Year: 2019

Ten myths about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

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[mercatornet.com – 9/12/19] Credible accusations have fallen to an average of one new case per year in the US Sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests has been headline news for years. But even with so much press attention, there are many commonly accepted myths about this issue. Remarkably, evidence-based research doesn’t always receive attention, while sensationalized stories that create a particular—but sometimes false—narrative do. This ultimately misinforms and harms the public—not to mention efforts to keep kids safe in and outside of the Church. On the year anniversary of…

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South Africa: SA demands sex offenders list be made public

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[unitedsouthafrican.com – 2/20/19] For many years South Africans have been calling for a list of convicted paedophiles to be made available like that of the United States however the Department of Justice maintain that revealing details of offenders will go against their right to privacy. The Constitution limits the number of people who are allowed access to the information, yet the public are demanding better protection of their children. In the USA the public can freely search a list of registered paedophiles online to establish where they reside. South Africa…

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UT: Utah man exonerated years after sexual assault conviction

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[kutv.com – 9/10/19] A Utah man is free today, exonerated, after spending years behind bars for a sexual assault he did not commit, according to a judge. Christopher Wickham, 50, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault in Salt Lake City in 1997, each a first degree felony. He was imprisoned and placed on the sex offender registry. Utah Third District Court Judge Royal I. Hansen signed an order today exonerating Wickham, according to the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center. It said a post-conviction investigation showed “numerous pieces of…

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CA: City of Commerce Repeals Local Residency Restrictions

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[ACSOL] The City of Commerce, located in Los Angeles County, has repealed its local residency restrictions. The repeal took place during a City Council meeting held on September 3. The City Council’s actions took place after its residency restrictions were challenged in Los Angeles Superior Court in a lawsuit filed April 22. This lawsuit is 1 of 37 lawsuits filed thus far challenging residency restrictions adopted by cities and counties in California. Prior to filing of this lawsuit, ACSOL warned the City of Commerce in a letter that the city’s…

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CA: Democrats incur LGBTQ wrath over sex offender registry bill SB 145

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[losangelesblade.com – 9/6/19] During a week of flurry before Labor Day, the California Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees determined which final legislation to pass to the floor for votes and which to suspend for this session. At the end of the day on Friday, Aug. 30, one bill superseded the usual drama to create a pall over California Democratic unity as LGBTQ legislators and advocates expressed outrage that purported supporters used anti-LGBTQ messaging to woo electoral votes in 2020. … However, in a move that infuriated LGBTQ advocates and law…

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Kat’s Blog: “THAT” Can Happen To You

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We’ve all sometimes wondered, how did THAT happen? How did I or my family member or my friend become tangled up in this whole “sex offender”, registry nightmare? The short answer is simple, S—t Happens.  The longer answer is more complex. But the word that I often hear people use when talking about “sex offenders” sex offenses and the registry is “THAT”. A well-meaning friend whose husband is an attorney mentioned that her husband would never handle cases like” THAT”, meaning “sex offense cases”. When discussing a loved one’s conviction…

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VA: Our Man in Arlington

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A culture-clash of a trial will resume in late September in Arlington Circuit Court. The scantly reported-on civil procedure involves the disturbing topic of predatory sexual behavior and the Virginia laws intended to protect potential victims. The trial, preliminaries for which I attended Aug. 26, involves an Arlington family eager to spring a son from an open-ended incarceration they feel the state is pursuing to make a statement against a gay man. Full Article

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CA: Scammers Target Los Angeles Registrants, Families [UPDATED 9/2019]

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UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2019: THIS SCAM IS STILL ACTIVE. PLEASE READ BELOW. Aug 4, 2018: Scammers, who often pose on the phone as law enforcement officials, are threatening registrants with arrest and demanding immediate payment of sums up to $3,000 in order to avoid jail or prison. There are reports of this occurring during the past week in at least two different cities in Los Angeles County — Upland and Lawndale. According to the reports, the scammers have told registrants that they either failed to register or registered improperly. For example,…

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NY: Second Circuit Backs Home Checks for Sex Offenders

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A Long Island sex offender who faced home visits from a private nonprofit contracted by his county did not endure an unconstitutional search, the Second Circuit affirmed Wednesday. Writing for a three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Christopher Droney noted in the ruling that in this case, public-safety interests outweigh the offenders’ rights. “In sum, the program advances the government’s substantial interest in reducing sex offender recidivism by improving the accuracy of the registry,” the 29-page opinion states. “Thus, the program serves a special need ‘beyond the normal need for law…

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FL: People on Sex Offender Registry Should Shelter from Dorian in Jail

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For some people convicted of sex crimes in Florida, the only shelter open to them during Hurricane Dorian was the county jail. In some counties, people on the registry were barred from shelters set up for those evacuating, and told to go to separate locations, away from children and other community members. If they attempted to stay with friends or relatives, they faced daunting residency and registration requirements, according to the Florida Action Committee, which advocates for reform of sex offender registry laws. Failure to comply can mean a felony conviction and…

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3 ways to help sex offenders safely reintegrate back into the community

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[phys.org – 9/3/19] Few categories of offender invoke as strong a response as sex offenders. There is a public desire to “do something” about sex offenders, which is taken seriously by politicians of all persuasions. One way governments have responded is by increasing the length of time sex offenders spend behind bars. For example, most Australian states and territories now allow for “dangerous sex offenders”—such as Edward Latimer, who committed numerous offenses against adult victims—to be kept in custody after their sentences have ended. But it’s not feasible to keep…

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CA: Police: Men Mistook Homeless Man for Sex Offender, Beat Him to Death

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[fox40.com – 9/2/19] MODESTO — Police in Modesto say two men beat a homeless man to death with their bare hands after mistaking him for a sex offender. Those who knew him say 63-year-old Jace Decker was often found sitting on a bench in Garrison Park. “He minded his own business for the most part. He just was going through his own life struggles and different adversities,” friend Donnie Bibbs said. Acquaintances say Decker was a husband with a broken heart. “Pretty decent life and everything and, now, I think…

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IL: Suit settled in teen suicide that led to Illinois law change

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[abcnews.go.com – 8/31/19] The case of a suburban Chicago teenager who killed himself after being confronted at his high school about whether he made a video of himself having sex with a classmate raised uncomfortable questions about how aggressively school officials should question kids suspected of wrongdoing and whether they should wait until a parent arrives. A wrongful death lawsuit brought by the parents of 16-year-old Corey Walgren that focused on those questions has been resolved, with the city of Naperville expected to approve a settlement on Tuesday in which…

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CA: Committee Converts, But Does Not Approve SB 145

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The CA Assembly’s Appropriations Committee today converted Senate Bill 145 into a two-year bill, but did not approve the bill as currently written.  Therefore, the bill could be amended as late as September 2020. “Unfortunately, it is not a surprise that the Appropriations Committee today failed to approve Senate Bill 145,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “We will watch carefully to ensure that if the bill is amended, new language does not harm registrants or their families.” SB 145 was amended earlier this year in a way that could…

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MI: ACLU Michigan Attorney Advocates End of Registry; Provides Update on 6th Circuit Decision

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In a recent NPR interview, ACLU Michigan attorney Miriam Aukerman stated she believes that sex offender registries should be abolished.  In support of that belief, Aukerman stated that registries are ineffective and make society less safe. Aukerman criticized both legislators and law enforcement for the current challenges now facing registrants.  Legislators have passed and keep passing new laws because they believe doing so will help them to get re-elected.  Law enforcement spends time and money monitoring people convicted of a sex offense when they should be monitoring those who actually…

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