1 in 4 chance your teen has gotten a sext

[news4jax.com – 4/15/19] As if parents don’t have enough to deal with once their teens’ hormones start kicking in. Apparently, “sexting” is the new flirting, according to some experts. Research compiled in a new article in Pediatrics found that texting sexual images has become increasingly common among teenagers in the United States. That’s not completely surprising, considering teens are using cellphones more than ever. But in 39 studies featuring more than 110,000 teens, researchers found that more than a quarter of teens (27.4%) have received a sext and 14.8% have…

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Kat’s Blog: TN HB407 Smells of Genocide

As I watched the TN General Assembly video/April 10th/Finance, Ways & Means Committee/ Vote on part two of HB407, I couldn’t help flashing back to a definition I had learned in a World History class. Genocide: In 1948 the UN approved its Convention on the Prevention & Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), which defined genocide as any of a number of acts “committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group”.  This includes causing seriously bodily or mental harm…

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The sex offender registry should assess risk, otherwise it is purely punishment

A not-so-uncommon story: The sexual assault victim — a girl of 16. She’s now 37 years old, happily married to the love of her life, and the mother of three children. That’s right — the victim and her attacker got married soon after the girl’s mother, learning of the couple’s romance, reported the “assault” to prosecutors. Although he has a master’s degree, the attacker couldn’t find a teaching job because he was listed in the sex offender registry for life. His wife had to work multiple jobs to help support the…

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ACSOL Phone Meeting on April 20

Please join Janice Bellucci and ACSOL President Chance Oberstein, a criminal defense attorney, for our next phone meeting. The conference call will be on Saturday, April 20 at 10 am Pacific Time (1:00 Eastern) and will last from 2 to 3 hours. Topics of conversation will include information about the domestic and overseas travel, the Tiered Registry, residency restrictions and other current topics as well as pending legal action throughout the nation. Please Show up, Stand up, and Speak up! Dial-in number: 1-712-770-8055 Conference Code: 983459 To ask a question,…

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AZ: Stringer fallout halts sex offender registry reform

[eacourier.com – 4/11/19]   Legislation that would make more people eligible to have their names removed from Arizona’s sex offender registry may end up being an inadvertent casualty of the recent revelations of decades-old sex crime allegations that led David Stringer to resign from the Arizona House of Representatives. House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, sponsored House Bill 2613, which he crafted with assistance from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The bill would expand the list of crimes for which sex offenders could petition to be removed from the registry, while…

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WA: Washington Sexting Bill Aims to Shield Teens From Adult Law

[usnews.com – 4/11/19] Legislation aimed at keeping youth who send sexually explicit texts from being charged under adult sex crime laws has cleared the Legislature in Washington state. The bill , which passed late Wednesday night, would create a new group of crimes reserved specifically for minors who are caught with explicit images of other minors, attempting to solve what lawmakers described as a paradox in current law, where even youth who report a sexual picture or video can themselves be potentially charged with a felony — and even forced…

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CA: Appeals court strikes down state law that banned early parole for youthful violent sex offenders

[sfchronicle.com – 4/10/19]   Two men who received life sentences for a brutal sexual assault and robbery in Oakland when they were 19 must be given parole hearings during their 25th year in prison, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday, striking down a state law that made them ineligible. A California law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017, one of a series of laws reducing mandatory penalties for youthful offenders, allowed those serving potential life terms for crimes committed when they were 25 or under to be considered for…

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PA: Constitutional right or crime? Case of alleged harassment of sex offender’s family heads to court

[lehighvalleylive.com – 4/9/19] A father and son from Freemansburg accused of harassing the family of a sex offender are headed to Northampton County Court on their respective criminal charges. James Forte Sr. and James Forte Jr., who both live in 200 block of Juniata Street in the borough, had their preliminary hearings Tuesday in front of District Judge Nicholas Englesson. Following testimony from the victim and a borough police officer, Englesson sent all the charges to county court, where the pair now face possible trial. false Father and son accused…

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Early Bird Discount for ACSOL Conference Ends April 15

The early bird discount for tickets to the two-day ACSOL conference ends on April 15.  That means the cost of a ticket will increase from $90 to $100.  It’s easy to take advantage of this bargain online or by mailing payment to ACSOL at its Sacramento address — 1215 K Street, 17th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. The third annual ACSOL conference will feature both national and local experts who will provide solid recommendations regarding how to improve your life on the registry with regard to employment, housing, travel and social…

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Public Safety Committees Stop AB 884, Pass SB 145

The Assembly’s Public Safety Committee today, by a vote of 3 to 4, stopped Assembly Bill 884. Due to the committee’s vote, AB 884 will not receive further consideration. “This is a great victory for more than 40,000 people who would have been moved from Tier 2, which requires 20 years of registration, to Tier 3, which requires lifetime registration, when the Tiered Registry Law takes effect,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This positive result came about because more than 75 people testified today in opposition to the bill.”…

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PA: High Court will again review sex offender registration

Two years ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shook up long-settled orthodoxy by ruling that the state’s sex offender registration law, otherwise known as SORNA (Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act) was punishment. The case, Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2018), presented the Court with two questions: whether people who committed their crimes before the adoption of the law could continue to be registered without running afoul of the state Constitution’s Ex Post Facto Clause, a fairness doctrine that prevents governments from retroactively applying greater punishments to conduct than…

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Colombia

Colombia Travel to Colombia on [21] by Air – Entry was: Denied Submitted by: America’s Most Hated Registration Status Registration State: Mississippi – Currently Registered: Yes – Listed on Public Web Site: Yes Visa Visa Required: No [if 25] – Explanation provided:[/if 25] [25] Advance Notice Advance Notice provided: Yes – Adv. Notice required by State Law: Yes Advance Notice Comments: Reported via travel form at state DPS driver license office Offense Info Offense Level: Felony – Conviction expunged: No – Offense involving Minor: Yes – Passport Identifier: No Result Entry…

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International Travel 2019

We have updated our main International Travel section. It features: List of Schengen Nations (allowing entry to registrants); Resources (including a CA DOJ Travel Notification Form); and User Submitted Travel Reports. This post is linked from the Main Menu at the top of the site. 1. The 26 Schengen Nations (which allow registrants to visit) As an agreement, Schengen was signed among the five out of ten countries of the European Union members back then, on the 14th June 1985. Under the Schengen agreement, travelling from one Schengen country to…

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Kat’s Blog: Living in the Gray Zone

A local “sex offender treatment group” recently had a guest speaker from the sheriff’s office. He was there to speak about the do’s and don’ts of the registry. My first thought was “shouldn’t everyone in group have been informed of the do’s and don’ts when they were first put on the registry? Isn’t that when registrants should be provided with all the information they will need to be informed registrants? Instead, they wait till the registrants are all assembled in a treatment group that the registrants are paying for to…

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LA: After admitting sex with 3 boys, substitute teacher spared jail and barred from class only two years

[usatoday.com – 4/5/19]   After pleading guilty to having sex with three underage teenagers and sending lewd messages, a substitute teacher in Louisiana was spared jail and could even be headed back to the classroom, New Orlean’s station WDSU reports. As part of a plea deal, 34-year-old ______ pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. When she was arrested in 2016, the Terrebonne Parish instructor faced three felony charges, according to the report. A…

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