____ ____ was scared to get out of prison. He was serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in Lawton, Oklahoma, for having sex with an underage teenager. Now, one of about 800,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, ____ faces the challenge of assimilating back into society. He was in his mid-30s and asking some pretty daunting questions: Where would he live? Who would hire him? How would he explain his past to people? Full Article and Audio
Read MoreYear: 2016
PA: Supreme Court ruling will reduce number of sex offenders required to register for life
A ruling issued by a sharply-divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court could greatly alter the registration requirements imposed on some types of convicted sex offenders. The decision by the court’s majority states that offenders who commit some kinds of sex crimes, such as possessing child pornography, cannot be made to register with state police for life unless they commit at least one more sex crime after their initial convictions. In other words, they have to become recidivists to qualify for the lifetime registration. Full Article Decision Dissenting Opinion 1 Dissenting Opinion 2
Read MoreHebephilia flunks Frye test
In a strongly worded rejection of hebephilia, a New York judge has ruled that the controversial diagnosis cannot be used in legal proceedings because of “overwhelming opposition” to its validity among the psychiatric community. Full Article
Read MoreMurrieta Residency Restrictions Stopped Again
A federal judge issued a Preliminary Injunction (PI) on Monday that stops enforcement of residency restrictions in the City of Murrieta. The judge’s decision, in effect, continues a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) she issued about three weeks ago. Although the PI applies only to the plaintiff in this case now, its effect is expected to be extended to all registrants at a later time. “This is a significant victory for registrants and families living in the City of Murrietta,” stated attorney Janice Bellucci. “It is unfortunate that the City did…
Read MoreCalifornia gang database plagued with errors, unsubstantiated entries, state auditor finds
A California gang database maintained by law enforcement agencies is rife with unsubstantiated entries, names that should have been purged long ago and glaring errors, a state audit released Thursday found. Full Article
Read MoreDE: Judge rejects ACLU challenge to sex offender GPS monitoring
A Chancery court judge has rejected the American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge to a state law requiring GPS monitoring of certain convicted sex offenders who have been released from custody and are on probation. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Accused found not guilty of sex crime
KINGMAN – Although ____ _____ of Kingman was found not guilty of molestation of a child Tuesday in Superior Court, he still lives with the stigma of being accused. “This has been 13 months of absolute hell. Being accused as a predator, a child molester, anything among those lines, a sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreShedding light on the dark field
IN AN office in Epsom in southern England, the phone rings. Calls come in from men who have been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children; those who are fathers will probably have been barred from seeing their children unsupervised until their trials. Or the caller may be a mother whose adolescent son has been charged with molesting a child; if he has siblings social workers may insist that the family is broken up. Some calls are from men desperate to talk to someone about their own sexual…
Read MoreImpact of the Sex Offender Registry on the Family
Filmmaker, Matt Duhamel offers workable solutions from social workers and leaders to better minimize trauma for the registered sex offenders and their families. Watch on youtube Film Page
Read MoreProsecutors who falsify or withhold evidence could become felons under proposed state legislation
Prosecutors who intentionally withhold or falsify evidence could be charged with a felony under a new bill winding through the state Legislature. The proposal by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez, D-San Fernando, comes as prosecutors in Orange County face accusations that they’ve routinely misused jailhouse informants and withheld information from defense attorneys. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: Are Reforms Needed For Megan’s Law?
When ____ ____ got out of prison for a rape he did not commit, he spent the next 20 years on New Jersey’s sex offender registry. Only when he was formally cleared this month did his name come off a list that carries a lifetime of stigma. The case has put a spotlight on whether the registry — created by Megan’s Law and designed to notify parents of predators nearby — is too broad and even ineffective. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Facing legal challenge, Pasco County changes strict sex offender law
The Pasco County Commission on Tuesday amended its sex offender ordinance, the 2015 law that severely restricts where certain registered offenders can live or even go in the county. But why the commission changed the law — which is being challenged in court — is in dispute. Patrick Leduc, the attorney who is challenging the county’s ordinance on behalf of three registered sex offenders, said the changes were designed to protect the ordinance from his legal challenge. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Senate passes Funke bills to root out, crack down on sex offenders
The New York State Senate today passed S.4776, a bill sponsored by Senator Rich Funke, which would expand the information available on the State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) sex offender registry’s website. The Senate also passed S.4765, a bill sponsored by Funke that would make it a felony for a sex offender to fail to appear at a court hearing to determine the risk level of the offender. Both bills passed with bipartisan support. Full Press Release
Read MoreThe punishment of sex crimes against women and minors
What the legislation would do: A number of California bills proposed this session seek to enhance punishment and repercussions for those who commit sex crimes, particularly against women and minors. Full Article
Read MoreAL: Court rules Martin’s lawsuit against Chilton Co. over anti-clustering law can continue
We previously reported on the case Martin v. Houston, CASE NO. 2:14-CV-905-WKW [WO] (M.D. Alabama 2016), in which the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama considered a pastor’s religious discrimination claims involving the state legislature’s enactment and enforcement of a sex offender law that prevented the pastor’s transitional housing program. The law in question (Alabama Code § 45-11-82) (the “Act”) prohibited individuals whose names are listed on the Alabama sex offender list from living together in the same home, and further provides that offenders cannot live on…
Read MoreMA: Judge Critical of Sex-Offender Registry Confirmed to Massachusetts High Court
Making a mild criticism of sex offender registries looked like it could have hurt a Massachusetts judge in her bid to serve on the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. But on Wednesday the Governor’s Council, an eight-member elected body responsible for approving judicial nominees, voted unanimously in favor of Superior Court Judge Kimberly Budd’s nomination to serve as an associate justice. During a grilling by the Governor’s Council last week, Budd had said the state Sex Offender Registry is too expansive, ensnaring people who are far from a threat to anyone.…
Read MoreOR: Calling all Sex Offenders
Are you a sexual deviant? Are you a serial rapist? A child molester? A sexual predator? Well welcome to Oregon, the government has got your back. Full Article
Read MoreIsrael: There Are No Warnings when Sex Offenders Move From Israel but We Can Fix That
Sex offenders, like smugglers, take advantage of borders to avoid paying for their crimes. Sometimes they hop borders one step ahead of the cops. Israel, unfortunately is a popular destination for our miscreants. But there is also a reverse flow where Israel’s flotsam washes up on America’s shores. Local communities are often clueless. This is true, even if there was a conviction in Israel because Israel does not have a public sex offender registry. Full Article
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