A Harlingen couple is facing criminal charges after being accused of brutally beating a convicted sex offender. Harlingen police arrested 31-year-old Monica Nieves and her 19-year-old boyfriend Juan Quezada. Investigators told Action 4 News that it all happened on the 200 block of East Madison Avenue. Police said Nieves slapped and attacked the man while Quezada jumped in to punched him. Both of them told police that they did it because the man was a sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreYear: 2013
OH: Lawmaker wants to expand death penalty to include sex crimes
CLEVELAND (AP) – The case of 3 Cleveland women held captive for a decade is inspiring an Ohio lawmaker to call for expanding the state’s death penalty law. State Rep. John Becker of suburban Cincinnati wants the death penalty to cover some sex-related crimes. Full Article
Read MoreFL: They Shoot Sex Offenders, Don’t They?
In this week’s print edition of New Times, you’ll find a feature story on the warring opinions over Florida’s sex offender registry. It’s also not the only piece of journalism around town this week diving into the issue. Over the last three days the Sun-Sentinel has dropped a large-scale investigation into the state’s Jimmy Ryce law, a safeguard designed to keep the state’s worst sex offenders locked up after their prison time. Even though the investigation’s data-mining turned up some troubling trends, the series was a textbook knee-jerk sex offender story: the data…
Read MoreNC: Court strikes down law banning sex offenders from social media
RALEIGH, N.C. — A 2008 law making it a felony for registered sex offenders to use social media websites in North Carolina was struck down Tuesday after a challenge by a Durham man. ___ ___., a registered sex offender from Durham, appealed to the state after being convicted in May 2012 of accessing a commercial social networking website. ___ alleged that North Carolina General Statute 14-202.5 violated his rights to “free speech, expression, association, assembly and the press under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” Full Article
Read MoreLA: Council moves forward with raising fees for convicted sex offenders
Sulphur, LA – Currently, any convicted sex offender who moves into the city pays a $60 fee for their initial registration. That same amount is charged for the annual renewals of those already living in Sulphur. If passed, the new ordinance, according to Councilman Stuart Moss, would make the initial registration $600 and the annual renewal fee $200. Full Article
Read MoreNational RSOL Conference: One-Day Pass Now Available
One-day passes are now available to attend the national RSOL conference to be held in L.A. starting Aug. 30. The cost of the pass is only $50 and can either be purchased online at www.nationalrsol.org or at the door. “National RSOL is providing this opportunity in order to allow maximum participation in the conference,” stated Janice Bellucci, CA RSOL president. “It is a wonderful opportunity for people who can only attend one day of the conference.” There will be a wide range of presentations by individual speakers and panels at…
Read MoreNE: Study – Sex offender registry might not increase public safety
The way Nebraska tracks sex offenders might not be protecting public safety as well as the system lawmakers abandoned in 2009, according to a study commissioned by the state Legislature. Under the old system, only the names of sex offenders deemed by the Nebraska State Patrol as most likely to re-offend were publicized. Those who had committed minor offenses and were considered at low risk of re-offending — known as Level 1 offenders — were required to register with law enforcement agencies, but their information wasn’t made public. Full Article…
Read MoreTX: Juvenile Sex Offenders Get Virtual Life Sentence
When Allen and his girlfriend moved into their Austin-area house, a woman down the street passed out fliers warning neighbors a monster had moved in next door. His front door was egged, their cars broken into, and “people started crossing the street instead of walking in front of my house,” said Allen, who asked that the Current not use his full name. Full Article
Read MoreMonterey County deputies probe shooting of sex offender
Monterey County sheriff’s deputies grappled with a mysterious double homicide followed by the shooting of a convicted sex offender late Sunday and early Monday. Around 10:30 a.m. Monday, sheriff’s deputies and Salinas police officers found convicted rapist Donald Crisp, 58, seriously wounded by gunshots near the address listed as his residence on the state’s registered sex offender website. Full Article
Read MoreTX: 10-year-old girl arrested for allegedly raping 4-year-old boy
HOUSTON — The mother of a 10-year-old girl accused of raping a 4-year-old boy in their apartment complex said police have got it all wrong. “She was just being a child having fun and playing,” the woman said. “She didn’t know she was doing anything wrong.” Full Article
Read MoreAP Impact: Some ankle bracelet alarms go unchecked
Three decades after they were introduced as a crime-fighting tool, electronic ankle bracelets used to track an offender’s whereabouts have proliferated so much that officials are struggling to handle an avalanche of monitoring alerts that are often nothing more sinister than a dead battery, lost satellite contact or someone arriving home late from work. Amid all that white noise, alarms are going unchecked, sometimes on defendants now accused of new crimes. Full Article
Read MoreSexOffenderMap.org Lists Top Ten States with Highest Rate of Offenders
Los Angeles, CA — (SBWIRE) — 08/08/2013 — Sex Offender Map, a free service providing information to parents and concerned citizens about the sex offender rates in their states and neighborhoods, announces its 2013 list of the top ten states with the worst sex offender rates. The three states that top the list are Delaware, Wyoming and Oregon. Using demographic profiles of each state combined with sex offender data from the Parents for Megan’s Law website, the list highlights the top ten states with the highest amount of sex offenders…
Read MoreSex offenders routinely released from California jails, records show [with video]
Stockton, California (CNN) — Convicted sex offenders and other felons in California are systematically walking free, despite continuously violating their parole. It’s the result of laws meant to alleviate California’s overcrowded prisons and jails. Two years ago, county judges all across the state lost their authority to send convicted felons back to prison for parole violations. Instead, they must send them to county jails. Full Article / Video
Read MoreOnline Predators Not Distinctively Dangerous Sex Offenders
A new University of New Hampshire study challenges the view that online predators are a distinctly dangerous variety of sex offender, requiring special programs to protect youth. The study from the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center finds that sex offenders who target teens increasingly use Internet and cell phone communications to lure teens into sexual relationships. In crimes that involve such communications, offenders who meet and recruit youth online operate in much the same way as offenders who meet and know youth in ordinary offline environments. Full Article
Read MoreOH: You & The Law “Sex Offender Laws”
Host Mike Monta gives you an inside look at Montgomery County’s “Sex Offender Laws” and how they impact you. (Link sent via this web site) [hana-flv-player video=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGKtGORA3c” width=”200″ description=”” player=”5″ autoload=”true” autoplay=”false” loop=”false” autorewind=”true” clickurl=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGKtGORA3c” /] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGKtGORA3c
Read MoreSex Offender Registries: Fear without Function? A Study
Abstract: I use three separate data sets and designs to determine whether sex offender registries are effective. First, I use state-level panel data to determine whether sex offender registries and public access to them decrease the rate of rape and other sexual abuse. Second, I use a data set that contains information on the subsequent arrests of sex offenders released from prison in 1994 in 15 states to determine whether registries reduce the recidivism rate of offenders required to register compared with the recidivism of those who are not. Finally, I…
Read MoreCA RSOL Letter to Ed Royce, Chairman Committee on Foreign Affairs re. H.R. 2848 (Int. Megan’s Law)
Below find a copy of a letter sent by CA RSOL’s Janice Bellucci to Ed Royce, Chairman Committee on Foreign Affaris in opposition to H.R. 2848 (Int. Megan’s Law). Feel free to use this letter as a guide to compose your own letter protesting this unconstitutional portion of the bill. Full Size Letter (pdf)
Read More2011: A Quiet but Growing Judicial Rebellion Against Harsh Sentences For CP Offenses
Federal criminal sentences should be “sufficient, but not greater than necessary.” They should fit the crime, provide for “adequatedeterrence,” “protect the public,” and promote rehabilitation. Since the Supreme Court decisions in Booker and Kimbrough, federal courts again have great discretion, within certain limits, to decide appropriate federal sentences. Congress, however, has taken pains to limit that discretion with regard to child pornography offenses, and the federal courts, in a series of judicial decisions across the country, including recent Second and Third Circuit decisions, are firmly rebelling. The questions arise: Are the courts right?…
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