[calgaryherald.com] A Calgary man says he was forced to provide his fingerprints or give up a 12-year career of coaching youth hockey, all because he shares the same date of birth as a pardoned sex offender. And after a fruitless five-year odyssey for an explanation for what he feels is a violation of his constitutionally protected Charter rights, retired oil engineer Jim Besse is now suing the RCMP, Calgary police, the Calgary police commission and Chief Roger Chaffin. “I have always been upfront, saying, ‘Take five minutes and tell me…
Read MoreMonth: March 2018
MI: Wyatt’s Law: Proposed legislation aims to create statewide child abuser registry
[wxyz.com] A local mother is fighting to fix a broken system that leaves children vulnerable to extreme abuse at the hands of repeat offenders. “It was like oh my God. My worst fears came true. I was right. His case came into the prosecutor’s office as a homicide because they didn’t expect him to pull through,” says Erica Hammel, who’s son nearly died as a result of physical abuse. Today, Erica’s son Wyatt lives with major injuries that have impacted his day to day life. “That’s the heartbreaking thing for…
Read MoreUnjust Sexual Offense Laws: Insanity and Hope
[criminallegalnews.org] Unjust Laws Over the past 25 years, the U.S. has developed a pernicious system of sexual offense laws, including increased sentences and public registries of offenders. Based largely on unfounded hysteria surrounding a tiny fraction of high-profile cases, these laws today are a tangled mess and cause considerable injustice. The problems are caused in large measure by lawmakers’ desires to seem tough on crime and their lack of knowledge about the facts. There is a very broad brush applied to the term “sex offender.” Most, in fact, are not…
Read MoreFL: Junk science leads to father’s wrongful arrest, false accusation of raping his son
[washingtonpost.com] During the ritual-sex-abuse panic of the 1980s and 1990s, children undergoing recovered memory therapy and other dubious psychological treatment recounted crimes so horrific and depraved, they’re hard to even think about. They described bizarre satanic-themed sex abuse where children were penetrated with knives. They described orgies with adults and children who could barely walk. They described animal and human sacrifice. A big reason why these kids were believed despite the complete lack of physical evidence — if children were murdered, there should have been children in the area who…
Read MoreMN: 50-year conditional release or probation terms for sex offenders
[www.revisor.mn.gov] A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring sex offenders to serve 50-year conditional release or probation terms; establishing intensive probation for certain sex offenders; Read the full bill
Read MoreNC: Questions keep convicted sex-offender parent from attending his child’s basketball games
[journalnow.com] ______, a sex offender, is being investigated by the Surry County Sheriff’s Office for going onto the campus of Millennium Charter Academy to watch his child play basketball, officials say. ____ was attending basketball games at the school this winter, and volunteered to run the clock under an agreement with the school that allows him to be on campus as long as he is under supervision. Someone raised an alarm with the Surry County Sheriff’s Office, and for now ____ and the school have mutually agreed that ____ won’t…
Read MoreNJ: NJ child porn kingpin pleads guilty, experts say Megan’s Law cannot prevent sex abuse
[trentonian.com] TRENTON >> An Ocean County man who possessed over 36,000 videos and images of child pornography pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing child pornography online. Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood, is facing a six-year recommended prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, but two New Jersey experts warn that sex offender registration and notification laws do not prevent sexual violence. Psychology professors Elizabeth Jeglic of Cranbury and Cynthia Calkins Mercado of Union City dispute the conventional wisdom of Megan’s Law in a…
Read MoreThose on sex offender registries targeted for telephone scams
[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Scams offering to get someone off the registry for a fee have been around for a while. A new scam has appeared within the past few months, and as of this writing has targeted registrants in some form in at least four states: Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and New Mexico, with New Mexico being the most recent. All involve telephone calls to registrants claiming to be from someone at the registry office or police department and claiming the registrant is somehow out of compliance. From…
Read MoreWI: Sex offender sues hospital that won’t let him visit son, 9
A registered sex offender forbidden from visiting his severely ill 9-year-old son filed a lawsuit Friday against Wisconsin Children’s Hospital, arguing its visitation policy is “cruel and causes unnecessary harm to families and innocent children.” Full Article
Read More‘Living beyond the label’
____ ____ ____, 29, is a married father of two. He’s enrolled in Peninsula College’s Composites Recycling program, and is a member of the school’s Carbon Club. He’s also a level-three sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreThis Case Could Help Prevent Congress From Outsourcing Its Power
[dailysignal.com] How much authority can Congress give to the attorney general to effectively write the criminal laws? That’s a question the Supreme Court will address next term in a newly added case, Gundy v. United States. This case goes to the heart of the Constitution’s separation of powers and, specifically, how much Congress can pass the buck to the executive branch to make our nation’s laws. And that, in turn, is about safeguarding liberty. In Gundy, the court will review Congress’ delegation of authority to the attorney general to decide…
Read MoreMI: Death of homeless sex offender in Grand Rapids poses questions
[mlive.com] So is this what it finally takes for us to hear the muffled cries of the homeless — an ex-con dead in the snow because it’s against the law for a sex offender to huddle up at either of two Grand Rapids missions? Thomas Pauli didn’t choose to die alone in the cold. He apparently froze to death because of a crime he committed nearly 20 years ago, and a law that’s dogged him ever since his release from prison. In the days prior to the discovery of his…
Read MoreCould AI and Predictive Analytics Stop Sex Offenders?
[governmentciomedia.com] Predictive policing has come a long way in recent years. Police have always known when and where to step up patrols in certain city areas, for example, by applying simple predictive equations such as: payday + alcohol = trouble. You didn’t need to be a data scientist to anticipate a skirmish or three in bars on Friday night. But developments in data analytics and artificial intelligence are refining how law enforcement uses data and applies predictive analytics in a range of areas, focusing not just on overall trends but…
Read MoreKS: Convicted of a Drug Crime, Registered with Sex Offenders
[themarshallproject.org] By Maurice Chammah In Kansas, even many minor drug offenders must appear on the state’s public registry. A new bill would change that. Amid the farm animals and food stalls at the Kansas State Fair last September, Amy Byers came upon a booth run by the state’s Bureau of Investigation. There was a computer you could use to search your address and find out if you live near a sex offender. You could also search by name. When her friends began joking that she should type in her own…
Read MoreTX: Tarrant County judge used electric shocks to punish sex offender, who is getting a new trial
[star-telegram.com] FORT WORTH State District Judge George Gallagher of Tarrant County told a bailiff on three occasions to punish an uncooperative defendant with electric shocks, and now the sex offender’s conviction has been overturned and a new trial ordered. Stun belts can be strapped around the legs of some defendants and used to deliver thousands of volts of electric shock in the instance a defendant turns violent or attempts to escape the courtroom. However, in the case of _______, who was convicted in 2014 of charges of soliciting sexual performance…
Read MoreCA: Fresno sex offender faces 1,882 years in prison
[turnto23.com] BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A Fresno man was found guilty on Wednesday of numerous child molestation and child pornography charges and faces 1,882 years-to-life in prison. _______, 42, a registered sex offender was living with a family and was charged with sexually assaulting two female victims in their home over a period of one year from June 2014 to June 2015. Read more
Read MoreMen are not monsters
[foxnews.com (!)] Last week three of my four boys were herded into school-sponsored assemblies and asked to stand, raise their hands and pledge to never, ever hurt a woman. While their female classmates remained seated, my boys faced intense pressure to say: I promise To never ever Hit, hurt, or otherwise harm A woman, girl, or child. I understand That I am bigger and stronger Than many women, girls, and children. Therefore it is my DUTY To NEVER HARM them, Protect, Respect, Honor, and Love them No matter what. Aghast,…
Read MoreBest Buy defends practice of informing FBI about child porn it finds
[arstechnica.com] years Nearly 200 pages of documents released Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that Best Buy’s top officials have “enjoyed a particularly close relationship” with the FBI for at least a decade, if not longer. The filings were obtained by the advocacy organization as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in an attempt to better understand how the retail chain sometimes uses its “Geek Squad” tech support service to aid law enforcement. In a document from 2008, the FBI’s Louisville, Kentucky, division is described as having…
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