CA: Elderly man found dead in Santa Clara County Main Jail cell

Source: mercurynews.com 5/15/23 SAN JOSE — Authorities said a man being held at Santa Clara County Main Jail was pronounced dead after deputies found him unresponsive inside his cell Saturday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies performing a welfare check found the 74-year-old man inside Main Jail Dorm 2B at 2:05 p.m. and administered CPR until medical personnel arrived, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. The man was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 2:55 p.m. Authorities did not release the man’s name Monday, pending notification…

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PA: Megan’s Law hearing canceled

Source: altoonamirror.com 5/12/23 HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County Senior Judge Timothy M. Sullivan won’t be hearing arguments today on the constitutionality of the state’s law requiring sex offenders to regularly register their addresses and other information with state police. Because the state Supreme Court is taking up the constitutional issue on May 23 when it reviews a Chester County case, today’s hearing before Sullivan was canceled. Decisions by the state Supreme Court, expected after the May 23 arguments in Commonwealth v. Torsilieri, are likely to be influential on Blair County cases.…

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UK: Sex offender monitoring must be reformed before system is overwhelmed – report

Source: independent.co.uk 4/27/23 The Government must reform how freed sex offenders are monitored before the system is overwhelmed, a review has warned. Led by former chief constable of Derbyshire Police Mick Creedon, the report said there is a “pressing” need to reform the system due to a “growing volume” of sex offenders in the past 20 years. In particular, the review into the police-led management of sex offenders in the community examined the current system of Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). These are the set of arrangements by which…

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OK: Sex offender searches in Oklahoma prove more complicated than one would think

Source: kjrh.com 5/12/23 TULSA, Okla. — The case involving registered sex offender Jesse McFadden has rocked the Henryetta community. Investigators have already taken in mounds of electronic evidence from inside the home that has victims’ families concerned about possible sex ring ties. The case has prompted a lot of you to dig into your own communities and the sex offender registry. One woman alerted 2 News that a simple web search isn’t as easy as it sounds and there could be some serious flaws. “This started by the McFadden case…

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FL: Orlando man arrested by DeSantis’ election police works to rebuild his life — again

Source: orlandosentinel.com 5/12/23 Peter Washington Jr. had never voted in his life. But, in May 2019, he filled out a voter application so he could join his wife and “do something good.” “We had just gotten married,” he said. “We were doing a lot of things together.” Days after submitting his application, he was cleared by the state and received his voter ID in the mail. In October of the following year, the couple walked into the Hiawassee Library, near their home in Pine Hills. “I was anxious … scared,”…

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NJ: New Lawsuit Challenges New Jersey’s Lifetime Child Abuse Registry

Source: reason.com 3/7/23 “Lifetime registries are wrong,” said the plaintiff’s attorney. “They’re wrong based on the science and they’re wrong based on the reality that risk is not static. It is dynamic.” In New Jersey, individuals found to have committed any act of child abuse or neglect are placed on the state’s child abuse registry for life—creating a permanent stigma that bars them from a litany of professions. Even though the evidence in favor of such registries is sparse, they continue to be popular across the nation. However, one New…

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AL: Cullman County man sentenced to 75 years for failure to register as sex offender

Source: cullmantribune.com 5/11/23 CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman County Circuit Court Judge Greg Nicholas on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, sentenced David Lee ____, of Hanceville, to 75 years in prison. The sentence stems from ____’s March 1 conviction for failing to register as a sex offender with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. “As I stated after the trial our sex offender registration laws are tough for good reason and we will not only prosecute those who break them to the fullest,…

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John Legend knows the obstacles of life after prison. He wants you to know them too

Source: npr.org 5/4/23 When incarcerated people leave prison, are they actually free? Turns out, the singer/songwriter John Legend is one of 113 million American adults who has had a family member incarcerated. He tells his family’s story in this 30-minute documentary that asserts people can’t be free unless they have the necessary resources when they leave prison. From the get-go HOME/FREE lists the problems with re-entry into their community. “I have the ability to go where I want. I do. But at what cost?” says Anthony Ray Hinton, one of…

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FL: Officials: Florida Sex Offender Charged With Illegal Voting

Source: usnews.com 5/10/23 MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — A registered sex offender in Florida has been arrested on charges that he voted illegally in the November 2020 election. Louis Palmieri, 77, of Melbourne, was charged Tuesday with false affirmation in connection with an election and voting by an unqualified elector, both third-degree felonies, according to Brevard County jail records. Melbourne is on the Atlantic coast, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Orlando. Palmieri voted in the November 2020 election after signing paperwork claiming he was eligible to vote, the Florida…

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FL: ‘Justice’ reformer, ex-BSO deputy Bleiweiss avoids prison but must submit to sex-offender treatment

Source: floridabulldog.org 5/10/23 Self-appointed justice reformer Jonathan Bleiweiss, credibly accused of molesting 25 men when he was a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy, has shut down an attempt to send him back to prison for a long stretch. Prosecutors wanted substantial prison time to punish Bleiweiss for violating his probation. Under the terms of a generous 2015 plea deal, he served less than four years of a five-year sentence for multiple counts of battery, stalking and armed false imprisonment, at the same time ducking a possible life sentence for multiple sex…

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CA: Board Overseeing Federal Homelessness Funds Erupts Into Shouts Over Nomination of Sex Offender – PubliCola

Source: publicola.com 5/10/23 The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has asked a member of its Continuum of Care board to step down after she yelled at a fellow board member who objected to the appointment of a proposed new board member, pointing out that he is a registered sex offender and accusing him of behaving inappropriately toward her in the past. In an email to KCRHA staff and board members last Thursday, KCRHA chief program officer Peter Lynn said he was formally asking the board co-chair, Shanéé Colston, to resign…

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GA: Columbus prison inmate charged in cellmate’s homicide. Witnesses say he choked victim

Source: news.yahoo.com 5/10/23 An inmate who was being held at Columbus’ Rutledge State Prison has been charged with murder in the death of a cellmate. Nicholas Kyle Shaw, 32, faced charges of murder and aggravated assault Wednesday during a bond hearing in Muscogee Municipal Court. He is charged in the April 23 death of inmate Daniel Tyler Nichols, 26, authorities said. An investigator testified that on April 22, other inmates found Shaw atop Nichols in their cell, choking him. They pushed him off, and finding Nichols unresponsive, told Shaw he…

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AL: What to do if a registered sex offender moves into your neighborhood

Source: cbs42.com 5/10/23 SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — What do you do if a registered sex offender moves into your neighborhood? That was a question posed to CBS42 by neighbors in Shelby County after they received a flyer in the mail from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, alerting them that a sex offender had recently moved into the Brook Highland area. “We’re gonna make sure the community knows who you are, we’re gonna make sure the community knows where you live,” Chief Deputy Clay Hammac with the Shelby County Sheriff’s…

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How Parole Conditions Trapped Me in Homelessness

Source: theappeal.org 5/9/23 The severe restrictions I face while on supervision effectively serve as a ban on stable housing. The terms of this arrangement have left me technically homeless, forced to live in a motel.   … The terms of this arrangement have left me homeless—at least technically. I currently live in a Super 8 motel. It is a nuisance, but also a comfort. I get the comfort of a mattress, a room of my own, and a hot shower. It’s better than the alternatives of living on the street,…

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CA: CASOMB Reports Increases on Petitions Filed and Granted

Source: ACSOL The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) held its monthly meeting today and during that meeting it was reported that the number of filed petitions for removal from the registry has increased to a total of 5,582.  Of that total, state courts have granted 4,050 petitions and denied 85 petitions.  There are 1,532 petitions that have been filed but are waiting for a court’s decision. “The number of petitions filed has increased by 881 as compared to January 2023,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “While this number…

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WI: The Child Victims Act aims to support survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Source: weau.com 5/8/23 EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Wisconsin legislators have proposed a new bill that would help survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The Child Victims Act extends the amount of time that victims of child sexual abuse can file private lawsuits against their abusers. The new length of time for survivors would be up to 45 years old, the same amount of time that they’re able to file criminal charges. Sexual assault advocate at Family Resource Center in Eau Claire, Amanda S., said sexual assault is considered one of…

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FL: Sex Tape of Florida Middle School Students Airdropped to Other Students, Incident Under Investigation

Source: ibtimes.sg 5/6/23 School officials and the Jacksonville Beach Police are investigating a situation at Fletcher Middle School that allegedly involves an explicit video that shows two students having sex. Officials say the video was sent out to via AirDrop and text messaging apps, popping up on the cell phones of their peers at the school. Principal Joe McKenzie called parents to inform them of the incident this week. “We’ve recently learned that someone shared an inappropriate, obscene video with students via text message and Airdrop,” McKenzie said, in part.…

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