offender moved into a motel in Muenster, a city in his North Texas district. He didn’t have to wait for church to hear about it.

“Everybody knows everybody else in Muenster,” he said. “They all have my cell phone number.”

There was no trouble, and Springer said that the man only stayed a couple of months.

Still, Stan Endres, Muenster’s city administrator, said city leaders talked about drafting an ordinance.

“There were people that wanted us to run him out of town,” he said. “I don’t think it was a problem, but people can get carried away.” ..Source.. by John Austin

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Audit finds flaws in state prison psych programs

12-8-16 Colorado:

The Colorado Department of Corrections has several gaps in its behavioral health programs that need addressing, a state audit revealed Tuesday.

The department’s mental-health and sex-offender programs were lacking on several fronts, most of which could be attributed to lack of staff for each, the State Auditor’s Office told legislators.

On the mental health side, department staff were sometimes late in assessing and recording offender mental health needs, did not always have proper mental health treatment plans in place for offenders and did not maintain sufficient evidence that offenders were seeing mental health professionals enough or were receiving adequate out-of-cell time.

State law bars inmates with serious mental health issues from spending too much time in isolation.

“Limitations of the department’s databases used to track offenders’ mental health information and out-of-cell time contributed to the problems we found and hampered the department’s ability to monitor staff,” audit manager Trey Standley told the Legislative Audit Committee.

On the sexual offender end, the audit found that department staff were not adequately assessing and addressing treatment needs as required by law for sexual offenders.

The number of sexual offenders enrolled in treatment each year decreased from 484 in 2012 to 465 in 2015, while the number of inmates eligible for that treatment rose during that same time period from 1,527 to 1,979, the audit said.

In 2015 and 2016, the department had a staff vacancy rate of more than 20 percent for its mental health program and more than 30 percent for the sex offender program, the audit found.

“Staff constraints contributed to a number of the problems we identified,” the audit said.

The audit made 11 recommendations, including improving oversight of out-of-cell time, prohibiting offenders with serious mental issues from being housed in long-term isolation and maintaining adequate staffing to run both programs.

This year, the department received about $16.8 million to operate its mental-health program, and $4.4 million to run the sex-offender program. ..Source.. by Charles Ashby

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New sex offender rules stalled

12-8-16 Michigan:

LANSING – Passage seems increasingly unlikely for a bill that would limit the places registered sex offenders can work and was inspired by the discovery that sex offenders worked at a Lansing nonprofit that serves victims of sexual assault.

The bill from state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-Meridian Township, would make it illegal for sex offenders to work for organizations that serve victims of sexual assault or children. The bill was inspired by a State Journal report in June that three registered sex offenders were simultaneously volunteering at the Listening Ear, a Lansing nonprofit that runs a crisis hotline for victims of sexual assault and others.

The offenders had answered calls to the hotline and had volunteered alongside victims of sexual assault who didn't know the men were offenders.

But Hertel's bill has been waiting for a vote in the Senate since July, and there's no indication it's going to advance in the seven session days scheduled for the remainder of the year.

Even if the bill cleared the Senate, it still would have to pass the state House. Bills that don't pass both chambers by the end of the year have to be reintroduced in the new term that begins next month.

"The issue is still a priority for me, and we're working to get it done," Hertel said Wednesday. ..Continued.. by Justin A. Hinkley , Lansing State Journal

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Community Fights State Changes To Sex Offender Treatment Program, Say Traditions Protect Villages

11-18-16 Alaska:

Community members are concerned that sexual assault in the YK Delta may be about to increase, and that nearly a decade of work treating sex offenders and working with communities will be lost.

The worry comes as state budget cuts reduced within a month the region’s Sex Offender Treatment Program from two clinicians and a case manager, with over 30 years combined experience treating sex offenders, to one clinician with four months experience. State officials traveled to Bethel to hear these concerns from the program’s advisory board, which says too much was taken away too fast.

“It’s like gutting it right at this important stage where you’ve got communities that want this program. Elders, tribal councils that were willing to meet and discuss about these really hard issues about sex offending," said Joan Dewey, a mental health clinician at the Bethel Family Clinic. A year ago, she retired from the state after working with the YK Delta Sex Offender Treatment Program. Now, she serves on the program’s advisory board.

Three officials with the Department of Corrections, which is responsible for the program, traveled to Bethel on Wednesday to meet with the board, saying they wanted to improve communication and avoid misinformation. However, the officials repeatedly sidestepped or ignored questions from members throughout the meeting and said that all media queries had to be directed to their public information officer in Anchorage. Dewey called the meeting disappointing.

“It wasn’t really addressing what the community concerns are,” she said.

The Department says that state budget cuts drove the staff reduction and will save the program nearly $17,000 per participant. Dewey sees the decision as shortsighted.

“That is a mere pittance of what the cost is to society, to families, to these communities to incarcerate, to re-try, for the court system, for all the different parts that are involved.”

The DOC's big news was that the state is replacing its Sex Offender Treatment Programs with a system developed with First Nations communities in Canada. The board said they didn't want that. They want support for what they have. They’ve seen too many programs fail and too many programs from the outside claim to know better than what the region’s traditions offer.

“Whenever they come from the outside, they go," Dewey said, "they don’t stay. So this is a concern. Why would we want to bring in something when we have a program that’s working, that has proven that it works, that has made significant changes in the lives of families and communities?”

The region’s program started in 2008 and incorporates Yup’ik values and culture. The re-offense rate is 1.7 percent, less than the state’s average of three to five percent. Dewey says that when the program started, communities didn’t talk about sexual offense. Now, nearly 40 of the region’s villages are involved, and 500 volunteers serve as safety net members: people who know the offender’s story, triggers, and how to help. And this involvement spreads recovery.

“We’ve had many safety net members who’ve disclosed their own sexual abuse, so they begin to have some opportunity for healing themselves, because they become aware that a man can change, a perpetrator can change,” Dewey said.

And keeping this healing going, keeping this program going, is crucial. Most sex offenders who come to the program have sexually abused 20 to 45 people, sometimes an entire generation in one village. Over the last eight years, this program has shown that it can help stop that.

The DOC public information officer did not respond to questions by the time this story was published. ..Source.. by Anna Rose MacArthur

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Audit Finds Improvements in N.H.'s Sex Offender Program for Inmates — But More Work Remains

See also: Few sex offenders released from prison on time, audit finds Staff juggles administration of therapy program! Effectively pushing clients past eligibility & out dates. Additionally see July Report: State lies about the huge backlog in the sex offender treatment program by Chris Dornin

11-18-16 New Hampshire:

A state audit finds that the Department of Corrections has successfully cut the time it takes inmates to complete sex offender treatment but there's still more work to do.

For those who’ve committed a sex crime, the state requires inmates to complete a six- to 18-month treatment program before they can seek parole. That population is currently at 654 but at times can be as high as 800 people.

Three years ago, only 16 percent of enrollees completed the program before their potential release date. Friday’s audit shows that number has risen to 88 percent.

Helen Hanks, assistant commission of the Department of Corrections, says the department has been working to improve the efficiency of the program but stresses there is only so much it can control.

“The data also affirmed for us what we have been testifying and sharing is that often times it’s the own individuals’ behavior in our institutions that interferes with enrolling them in a timely manner or even assessing them in a timely manner,” Hanks told lawmakers Friday.

The audit also found that the sex offender treatment program is following recommended practices but suggests the department come up with ways of measuring the program's effectiveness.

The last time the DOC tracked the recidivism rate of N.H. sex offenders was six years ago. Hanks says they'll immediately start monitoring this again. ..Source.. by Paige Sutherland

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Few sex offenders released from prison on time, audit finds

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Most sexual offenders in the state's prison aren't released when they've served their minimum sentences because they haven't completed a mandatory treatment program.

That's the finding of an audit released Friday on the Department of Corrections' sexual offender treatment program.

Men in the state prison for sexual offenses are required to undergo the treatment plan before seeking parole. Prison reform advocates have argued delays in the program unfairly keep people in prison and cost the state unnecessary money. The audit found delays are caused by inmate behavior and a failure to enroll people in treatment in a timely manner.

Roughly 750 men were in the state prison system for sexually related offenses as of May. Just 14 percent of prisoners included in the audit were released upon reaching their minimum sentences.

"Prisoners are entitled to ask for parole when the minimum sentence is two-thirds expired, and sex offenders never get to take advantage of that," said Chris Dornin, the founder of New Hampshire's Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform.

But lawmakers who heard the audit presentation said it should've focused more on the program's effectiveness at stopping people from re-offending after they leave prison. The audit found the program has no system to measure whether the program is reducing recidivism rates.

"All we're getting here is did they meet the timeline," Republican Rep. Neal Kurk said. "From a legislative point of view that's not the end goal."

Helen Hanks, assistant corrections commissioner, said the department will soon have better data because it is implementing an electronic records system.

The audit found New Hampshire has fewer staff members dedicated to the program than neighboring states with fewer offenders. New Hampshire has five full-time positions dedicated to the program for about 750 people, and not all positions are filled. Vermont, by contrast, has nine employees for 500 inmates.

Data in the audit show the program is getting better at putting inmates into treatment on time. The goal is to assess inmates to see what type of treatment they need 24 months before they are eligible for parole. In fiscal year 2016, 88 percent of inmates were assessed in that timeframe, up from just 16 percent in the three years before the audit began. But only 50 percent of eligible inmates were enrolled in treatment 18 months before reaching their minimum sentences.

Some inmates aren't enrolled on time or are kicked out halfway through the program because of disciplinary issues or refusing to be treated. by AP

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State Sen. Connie Levya intends to file legislation to keep sex offenders from entering California schools

See: Fontana School District’s “No Registrants” Policy Challenged in Court

11-17-16 California:

When the California State Senate convenes next month, Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) says that she plans to introduce legislation to ban all registered sex offenders from school campuses without exception.

Levya said the proposal comes in response to increased concerns from parents in recent months, particularly in Fontana, where the school district approved a September 2016 policy that seeks to address the issue.

State laws keep registered sex offenders from living near schools. But those who have not been convicted of having sex with a minor under age 16 can visit or volunteer with groups or organizations that work with children if they give proper notice, are granted permission. They cannot work directly with children.

“The safety of students should always remain a top priority, so I look forward to introducing legislation in the near future that will tighten the loopholes that sex offenders could use to gain access to school campuses in California," Levya said.

5:00 p.m.: This article was updated with information on state laws regarding sex offenders. ..Souce.. by Jazmine Ulloa

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Rethinking Nebraska's sex offender registry

11-5-16 Nebraska:

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) -- Do all the people on Nebraska’s Sex Offender Registry really need to be there? Do you think we should know the whereabouts of every sex offender in the state? Some people don’t think so.

Groundbreaking research at UNO found that most sex offenders do not reoffend. Research showed that putting every sex offender on a public website can lead to harassment and may contribute to conditions that make reoffending more likely.

Jeromy Wilson is a convicted sex offender; his picture was placed on the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry for exposing himself when he was 17. “It wasn’t something to harm nobody, it was me being young and dumb,” Wilson told WOWT 6 News.

Five years ago Wilson says he was an adult dating website. The then 25-year-old thought he was hooking up with a 19-year-old female, but later found out she was a minor.

“The last thing you really do when you go out on dates, you know, you talk to somebody ‘hey can you send me a copy of your id.’ You know that was where my mistake was,” Wilson said.

For that mistake Wilson was charged with first degree sexual assault of a child. He plead no contest to third degree sexual assault and went to prison for a year.

"I wasn’t denying the fact that I made a mistake, but I was also trying to savor the fact that she had falsified her information to me,” Wilson explained, “And I’m still trying to maintain some of my dignity.”

Now Wilson has a lifetime spot in the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry. He says people are using the registry to harass him, to call his clients to prevent him from working.

Wilson says it not fair that he continue to pay for the mistakes he made.

Because I’m trying to make my life better and prove not only to everyone else but to myself and my family that I’m better than this,” he said. “But you keep getting kicked while you’re down.”

For 15 years, UNO’S Dr. Lisa Sample has been researching why most sex offenders do reoffend and why Nebraska puts every sex offender on a registry.

“Not all sex offenders are created equal -- not all need to be on that registry,” said Dr. Sample. “Just because you’re on the registry did not make you a predatory pedophile. There are the Romeo and Juliet out there where somebody was 19 somebody was 16 - not old enough to consent, indecent exposure cases, flashing cases.”

But when most of us think about sex offenders we think of the worst: Roy Ellis did reoffend, kidnapping, assaulting and then killing 12 year old Amber Harris. Amber’s mom says the registry is necessary.

“I’m sorry for anybody who thinks they’ve been victimized or harassed, but it’s there for a reason because there’s people who go out there and reoffend,” said Harris.

Dr. Sample agrees it is necessary, but she says not all sex offenders should be on the list. She would like to see the registry return to a risk based system.

“Where we administered a risk assessment instrument to people upon conviction and we categorize them as low, medium or high risk and we alerted the public to only those people who presented a high risk of reoffending,” said Dr. Sample.

Wilson would also like to see that happen. Now 30 years old, his fiancé expecting a child and he says he’s changed his life but he wonders how long he will have to drag his past around.

“I should be able to live my life without having to deal with public ridicule,” Wilson said. “Not to mention, later on down the road when my child grows up, I’m going to have to explain ‘hey why is daddy on the registry.’”

Information on the sex offender registry should not be used to retaliate against the people of the list, their families or their employees; vandalism, verbal or written threats of harm are illegal. ..Source.. by John Chapman

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Georgia Senate Sexual Offender Registry Study Committee Meets for First the First Time

11-5-16 Georgia:

DADE COUNTY, Georgia. (WDEF)- Thursday was the first meeting of the Senate Sexual Offender Registry Study committee. Members met to review ways of monitoring activities of sexual offenders in the state of Georgia.

“We want to make sure rule Georgia has a say in what we do in Atlanta for our state laws too.We want to make sure that we find the right temperament. We find the right grounds to improve our child predator laws. We want to make sure our children our safe in Georgia and America”, said Georgia senator Jeff Mullis.

Members of the Senate Sexual Offender Registry Study Committee met in Dade County to work towards strengthening how sex offenders are monitored.

Dade County law enforcement said they manage 31 sex offenders in the area.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is responsible for managing the sex offender registry.

They informed the committee about how the site operates, what information can be accessed on the site and what they do to ensure every offender is registered.

Committee members said they are working towards upgrading several child predator laws.

“We believe by the time we get to our legislative session we’ll have a bill in place ready to present to the legislature”, said Mullis. ..Source..

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Some registered sex offenders exempt from residency rules

10-29-16 Iowa:

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Desiree Navin moved with her two young children to a home on Sioux City's west side earlier this year.

Her girls, Joeyanna, 7, and Jayceelynn, 5, were preparing to attend the nearby Liberty Elementary School this fall until she took them on a walk to a park near the school at 1623 Rebecca St.

"I saw him sitting there relaxing with his dog over by the school, and I thought, 'He looks familiar,'" she said.

As the man got closer to her, Navin remembered, "Yep I know him, he's a pedophile."

Navin said she had heard the man, whom she had known since she was a teenager, was a sex offender. To verify her suspicions, she visited the Iowa Sex Offender Registry Website, where she learned the man was on the registry and his address was less than 250 steps from the school. The Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/2eDJToo ) reports that the registry showed he was convicted in 2003 in Iowa of lascivious acts with a child between the ages of 14 and 17 and in a neighboring state of a sexual charge against a minor.

"You ain't going to school there," Navin said she told her children that same day.

To her dismay, she later learned from a Journal reporter that the man was within his legal rights to live there.

The landmark 1995 Iowa law that established the sex offender registry originally prohibited nearly all convicted offenders who victimized children from residing within 2,000 feet of a school or registered day care -- the length of about six football fields. But changes approved seven years ago by then-Gov. Chet Culver and the state Legislature relaxed the restrictions for offenders convicted of less serious sexual crimes against minors, like the man Navin and her children encountered. ..Continued.. by ALEX BOISJOLIE Sioux City Journal

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Sex offender says he’s ‘homeless’ to keep house near West Side school

10-27-16 Ohio:

The case of a West Side sex offender reveals potentially significant loopholes in Ohio’s law requiring such felons to register the address of their residence.

Timothy Phillips was charged with rape and gross sexual imposition in 1991 for assaults on three boys, then ages 11, 12 and 12. Court records show that Phillips pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition and was sentenced to five years of probation.

Phillips was charged again in 2012, this time after he propositioned a detective posing as a teen online. Phillips pleaded guilty to a felony importuning charge and again received probation.

State law says that a sex offender can’t live within 1,000 feet of a school, but the court determined that Phillips was living too close to a school building. So in 2014, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Frye ordered Phillips to “vacate” his house at 198 S. Westmoor Ave.

Westgate Alternative Elementary School, at 3080 Wicklow Road, is 735 feet from Phillips’ address, according to court records. And Franklin County auditor’s records show that Phillips still owns the home on Westmoor Avenue.

Under the state’s sex-offender registry law, the definition of residence is not entirely clear. Phillips indicates that because he does not sleep at his house, it is not technically his residence. “I’m homeless,” he said. “I stop by to check and maintain the property — 20 minutes a day.”

Ohio’s searchable sex-offender registry is maintained in each county by sheriffs’ offices and statewide by the Ohio attorney general’s office. The state registry lists 17,450 people and is available at http://bit.ly/2eSdEkD.

WBNS observed Phillips at the Westmoor Avenue address multiple times during school hours. Neighbors on Westmoor Avenue have kept a log of Phillips’ comings and goings and have given it to Franklin County sheriff’s detectives.

WBNS cameras and observations by neighbors also confirmed that Phillips does not spend overnight hours at the house he owns. WBNS found that Phillips sleeps in his car in the parking lots of area stores.

“We asked the sheriff's office to document the visits,” said Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’B rien. “We believe he can't skirt the law. He's trying to skirt the court's order by not sleeping there.”

Gigi Lowry, who lives in Westgate near the Phillips house, is among several neighbors who are concerned about Phillips being at the house during school hours. “He should not be able to own a home near the schools,” she said.

Jordan Dawson, whose child attends Westgate Alternative Elementary, said that she is not familiar with Phillips but is concerned.

“Timothy Phillips? No, I've never heard the name, seen a picture or anything,” Dawson said. “If he’s convicted of something like that around here, everyone should know who this guy is and where he's living at.”

Another gap in the law is exposed by Phillips’ case: Westgate residents and parents of children at the school have no official way of knowing that Phillips is spending time in their neighborhood because he registers as "homeless," not at the Westmoor Avenue address.

Columbus City Schools notify parents of schoolchildren when sex offenders register an address close to a school. But based on the registry, school officials would not have known that Phillips owns a house near a school.

O’Brien, believing that Phillips is in violation of the court order to register as a sex offender, has filed a contempt-of-court motion in the case. ..Source.. by Nathan Baca

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Marion forced to abandon tough sex offender ordinance over lawsuit threat

10-8-16 Texas:

The city of Marion was given an ultimatum recently, as Texas Voices For Reason and Justice (TVRJ) and the Law Office of Richard Gladden sent a letter asking the city to repeal a local sex offender ordinance.

“There’s not a single council member, and/or person in the audience, or staff that wanted that rescission of that ordinance,” Marion Mayor Bill Seiler said.

The letter addressing the ordinance reads:

“This letter is to provide your city and its representative officials with notice, in accordance with the Sections 101.101 and 311.034 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code of a legal claim that I intend to file for TVRJ on behalf of its members ... against the city of Marion.”

During a phone interview on Tuesday, Gladden explained that in 2007, current Governor of Texas Greg Abbott, who was then the Attorney General wrote a legal opinion that said general-law cities — cities with less than 5,000 population — do not have legal authority under Article 11, Section 4 of the Texas Constitution to implement permanent residency restrictions for sex offenders.

Abbott’s legal opinion says “A general-law municipality is a political subdivision ‘created by the State and, such as, possess(es) those powers and privilege that the State expressly confers upon [it].’ Tex. Dep’t of Transp. v. City of Sunset Valley, 146 S.W.3d 637 , 645(Tex.2004). We have found no law authorizing a general-law municipality to adopt this type of residence restriction. Thus, unless the Legislature expressly authorizes it, a general-law municipality may not adopt an ordinance restricting where a registered sex offender may live.”

“It (the legal opinion) wasn’t a secret,” Gladden said. “Texas Municipal League (TML) put out a memorandum and sent it to all cities, but approximately 80 went ahead and did it anyway. When I spoke with the organization (TVRJ) it was more cities than we really needed to sue ... we narrowed it down to 46 cities, which initially did not include Marion.”

The Texas Municipal League provides services to Texas cities and advocate the interests of cities and city officials.

City of Marion attorney Peter Gruning said in Marion’s defense, the legal opinion does not specify what general-law cities can and can’t do.

“The general-law cities say under our general police powers, and under our ability to protect the public at large, we do have the authority to do that,” he said. “There has been one attorney general opinion that barely addresses the issue of general-law cities, but does seem to say that general-law cities don’t seem to have the authority — that’s an advisory opinion. The attorney general doesn’t make law, but gives opinions.”

A former resident of Marion, who declined to comment, is required to register as a sex offender and is about to end his probation, Gladden said. That resident and his family own property in Marion and would like to return home, but the ordinance does not allow it.

TVRJ Executive Director Mary Sue Molnar said those who are required to register regularly face these obstacles, which ultimately, are counterproductive.

“The (Marion) residency restrictions put the entire town off limits,” she said. “Residency restrictions don’t work, it creates homelessness and splits families. With 80,000 people required to register in the state, and 12 new people added to that list everyday, Texas could be facing a crisis.”

“We’re not for any law that sounds good, or feels good. Residency restrictions don’t work, they’re counterproductive for tons of reasons,” she added.

The original Marion ordinance, Sect. 1 states:

“The City Council of the city of Marion finds that sex offenders who are required to register as a sexual predator under V.T.C.A., Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 62, present an extreme threat to the health, safety and welfare of children ... locations where children regularly congregate in concentrated numbers wherein certain registered sex offenders and sexual predators are prohibited from loitering or prohibited from establishing temporary or permanent residency.”

The ordinance, which was adopted in March 2011, required those who register as sex offenders to keep 1,000 feet away from real property where children regularly gather.

Seiler said the only reason why the city council wanted to implement the ordinance was to protect children.

“One of the things that was not covered in the zones for the state was bus stops,” he said. “So, our intention was to include every possibility where children gathered and obviously, bus stops are where they gather. By doing that, and because of the many stops around the city, it blanketed the city. I don’t know if, at the time, we thought it was stricter than the states’. We thought that it would comply with the intent of the law.”

Gruning explained that if the city went to court on the issue, it would start at the district court, then go up to the court of appeals. Because there are cities already in litigation, and the issue has been brought to the attention of the state legislature, he said waiting would be best for the city.

“There are two different ways this can go: court of appeals can make a determination, but the state legislature has been asked to consider the authority of a general-law city,” he said. “If they take that up, as long as the law that they pass on it meets constitutional muster, that law will proceed what the courts do on the court of appeals. The issue is being considered both in appellate courts and hopefully, by the legislature. If that’s the case, the advise I gave this city is let’s wait and see.”

Additionally, Seiler said going through the city budget, there wouldn’t be enough resources to proceed with the litigation.

“There’s no way with the revenues we receive that we could ever withstand the deep pockets of the opponents,’” he said. “In fact, we would’ve spent the entire city budget within about six months and not be able to run the city. Just on the lawsuit itself, that type of litigation is very expensive.”

Texas law states that no registered sex offender can live within 500 feet of community safety zones or 1,000 feet of the victim, schools, or childcare facilities.

“It (the state law) removed a few areas, but not the main areas,” Seiler said. “The protections for the kids and individuals are still there, it just puts more work on my police force. And they’re certainly up to it.”

Seiler said city council will try to implement the original ordinance soon and until then will attend legislative sessions and advocate for the rights of general-law cities.

“They must think the constitutionality of these individual’s rights is worth more than ensuring our children are safe,” he said.

However, Molnar said she disagrees that having resident restrictions will be an effective way to handle this sensitive issue.

“What’s shocking to me, is that the majority of these public officials have not done the research on the effectiveness of these policies,” she said. “All they have is a feel good factor, where it sounds good to the constituents.”

Currently, TVRJ has sued 11 cities and 12 are on the list to be sued, Gladden said. ..Source.. by Jennifer Luna

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California Settles Sex-Offender Lawsuit Over Halloween Signs

10-5-16 California:

California's corrections department has agreed not to require sex offenders to post do-not-disturb signs on their doors during Halloween.

A sex offender from Chula Vista sued the state last year, saying he'd been ordered to post a warning that he doesn't participate in trick-or-treating.

The lawsuit argued such warnings violate offenders' due process and free speech rights and could make them targets for vigilantes.

Corrections officials say the signs were never a statewide policy. But on Tuesday officials said they agreed not to require the signs and to pay $14,000 in attorney's fees to a lawyer who filed the lawsuit.

The agreement affects California's Operation Boo, which aims to protect young trick-and-treaters from pedophiles by imposing a Halloween curfew on sex offenders. ,,Source.. by ABC News

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California: Sex offenders will have to disclose email addresses, user names under new law

9-28-16 California:

Sex offenders will soon have to report their email addresses, user names and other Internet identifiers to police under a bill Governor Jerry Brown signed Wednesday.

The bill, authored by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), will apply to people convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2017 of Internet-related sex crimes.

Law enforcement can use the information only to investigate a sex crime, kidnapping or human trafficking. Offenders will have 30 days to report new or modified addresses and usernames.

The bill amends parts of California law enacted in 2012 when voters passed Proposition 35, an anti sex-trafficking law.

Proposition 35 passed by statewide ballot with more than 80% of the vote. It increased punishments for human traffickers and expanded the definition of human trafficking to include the creation and distribution of child pornography.

In 2014, a federal court sided with a challenge to the law that argued parts of Proposition 35 violated sex offenders’ constitutional rights. The court gave California until the end of this year to fix flaws it found in the law.

"We have learned that the internet has become extremely popular for sex crimes," Hueso said in a statement last month when the Legislature passed the bill. "We must take action to protect our children and take this growing problem very seriously." ..Source.. by LATimes.com

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Prison rehabilitation program gets an overhaul

9-28-16 Idaho:

Offenders sentenced to the rider treatment programs no longer will have the option of serving a 90-day stint.

The Council of State Governments reviewed the Idaho Department of Correction a year ago and found the department needed to modernize its programming.

As a part of a revamping of the all Department of Correction facilities, the rider program had new curricula added. A rider is served at an intensive rehabilitation facility where offenders enter treatment with the hope of diverting them from recidivism.

Ashley Dowell, Department of Correction’s Division of Prisons deputy chief, said in the past judges could sentence offenders to a 90-day, 120-day, nine-month or yearlong rehabilitation program.

“Their (the Council of State Governments) findings (on) our old programs was that they were complex and confusing and needed to be modernized,” Dowell said.

Formally known as the Retained Jurisdiction Program, minimum-security prisons located in Cottonwood and Kuna use therapy-based treatment to change offenders’ attitudes so that they don’t re-offend.

Under the new guidelines, individuals are now assessed on what kind of rehabilitation they need and, on average, those offenders will be incarcerated at the prisons for 180 days up to one year.

The curricula has been changed to include a substance abuse intervention program created by the University of Cincinnati, a sex offender rehabilitation program also created by the university, and shorter programs such as the aggression replacement training and “thinking for a change” program aimed at correcting criminal thinking.

The new programs are available at all prison facilities, not just rider facilities, Dowell said.

The substance abuse program was created in 2010 and is utilized by more than 75 agencies across the U.S. The sex offender treatment program is about a year old and is recommended for offenders who are a moderate- to high-risk to re-offend.

The programming includes discussion, role-playing and active participation in groups of eight to 10 inmates. The groups, guided by a facilitator, help identify triggers and promote problem-solving and social skills.

The therapeutic community rider used in the past has been eliminated, Dowell said. She said the department streamlined the curriculum and adopted the new programs because they are “evidence-based,” in mitigating recidivism.

She said the Council of State Governments submitted its report assessing the prison system in September 2015, and the staff at the Kuna and Cottonwood facilities were first to receive training and updated programs.

Dowell said no additional staffing was required to meet the new standards. Training, however, was the most costly portion of modernizing the programming. Dowell said the cost was offset by the open domain training material that can be printed for free.

“There was a little bit of a trade-off there,” she said. “We don’t have pay for the manuals to access the program material. Before we had to buy manuals at cost, so there was a manual per offender.”

When a judge retains jurisdiction over an offender and sends them on a rider, the judge periodically receives updates on the inmate’s progress and what kind of treatment they are receiving. Dowell said this did not change with overhaul.

“The programs we used for a long time initially showed good outcomes, then there were some mixed outcomes,” Dowell said.

With the new programs, inmates are receiving much more consistent, individualized rehabilitation, Dowell said. ..Source.. by TOM HOLM

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Human-Trafficking Victims Get Help in Calif.

9-28-16 California:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday approved a series of bills aimed at protecting victims of human trafficking and exempting minors from prostitution penalties.

The flurry of human trafficking-related bills increase protections for victims of California's sex industry and allows law enforcement to place exploited minors into temporary custody. Brown also approved laws allowing certain trafficking witnesses to testify through closed-circuit television and to give courts the authority to vacate minors' prior prostitution convictions.

Slowing California's underground industry of human trafficking and child prostitution was a major focus for lawmakers this legislative session. According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center statistics, more than 711 cases of human trafficking were reported in California in 2015, and more than 3,800 cases since 2007.

Brown approved seven separate trafficking bills on Monday, including Senate Bill 1322 by state Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles.

Mitchell's proposal bars law enforcement from arresting minors for soliciting or loitering. She argued that SB 1322 was necessary because current laws don't go far enough to protect child victims.

"The law is supposed to protect vulnerable children from adult abuse, yet we brand kids enmeshed in sex-for-pay with a scarlet 'P' and leave them subject to shame and prosecution," Mitchell said in a statement. "This is our opportunity to do what we say is right in cases of sex trafficking: stop the exploiters and help the exploited."

Mitchell has now authored four different bills dealing with human trafficking during her stint in the state Senate.

Senate Bill 1129, by state Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, eliminates mandatory minimum sentences for prostitution crimes. Current laws call for repeat offenders to be sentenced to a minimum of 45 days in county jail.

The trafficking bills overcame opposition from lawmakers who questioned whether the state's overburdened social services programs could handle a potential influx of young trafficking victims.

Meanwhile, some law enforcement groups warned that removing and lessening prostitution penalties could have the unintended impact of sending victims quickly back to their traffickers.

Brown did veto a bill by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, to create safe houses for exploited children. Assembly Bill 1730 proposed a pilot program in four counties to provide rehabilitative services for youth sex trafficking victims.

In a veto message, Brown noted that the state included $19 million for trafficking prevention and intervention in the state budget, and that Atkins' pilot program should be dealt with during the budget process. ..Source.. by NICK CAHILL

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