The Relationship Between Juvenile Sex Offender Registration and Depression in Adulthood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies – Abstract: Accounts of sexual abuse appear daily in the media. Rightfully, this issue demands attention. Juveniles may be victims; they may also be offenders who are subject to sex offender registration and notification (SORN) policies. Growing research finds that SORN policies fail to achieve intended public policy outcomes. Little is known, however, about the unintended consequences of SORN for juvenile offenders. This study contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of these policies on this population. Merton’s concept of manifest and latent…

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My Voice: Sex registry ‘does more harm than good’ (Opinion)

As citizens, we must be aware of what is going on in our Legislature. Prison is “big business;” educate yourself as to what is really happening in our society before you demand to know where every sex offender lives. America (the land of the free) is number one for incarcerating more of its citizens than any other country. There are currently 2.2 million incarcerated citizens in the nations’ prisons and jails. There are 3,432 registered sex offenders in South Dakota. Full Opinion Piece

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NC: Sex offenders should be formally banned from NC State Fair, agriculture official says

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler’s department says the state needs tougher laws banning registered sex offenders from the N.C. State Fair. Sex offenders were arrested around the State Fairgrounds twice during last year’s fair. A Raleigh man was charged with flying a drone over the fair, and a convicted child molester was charged with posing as a state ride inspector to get into an area reserved for children’s rides. Full Article

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MA: Mass. Forced To Remove Names From Sex Offender Database

BOSTON (CBS) – They are the faces of predators, with lists of their charges on public view in most police stations, and anyone can use the state’s registry to search for sex offenders in their community. But many of those names are now being removed from the internet database due to a Supreme Judicial Court decision that will grant many of these offenders new hearings about their classification. Full Article

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TX: Appeals court overturns seven convictions for online ‘dirty talk’ to minors

AUSTIN — The state’s top criminal court on Wednesday reversed the convictions of seven men who were sentenced to prison for talking dirty to minors online. Five men from Harris County, one from Collin County and another from Montgomery County are among the first to see their convictions reversed after a 2013 Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision overturned a 2005 law criminalizing sexually explicit online communication with minors. Full Article

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Bill allowing cities and counties to adopt stricter sex offender ordinances voted down

A bill which would have allowed cities and counties to adopt sex offender ordinances more restrictive than state laws was voted down by an Assembly committee Tuesday. Assembly Bill 201, authored by Assemblymen William Brough, Mike Gipson, and Marc Steinorth, would have given localities the ability to enact not only more stringent restrictions on where persons required to register as sex offenders can live, but also “presence restrictions,” which would limit their ability to visit places such as parks, libraries, swimming pools, or arcades. “In addition to the myriad of…

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