Editor’s note: This is the third story in a three-part series regarding sex offenders and the ongoing need to protect children. PRINCETON — Illinois State Rep. Andy Skoog (D-76th) commented on the current laws surrounding registered sex offenders and the residency restriction limits they must follow as a way to cement community safety. Current Illinois legislation states a registered sex offender must remain at least 500 feet from a school, nursery, playground or essentially any place where adolescent activity might take place. Skoog agrees with the notion increasing the restriction…
Read MoreDay: February 23, 2016
Argument preview: When a sex offender moves out of the country, does he have to tell anyone? [UPDATED]
UPDATED with Oral Argument – When ____ ____ ____, a federally convicted sex offender, left Kansas in 2012 to go live in the Philippines, one might have thought the United States government would be happy to see the back of him. Not so. Federal authorities tracked him down in Manila and escorted him back to Kansas, where he was convicted in federal district court of failing to notify Kansas authorities that he had left the state. On March 1, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear his argument that his move…
Read MoreNY: State Senate Approves Bill to Keep Sex Offenders out of Homeless Shelters Housing Children
The State Senate recently approved a bill that would prohibit dangerous Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders from being placed in shelters or other temporary accommodations used to house homeless families with children. Charging that “innocent little kids who are one step away from living on the streets should never face the additional horror of living side-by-side with potential sexual predators,” State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) last week praised the Senate’s action. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Allen Co. S.O.R.N. Team – ‘It never stops’
ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – There are more than 450 sex offenders living in Allen County, keeping the local registry office very busy. The office focuses on three main components: offenders’ registrations at the physical office, the address verifications that the team leaves the office to do, and the investigations for violations. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Local Legislator Seeks Change to Sex Offender Registration Law
Thousands of sex offenders will come off the state’s registry this year. But one Broome County legislator and a local advocate have teamed up to bring change to New York’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA). The state law, enacted in 1996, requires level one sex offenders to be registered for 20 years. By 2016’s end, the whereabouts of many of these criminals will be untraceable — even for police. But a concerned local legislator has submitted an advisory resolution that would tighten registry regulations. Full Article
Read More