Digital punishment, lateral surveillance & the sex offense registry

Source: journals.sagepub.com 8/25/25 Abstract The maintenance of a public sex offense registry has been codified as a non-punitive civil policy since the 2003 Supreme Court case of Smith v. Doe. But since then, sex offense registries have transformed from a centralized state repository of information to a sprawling digital archive of personal data about people required to register. We identify and report the current technological capabilities of state-run sex offense registries through a 50-state survey and draw from the analysis to argue that the digital turn has changed the form…

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CO: Thornton sex offender map draws criticism from residents

Source: northglenn-thorntonsentinel.com 8/28/25 A proposed ordinance that draws lines between sexually violent offenders and children may actually put kids in harm’s way, a Thornton resident said. The worry isn’t over the wording of the ordinance, which is like other city ordinances that mandate the distance convicted sex offenders must maintain in areas where children congregate. The problem is that the draft ordinance requires the city to publish and maintain a citywide, live map of school bus stops, said resident Steven Mathias.  Mathias – who told the city council during its August…

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TX: Texas believes failure to register can equate to 25-year murder sentence

Source: ntxe-news.com 8/29/25 Fannin County, Texas — On August 27, 2025, Fannin County First Assistant Criminal District Attorney, Nathan Young, secured a 25-year prison sentence for the offense of Failure to Register as Sex Offender in the case of Carl Alton ____, Jr., 56, of Bonham.  … “In 2015 this defendant went to prison for six years for a failure to register as a sex offender,” said First Assistant Nathan Young. “He knew what was expected of his registration when he was released.  His blatant disregard in complying with a…

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Calling Man with Sex Offense Conviction for Having Sex (When 27) with 15-Year-Old-Girl “Pedo” Is Substantially True

Source: reason.com 8/27/25 From Baird v. Reyes, decided yesterday by Judge Andrea Wood (N.D. Ill.): Baird’s three-page handwritten complaint … alleges that, on February 14, 2024, Reyes posted on his Facebook page an image of Baird with the text: “If anyone sees this fucking pedo with my kid and baby momma, let me know immediately.” … Here, the Court finds that the facts surrounding his conviction reveal that Baird, as an adult, had a sexual relationship with a minor, and such conduct is commonly associated with the term pedophile. As Baird…

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Australia: Queensland is creating a public child sex offender register. Will it keep people safer?

Source: theconversation.com 8/26/25 Queensland is creating a public child sex offender register. Will it keep people safer?   The Queensland government will this week table legislation creating Australia’s first public child sex offender register. The Queensland legislation, to be known as Daniel’s Law, was named in honour of Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe, who was abducted and murdered by a sex offender more than two decades ago. But will this new legislation actually work to make children (and the public) safer? Will it act as a deterrent for those contemplating offending or…

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Dallas Congresswoman Looks to Federally Criminalize Certain Protests

Source: dallasobserver.com 8/25/25 Beth Van Duyne’s bill is seen as an infringement upon First Amendment rights. Some states are already making similar steps.   Beth Van Duyne wants to use federal racketeering laws to seize the assets of people and groups that organize or fund protests that turn violent. But a bill the Republican representative for parts of Dallas, Irving and Richardson introduced in Congress to make that possible could infringe on the right of free speech. It is also unlikely to become law and, even if enacted, won’t deter local activists.…

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What Happens After A Child Pornography Conviction In Federal Court?

Source: newsbreak.com 8/25/25 The are a staggering number of people in prison in Washington State for sex crimes.  Just over 3,300 inmates, or roughly 24% of the entire prison system population, were convicted of some type of sex crime. The federal prison system doesn’t break data down the same way, so the total number of inmates that committed sex crimes in the only federal prison Washington State is unknown.  That said, we do know of one person heading to federal prison for a disgusting crime that falls under that category.  Pete Serrano,…

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CA News Alert: Senate Bill 680 Stopped by Appropriations Committee

Source: ACSOL The CA Assembly Appropriations Committee has stopped CA Senate Bill (SB) 680 by placing that bill on the committee’s suspense file during a hearing last week.  As a result, it is unlikely that the legislature will continue to consider this bill. If SB 680 had become law, it would have created a new category of individuals required to register.  That category would have included everyone convicted of unlawful intercourse (PC 261.5), also known as statutory rape, because the victim was a minor and could not lawfully consent.  If…

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Scotland: Killer attacked fellow inmate ‘after discovering sex offence’

Source: heraldscotland.com 8/26/25 A convicted killer brutally slashed a gangland thug after discovering he was a sex offender. Robert Letham attacked Andrew ____ after sneaking up behind him as he read a newspaper while both were in HMP Perth. Letham struck after his apparent concerns about Andrew being housed in the main prison wing fell on deaf ears. The 40 year-old appeared at the High Court in Glasgow where he pled guilty to assaulting Andrew to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement. Letham was jailed for a minimum 22 years and…

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‘Sammy’s Law’ would help parents monitor kids online. It’s gaining steam.

Source: washingtonpost.com 8/26/25 Sammy Chapman was 16 years old when a drug dealer sent him a private message on Snapchat to offer free drugs that turned out to be fentanyl, an addictive and powerful opioid. On Feb. 7, 2021, his younger brother entered Sammy’s room to find him dead on the floor of fentanyl poisoning.   That tragedy spurred the brothers’ parents, Samuel Chapman and television host and relationship therapist Laura Berman, to lobby for laws that might spare other youngsters from similar fates.    Four years later, “Sammy’s Law” might be on the…

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Roblox Banned a Creator for ‘Hunting’ Pedophiles — And Critics Are Pissed

Source: rollingstone.com 8/25/25 The company provoked the ire of its community by banning Schlep, a popular creator who tracks suspected sex predators, even as it faces a flurry of lawsuits claiming it doesn’t protect kids After a popular YouTuber who entraps suspected sexual predators he contacts through Roblox was banned from the youth-targeted gaming platform this month, the company found itself defending its approach to moderation and user safety. But the furor over harm to minors hasn’t been limited to the game’s community. Now a Congressman, state officials, and families are demanding accountability and…

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Oregon’s sex offender database limits information. Is it too much or not enough?

Source: katu.com 8/25/25 PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Courtney Gelbrich and Jane Mendoza have spent a lot of time at soccer fields, watching their daughters play competitive soccer. Little did they know, their common connection would lead them on an unpredictable journey into Oregon’s public sex offender database, in a fight to protect their children. It started with a phone call a couple of years ago. “My husband – who is a head coach of a youth competitive soccer team – received a phone call from our registrar one night saying, ‘Hey,…

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CO: Douglas County judge wrongly blocked man from de-registering as sex offender due to alleged ‘smirk,’ appeals court finds

Source: coloradopolitics.com 8/21/25 A Douglas County judge acted improperly by refusing to grant a defendant’s request to de-register as a sex offender a quarter-century after his offense because the man allegedly “smirked” at a hearing, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. David Arthur _____ pleaded guilty in 2001 to one felony and one misdemeanor count related to sexual assault on a child. After completing four years of sex offender probation, a judge dismissed the felony, leaving Arthur guilty of only a misdemeanor. He subsequently completed sex offender treatment in 2006.…

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NY: Woodstock Uproar Highlights Bigger Question: What Happens After Sex Offenders Leave Prison

Source: chronogram.com 8/22/25 During the public comment period near the end of a Woodstock town board meeting on July 8, resident Michael Veitch stood to speak. “One of the main failings of the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts and others was the failure to disclose the presence of known pedophiles to the parents of the children who came in contact with them,” he said. He’d drafted an email for the town board to send to parents letting them know that a “registered violent sex offender” was working for the…

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OH: Final conspirator in scheme to exploit Ohio sex offenders get four-year sentence

Source: zanesvilletimesrecorder.com 8/21/25 ZANESVILLE – Inmates within the Georgia prison system organized a defrauding scheme in 2024 to defraud sex offenders and across the country, including two male victims in Ohio. Marquis Lamar Conner Sr., 43, of Decatur, Georgia, was the last of four defendants to go before the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas for sentencing Aug. 18. Per request, Conner argued for his own sentencing before Judge Kelly Cottrill. After a lengthy statement where he blamed the victims for being defrauded, Conner received four years in an Ohio prison…

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TX: Amarillo police share recent findings after [wasteful] sex offender compliance check operation

Source: newschannel10.com 8/19 25 AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – The Amarillo Police Department has shared its recent findings after conducting a sex offender compliance check operation. Officials say the operation spanned from July 23 to August 1. The Amarillo Police Department’s Special Victims Unit (SVU), in coordination with multiple law enforcement agencies, recently completed the operation aimed at ensuring adherence to registration and compliance requirements under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 62 and departmental policies. Amarillo police shared the following operation summary: Read the full article  

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Parents: Stop Giving Your Kids (And Everyone Else’s) To The Government

Source: thegarrisoncenter.org 8/17/25 At a 1992 debate, an audience member hit incumbent US president George H.W. Bush, as well as candidates Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, with an interesting question. I personally recall the moment, and found it somewhat odd at the time, but I’m trusting AI on the exact quote, so don’t ask for my oath on its accuracy: “I ask the three of you to look into the camera and talk to us about how you would be as a president, as a father of the country. Why…

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ME: Tier III Lifetime Sex Offender Registrant Booted from Board of Maine Autism Society After Maine Wire Inquiry

Source: themainewire.com 8/19/25 The Autism Society of Maine (ASM), a non-profit, dismissed board member Nicholas Pike, 29, on Monday after an inquiry by The Maine Wire inquired about why a Tier III lifetime sex offender registrant was serving on its governing body. “The Autism Society of Maine has dismissed a Board member after learning they are listed on the Maine Sex Offender Registry. This information was not disclosed during the application process. We take this matter seriously,” said ASM Board President Melissa Ponce in a statement provided to The Maine…

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