ELGIN, Ill. (AP) – A former Illinois lawmaker who traded in child pornography has registered as a sex offender. Keith Farnham of Elgin is now listed on the Illinois State Police sex offender site as a “sexual predator” who possessed child pornography of a victim less than 13 years of age. The 67-year-old pleaded guilty to transporting child pornography in a federal courtroom in Chicago earlier this month. He faces up to 20 years in prison and remains under house arrest until his sentencing in March. Full Article
Read MoreYear: 2014
Victorville to mull sex offender laws [UPDATED]
12/17/2014: Victorville aligns sex offender laws with state VICTORVILLE — The City Council this week reluctantly agreed to align its local ordinance restricting the movements of registered sex offenders with a statewide system already in place. Victorville on Tuesday became one of at least 15 municipalities throughout the state this year to either repeal their ordinances or rewrite them to mirror state law. Others who have done so include Hesperia, Adelanto and Apple Valley. Full Article — VICTORVILLE — Amid a growing precedent and under pressure from a reform activist…
Read MoreThe overpolicing of American sex
Rape and sexual assault often do not get the police attention they deserve in the United States, whether on college campuses, in the military or in major American cities. This isn’t arguable. But sex is also vastly overpoliced in this country, and this ought to concern us, too. Full Op-Ed Piece
Read MoreJessica’s Law promised more than it could deliver
Jessica’s Law, the ballot measure to harness sex offenders, began eight years ago with a promise – one that parents whose daughters have disappeared, as well as law enforcement experts, now say lulled California into a false sense of security. Full Article
Read MoreTime for a Police Offenders Registry
This week, the Department of Justice announced new guidelines against racial profiling. The changes don’t actually change all that much. As regular incidents of police brutality get more and more mainstream media attention, it’s time for a bold move from the White House. Full Op-Ed Piece
Read MoreFL: SEX OFFENDERS should not be allowed to purchase lottery tickets; they just might win
If proof were ever needed that an individual, once listed on a sex offender registry, no matter for what offense nor how long ago, is forever more thereafter considered unworthy of anything good ever happening in his life, this is it. A registrant in Florida won a three million dollar scratch-off lottery, and the wrath of every hater in the United States and then some was raised beyond the boiling point. Full Op-Ed Piece
Read MoreH.R.4573 – International Megan’s Law Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar (Updated – reintroduced as HB515)
UPDATED WITH VOTE: WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation to extend Megan’s Law beyond American borders. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), would require the U.S. to tell other countries when convicted sex offenders are traveling there. It would also try to set up reciprocal notification systems so the U.S. is told when convicted sex offenders travel to this country. A 2010 Government Accountability Office report said that at least 4,500 U.S. passports went to registered sex offenders in fiscal year 2008.…
Read MoreIN: Unregistered sex offenders featured on local billboards
NDIANAPOLIS –Marion County is launching a new effort to go after sex offenders who have not registered by putting them out there for the world to see. It is required by law for sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement so police – and citizens – know where they live. Those who have not registered in Marion County now risk being featured on billboard around town. The pictures of 40 unregistered sex offenders will be placed on one of three billboards around town to help police find them.…
Read MoreMA: Sex-offender restrictions back on burner in Worcester
There has been an ongoing debate in Worcester over the past several years about whether the city should restrict where Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders can live. City councilors have talked about the need for an ordinance that would restrict those sex offenders from living within certain distances of public parks, schools, day care centers and other areas where young children may congregate. Full Article
Read MoreStudies, Experts Question Effect of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries
We all think we know what a sex offender looks like: a serial pedophile, likely male and middle-aged, who lurks in Internet chat rooms or hides behind church authority or children’s programs to prey on little kids. But an estimated 200,000 registered sex offenders in the United States are children, many as young as eight years old. Most never come off the registry and many end up committing suicide. The few who don’t have trouble finding jobs as adults and face violent attacks wherever they go, even though they haven’t…
Read MoreThis woman is trying to stop juvenile sex offenders — by helping them
Elizabeth Letourneau is one of the country’s leading experts on sex crime — why it happens and whether there are better ways to stop it. She focuses in particular on juvenile sex offenders: people who commit a sex crime before they turn 18. This is an important group to understand in the fight against child sex abuse. Juvenile sex offenders perpetrate approximately one-third of sexual offenses against minors. They are also are more likely than adult offenders to commit crimes against younger victims. That’s why it’s so important to figure…
Read MoreUT: In our opinion – Policy dilemma – how to handle prison issues with large number of sex offenders
The numbers are often repeated in discussions about sexual assault, but they never become less shocking. One out of three women in Utah will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime; one out of eight will be raped. But while there is evidence that a large percentage of sex crimes go uninvestigated and unprosecuted, there are still more people in prison in Utah for sexual assault than for any other category of crime. Full Opionion Piece
Read MoreVA: Sexting policy change debated
The Virginia State Crime Commission met Tuesday in Richmond to discuss an issue they have been tracking for some time — sexting by teenagers and the state’s child pornography laws. Last October, the Crime Commission heard that during the last five to 10 years, “sexting has attracted increased attention nationwide” and many of those participating are minors. Full Article
Read MoreConvicted sex offenders, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the First Amendment
Beginning in the 1930s, shortly after the Supreme Court had “incorporated” the First Amendment into the due process clause (thereby making it an enforceable constraint not only on the federal government [“Congress shall make no law . . .”] but on State and municipal governments as well) the Jehovah’s Witnesses went on a campaign to attack, in court, restrictions on their ability to proselytize door-to-door and to give voice to unpopular views. During one particular 8 year period (1938 to 1946) they brought no fewer than 23 separate First Amendment…
Read MoreLongtime Carson City Attorney Bill Wynder leaves post to do missionary work
Carson >> To say it’s not easy serving as Carson’s city attorney is an understatement. But the position’s importance, though largely behind the scenes, can’t be overstated — particularly because political dramas, lawsuits and ethics investigations are common in this town. … Earlier this year, all five council members ordered him to take on the California Supreme Court when that body ruled that local laws restricting the movement of sex offenders were unconstitutional. The council disagreed, and told Wynder to fight to protect its ordinance that requires registered sex offenders…
Read MoreGeneral Comments December 2014
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2014. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreTN: Pedophile Panic at the Salvation Army – No Teen Boys Allowed, Too Dangerous
When it comes to helping families in need, the Salvation Army turns a cold shoulder to one class of people: Teenage boys. A family in Johnson City, TN, found this out recently when, on a freezing cold night, they asked the organization for shelter. But because their family of five contained a 15-year-old boy, they were turned down. As the dad, Tim Lejeune, explained to WMC Action News 5: “They said he’s too old to stay on the women’s side, because of the women running around in their pajamas and they…
Read MoreTN: Kingsport police gets OK to set up sex offender community alert system
A new Tennessee law has paved the way for municipalities to establish their own sexual offender notification system. And the Kingsport Police Department wasted no time getting to work. … The state legislature passed the bill in April that allows local municipalities to create a sex offender notification system – and charge sex offenders a $50 fee to fund that system. This, on top of the $150 fee they must already pay to register as a sex offender. Full Article
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