Month: November 2022

FL: 10-year-old student may face battery charge after hugging school counselor

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Source: nbcnews.com 11/9/22 A 10-year-old boy was suspended from his Florida elementary school and faces a charge of misdemeanor battery after he was accused of inappropriately touching a school counselor during a hug, an allegation his family denies. The counselor at Holly Hill School in Volusia County alleged that she was visiting a classroom on Oct. 24 to discuss something when the fourth-grader approached her for a hug, according to a police report and a copy of his suspension letter provided by the boy’s family’s attorneys.  She said she “turned…

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AL: Years after brothers serve 20 years for rape they said they did not commit, judge tosses wrongful conviction

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Source: al.com 11/8/22 Frank Meadows, Jr. may never wear sneakers again. He and his older brother Quinton Cook can laugh about it now. They can laugh about something as inconsequential as footwear and what they’ll wear to church. They can laugh about it now because of the consequential weight recently lifted from their lives when Jefferson County Circuit Judge Shanta’ Owens ruled last month that the two men were wrongfully convicted of rape in 1993, a crime the two men always declared they did not commit. A crime for which…

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UPDATE: SORNA Regulations Hearing Delayed Until January 13

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Source: ACSOL UPDATE: The federal district court in Riverside has delayed the hearing in the SORNA regulations case.  The new date for the hearing is January 13.  The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and is open to the public.  The hearing can also be viewed online.  Additional details regarding how to view the hearing online will be provided close to the hearing date.

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Take part in this survey of formerly incarcerated folks about your re-entry experiences with religious communities

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Source: University of Delaware Dr Chrysanthi Leon and Maggie Buckridge are interviewing formerly incarcerated folks about their re-entry experiences with religious communities. They are especially interested in learning about what religious communities provide for people on the sex offender registry. In addition to speaking with those who found a church or another place of worship to join, they are also interviewing people who wanted to join a place of worship but did not because of various barriers. The purpose of this study is to examine what re-entry practices for religious…

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AZ: Scottsdale adopts new anti-registrant rules for short-term rental property operators

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Source: ktar.com 11/7/22 Scottsdale became the latest city to approve of new rules aiming to better guide short-term rental owners and properties.  The new requirements include obtaining a Scottsdale license for each property, organizing sex offender and background checks on booking guests and … Read the full article  

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CA: Wheatland man guilty of murder: Influenced by conspiracy theories, Banks had ‘hit list’ of potential victims

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Source: appeal-democrat.com 11/3/22 As the spread of conspiracy theories and disinformation continues to creep into every corner of American life, the consequences of movements such as QAnon have shown to be fatal – the most recent well-covered example being the attack on Paul Pelosi at his home allegedly by a man who fell deep into the conspiracy rabbit hole. On Oct. 28, a Wheatland man, 44-year-old Rory Banks, who also seemed to be affected by misinformation online, was found guilty by a Yuba County jury for the May 12, 2021,…

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MI: Washtenaw County’s sheriff criticizes those attacking former felons program

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Source: wemu.org 11/7/22 Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton is calling out some people with political interests who are questioning county-funded programs that use former criminals to help prevent future crimes. One group in particular called “Supreme Felons” was targeted by some for having a registered child sex offender in the group, even though records show that individual was eliminated from the program before the partnership with the county began. In a recorded video, Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton questioned these individuals’ commitment to restorative justice and to proven crime intervention…

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Canada: Jamie Sarkonak: What counts as a sex crime is too broad and it’s ruining people’s lives

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Source: nationalpost.com 11/7/22 If some sex crimes are of such low significance that it’s considered a civil rights violation to put convicts’ addresses in a database for police eyes only, Parliament should re-examine its approach to sex-related offences as a whole. The recent Supreme Court decision in which it was declared unconstitutional to order all sex offenders onto a national registry upon conviction highlights a problem, not with the registry itself, but with the ever-widening scope of what constitutes a sex crime. It’s a sign that Parliament should return to deciding the…

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MO: Police: Registered sex offender arrested after handing out Halloween candy in Hazelwood

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Source: fox2now.com 11/4/22 Police arrested a registered sex offender Friday accused of violating state law and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween in Hazelwood. Prosecutors have charged Thomas ____ with one count of “failure to comply with Halloween related restrictions for sex offenders.” As part of Missouri state law, registered sex offenders cannot go outside to interact with children, cannot have outside lights on and are required to post a sign stating no candy or treats are available at the home on Halloween night. Read the full article  

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CA: Viewer tip leads to arrest of ‘most wanted’ high-risk sex offender

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Source: kget.com 11/5/22 A tip from a viewer led to the arrest of a convicted sex offender featured on Golden Empire Most Wanted last month. Officials said Eric ____ was arrested Wednesday. ____was a high-risk sex offender and parolee at-large wanted for failing to report to the Bakersfield parole office after his release from prison in October. Read the full article  

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MA: Boston doctor arrested in child sex trafficking sting, told officer he wasn’t ‘in mood’ to get caught: report

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Source: 11/4/22 foxnews.com A Boston doctor who unknowingly told an undercover officer he was “just not in the mood to get arrested today” has been detained in a federal child sex trafficking sting, a report says.  Sadeq ____, an anesthesiologist at Tufts Medical Center, is now facing a charge of attempted sex trafficking of a child after allegedly agreeing to pay $250 to have sex with an imaginary underage girl, according to WFXT.  “When we learned today of the disturbing allegations made against Dr. ____, we immediately suspended his medical staff…

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ACSOL, Foundation Board Members Identify 2023 Priorities

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Members of both ACSOL and Family Safety Foundation (FSF) boards of directors conducted their annual face-to-face meeting yesterday to discuss challenges facing registrants and their families.  During that meeting, the boards identified two top priorities for the year 2023: improvements to the Tiered Registry Law and suing the CA Department of Justice for its expected failure to assign tiers to all registrants. ACSOL will lead the challenge of improving the Tiered Registry because it will require lobbying the state legislature in Sacramento.  Proposed improvements include reduced tier reductions for those…

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WA: Washington high court says convicted sex offender can practice law

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Source: reuters.com 11/3/22 A sharply divided Washington Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a man who was previously convicted of a sex offense and other crimes can be licensed as an attorney. The 5-4 decision clears the way for Zachary LeRoy Stevens, who graduated from Arizona State University’s law school in 2018, to practice law in Washington. The opinion said Stevens had a difficult childhood in Utah and sought refuge online, where in 2006 he sent pornographic images of minors to a detective posing as a 14-year-old. He was charged…

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TX: Man jailed on sex offender charges found unresponsive, dies in cell at Bexar County Jail

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Source: ktsa.com/ 10/31/22 SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A 65 year old inmate at the Bexar County Jail found unresponsive in his cell Monday morning has died. It was just after 2 A.M when the inmate was found in his cell by a Deputy conducting face to face checks. Medical staff from University Hospital responded to the call for help and began life saving measures on the man but he was pronounced dead at 30 minutes later. At this point it appears the inmate suffered an episode brought on by…

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Sign the change.org petition: Public Sex Offender Registration is Violation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Source: Florida Action Committee (FAC) started this petition To: The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the United Nations, Complaint Procedure Unit, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland  Petition to Declare Public Sex Offender Registration in the United States a Violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) The Florida Action Committee, Inc. (FAC) is a 2,500+ member non-profit public safety organization that advocates for the rights of all persons. Included in our membership are people forced to register as sexual offenders in the United States. Today, approximately one-million people in the United States…

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