West Virginia’s highest court has ruled that juveniles judged delinquents for sex offenses don’t have to register as sex offenders when they turn 18. The registration requirement applies to any person convicted of sex offenses. The court says under West Virginia law those delinquency adjudications are not convictions. Full Article Opinion
Read MoreYear: 2017
Want to Make a Lie Seem True? Say It Again. And Again. And Again
YOU ONLY USE 10 percent of your brain. Eating carrots improves your eyesight. Vitamin C cures the common cold. Crime in the United States is at an all-time high. None of those things are true. But the facts don’t actually matter: People repeat them so often that you believe them. Welcome to the “illusory truth effect,” a glitch in the human psyche that equates repetition with truth. Marketers and politicians are masters of manipulating this particular cognitive bias—which perhaps you have become more familiar with lately. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Teen Girl Sent Teen Boy 5 Inappropriate Pictures. He Faced Lifetime Registry as a ‘Violent Sex Offender’ or 350 Years in Jail.
Zachary, now 19, is in jail awaiting sentencing for five pictures his teenage girlfriend sent him of herself in her underwear. He faced a choice between a possible (though unlikely) maximum sentence of 350 years in prison, or lifetime on the sex offender registry as a “sexually violent offender”—even though he never met the girl in person. Here’s what happened. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Court Strikes Sex Offender Park Ban
An Illinois appeals court ruled that a state law making it a crime for convicted sex offenders to set foot in public parks is unconstitutional because it can punish innocent conduct. Full Article Opinion
Read MoreIA: Aging sex offenders have nowhere to go, Iowa prison director says
That’s because finding places for elderly sex offenders to live after they’ve served their time in prison is very difficult, Bartruff said Monday during a community forum in Coralville. Iowa recently had three sex offenders who had served their time, but because they had no place to go, died behind bars. Full Article
Read MorePA: 2016 Crime Review – A look at the effectiveness of sex offender registries
It may run counter to conventional wisdom, but it is exceedingly rare for a person registered as a sex offender to be charged with a new sexual offense in Cumberland County. Of the 75 charged sex crime cases in Cumberland County in 2016, only two were committed by a person listed on the sex offender registry, according to an analysis of court records conducted by The Sentinel. Full Article
Read MoreIndia: Sex offender registries don’t work (Opinion)
Last month, Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi once again reiterated the need to set up a national sex offender registry after a convicted sex offender allegedly confessed to raping hundreds of girls for over 10 years in New Delhi. These registries are not a novel suggestion. They have been operational in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and a few other English-speaking countries for more than a decade. Full Opinion
Read MoreTN: Area law enforcement monitoring sex offender activity on social media
Keeping your kids safe from sex offenders in public is one thing but what about when it comes to the vast world of the internet where anyone can be lurking? Law enforcement in our region are working for you, to monitor sex offenders online and give you peace of mind. Full Article
Read MoreWhat In The World Are “Traveling Pedophiles”?
I read an interesting article regarding NJ Rep. Chris Smith, author of the International Megan’s Law ,which has just completed it’s first year in existence. According to Smith who met with a delegation from Thailand which included Ambassador Pisan Manawapal and representatives for the Royal Thai Police, gratitude for the law was expressed. Purportedly 160 convicted sex offenders tried to enter Thailand during the past year. Worldwide 1,780 notifications of “pedophile travel” were sent to 64 countries, particularly those known to be destinations for child sex tourism. Full Editorial
Read MorePA: Pennsylvania residents will need more than a driver’s license to fly in US next year
Starting Jan. 22, 2018, Pennsylvania residents will need more than just a driver’s license to travel domestically. Driver’s licenses from the Keystone State are currently not compliant with the federal government’s Real ID Act which set tougher standards for IDs to improve security in 2005. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Supreme Court – Bail denial for child sex offenses is unconstitutional
PHOENIX — State laws that deny bail to people solely because they’re accused of having sex with a minor are unconstitutional, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled today. The justices acknowledged arguments by prosecutors that trial judges have the right to keep certain people behind bars while awaiting trial as a method of protecting the public. And they said that the crime of sexual conduct with a minor is a series charge. But Justice Clint Bolick, writing for the unanimous court, said the seriousness of the charge, by itself, is insufficient…
Read MoreInternational Megan’s Law: One Year Later
One year to the date of its enactment, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) reports that the International Megan’s Law is already having the intended effect of reducing the threat of child sex tourism. Smith, who authored the bill, met today with a delegation from Thailand who expressed deep gratitude for the enactment of the law. During the meeting, Ambassador Pisan Manawapat, joined by representatives from the Royal Thai Police force, indicated that in Thailand alone, over 160 convicted sex offenders were caught trying to enter the country. Worldwide reports indicate…
Read MoreCO: Englewood may overhaul sex offender residency rules after law makes nearly the entire city off limits
Englewood city leaders on Monday readied a major overhaul to a decade-old law that severely restricts where sex offenders can live in this city of 32,000 south of Denver. Full Article
Read MoreLegal action sways council in sex offender housing decision
Fullerton City Council unanimously voted to repeal a municipal code that imposed housing restrictions on child sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreJudge sides with Placer County, rejects placement of sex predator near Lincoln
SAN JOSE – A Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Tuesday rejected the state’s plan to locate a sexually violent predator near Lincoln after Placer County officials and residents argued the placement would pose a danger to children in the area. Full Article
Read MorePutting Trump’s Travel Ban and IML into Perspective
It’s been just over one week since Trump’s Travel Ban targeted certain immigrants and global citizens. For those who followed this act day by day, it was very tumultuous week. During the first few days, foreign green card holders and visa holders were instantly deported back to the country where their flight came from. Some were detained for questioning by DHS and released. The US government revoked between 60,000 and 100,000 visas that it previously approved for travel. Civil rights and immigration attorneys quickly filed lawsuits. One week later,…
Read MoreLawsuits target California cities for residential restrictions on sex offenders
The City of Fullerton will consider repealing residency restrictions on sex offenders at its Tuesday City Council meeting. The city currently prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 ft. of any school, park or day care center. But a 2015 California Supreme Court decision struck down similar restrictions in San Diego County, and the decision has been widely interpreted as a rollback of statewide residency restrictions established by voters in 2006 through Proposition 83, known as Jessica’s Law. Full Article
Read MoreWI: Perfectly legal – Sex offenders living inside child safety zones the norm in Wisconsin, otherwise, they’d be homeless
Municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders can live. Most people support the idea because it helps us feel safe, but what the politicians who passed the rules probably didn’t tell you is that sex offenders who lived near a school, park, playground, daycare or other protected place before the ordinance, can stay there. In fact, they almost have to. Full Article
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