Broadcaster Derryn Hinch says his plan for a public sex offenders register is almost complete and he hopes Daniel Morcombe’s murder will force politicians to act. Hinch has long campaigned to name and shame pedophiles and says the Morcombe case proves the need for a national register so Australians can understand threats in their communities. … Hinch, who has gone to jail for revealing details about sex offenders’ past crimes, says a national register is a no-brainer and that in the US it hasn’t resulted in the kind of vigilante action…
Read MoreYear: 2014
General avoids sex offender list
Raleigh, N.C.— Defense attorneys said Sunday that an Army general has agreed to a plea deal that includes the dropping of sexual assault charges against him. Lawyers representing Brig. Gen. ____ ____ said he will plead to lesser charges in exchange for having the sexual assault charges dropped, along with two other counts that might have required Sinclair to register as a sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreMN: As Sex Offender Program Marches On, Rising Costs
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers are getting nowhere over how to resolve constitutional questions about the state’s sex offender treatment program, but the same can’t be said about the program’s costs. They’re going somewhere — up. Full Article
Read MoreAR: Police Check On Sex Offenders As Spring Break Looms
Multiple agencies in Sebastian and Crawford counties conducted a sex offender compliance operation this week in preparation for keeping the community safe during spring break, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Operation “Safe Break” confirmed compliance with 452 offenders, checking on them to make sure they are following all sex offender requirements, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Authorities made four arrests during the operation, which involved non-compliance with sex offender registration. Officers will also be seeking warrants on another 10 offenders not arrested during the operation but who appear…
Read MoreTX: Houston father shoots and kills boy in teen daughter’s room
A Houston father shot and killed a teenage boy he found in the room of his 16-year-old daughter in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said. The father heard noises coming from the room and went to investigate. Upon finding the 17-year-old boy with his daughter, the father got into a fight with the boy, and “the homeowner, who was armed, shot the male once,” the office said. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Dozens of sex offenders in Suffolk gave wrong addresses
Dozens of registered sex offenders living in Suffolk County provided inaccurate addresses in the year since county lawmakers passed a law to intensify monitoring of the ex-convicts, and more than 140 others were found to have violated rules requiring them to update their photos on a state registry. Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, contracted by the county last year to monitor more than 900 registered sex offenders, told lawmakers Thursday that the increased scrutiny has led to an increase in arrests for violating state reporting requirements.…
Read MoreMaking Punishment Fit the Crime
Todd R. Clear, dean of Rutgers University–Newark School of Criminal Justice, is one of the country’s leading criminologists. A former president of the American Society of Criminology, he is widely known for his advocacy of evidence-based programs. In his newest book, The Punishment Imperative: The Rise and Failure of Mass Incarceration in America, Clear notes that the U.S. stands out among Western democracies for the “relentless punitive spirit” of its three-decades long mass incarceration policies. Full Article
Read MoreDo we really need new sex offender laws every time a child is killed?
First, we need to get out of the way the accusations, based on the title of this post, that I don’t care about the victims. I care about the victims much, much more than those who persist in supporting a system that all but ignores the victims and apparently doesn’t care about any victims except those victimized by registered sex offenders. Florida has just passed a plethora of laws, and is looking to pass more, under the guise of protecting children from those registered sex offenders. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreIN: Many sex offenders fail to register with the state
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – I-Team 8 has learned deputies in Colorado were after an Indiana sex offender the day they say he murdered a mother and her two children, just five and nine years old. I-Team 8 Chief Investigative Reporter Karen Hensel has uncovered ___ ___ once on parole in Indiana, failed to register. ____ moved from Indiana to Colorado in 2012 where he was required to register four times a year. Colorado deputies tell I-Team 8 he was supposed to register March 4. A five day grace period meant the…
Read MoreCalifornia Bill Redefines Quiet, Consensual Sex as Rape
How does classifying most consensual sex as rape help rape victims? As a lawyer who has handled rape and sexual harassment cases, I have no idea, but this radical result is what some want to happen in California. In endorsing a bill in the California legislature that would require “affirmative consent” before sex can occur on campus, the editorial boards of the Sacramento and Fresno Bee, and the Daily Californian advocated that sex be treated as “sexual assault” unless the participants discuss it “out loud” before sex, and “demonstrate they…
Read MoreTX: ‘Failure to register’ nets sex offender 60 years
A Willis man was convicted to 60 years in prison Tuesday for failure to register as a sex offender. A Montgomery County jury in the 435th District Court found ___ ___ ___, 59, guilty of failure to register as a sex offender Monday, and District Court Judge Michael T. Seiler sentenced ___ to 60 years in prison on Tuesday. “We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict and the judge’s sentence,” said assistant prosecutor Shanna Redwine. “Both the jury and the judge obviously appreciate the danger of having a convicted…
Read MoreID: Man Sentenced for Felony Battery on Registered Sex Offender
TWIN FALLS – A man convicted of felony aggravated battery for beating a 69-year-old man was sentenced Monday in Twin Falls County District Court. Bradley Houser, 35, was sentenced to the state’s retained jurisdiction program. He will attend the Correctional Alternative Placement Program through the Idaho Department of Correction. After the program, a judge can either put Houser on probation or send him to prison for an underlying sentence of three to 15 years. Houser was also ordered to reimburse the county public defender’s office for $500 and was ordered to pay…
Read MoreGeneral won’t plead guilty if it means sex-offender registry, defense says
(CNN) — The defense and prosecution were hammering out a plea deal Tuesday in the court-martial of Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, but no matter what the negotiations hold, the defense says three things are off the table. First, Sinclair won’t plead guilty to sexual assault, said Josh Zeitz, a spokesman for the general’s defense team. Nor will he plead guilty to any charge that will land him on a sex-offender registry. And lastly, Zeitz said, Sinclair will not plead guilty to threatening his accuser or her family. Full Article
Read MoreAre Record Numbers of Sex Offenders a Bad Idea in Downtown L.A.?
Downtown L.A. is going through a growth spurt: New bars and restaurants open almost every week, lofts are filling with tenants and even young families heeded the DTLA call and have begun to set roots in the area. But there is one population that has gone largely unpublicized; sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreW.A.R. on ‘It Could Be You’ KABF 88.3 FM, Arkansas
From W.A.R. Facebook – “It Could Be You”, a talk-radio program on Little Rock, Arkansas, station KABF 88.3 FM (“The Voice of the People”) airs Wednesdays 2:00–3:00 PM Central Time. “It Could Be You” is a forum through which social justice organizations, criminal justice reform organizations, community activists, and persons and organizations providing help to those in need can discuss their work, their goals, and how the public can contact them, offer their assistance, or more effectively reach out to the underserved in the community, the state, or across the…
Read MoreThe Trial That Unleashed Hysteria Over Child Abuse
It has long been said, in varying language, that a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on. You do not have to reach back 200 years to Scotland to find enduring wisdom in that adage. You need return only to the 1980s and to the subject of this week’s Retro Report documentary video, part of a series re-examining news stories from the past. This week’s subject is the notorious McMartin Preschool abuse trial. Full Article
Read MorePUTTING THE CARLOS MOLINA STORY INTO PROPER CONTEXT
The recent arrest of IBF Jr Middleweight World Champion Carlos Molina has made a lot of noise throughout the boxing world. He was all set to defend his title Vs. Jermall Charlo this past Saturday, but his big fight was canceled due to being arrested. Let’s take a look at some facts here. Let’s put things into the proper context as well. Firstly, Carlos Molina is no sexual predator. The title of “Sex Offender” is a very broad brush. Let me explain. Anyone that has sex with an underage girl…
Read MoreME: Bill prohibiting sex offender living restrictions raises worry
CONCORD — A bill prohibiting residency restrictions for registered sex offenders and offenders against children which was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month is causing concern among some legislators, who say the bill would strip communities of their ability to protect children. HB 1237 is based upon two court decisions where judges found local ordinances restricting residency for offenders to be unconstitutional. One of the cases cited came out of Dover District Court. In August of 2009, Dover’s ordinance that prohibited registered sex offenders from living within…
Read More