[kcra.com 4/17/18] BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A man who spent nearly 25 years on California’s death row for raping and killing a toddler before his conviction was overturned won’t be retried and could be freed within days, authorities said Tuesday. Vicente Benavides Figueroa, 68, has remained in prison even though the state Supreme Court last month overturned his 1993 conviction on grounds that medical testimony at his trial was false. Advertisement Many doctors who testified to the cause of the girl’s injuries recanted. Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green announced…
Read MoreMonth: April 2018
RI: My Turn: John R. Grasso: Destroying lives for childish mistakes
[providencejournal.com 4/18/18] Quicksand. That’s what the Internet is for young people. It looks like solid ground but it isn’t. It blends into the surroundings as though it was always there but it wasn’t. The Internet has developed much quicker than our children’s adaptation to it. They have the technology figured out but they do not recognize the dangers. Their parents lag far behind while the police are in hot pursuit. The Barrington Times reported the arrest of two teenagers, a boy and a girl. Both 14 years old. Police charged…
Read MoreOH: Convicted ex-high school athlete wants off sex offender list
[fox19.com 4/16/18] By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A judge is deciding whether a man convicted as a juvenile of raping a 16-year-old girl should be removed from Ohio’s sex offender listings. Judge Thomas Lipps has scheduled a hearing Thursday in juvenile court in Steubenville in the case of former high school football player Ma’Lik Richmond. Richmond was convicted in 2013 of raping the West Virginia girl during a drunken party following a football scrimmage the previous year. Lipps ordered Richmond as a sex offender to register…
Read MoreOK: Governor Fallin Signs Bill Barring Sex Offenders from Living Near Their Victims
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin today signed a bill that helps protect victims from their sex offenders. Fallin signed House Bill (HB) 1124, which prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet and loitering within 1,000 feet from their victims’ homes. Under current Oklahoma law, sex offenders are banned from living near places like schools and playgrounds, but it does not apply to a sex offender living near his or her adult victim. Full Article Related OK: Lawmaker Seeks Change After Sex Offender Gets Out of Prison, Moves Next Door to…
Read MoreNew Law Requires Sex Offenders To Inform Residents Before Moving Into Their Homes (Satire)
In a move designed to keep citizens aware of any potentially dangerous individuals sharing their address, the Illinois General Assembly passed a new law Wednesday requiring sex offenders to inform residents that they will be moving in with them. Full Satire Piece
Read MoreAlgorithm tool works to silence online chatroom sex predators
An algorithm tool developed by Purdue Polytechnic Institute faculty will help law enforcement filter out and focus on sex offenders most likely to set up face-to-face meetings with child victims. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: NARSOL supports man who won rare constitutional challenge
[narsol.org 4/9/18] y Larry Neely . . . The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) has filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of Stephen Edward May, whose conviction for child molestation in an Arizona case has been set aside by the federal court in Arizona. NARSOL’s interest in May’s case rests on the Arizona statute defining the offense of child molestation to require the accused to prove that any contact with an underage child did not…
Read MoreHe was a Carpenter and a Firefighter and a Sex offender! My Dad
[sosen.org] Please meet the greatest Dad in the world, my father! He was a good-looking man, strong and tall, he was also brilliant! Oh, let me brag a bit and tell you that he passed on some pretty good traits to his children and he had a pretty cute wife too, that would be my mother. People say that my mother was beautiful, and smart, and bossy and just basically a pain in the neck most of the time, but she was also one of those women who decided that…
Read MoreIL: Bill to close sex offender registry loophole expected to die in Illinois House committee
UPDATED LINKS 4/23/18 [ilnews.org] Friday is the deadline for bills to move out of Illinois statehouse committees, or the bills will die this session. One measure has overwhelming support, but isn’t moving. House Bill 816 gives a judge discretion to require someone convicted of battery to register as a sex offender, if the crime was sexually motivated. Read more RELATED LINKS: Stephanie’s Law gets hearing, still remains in committee [ilnews.org 4/23/18]
Read MoreThe Forgotten Victims of National Crime Week
The week of April 8th to April 14th of 2018 has been declared “Nation Crime Victim’s Rights Week,” and while discussions about crime victims are commonplace, this recognized memorial week provides a greater platform for the victims’ rights group to promote their advocacy. There is, however, a narrative that has been neglected this week—the victimization of registered citizens and their loved ones by virtue of the public registry and the laws they inspire. Full Article
Read MorePA: Despite legislative fix, challenges to Megan’s Law continue
nnsylvania lawmakers insist they have fixed problems with Megan’s Law that threatened to allow thousands of sex offenders to avoid having to register with the state. Not so fast, say defense attorneys.Full Article
Read MoreKY: Governor Matt Bevin Has Apologized for Remarks Linking a Teachers’ Rally to Child Sex Abuse
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin apologized Sunday for saying that children were sexually abused because they were left home alone while teachers rallied to ask lawmakers to override his vetoes. Full Article
Read MoreIA: 2 Convicted of Sex Crimes Can’t Be Held Indefinitely
The Iowa Supreme Court has dismissed the state’s efforts to confine two men convicted for sex abuse crimes indefinitely under the state’s law allowing civil commitment of sexually violent predators. Full Article
Read MoreCA: Bill to accelerate sex offender registry notifications clears Riverside assembly
A Riverside County lawmaker’s bill to require prisons, county jails, mental institutions and other facilities to hasten alerts to the California Department of Justice regarding the release of registered sex offenders was unanimously approved today by the Assembly. Full Article
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Three Opportunities in Thirty Days
We have three opportunities during the next 30 days to Show Up – Stand Up – Speak Up. Our first opportunity is in Sacramento on April 24 when the Senate Public Safety Committee will consider Senate Bill 1143. If passed, that bill would require registrants convicted of an offense involving a minor to disclose their status as a registrant to potential landlords as well as to home sellers if the property is within one-quarter mile of a school or a park. The penalty for not making such a disclosure is…
Read MoreIL: Writing Sex Offender Laws Based on Fake Recidivism Numbers Is Rational, Court Says
Last week the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a state law banning sex offenders from public parks, overturning a 2017 appeals court ruling that deemed the statute “unconstitutional on its face because it bears no reasonable relationship to protecting the public.” The seven members of the higher court unanimously disagreed, saying, “We conclude that there is a rational relation between protecting the public, particularly children, from sex offenders and prohibiting sex offenders who have been convicted of crimes against minors from being present in public parks across the state.” Full Article…
Read MoreChild trafficking expert speaks at William and Mary
Mosby is an expert in child trafficking in Thailand and founder of the HUG project, an organization dedicated to helping victims of child trafficking. In 2017 she won the TIP award for her work helping victims of sexual abuse. On Monday, Mosby came to the College of William and Mary to speak with students about child trafficking in Thailand and the steps she and others have taken to prevent it. … The U.S. has also come up with preventative measures to help stop its citizens from committing child sex crimes…
Read MoreCA: Pair of bills aimed at release of sex offenders pass Public Safety Committee
A locally authored bill about where the state places sex offenders once they’re released from prison passed the Senate Committee on Public Safety on Monday. Senate Bill 1198, introduced by Sen. Scott Wilk, and Senate Bill 1199, which Wilk authored, address significant concerns about how the criminal justice system deals with individuals convicted of sex crimes. Full Article
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