Imagine someone offers you a cigarette, you accept and about halfway through smoking it they tell you the cigarette contains marijuana and they are arresting you for possession. The cigarette never actually contained marijuana and you never sought out drugs, but you get arrested anyhow. That’s how many who were arrested in sex offender stings feel. Last Friday, Tampa’s CBS affiliate, WTSP, had the courage to report on something that victims had been screaming about for years; Sex Offender stings. Only in this case it’s not an abused child who…
Read MoreDay: March 19, 2014
Parents, Stop Panicking About Sexual Predators Online
In a recent New York Times profile, Danah Boyd was described by one of her colleagues at NYU as our first anthropologist “who comes from the tribe she’s studying,” meaning that the 36-year-old researcher is a digital native who grew up immersed in the same online culture as the teenagers she now studies. “Danah Boyd often dresses like her youthful subjects,” reads the caption on a photo of her wearing a fuzzy animal beanie and striped knee-highs, suggesting that Boyd is an emissary from a new and unexplored terrain. But…
Read MoreLoma Linda agress not to enforce sex offender ordinance
The City of Loma Linda has joined a growing number of cities by agreeing not to enforce its sex offender ordinance that prohibits registered citizens from entering city parks and other recreational areas. The agreement will last until the California Supreme Court makes its decision whether or not to review two recent Court of Appeals decisions that overturned similar ordinances in Orange County and the City of Irvine. Loma Linda’s decision was conveyed to California RSOL in a letter signed by the City Manager and dated March 17, 2014. The…
Read MoreEl Centro City Council repeals city ordinance on registered sex offender restrictions
El Centro City Council approved repealing a city ordinance relating to registered sex offender restrictions due to a state law that precedes the city’s ordinance. The city recently received a letter from a nonprofit group asking them to repeal the ordinance and would challenge the ordinance in court if it was not repealed in 60 days, El Centro Mayor Viegas-Walker said. El Centro and many other cities throughout the state are now having to repeal ordinances implemented in 2006 while the state figured out what the rules would be, said…
Read MoreRe-Offense Rate Drops in New CDCR Report
The rate at which registered citizens on parole commit a second sex offense has dropped to 1.8 percent according to a new report issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). “The rate of re-offense for registered citizens on parole is an important fact for the public to know,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “It debunks the myth that registered citizens ‘always’ re-offend.” The report also noted a rise in parole violations from 86.9 percent to 88 percent. Parole violations can be minimal including consumption of a single alcoholic beverage…
Read MoreAdditional Counseling Not Required For Some Registrants
The California Supreme Court has denied review of a case thereby relieving some registered citizens from the duty to participate in a state-mandated sex offender management program. Specifically, as a result of the Supreme Court’s denial, registered citizens currently on probation whose sex offense occurred prior to September 10, 2010, are not required to complete a sex offender management program mandated by Penal Code Section 1203.067(b). The Supreme Court’s decision lets stand the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case People v. Douglas M. which was decided on October 24, 2013. The case was…
Read MoreTN: Sex Offender Notification Bill Advances In Tennessee Legislature
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn.(WHNT)-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. … “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…
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