How Sex Offender Registries Impact Youth

[teenvogue.com] Ten-year-old Leah pretended to have sex with her younger step-siblings. She said it happened a few times and that she was just acting out scenes from the movies. A couple years later, Leah’s conduct was discovered by law enforcement. Leah was 12 when she was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in juvenile court and labeled a sex offender. The law required her to remain on the sex offender registry for 25 years. She says she lost jobs and internships as a result. When she was about to enter her…

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CA: California law will bar cities and counties from providing information for a ‘Muslim registry’

[Los Angeles Times] Gov. Jerry Brown signed a closely watched bill on Sunday to block the creation of any so-called Muslim registry should President Trump choose to act on a proposal he repeatedly suggested during his 2016 campaign. Senate Bill 31 by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) bars state and local governments from releasing personal information to the federal government for the creation of any religious list, registry or database. It also prohibits them from using resources to create their own lists. Dubbed the California Religious Freedom Act, the…

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CA: Sex Offender Law Repealed In Simi Valley

[CBS Los Angeles] SIMI VALLEY (CBSLA) — Don’t take candy from strangers. But what about sexual offenders? The Simi Valley City Council decided on Monday night to overturn a law aimed at protecting children from sexual predators. City leaders say the law wouldn’t stand up in a legal appeal so they killed it. There will now be nothing to stop registered sex offenders in Simi Valley from interacting with trick-or-treaters. So when Halloween rolls around in a couple of weeks, parents say they’ll be a lot more vigilant. The ordinance…

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CO: County Sex-Offender Registry Pulled Down Because of Lawsuit Fears

[westword.com] As we’ve reported, Montrose County, on Colorado’s Western Slope, pulled its sex-offender list offline following a recent court ruling in which U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch found that such registries constituted cruel and unusual punishment in the case of three plaintiffs. The ruling is specific to the complainants in question, rather than everyone on the roster, and Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has announced her intention to appeal. So why make the move now? According to a representative from the sheriff’s office in Montrose, a fear of lawsuits.…

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IN: Sex offender class for prisoners violates Constitution, judge rules

[indystar.com] A federal judge has ruled that Indiana’s mandated sex offender classes for prisoners who oppose them violates the constitutional right to be free from self-incrimination. The Sept. 28 ruling in the class-action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Indiana will affect all convicted, incarcerated sex offenders who opt out of the Indiana Sex Offender Monitoring and Management, or SOMM, program. Three of the plaintiffs will be eligible for release from prison. The Indiana attorney general’s office has filed an emergency request to temporarily halt the case pending an…

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Simi Valley Repeals Halloween Ordinance

The Simi Valley City Council unanimously agreed tonight to repeal its Halloween Ordinance which required the city’s registrants to post a sign on the front door of their homes as well as prohibited them from decorating their homes, answering the door to trick-or-treaters and illuminating any exterior lights. The City Council vote was taken without discussion or debate, however, the City Attorney recommended repeal of the ordinance prior to the meeting due to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a registrant and his family who reside in Simi Valley. “The…

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OK: Legislation that updates, streamlines sex offender registration signed into law

Legislation that would update and streamline sex offender registration has been signed into law. This week, Governor Mary Fallin signed legislation improving Oklahoma’s sex offender registry. … “The purpose of the sex offender registry continues to be public safety—to make sure law enforcement knows where registered sex offenders are living, and making that information available to our citizens,” said Griffin, R-Guthrie.  “This legislation streamlines the notification process, ensures greater consistency in assigning levels for registration, and adds an additional requirement for informing DHS when a sex offender returns to a…

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MA: Questions raised over statutory rape provision in senate criminal justice bill

A proposal within a comprehensive Massachusetts Senate criminal justice reform bill to create a “close age exception” for the state’s statutory rape law is just one of several provisions to generate heat. The bill, sponsored by Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, would take away the possibility of prosecution for consensual sex between someone who is 15 and a partner less than four years older, someone under 15 and a partner less than three years older, or someone under 12 and a partner who is less than two years older. It would…

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MI: Young Man Arrested for Underage Sex Was Re-Arrested for Sharing a Pizza with a 17-Year-Old

[Hit & Run blog at Reason.com] ____________, the young man from Elkhart, Indiana, whose harsh punishment for consensual sex with an underage teenager he wrongly believed was 17 made headlines around the country in 2015, has been arrested for violating his probation. What, exactly, did he do? He stopped by for dinner at his parents’ home. His younger brother was present, and incidentally, so was the brother’s friend. The brother thought this friend was 19 years old, but he turned out to be just 17. _______, unfortunately, is not allowed…

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The DOJ Has Nearly Doubled Its Prosecutions For Child Sex Crimes Photo of Anders Hagstrom Anders Hagstrom

[The Daily Caller] Federal investigators nearly doubled the number of investigated sex crimes involving children between 2004 and 2013, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced Thursday. Child sex crime cases include possession or production of child pornography and child sex trafficking, the BJS reported. Federal investigators took up 1,405 of these cases in 2004, compared to 2,776 cases in 2013. More than 70 percent of the prosecutions each year were for possessing child pornography, followed by those suspected of sex trafficking at 18 percent and those who produced child…

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AZ: Transient sex offenders not bound by 72-hour notice

[The Seattle Times] PHOENIX (AP) — The state Supreme Court says registered sex offenders without addresses or permanent places of residence aren’t subject to Arizona’s requirement to provide notice of address changes within 72 hours. Instead, the court’s unanimous ruling Friday says those offenders only have to register as transients at least every 90 days. The ruling overturns a lower court’s ruling that upheld a man’s felony conviction for failing to notify law enforcement officials of a new residence or address within 72 hours after he left a halfway house…

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Sex Offender Advocates Object To Local Mapping Of Registered Sex Criminals (Updated)

The Board of Directors for the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws objects to local public safety maps which pinpoint the addresses of individuals listed on official state sex-offender registries. NARSOL submitted this letter to Patch explaining why such maps should not be published at Halloween. https://patch.com/us/across-america/sex-offender-advocates-object-mapping-registered-sex-criminals Update – Follow up from Patch ‘Then I See The Delight In Your Eyes Turn To Fear’ Heyl: Some Sex Offender Names Soon Could Vanish From Online State Registry

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AUS: VG EXPOSED THE LARGEST CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE FORUM.IT WAS RUN BY THE POLICE.

Both men stiffen as VG confronts them. – Go ahead and publish what you know about us now, if you think it’s true, but be prepared for the consequences, says Jon. Next to him in a Brisbane hamburger pub sits Paul. VG has just told them what we’ve uncovered: that they run the world’s largest online forum for child sexual exploitation, “Childs Play”. Full Article

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MI: Supreme Court Hearing Sex Offender Registry Case

[UPDATED LINKS 3/30/18] The Michigan Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the case of a man who was placed on the sex offender registry for touching a girl’s breasts, even though his case was dismissed in 1997 after successful probation and community service. Full Article RELATED LINKS: Change.org petition: Allow “Romeo-Juliet” convictions to apply to expunge their records in Michigan [3/30/18]  

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