[10tv.com – 4/15/21] The bill named after murdered Ohio State student Reagan Tokes aims to shore up problems with monitoring ex-prisoners first uncovered by 10 Investigates House lawmakers re-introduced a bill Thursday named after murdered Ohio State student Reagan Tokes that aims to shore up shortfalls with how ex-prisoners re-enter society and are monitored by parole officers once they leave prison. 10 Investigates has exposed example after example of the state’s repeated inability to closely monitor violent ex-offenders in recent years. The results were deadly. Reagan Tokes became one of…
Read MoreMonth: April 2021
IL: Bill would make no-contact orders for sexual offenders permanent
[newschannel20.com – 4/14/21] SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — A new bill making its way through the Senate would protect sexual assault survivors from their attackers for life. Senate Bill 2277, sponsored by State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, aims to protect sexual assault survivors from ever seeing their attacker again. This legislation would make civil no-contact orders permanent if the assailant is criminally convicted of sexual assault. Currently, under law, people must renew no-contact orders every two years. Read the full article
Read MoreCharles Rodrick Arraigned Today in Arizona Court
[ACSOL] Charles Rodrick, who charged registrants up to $500 to have their personal information removed from websites he created, was arraigned today in Arizona. During today’s arraignment, Rodrick entered a plea of not guilty to all charges for which he has been indicted. Rodrick is scheduled to return to court on June 8 for a pretrial conference. Because Rodrick posted bond, he is living in the community and wearing a GPS tracking device. In addition to Rodrick, two of his colleagues — Brent Oesterblad and Sarah Shea — have also been…
Read MoreFL: Bipartisan support is closing Florida’s sexual offender loophole
[tampabay.com – 4/12/21] The case of a Tampa man who molested two young girls at a community pool but has not had to register as a sex offender has exposed a loophole in Florida’s law that is a concern among parents, law enforcement groups and child advocates. The Tampa Bay Times covered the story of Ray La Vel James, who was convicted of molesting the girls in 2002. James served 15 years in prison and was given a $10,000 fine. It was expected that upon his release, James would have…
Read MoreNE: Auburn limits where sex offenders can reside, clarifies street parking laws
[newschannelnebraska.com – 4/12/21] AUBURN – The Auburn City Council adopted several resolutions at Monday’s meeting including an addition to the city code limiting where sex offenders and can live and clarifying where visitors can park. City Attorney Angelo Ligouri said the city council intended to pass a sex offender ordinance in 2006, when the state established a sex offender registry. The city recently realized the ordinance had not been passed. Read the full article
Read MoreTX: Convicted sex offender declared ineligible to run for Arlington mayor
[dallasnews.com – 4/12/21] A convicted sex offender has been ruled ineligible to run for Arlington mayor, but his name will remain on the ballot because the deadline has passed to remove it, according to the city secretary’s office. Jerry Warden was one of eight candidates vying for the position of mayor. The city initially ruled that Warden could remain in the race after another candidate filed a complaint, but reversed that decision last week. Warden holds a lifetime listing on the Texas Public Sex Offenders Registry after being convicted in…
Read MoreAustralia: Judges push for more powers to control who is placed on sex offenders register
[theage.com.au – 4/13/21] A group of County Court judges is urging the state’s law reform body to give judges more discretion over who is placed on the sex offenders register. In a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission, the County Court of Victoria said judges should have more powers to decide whether a convicted sex offender should be placed on the register and to expunge the registration of criminals who have previously been registered. The only current exemption is for offenders under 19, who can apply to be kept…
Read MoreACSOL Urgent Action Alert for CA (April 14 deadline!): Support CDCR Repeal of Its Prop. 57 Exclusions
[ACSOL] The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is proposing the repeal of its categorical exclusion of individuals required to register as sex offenders from early parole consideration. According to the proposal, most registrants in custody will be referred to the Board of Parole Hearings for early parole consideration no later than July 1, 2021. “If CDCR’s proposed repeal becomes final, thousands of registrants who have been denied early parole consideration for more than four years will finally receive the benefits of Proposition 57,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice…
Read MoreACSOL Board Member Ira Ellman Publishes Scholarly Work Claiming Registry Regime Is Motivated by Animus, Should Be Stricken
[ACSOL] ACSOL Board Member Ira Ellman has published a scholarly work that claims the registry regime is motivated by animus and should be stricken. This conclusion is based upon an analysis of four relevant U.S. Supreme Court decisions in which the Court determined what constitutes animus and struck down existing laws on that basis. According to Ellman’s work, “(n)o similar regime has ever been imposed on any other group of law-abiding former felons who have fully served the sentence for the crime they committed years earlier”. The work also concludes…
Read MorePornography Addiction an Unspoken ILL
[laprogressive.com – 4/9/21] Like a lot of teens of my generation, I discovered the novels of Kurt Vonnegut like a breath of fresh air apart from the assigned readings in my school. Vonnegut wrote what even he described as “trash” fiction, but he peppered his books with matter of fact recounting of historical events, some of which were based on facts and a lot of which were just snarky imagination. The book that made him famous was Slaughterhouse 5 which was full of both dark humor and bits of hope, as well…
Read MoreMO: Convicted sex offender causes concern in Arnold neighborhood – ‘Terrified of him being around’
[kmov.com – 4/9/21] JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) — A convicted sex offender is not welcome in a Jefferson County neighborhood. Residents hoped a St. Louis County judge would revoke the bond of Korey ______ after a RING doorbell camera captured a potential bond violation. “I’m honestly just terrified of him being around,” said Morgan Pisoni who lives across the street from Korey ______ . Korey ______ is a former police officer who was previously convicted of molesting a boy under the age of 10 in 2007. Pisoni has a son…
Read MoreFL: Summerfield sex offender jailed after showing up a day late to register
[villages-news.com – 4/6/21] A Summerfield sex offender spent a night in jail last week after showing up a day late for his quarterly registration update. Eric Samuel ____, 50, of 9445 SE 162nd St., was convicted in Orange County in October 1997 of sexual battery on a victim under 12 by an adult. As a result, he was required to register as a sex offender and must re-register four times a year, in the months of June, September, December and March. … On the morning of Thursday, April 1, Eric…
Read MoreUT: Lawmaker wants voters to decide on time limits for raising old claims of sex abuse
[deseret.com – 4/7/21] Since the Utah Supreme Court struck down a state law reviving old claims of sexual abuse, a state lawmaker says she will propose a ballot measure allowing voters to effectively bring it back. “I’m committed to that,” Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said Wednesday. “I will be doing that during the 2022 session.” Romero made the comment at a news conference recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, saying it can take years for people to accept what happened to them early in life, often at…
Read MoreAZ: Charles Rodrick Indicted, Arrested by FBI
[ACSOL] Charles Roderick, who charged registrants up to $500 to remove their personal information from websites he created, was arrested today by the FBI and taken into custody. His arrest followed a grand jury indictment for a variety of felonies and misdemeanors. If convicted of those charges, Rodrick faces between 12 to 23 years in prison. According to reliable news sources, Rodrick was arrested in the Phoenix airport after returning from a vacation in Costa Rica. He is scheduled to appear in Maricopa Superior Court on April 14. In order…
Read MoreTN: Ruling could signal future change to Tennessee’s sex offender registry
[newschannel5.com – 4/7/21] NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Could hundreds of sex offenders be removed from the state’s sex offender registry? That’s the worry from some victim advocates following a federal court decision this week affecting two convicted sex offenders in Tennessee. The lawsuit was filed by two anonymous convicted sex offenders, John Doe #1, and John Doe #2, who said Tennessee’s sex offender registry act should not apply to them. That law, passed in 2004, required the two to register as sex offenders and obey distance requirements when finding a…
Read MoreMT: Sodomy laws that labeled gay people sex offenders challenged in court
[nbcnews.com – 4/7/21] Nearly 20 years after the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity, the legacy of sodomy bans is still felt across the United States. In 1993, then-18-year-old Randall Menges was charged under Idaho’s “crimes against nature” law for having sex with two 16-year-old males. All three worked and lived at Pratt Ranch, a cattle ranch in Gem County that doubled as a live-in foster program for troubled teenagers. Menges was convicted despite police reports indicating the activity was consensual, and the age of consent in…
Read MoreTN: Judge orders state to remove men from sex offender registry
A federal judge ruled Monday that Tennessee’s sex offender registration act is unconstitutional, at least as it was applied retroactively to two offenders. The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee affects only the two men who sued, identified in court documents as John Doe #1 and John Doe #2. “I think the ruling, while it is narrowly tailored to our clients, does open the door to the possibility of a class action,” attorney Ed Yarbrough said in an interview. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota House committee hears sex offender program’s request for funding
[msn.com – 4/6/21] The Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee learned more Tuesday about the proposed $17.8 million contained in Gov. Tim Walz’s bonding request for the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in St. Peter. The funding would renovate two buildings on the program’s campus, adding 30 beds to Community Preparation Services, as well as provide more programming and administrative space. Clients transferred to CPS continue treatment in a less restrictive setting that prepares them to integrate back into the community. Right now, all 89 beds at CPS are full, with about…
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