Year: 2013

Two years ago, Joey Dauben was full-time small-town muckraker, publishing the Ellis County Observer and a string of other small papers, blending investigative stories with vicious gossip and baseless speculation at a rate of speed that thrilled and enraged his target audience. He focused intensely on child pornography and child sex abuse, alleging that child porn rings were rampant on Facebook, which he called “the breeding ground of a massive, global, inter-connected, sick and sadistic, electronic child porn, child-sex trafficking ring.” But in December 2011, Dauben, now 32, became the…

OKLAHOMA CITY – A stunning change involving sex offender laws could be making its way to Oklahoma. “I think it can open up an opportunity but being in prison around other sex offenders, if they want to reoffend, they’re going to find a way,” sex offender _____  _____ said. “If a person want [sic] to do something, they’re going to find it, if it’s the daycare down the street or church or a kid walking home from school.” _____ is a registered sex offender. It is labeled on his driver’s license,…

CONCORD – Supporters of the rights of criminal offenders turned out at legislative hearings on procedural matters Tuesday to complain about the way they are treated after serving their time. The House Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony on bills to study the state’s use of the sex offender registry and to add another means of notifying victims that an offender is up for parole. Offenders complained that the sex offender registry overstates offenses in some instances, while parole advocates said that hearings sometimes amount to a new trial on the…

Montville — The town avoided a potential civil rights lawsuit when it rescinded two ordinances Monday that placed restrictions on where registered sex offenders would be allowed in town. The Town Council voted to repeal the ordinances that created so-called child and senior safety zones. Marked by signs, these zones were designed to keep registered sex offenders from town-owned and town-leased property such as the senior center, senior buses, parks, playgrounds, beaches and sports fields. Since the ordinance was introduced, Councilors Rosetta Jones and Dana McFee have voiced their concerns…

_____ _____ is a fugitive and accused pedophile, and to some, he’s also a poster child for a European judicial system that often would rather let criminals roam their streets freely than see them subjected to American justice. Nearly 20 years ago, _____, who is now 43, fled to Ireland after being charged with raping a 14-year-old girl and molesting two boys in Minnesota. _____, who had dual citizenship, was accused of assaulting two girls in Ireland in 1997, but fled to London, where police finally caught up with him…

New Mexico lawmakers are now mulling a ban against registered sex offenders on Facebook and other social networking sites, while states, like Texas, are considering forcing them to identify their crimes in their profiles.  The Texas bill would reportedly force certain sex offenders to embed in their profile the type of their offence, the location where it occurred, their full name, date of birth, sex, race, height, weight, and eye and hair color. Full Article

SOUTH SALT LAKE — Using words such as “bullies,” “extortionists” and “trash,” Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder on Thursday blasted tabloid magazines and websites that post mug shots from his jail and then demand money for the pictures to be removed. “In my opinion, what we’re seeing today is nothing short of extortion in our county,” Winder said. “This practice must be stopped.” Because of the recent booming practice of some private companies publishing all mug shots in a single publication, Winder announced that as of Thursday, mug shots…

Former New York City mayoral candidate and author Mark Green advocated for new legislation that would allow people to identify and locate gun owners who lived in their neighborhoods. He compared it to the already existing “Megan’s Law,” which lets citizens know if a convicted sex offender lives near them. Then he flat-out compared sex offenders to gun owners. “If we have a Megan’s Law — because I think almost everyone might agree — that if you’re a convicted child molester, a neighbor might want to know that because they’re…