PA: 3 men jailed for separate sex assaults of 12-year-old girl from OKCupid dating website

A trio of Lancaster County men recently stood before a local judge and admitted to sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl they met in an online chatroom. … Each man told Reinaker they met the girl through OKCupid, an online dating website. Each claimed they believed the girl was over 18. She was, in fact, 12 at the start of the contact, police reported. … Cory Miller, ____’ lawyer, said the victim continued to use the website even after the men were charged. Full Article

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Janice’s Journal: Summer Summary

It has been a long, hot summer and we have much to be proud of. We stopped three bills in the state legislature (AB 201, SB 267 and SB 54) and we forced the modification of an additional bill (SB 448). If the legislators who proposed the bills had their way, cities and counties would be allowed to prohibit registered citizens from visiting both public and private places as well as living near those places. In addition, all registered citizens would be required to disclose their internet identifiers. There is…

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Shelby Introduces International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation

WASHINGTON, DC – Monday, July 27, 2015 – U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) today introduced S.1867, legislation to protect children from exploitation by establishing an international notification system to provide advanced notice of travel by registered sex offenders to destination countries.  This legislation is a companion to H.R. 515, which was introduced by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). Full Press Release S.1867 Related FY 2016 DOJ Interpol Brief (p 14/15, 18) Interpol and Green Notices International Megan’s Law / RSO Travel Issues Janice’s Journal: Registered Citizens Trapped in U.S. Green…

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Living with 290: Pulling the Rug Out from Under Me (and my family) – UPDATED

I was just released three months ago. My father came to be with me for the first week, as he had moved out to Texas for his job some years ago. He, along with the rest of my family who live locally, wanted to help me settle in. The day after my release, I reported to the parole offices as required, where my father and I were hoping to discuss my housing options with my PO. We waited four hours after leaving a message to his office before finding out…

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California RSOL Leads Protest in Carson

California RSOL led a second protest in Carson to voice opposition to the city ordinance that prohibits all registered citizens from both visiting and residing near public and private places. The protest included a demonstration outside City Hall as well as inside a City Council meeting. “Carson is the only city in California that continues to prohibit registered citizens from visiting public places such as libraries and swimming pools as well as private places such as fast food restaurants,” stated California RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “These actions are unlawful because…

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NY: Bronx Dad’s Case Tests Restrictions on Sex Offenders

MANHATTAN (CN) – With a name resembling a kindergartner’s alphabet primer, the lawsuit ABC v. DEF takes on far more insidious themes – namely the parental rights of a Bronx man who spent eight years in prison for raping his ex’s teenage niece. A federal judge issued an order in the case last week that could earn that man unspecified financial compensation from New York state. Full Article

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ME: Residency restrictions for sex offenders offer false sense of security (Editorial)

Old Orchard Beach is considering placing restrictions on where sex offenders can live in the seaside, southern Maine community. While such restrictions could make residents and visitors feel safer, registries and limits on where offenders can live and work haven’t been shown to make much difference in their two-decade history. Instead, a heightened focus on treatment and rehabilitation would likely be more effective at reducing the horrific crime of sex abuse. Full Article

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‘Right to be forgotten’ threatens free speech

Last year the European Union’s highest court ruled that European citizens have a “right to be forgotten” when it comes to search links to unfavorable Internet posts that are harmful and irrelevant. The court ruled in favor of a Spanish citizen who complained that Google’s links to an old notice about his house being repossessed violated his privacy rights because the issue was now irrelevant. The court ruled that search engines must have a mechanism to allow people to request the removal of links to negative stories, even if the…

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Senate Committee Passes SB 448 after Author Promises to Amend

The Senate Public Safety Committee passed Senate Bill 448 in a vote of 7 to 0 after the bill’s author, Senator Ben Hueso (Democrat, San Diego), promised to amend it. According to Committee Chair Loni Hancock, the amendments are to include a narrowing of those to whom the bill would apply and a tiering so that the scope of the bill would be limited to high risk offenders. “The Senate Public Safety Committee acted recklessly in approving a bill based upon mere promises,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “The…

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CORONA: Sex offender ordinance may change

Long-standing housing restrictions for convicted sex offenders in Corona could be amended Wednesday, July 15, bringing the city into compliance with a state law passed in March. Full Article What: The Corona City Council may change city rules to allow sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet of a school or park. When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 15 Where: City Council chambers, 400 S. Vicentia Ave., Corona

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Here’s an IUD–but wait! You can’t have sex yet! [Opinion]

By now virtually everyone in the “sex offender laws reform” camp knows the story of Zack Anderson, the 19 year old Indiana youth who faces imprisonment and sex offender registration for a sexual liaison with a 14 year old who pretended to be 17. His parents have pushed and pushed for publicity on this—good for them!—and they have it. The story made the New York Times, quoting RSOL’s executive director Brenda Jones saying that the public registry was “a conviction on steroids.”  Lenore Skenazy wrote a wonderful piece for reason.com…

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Another State Senator Chooses to Ignore Court Decisions

In my personal opinion, We have another state senator who has no concept of the Constitution and the fact that it is designed to protect individual rights , not the rights of the majority and not the rights of the popular or powerful people and most definitely not the rights of the government. The Declaration of Independence the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are designed to protect individuals, and this includes people that others distrust of or dislike. Apparently this senator has no concept of Voltaire’s comment on freedom…

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