One evening in February 2012, Vassar College students Xialou “Peter” Yu and Mary Claire Walker, both members of the school’s rowing team, had a few drinks at a team gathering and left together as the party wound down. After a make-out session at a campus nightspot, they went to Yu’s dorm room, where, by his account, they had sex that was not only consensual but mainly initiated by Walker, who reassured her inexperienced partner that she knew what to do. At some point, Yu’s roommate walked in on them; after…
Read MoreYear: 2013
WA: Sex offenders, ACLU sue to hide low-level offenders’ identities [updated]
“My family would lose everything.” That’s the argument made by a King County sex offender terrified his name will be publicized if the State Patrol releases the sex offender registry it maintains. A married father of two convicted of sex crimes in 2009, the man is one of two low-level sex offenders brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the state from releasing the names of 21,000 registered sex offenders residing in Washington. Full Article UPDATE (12/20): No Decisions Made on Sex Offender Information Request
Read MoreLocal man illustrates state sex offender trend
On the same day last month that state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris was announcing an initiative designed to stop criminals from re-offending, prosecutors were in Antelope Valley Superior Court for a pretrial hearing in a case filed against ____ ____ ____, 70, a Valencia resident and three-time convicted sex offender. In the latest case against ____ due to go to court next year, he’s charged with annoying a girl by following her and videotaping her inside a Valencia retail store. Full Article
Read MoreNV: State reluctantly implements ‘harsh’ sex offender law
Full implementation of a 6-year-old Nevada law may soon cause a dramatic increase in the number of registered sex offenders — raising questions about whether the intended punishment fits the crime. One state lawmaker suggested dumping part of the “terrible, overly harsh law” as it applies to juvenile offenders. Congress approved the Adam Walsh Act in 2006 as a guideline for state laws on sex crimes. The statute was intended to toughen punishment for sex offenders, including making their photos, names and addresses available to the general public. Nevada legislators…
Read MoreSierra Madre Stops Enforcement of Sex Offender Ordinance
The City of Sierra Madre has agreed to stop enforcement of its sex offender ordinance, which prohibited all registered sex offenders, from residing in most of the city and from being present in child safety zones that included the city’s schools, parks and public library. The Sierra Madre City Council approved this action on December 10 after being sued in federal district court by one of the city’s four registered citizens. The legal challenge was based upon allegations that the city ordinance violated the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S.…
Read MoreGA: Student suspended for a year for hugging teacher
A Duluth High School senior has been suspended for one year and won’t graduate on time for hugging a teacher last month. ____ ____, 17, was suspended last week when a school hearing officer found he violated the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ rules on sexual harassment. Full Article
Read MoreSymposium: Predators, Porn & the Law
The growing enactment of sex offender restrictions has been one of the most notable developments in criminal law in recent decades. Thus far, courts across the country have been relatively complacent in allowing legislatures to test the limits of various civil liberties. The Ex Post Facto Clause has been among the first constitutional victims of these new laws. Whereas the Clause was once construed as a substantive right protecting citizens against vindictive or arbitrary legislative actions often based upon the hysteria of the moment, it has become a hollow shell…
Read MoreJuror in child molester case removed for using dictionaries
Judge finds juror committed ‘serious, willful misconduct’ for using standard dictionaries to look up a critical word during deliberations. SANTA ANA – A juror was removed for misconduct Wednesday for using dictionaries to look up a word during deliberations in a trial to determine whether a twice-convicted child molester should remain locked up in a mental hospital as a sexually violent predator. The juror referenced the word “likely” in a dictionary at home and brought another dictionary into the deliberating room, disobeying repeated admonishments from Orange County Superior Court Judge…
Read MoreOH: Changing Sex Offender Penalties (700 WLW Radio)
Scott talks with Derek Logue about the push to get penalties for sex offenders changed. Link
Read MoreSenator’s chief of staff arrested on child porn-related charges, authorities say
(CNN) – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander’s chief of staff was arrested on Wednesday on child pornography related charges, federal prosecutors said. ____ ____ ____, 35, was held pending a planned hearing on Thursday in federal court in Washington, according to a Justice Department statement. “I am stunned, surprised and disappointed by what I have learned,” Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, said in a statement earlier in the day, noting that his office is cooperating in the investigation. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Court overturns escort’s sex offender label
BOSTON (AP) — The state’s highest court on Wednesday overturned the classification of a former escort service manager as a low-level sex offender, finding that the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board should have considered research showing women are less likely than men to commit new sex offenses. Full Article
Read MorePolice overkill has become the default American policy
If all you’ve got is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail. And if police and prosecutors are your only tool, sooner or later everything and everyone will be treated as criminal. This is increasingly the American way of life, a path that involves “solving” social problems (and even some non-problems) by throwing cops at them, with generally disastrous results. Wall-to-wall criminal law encroaches ever more on everyday life as police power is applied in ways that would have been unthinkable just a generation ago. Full Article
Read MoreCT: 2 Legislators Want To Keep Sex Offenders Away From Children
A Republican and a Democrat announced plans last week to push for a law to prohibit sex offenders from living near places where children gather. The proposal comes from Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby, and Sen. Joe Crisco, D-Woodbridge. In a joint press release, the two legislators called for legislation establishing a 1,000-foot radius around schools, daycares, “and other locations where children typically gather.” The bill would prevent any registered sex offenders from residing within these zones. “The last thing a parent should have to worry about when they send their…
Read MorePush to ban crime box on job applications expands
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim wants to make this question virtually obsolete on job applications in San Francisco: Have you been convicted of a crime? Kim is proposing to expand the city’s existing ban by having it include most private employers, publicly funded housing providers and city contractors. Ten states and more than 50 cities have adopted some version of “ban the box,” and a growing number of private employers are also jumping on board – earlier this year, Target announced it would strip the question from its applications. The federal…
Read MoreCO: 6 year old suspended for kissing a girl
DENVER (AP) — The suspension of a 6-year-old boy for kissing a girl at school is raising questions about whether the peck should be considered sexual harassment. The boy’s mother said officials at Lincoln School of Science and Technology in Canon City, a southern Colorado city of 16,000, are over-reacting. Jennifer Saunders said her son was suspended once before for kissing the girl and had other disciplinary problems, and she was surprised to find out that he would be forced out of school again for several days. Full Article
Read MoreFormer San Diego Mayor gets 3 months home confinement
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO — Disgraced former Mayor Bob Filner received three months of home confinement and three years of probation in a sentencing hearing Monday, the final chapter in Filner’s stunning fall following from his repeated inappropriate sexual behavior toward women. The sentencing by Superior Court Judge Robert Trentacosta came after Filner pleaded guilty in October to one felony charge of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor charges of battery. The former 10-term congressman will also have to seek mental health treatment, surrender a portion of his pension and be prohibited from…
Read MoreLiving with 290: The James D. Anderson Story
My name is James D. Anderson and I’ve been fighting The Sex Crime Witch Hunt for over 25 years now after being falsely accused of rape in 1985 by a deranged, serial false accuser who accused me in order to file a million dollar lawsuit. Check out my blog, The Jessica’s Law Nightmare in California at www.jessicaslawnightmare.blogspot.com/
Read MoreRuling may have vast effect on sex-offender registry, attorney says
Appeals court decision involving an Orange County case could impact thousands seeking to have their names removed from the ‘Megan’s Law’ list. SANTA ANA – A court ruling involving an Orange County case could result in hearings for thousands of California sex offenders seeking to have their names removed from the “Megan’s Law” registry, says an attorney who represents a sex offender. California’s 4th District Court of Appeal found unconstitutional a state law that allows some sex offenders to have hearings for certificates of rehabilitation while denying that right to…
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