[dailygazette.com – 3/31/21] A man who was falsely arrested by the Rotterdam Police Department for improperly submitting a photo for the sex offender registry list is now suing the department and the town over the four days he spent in jail. William Harwood filed paperwork March 25 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York seeking a jury trial and damages after he said he suffered emotional distress from the incident. Harwood, who is representing himself, said in court documents that in 2018 he was required to provide…
Read MoreYear: 2021
MN: What last week’s Supreme Court ruling actually said — and didn’t say — about sexual assault and drinking in Minnesota
[minnpost.com – 4/1/21] A 20-year-old woman was standing outside a Dinkytown bar in May 2017 when a man, along with his male cousin and another male friend, invited her and her friend to a party. They agreed, and the man drove them to a house. But when they arrived, there was no party. After arriving at the house, the woman — who had been denied entrance from the bar earlier for being overly intoxicated — passed out on a couch. She later woke up to the man, Francois Monulu Khalil,…
Read MoreStudy: When parole, probation officers choose empathy, returns to jail decline
[lakeconews.com – 4/1/21] Heavy caseloads, job stress and biases can strain relations between parole and probation officers and their clients, upping offenders’ likelihood of landing back behind bars. On a more hopeful note, a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that nonjudgmental empathy training helps court-ordered supervision officers feel more emotionally connected to their clients and, arguably, better able to deter them from criminal backsliding. The findings, published March 29 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show, on average, a 13% decrease in…
Read MoreNY: 7-year-old charged with rape, lawyer calls it ‘absurd’
[wwnytv.com – 3/29/21] BRASHER FALLS, N.Y. (WWNY) – A 7-year-old boy from Brasher Falls has been charged with rape. State police didn’t release much information, but said the unidentified child was charged with third-degree rape on March 23. Troopers say the incident was reported on Thanksgiving. The child was cited and released. The case will be handled in Family Court. Police say the investigation is continuing. We spoke with a New York City attorney, who is with a group that handles youth defense cases. “Instinctually, it shouldn’t happen that a…
Read MoreGeneral Comments April 2021
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 2021. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreCA: Sexually Violent Predator Must Move Out Of Napa, Court Rules
[patch.com – 3/30/21] NAPA COUNTY, CA — As a result of a hearing Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, a convicted sexually violent predator living in Napa County must be transferred to San Francisco County, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced in a news release. Charles Leroy _____, 76, was released in September 2020 to live at 4018 E. 3rd Ave. in Napa County, where for six months he lived in close proximity to two schools and within a one-mile radius of 62 children, the Napa County District Attorney’s…
Read MoreFL: Whatever happened to the “Solicitation for Prostitution Registry”?
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/29/21] in 2019, the Florida Legislature passed a Bill sponsored by Senator Lauren Book (SB 540) that was titled “Human Trafficking”. … The Bill passed and was signed into law, creating Florida Statute 943.0433, the “Solicitation for Prostitution Registry”. Individuals who committed the offense(s) on or after January 1, 2021 and are convicted (regardless of adjudication) on or after January 1, 2021 are currently being placed on the Soliciting for Prostitution Public Database. So far there are none. Read the full article and the see the empty registry…
Read MoreFL: Volusia County residents mistakenly get text alert about sex offender moving in nearby
[clickorlando.com – 3/30/21] Text should have only been sent to certain DeLand residents Parker Lee Sharpley (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office) VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Many Volusia County residents received a text alert Tuesday afternoon telling them that a sex offender had moved in nearby but for most of them, that wasn’t actually the case. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said the message about Parker Lee _____, 37, should have only been sent to those who live within 1,000 feet of his new address, which is 1450 2nd Ave. in DeLand.…
Read MoreMT: Federal judge to rule on sex offender registration for ‘gay sex’ convictions
[kpvi.com – 3/30/21] The Montana Attorney General’s Office opposed removing a former Missoula man from the state’s sexual offender registry despite evidence he was designated a sex offender because he had consensual “gay sex” when he was 18 years old. At a trial held Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen, Assistant Attorney General Hannah Tokerud argued the case did not hinge on whether the man, Randall _____, was convicted for having consensual sex. “It hinges on whether he is required to register in Idaho,” Tokerud said. If…
Read MoreNH: New York Must Offer Vaccine to All Prisoners Immediately, Judge Rules
[nytimes.com 3/29/21] A judge in the Bronx ruled that people incarcerated in the state’s prisons and jails had been arbitrarily excluded from the coronavirus vaccine rollout. New York must immediately begin to offer Covid vaccines to all incarcerated people in the state’s prisons and jails, a judge ruled on Monday, making the state one of few in the nation to provide doses to such a broad population behind bars. The order, the first involving any of the country’s largest correctional systems, comes as the coronavirus continues to roar through facilities in New York.…
Read MoreNE: [18 year old] Grand Island man sentenced to 10 years in prison [for CP]
[theindependent.com – 3/28/21] LINCOLN — Max _____ of Grand Island was sentenced Friday in Lincoln by Chief U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard for possession of child pornography. Max _____, who turns 19 on May 29, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and then will serve 12 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. After serving his prison sentence, Max _____will be required to register as a sex offender. He also was ordered to pay $8,000 in special assessments. Read the full article
Read MoreHow you can search for bills and advocacy groups in your state
[ACSOL] How to search for state bills to call and write about: Go to LegiScan.com Scroll down to the National Legislative Search Select your state Type “sex” or any other words in the “Full Text Search” field Click the Search button How to search for federal bills to call and write about: Go to congress.gov Click the dropdown box at the top of the page and select Legislation In the field next to that type “sex” or any other words Click the magnifying glass National advocacy groups that you can…
Read MoreFL: 9 Investigates: Sex offender’s death could cost Brevard County taxpayers
[wftv.com – 3/27/21] Watch the video
Read MoreUK: In the courts: Andover father fined after paedophile confrontation
[andoveradvertiser.co.uk – 3/26/21] A man who confronted a convicted child sex offender in Andover has been handed a fine after he did not complete community service. As previously reported by The Advertiser, Matthew Jamie Doyle was given a community order after he tried to ‘expose’ the convicted paedophile in June 2019, with a requirement to complete unpaid work. … The Advertiser reported at the time how Doyle feared he would be in prison at Christmas and also miss his son’s birthday. “I am going to be in jail for Christmas…
Read MoreWI: Pros and cons: Housing for released prisoners [including registrants] raises debate
[thetelegraph.com – 3/27/21] APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — Julie Angell was nervous. She was about to get out of prison, but didn’t have anywhere to go. Even with help, the challenges faced by many people getting out of prison can be immense and it isn’t uncommon for some to end up homeless if they’re unable to afford a place of their own or can’t find somewhere willing to rent to them. There is similar transitional housing in communities all over Wisconsin — 377 beds in 44 locations — meant to provide…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Worse Than Murder?
As Executive Director of ACSOL, I listen every day to concerns expressed by registrants and/or their family members. Many of those concerns are focused upon challenges that registrants face in employment and housing. This column does not address those challenges. Instead, it addresses the overarching issue that registrants are often treated worse than individuals convicted of murder. Regardless of the sex offense for which they have been convicted or the number of years that have passed since that conviction. I have known this fact for many years. The most obvious…
Read MoreIL: Current policies funnel large number of… [people] …into one building. That needs to change
[chicago.suntimes.com – 3/25/21] The state’s job is to balance the needs and rights of… [people with a prior conviction] …with those of all others. A single building in Englewood, a neighborhood with plenty of struggles, has been home to not one or two or even three… [people listed on the registry] …— but to literally dozens. That strange and — for most Americans — troubling fact came to light recently when people in the neighborhood became aware of, and objected strongly, to one man in particular who had moved into…
Read MoreAction Alert for CA: Make Calls Now That Senate Rules Committee Advanced Senate Bill 615
[ACSOL] UPDATED NEWS: CA Senate Bill 615 Temporarily Suspended The California Senate Rules Committee advanced Senate Bill 615 by assigning the bill to the Senate Public Safety Committee. Although the Public Safety Committee has not yet set a date for consideration of SB 615, the deadline for the committee’s consideration is April 30. “It is now time to start calling the five members of the Senate Public Safety Committee and to state your opposition to Senate Bill 615,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Each call will take one minute…
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