It has been 10 years since ____ ____, a married father and caretaker at an Oakland County Catholic church, was convicted of groping a teenage girl over her sweater, a claim ____ vehemently denies. ____ , then-37 with a clean criminal record, was convicted of misdemeanor sexual assault and sent to jail for seven months. Though a misdemeanor, state law demanded ____ be listed on the same public sex offender registry as hard-core rapists, pedophiles and other felons. It has meant a decade of poverty, unemployment, harassment and depression for…
Read MoreYear: 2015
AL: Charges Dismissed Against Former Child Sex Crimes Prosecutor For Lack Of Actual Minor In FBI Sting
(2012) There is an interesting ruling out of Mobile, Alabama where former child sex crimes prosecutor, ____ ____, was charged with solicitation of a minor over the computer. Special Judge Gaines McCorquodale dismissed the charge on a key missing element under the statute: an actual victim. Since ____ was speaking with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl, McCorquodale ruled that there was no victim as required under the language of the statute for child enticement. Essentially, no child, no enticement, no charge. Full Article
Read MoreMT: New law requires some sex offenders to live and work away from children
HELENA — Certain sex offenders employed near children in Montana must find new jobs, get special permission to work or face arrest. A state law that took effect last week prohibits high-risk sex offenders who victimized a child from residing or working within 300 feet of a facility that primarily serves people under age 18. Full Article
Read MoreUtah A.G. Sean Reyes urges Congress to pass international Megan’s Law
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes urged Congress on Thursday to get tougher on human trafficking worldwide, particularly by passing an international Megan’s Law to protect children from predators. Human trafficking, he said, is one of the most insidious but least understood and recognized crimes. “As a father of six children, I want to change that,” Reyes told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Human Rights in Washington, D.C. Victims are forced into hard labor, military servitude and suicide bombings, recruited for terrorism or…
Read More50-state survey of relief from sex offender registration
We have prepared a new 50-state chart detailing the provisions for termination of the obligation to register as a sex offender in each state and under federal law. This project was inspired by Wayne Logan’s recent article in the Wisconsin Law Review titled “Database Infamia: Exit from the Sex Offender Registries,” discussed on this site on April 15. The original idea of the project was simply to present Professor Logan’s research in the same format as the other 50-state charts that are part of the NACDL Restoration of Rights Resource,…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: SB 267 – We Did It
We did it! We stopped Senate Bill 267!! And now for the rest of the story. Prior to the hearing on SB 267, California RSOL was invited for the first time to join two like minded organizations for meetings in the offices of all seven members of the Public Safety Committee. We didn’t have appointments. We just stopped by. The reception we received from the two sides of the aisle were starkly different. We were warmly welcomed into the Democratic offices where we heard they had received lots of letters…
Read MoreCarson mayor Albert Robles sued for sexual harassment
The mayor of Carson is being sued for sexual harassment by a former fellow member of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California Board of Directors. Lynn Dymally, daughter of the late Democratic politician Mervyn M. Dymally, alleges Albert Robles, who is still a member of the WRD board and became mayor of Carson last month, harassed her during a district-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C., in November 2013. The Los Angeles Superior Court suit filed Tuesday alleges sexual battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: SB 267 Withdrawn
We did it! We stopped SB 267! The California state legislature will not consider for the remainder of this year any bill that would authorize cities and counties to pass laws that prohibit registered citizens from being present in or near public and private places. “This great victory is the result of individuals writing letters and making phone calls to state senators as well as testifying before the Senate Public Safety Committee,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “It is also the result of support from like minded organizations including…
Read MoreSan Diego County DA Supports Eliminating Some Jury Trials For Misdemeanors
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office is backing state legislation that would give prosecutors the sole discretion to charge and prosecute infractions in place of many low-level misdemeanors that are currently subject to sentences of less than six months in jail. SB 617, authored by Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, would hold offenders accountable while avoiding the costs associated with protracted court involvement — jury trials, attorney representation, confinement and probation involvement — because it does not apply to infractions, according to its supporters. Cases that involve firearms, sex-offender…
Read MoreBob Dyer: Sex offender statistics surprising
How are sex offenders different from you and me? They just are, says a college professor who not only has multiple degrees in psychology and sociology, but also worked for 30 years in Ohio’s prison system. Full Article Related Bob Dyer: Are sex offenders ruined for life? Bob Dyer: Sex-crime punishments incredibly inconsistent
Read MoreThese 10 Questions Can Mean Life Behind Bars
A short checklist called the Static-99 weighs facts about a sex offender’s past in order to predict the likelihood of future crimes. Many legal and scientific experts worry that the way the test is often used — to make high-stakes decisions about an individual’s liberty — is critically flawed. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Driver’s license mistakenly labeled me a sex offender
ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida woman who was issued a driver’s license that labeled her a sexual predator — by mistake — says she plans to file a defamation lawsuit against a county tax collector’s office. ____ ____, 42, said Thursday she was denied service when trying to book a room at a hotel, and has endured funny looks from cashiers when cashing checks because of the blue letters in the bottom-right corner of her license that say “SEXUAL PREDATOR.” Full Article
Read MoreVT: State senator arrested and charged with sexual assault
ST. ALBANS, Vt. – A Vermont state senator was behind bars Thursday night. WCAX has learned that ____ ____ is facing a slew of charges including sexual assault and human trafficking. Sen. ____ ____ , R-Franklin County, was at work inside the Statehouse Thursday afternoon. By Thursday night, he was being held at the Northwest Regional Correctional Center in St Albans. The Republican from Highgate was arrested and charged with sexual assault, prohibited acts and human trafficking. Full Article
Read MoreFacing the system: Former UB student struggles as Level 2 sex offender
____ ____ just had heart surgery and was lying on a mattress set up in his living room when officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security brought his son Daniel through the front door. His damaged heart raced. What had happened to his shy, socially awkward son? Had he done something or had something been done to him? Full Article
Read MoreDana Point lawmaker’s plan to ban sex offenders from O.C. parks, beaches stalls
Orange County’s longstanding effort to ban sex offenders from parks and beaches has been stymied again. Concerns from legislators that the proposal by Assemblyman William “Bill” Brough, R-Dana Point, might conflict with a recent state Supreme Court ruling that overturned the state ban on where sex offenders can live prompted him to withdraw it from consideration for this legislative session. Brough said he plans to introduce a new version next year. Full Article Related Janice’s Journal: Assembly Member Brough Withdraws AB 201 [UPDATED] Janice’s Journal: SB 267 – Time to…
Read MoreBob Dyer: Sex-crime punishments incredibly inconsistent
We seem to have no trouble differentiating between a minor fistfight and an assault with a crowbar that turns someone into a vegetable. But for some reason, we tend to lump all sex crimes into one big category. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreNC: Sex offenders can visit public libraries
A trip to the library landed ____ ____ in jail. In 2011, authorities caught ____ with explicit photographs of 15-year-old girls on his computer. He served 15 months in state prison and, after his release last year, became homeless. Last December the 46-year-old visited the Chapel Hill Public Library to job hunt on one of its free computers, he says. His probation officer had suggested that visiting a library was permissible, provided that a children’s event wasn’t being held there. Full Article
Read MoreDE: ACLU challenges GPS monitoring of sex offenders (Updated)
The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the constitutionality of a Delaware law that requires GPS monitoring of certain convicted sex offenders on probation. The complaint filed Monday targets a 2007 law that requires GPS monitoring of Tier 3, or high-risk, sex offenders who have been released from custody and are on probation. Full Article Update : ACLU of Delaware sues over sex offender GPS law (with copy of law suit)
Read More