Source: observertoday.com 8/20/24
A third designation of a sexually violent offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act in Chautauqua County has been reversed upon appeal.
Fourth Department Appellate Division judges reversed their third such case in three months in late July. Once again, the case cites precedent the court set in a June case involving a decision made by Judge David Foley – though similar cases haven’t yet begun to spring up from other courts in the Eighth Judicial District.
In the July case, a person pleaded guilty in a North Carolina court of sexual activity by a substitute parent, a section of North Carolina law dealing with aiding and abetting a felony offense. After the defendant in the case moved to New York state, the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders determined she was required to register as a sex offender in New York and classified her as a presumptive level one risk, the lowest of three designations the board gives.
No one will ever convince me that money isn’t the primary factor in these DAs being so overzealous in populating their registries. The so-called SMART department’s denials that their grants are not based on the number of registrants is about as persuasive as Godzilla being the love child of Lady Gaga and Mickey Mouse.
Nor can I be persuaded that DAs simply don’t seek these penalties to fluff their resumes, truth and justice be damned.