[KVVU-TV Las Vegas] A Metro police officer who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges earlier this year has died at the age of 25, one day before he was supposed to answer for his crimes. Investigators said Officer Ruben Delgadillo was using software to share one of the largest stashes of child pornography in Nevada. He was 24 years old when he was arrested last Aug. and faced the up to 45 years in prison. Officers said Delgadillo told them he knew he had a problem and felt guilty comparing himself to sex…
Read MoreYear: 2017
WA: Juvenile sex crimes can be basis of civil commitment
Civil commitment of offenders who have been designated as sexually violent predators can be indefinitely extended for those whose crimes occurred when they were juveniles, the Washington Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday. Full Article
Read MoreOH: Committee recommends eliminating residency restrictions for sex offenders
A proposed change to Ohio’s Criminal Code could eliminate residency restrictions for sex offenders. The Criminal Justice Recodification Committee has finished reviewing Ohio’s extensive criminal code after two years. However, not everyone agrees with some of its recommendations. Full Article
Read MoreAK: Going home – Even sex offenders should get a chance to rejoin society
The good news is that Alaska’s sex offender treatment program works. The bad news is that a shortage of providers creates a many-months-long waiting list that traps sex offenders from rural Alaska in Anchorage, sometimes homeless. With 250 sex offenders coming out of Alaska prisons annually, 45 percent of them Native, this is a public safety threat and a humanitarian fiasco. We must do better. Full Opinion Piece (3rd of 3)
Read MoreSex offender’s plan goes up in smoke
[Battle Creek Enquirer] A convicted sex offender’s plan to open a business next to a toy store in downtown Battle Creek has hit a major stumbling block. Reece Adkins’ business partner, Cindy Dian, contacted the building owner, John Hennink, on Thursday and asked if the lease could be dissolved. Hennink said yes. Adkins, who pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 in May 2000, was planning to open Cereal City Food Auction, … Read more
Read MoreFort council amends sexual offender domicile restrictions
[Daily Jefferson County Union] To comply with recent federal court rulings, the Fort Atkinson City Council has amended its ordinance restricting the placement of sex offenders. At its meeting Tuesday, the council removed the domicile restriction from the ordinance that had prevented convicted offenders who did not live in Fort Atkinson at the time of their offense from moving into the city once released. When adopted in February 2016, many other municipalities were including the domicile restriction in their ordinances. Since then, in a federal case titled Hoffman v. the…
Read MoreIA: Warrantless Search of Sex Offender’s Mobile Phone OK
The warrantless search of a sex offender’s mobile phone at a supervised release facility was constitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held Aug. 10. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Ex-con feels he’s being forced to re-offend, asks state to step in
Thousands of your tax dollars are being spent to help sex-offenders keep a roof over their heads. On Tuesday, a man called 12 On Your Side, saying he’s upset he’s being kicked out of the program just as he’s working to rebuild his life. Full Article
Read MoreCruel and Unusual: The Case Against Registering Kids as Sex Offenders
[Impact Justice] America’s kids have racked up some big wins in the nation’s most august court. The victory lap began in 2005 when the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for juveniles. (Roper v. Simons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).) In 2010, the Court barred mandatory life without parole for juveniles, except those convicted of murder. (Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010).) Two years later, the Court eliminated this exclusion, reasoning that a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release violates juveniles’ constitutional protections against “cruel…
Read MoreWas judge in Palo Alto sex case swayed by fear of Brock Turner fallout?
[The Mercury News] PALO ALTO — ____ ____ thought everything was set: he’d struck a deal to serve a year in county jail for having sex with a 15-year-old girl who claimed she was an adult. But when the victim showed up at ____’s sentencing hearing to ask that he be sent to state prison and required to register as a sex offender for life, the case took a surprising turn. In a rare move, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Chiarello pulled the plug on the deal…
Read MoreAre Sex Offender Registries Too Strict?
[Newsweek] Public sex offender registries are at the forefront of what I’ve described in my research as a “war on sex.” Offenders convicted of sex crimes are now singled out for surveillance and restrictions far more punitive than those who commit other types of crime. More than 800,000 Americans are now registered sex offenders. Tracking them has created a booming surveillance industry. In my work on sex offender registries, I have found that black men in the U.S. were registered at rates twice that of white men—resembling disparities found in…
Read MoreSex offender housing restrictions: where the law, common sense and politics collide
It seemed simple enough. A law on the city of San Diego’s books to restrict where registered sex offenders can live has provisions deemed unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court. City Attorney Mara Elliott wanted the City Council to repeal the ordinance because San Diego could still be sued with it in place, even though the law hasn’t been enforced for years. But on Aug. 1, a majority of council members balked. It seems nothing is actually simple in politics when it comes to doing anything that could be distorted as going easy on…
Read MoreSex Offender, 81, Jumps Off Joliet Bridge, Drowns: Police
[Joliet Patch] JOLIET, IL — An 81-year-old man who was a convicted sex offender took his own life on Friday morning by jumping off the downtown Cass Street Bridge, police said. A call came into the Joliet Police Department’s communications center at 6:59 a.m. in reference to someone who jumped into the Des Plaines River. A few officers were in the immediate area. They quickly accessed a police boat and tried to save the man from drowning. “As the officers observed the man in the water, he attempted to be…
Read MoreWA: Seattle set to prevent landlords from considering applicants’ criminal records
[The Seattle Times] Seattle set to prevent landlords from considering applicants’ criminal records. Seattle landlords would be almost completely prohibited from screening prospective tenants based on their criminal histories, under a proposed ordinance approved by a City Council committee Tuesday. The only people who could be denied housing based on their criminal histories would be those listed on sex-offender registries because of adult convictions. And landlords denying housing to such sex offenders would still need to state a legitimate business reason for doing so. Read more
Read MoreNY: Order reveals ongoing confinement of sex offender
Saratoga County’s first civilly confined sex offender remains in custody nearly a decade after his original release date, according to an appeals ruling issued Thursday. Full Article
Read MoreCA Write-In Action Alert by Sept 1: Guidelines for writing in support of Prop 57 applying to registrants
California’s Proposition 57 is one of the most significant criminal justice reforms in our state’s history. Passed by an overwhelming majority of voters in November 2016, Proposition 57 promises many benefits for Registrants and their families, as well as other incarcerated individuals. However, the benefits of Proposition 57 will not be realized unless the regulations implementing them are consistent with Proposition 57’s purpose and intent. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the state agency responsible for drafting and implementing the regulations under Proposition 57. CDCR has issued…
Read MoreMN: Study gives hope for children with sexual behavior problems
[Star Tribune] It’s common to feel many emotions when faced with the prospect of children as victims, or perpetrators, of sexual violence: Horror. Grief. Anger. Shame. One emotion we rarely dare to feel is hope. But findings from a new, myth-busting study by the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA) give us hope in abundance for these children, their families and society. The project, funded by Raliance, a nonprofit that distributes funds from the National Football League, examined how Minnesota identifies and treats children with sexual behavior problems, as well…
Read MoreMO: City Union Mission sues Jackson County sheriff over arrest threats
[The Kansas City Star] The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is targeting some sex offenders for arrest at the City Union Mission because it sits near a park, according to a federal lawsuit alleging that the practice violates the charity’s constitutionally protected rights of religious freedom. The suit centers on how the sheriff’s office interprets a Missouri law that prohibits certain offenders from “loitering” within 500 feet of a public park that contains a pool or playground equipment. The mission operates several facilities in the 1100 block of East 10th Street…
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