[eastidahonews.com – 11/15/20] ARCO — A Soda Springs woman will spend time in jail after an illegal sexual relationship with a teenage boy in 2016. Amanda Katherine Steele, 35, was ordered on Tuesday by District Judge Darren Simpson to spend 90-days in jail followed by seven years on felony probation. Simpson suspended a three to 10-year prison sentence that could be served if Steele is not successful on probation. … Because Steele was not charged with a sex crime, she does not have to register as a sex offender. Read…
Read MoreYear: 2020
IL: A timeline of how Illinois registered sex offender database was created
[pantagraph.com – 11/25/20] When Terry Parke, a state representative from Pittsfield, the chief sponsor of the Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act, discusses his 1986 bill, he describes it as “one of the most important laws the Legislature would consider that year.” The law requires habitual child sex offenders to register with police within 30 days of release from prison and remain registered for 10 years. “We are having an epidemic in Illinois … of sex crimes against our children,” Parke said. But state Rep. Larry Hicks, a Democrat from…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Homeless for the Holidays
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, the first in a series of winter holidays followed by Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Day. For many people, including some registrants, they will spend those holidays in a sleeping bag on a public sidewalk. In a tent under a bridge. Or in a car if they’re lucky. Although some of those registrants have a low-income job or government assistance, they cannot find a place to live. Why? Not because they can’t afford it, not because of COVID-19, but because of a different…
Read MoreNY: Sex offenders can be detained after sentences completed
New York’s top court upheld a law Monday that allows the state to keep sex offenders confined under some circumstances even after they have completed their sentences. In three decisions handed down Monday, the state Court of Appeals said the law didn’t violate due process guarantees, and did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Full Article
Read MoreCA: How to Seek a Job with a Conviction History: A Fair Chance Hiring Webinar on Dec. 3
[prisonerswithchildren.org] How to Seek a Job with a Conviction History: A Fair Chance Hiring Webinar (online) Thursday, December 3 • 5:00 to 6:30 pm (PST) REGISTER HERE Please join us for a step-by-step training in how to take advantage of the Fair Chance Act, which restricts employers from denying jobs on the basis of job applicants’ conviction histories. Speakers: Tawney Jeffries Directly impacted job seeker who successfully got a job under the Fair Chance Act Nicole James Westcare Navigator and directly impacted job seeker Felicia Espinosa Root & Rebound, Fresno Site Director…
Read MoreCanada: Sex-offender provision unconstitutional in not criminally responsible cases: court
[ca.news.yahoo.com – 11/20/20] OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed that Ontario’s sex-offender registry regime violates the constitutional rights of people found not criminally responsible for their actions by reason of mental disorder. The decision came Friday in the case of an Ontario man who was found not criminally responsible in June 2002 for sexually assaulting his then-wife, and other charges, due to a manic episode. Read the full article
Read MoreNY: Federal District Court limits ban on social media for registrants
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK [Excerpt from page 1:] While the Court appreciates the State’s compelling interest and laudable efforts to protect children from sex offender recidivists on the internet, New York’s attempt to advance this interest via blanket restrictions cannot be squared with the significant freedom of speech rights at stake. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED. While parole officers remain free to impose individualized restrictions on supervisees based on the Registrant’s specific circumstances and risk of recidivating using…
Read MoreACSOL Phone Meeting Nov 21
Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next phone meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, Nov 21, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will last at least two hours. Discussion topics will include: proposed SORNA regulations in-person registration during the COVID-19 pandemic the upcoming Tiered Registry residency restrictions overseas and domestic travel other current topics and pending legal action throughout the nation. Please Show Up, Stand Up and Speak Up!…
Read MoreCommunity supervision, once intended to help offenders, contributes more to mass incarceration
[usatoday.com – 11/19/20] Justice officials are recognizing that community supervision can be a tripwire that perpetuates incarceration based on crimeless technical violations Miriam Aroni Krinsky and Vincent Schiraldi Opinion contributors One of the first people to die of COVID-19 in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail system was Raymond Rivera — a 55-year-old father and husband who lost his life in April. The “offense” that ultimately resulted in a death sentence for Rivera? Leaving a drug program without permission — a minor technical violation of the parole he was on for stealing a motorcycle…
Read MoreCA: District Attorney to push 85% of cases to next year [potential petition delays]
[thesungazette.com – 11/18/20] VISALIA – Prosecutors are hard to come by in Tulare County nowadays, and the work is beginning to pile up. … Coming down the pike are petitions asking to change an offenders sex registration status. For decades those convicted of sex crimes with a minor were forced to register as a sex offender for life. Beginning Jan. 1, 2021 convicted adults will be handed a tier of 10 years, 20 years or life on the sex registration list. And which tier a person falls into will be…
Read MoreKY: A third Louisville police officer has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor in Explorer program
[wdrb.com – 11/16/20] LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A third Louisville Metro Police officer has pleaded guilty to sexual abusing a minor while serving as a mentor in the department’s youth Explorer program. Former Officer Brad ____ faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to a misdemeanor charge of sexual abuse. ____ , who resigned from the department earlier this month, will be sentenced March 10, and prosecutors indicated they would recommend six months incarceration. The judge will…
Read MoreAR: Cop kills dog during sex offender compliance check at wrong home
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 11/17/20] Officer James Freeman of Greenbrier, Arkansas was doing a sex offender compliance check on private property when the homeowner’s dog barked at him. So Freeman shot the dog. Read the full article and watch the video
Read MoreLiving with 290: Dismissals Disregarded
Back in the mid 90’s I met a women. I was 28 and she was 31. We soon developed a passionate love affair. We even lived together but never married. She had odd behavior though. One minute she would be caring and attentive, the next minute she would erupt in violence and yelling. Any man with sound judgement would have broken off this relationship. I didn’t and I paid dearly. Two years into our romance she was again acting very odd at a dinner theatre we attended together. She said…
Read MoreSex Offender Registration Doesn’t Help Victims, Hurts Young Offenders
Jason was 14 years old when he met his first girlfriend, a 13-year-old neighbor of the foster family with whom he lived. After a few months of dating, his girlfriend’s mother walked in on the teenagers engaging in consensual oral sex and called the police. Jason was arrested and charged with child molestation. He was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court and placed on the California Sex Offender Registry. Before he was old enough to drive, Jason was branded a sex offender on a public, searchable website. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreNIJ: Tracking Sex Offenders: Federal Law, Resources Have Led to Marked Improvement of State Registries, But More Work Is Needed
[nij.ojp.gov – 11/13/20] Communities want to know when convicted sex offenders are living in their midst. For a quarter century, federal law has guaranteed communities the right to know. In 1994, Congress mandated that all states develop sex offender registries. Two years later, Megan’s Law provided that sex offender information must be made public. In the ensuing decade, sex offender laws and registries sprang up in all states — but not always with the full impact intended. In some instances, technology deficits limited information sharing across registries and jurisdictions, a…
Read MoreDutch police give ‘stop paedophile hunts’ warning after Arnhem death
[bbc.com – 11/13/20] A Dutch police chief has called for an end to “paedophile hunting” after a 73-year-old retired teacher was beaten up by teenagers and died of his injuries. Oscar Dros said there was a risk more people could die and he appealed for justice to be left to the authorities. The man from the eastern city of Arnhem was lured into having sexual contact with a minor while in a gay chatroom. Authorities said he was aware the boy was underage. But there was no evidence of past…
Read MoreWhen Hate Speech Leads to Violence
[thecrimereport.org – 11/13/20] by Derek W. Logue I recently received an email from the wife of a person listed on the public sex offense registry in a small town in Washington State. She was immensely concerned about seeing a pickup truck parked at a local business sporting a decal portraying a man shooting a kneeling man, execution-style, in the back of the head, with the caption reading, “Shoot Your Local Pedophile.” (The truck also displayed a #SaveOurChildren sticker, a QAnon slogan adopted from Anita Bryant’s defunct anti-homosexuality crusades.) She voiced…
Read MoreCA: Sex Offender Compliance Checks Conducted In Marin County
[msn.com – 11/13/20] MARIN COUNTY, CA — Authorities this week checked to see if sex offenders in Marin County were in compliance with the terms of their probation. Marin County sheriff’s detectives, county probation officers and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation K9 units conducted unannounced searches Tuesday across the county, contacting 19 registered and non-registrant sex offenders. One offender admitted using illegal substances and was arrested, according to the Marin County Probation Department. After searching his home, officers seized his electronic devices for further investigation. A court date to…
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