Source: valawyersweekly.com 12/11/25 Where the district court did not evaluate each element of a three-part test when it concluded that a prison was part of the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States, the defendant’s conviction was vacated. Background After a bench trial, the district court convicted Jesse Perez of producing and possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1466A at the Federal Correctional Institution in Petersburg, Virginia. The district court determined Perez “committed [his offense] in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States” because…
Read MoreMonth: December 2025
PA: PARSOL: SORNA’s internet identifier provision is ruled unconstitutionally vague
Source: parsol.org 12/9/25 Armstrong County, PA] On Dec. 3, 2025, Judge James J. Panchik of the Court of Common Pleas of Armstrong County, ruled SORNA’s internet identifier provision is unconstitutionally vague. The Com. v. Michael Diebold case arises from a new failure‑to‑provide‑accurate‑registration‑information charge filed after the defendant, in litigating a habeas petition in an earlier SORNA case, disclosed a list of 66 websites he used and a Craigslist email exchange about brush‑cutting services. In response, PSP and the Armstrong County DA treated both Craigslist itself and a Craigslist‑generated relay email address as “internet…
Read MoreAZ: Court ruling dismisses valid complaints about Arizona’s sex offender registry, expert says
Source: kjzz.org 12/9/25 A federal judge ruled in November that Arizona’s sex offender registry is constitutional. The Arizona Mirror reported on the lawsuit filed by a man who went by John Doe. He had been convicted of sexual conduct with a minor in 2016. His lawsuit claimed the requirement that he register as a sex offender violated his due process and free speech rights. The suit also tried to do away with the laws that required him to register as a sex offender for life, register his residency in a new…
Read MoreCA: As California prisons face ‘wave’ of sex assault lawsuits, new audit highlights slow discipline
Source: calmatters.org 12/9/25 Five California correctional officers who were accused of sexually assaulting incarcerated people over the last dozen years remain employed by the state, according to a new audit from the state prisons’ inspector general. The audit, released last week, is a twice-a-year summary of how the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation addresses complaints about its staff members. Overall, the inspector general found fault with the internal affairs department’s investigations into prison guard misconduct. The audit labeled 86% of the prison system’s internal affairs disciplinary and criminal caseload as…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: The Epstein Shadow
As the year 2025 comes to an end, it is time to reflect upon a significant but unspoken factor that has influenced the registrant community this year. That factor is the Epstein Shadow. What do I mean by that term? Throughout this year, information regarding Jeffrey Epstein has been shared and continues to be shared with the public. The flow of that information has been erratic at best. That is because some of the information is being released by Congress, the legislative branch of the government. And some of the…
Read MoreOH: National predator-catching group says it helped lead police to Cincinnati man arrested on child porn charges
Source: wcpo.com 12/10/25 CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati-area man was arrested and is facing multiple child sexual abuse material charges after being confronted by a national predator-catching organization that claims to have helped secure arrests across all 50 states. The arrest came after Alex Rosen’s organization, Predator Poachers, confronted Naylor outside his workplace following online interactions with someone who Naylor allegedly believed was a 13-year-old boy. “Any site you can think of … we’re on,” Rosen said. “There’s no place, even when it’s quote, unquote, encrypted, that a pedophile can hide…
Read MoreCA: Vacatur of Child Pornography Conviction Requires More Than Showing of Past Abuse
Source: einpresswire.com 12/10/25 [Vacatur is a legal remedy that allows courts to nullify or set aside previous judgments, ensuring fairness and accuracy in legal proceedings by addressing errors or new developments.] Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a 2021 statute allowing a convict to seek vacatur of his or her conviction if the crime “was a direct result of being a victim of…sexual violence” does not require that the abuse be ongoing at the time of the charged incident, drawing a separate opinion as…
Read MoreSextortion scams led 38 US teens to die by suicide over five years: ‘I have yr nudes and everything needed to ruin your life’
Source: nypost.com 12/10/25 Thirty-eight teenage boys in the US have died by suicide since 2021 after falling victim to “sextortion” scammers, a top cybercrimes investigator has told The Post. Two networks have been identified as the main ones behind the sick schemes: Nigeria’s Yahoo Boys, who do it for profit, and the US-Europe-centered 764 gang, who are, more worryingly, sexual sadists, according to Paul Raffile, who has personally investigated many of the suicides. “These criminals can add 100 kids [per] Instagram account and hope that 30 accept the friend request…
Read MoreConstitution Civil Due Process Civil Rights Speech and Religion Judicial Interpretation Torts and Liability State High Courts Split on Laws Letting Survivors of Sexual Abuse Sue After Expiration of Statutes of Limitations
Source: statecourtreport.org 11/24/25 State supreme courts have emphasized different constitutional provisions to decide whether bills reviving time-barred civil causes of action for child sexual abuse claims are constitutional. In recent years, several state legislatures have passed statutes making it easier for survivors of sexual abuse to bring civil suits against their abusers and related non-perpetrator defendants. On one hand, these laws have given many survivors the chance to seek justice after decades with no recompense for their suffering. On the other hand, they have exposed institutions like public school districts…
Read MoreTim Ballard’s Reputation is in Shambles. The Americans He Helped Arrest Want Answers.
Source: theappeal.org 12/9/25 Tim Ballard, the disgraced “anti-sex-trafficking” expert, was the subject of a hit 2023 biographical film and serial sexual misconduct allegations in the same year. After Ballard’s fall, the people he helped arrest in Washington want to know why no one seems willing to take a second look at their cases. Back in 2014, a Washington State Patrol sergeant named Carlos Rodriguez was hunting for money. His unit, the Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, faced a budget shortfall, and legislators were of little help—they were in…
Read MoreAction Alert: Please Join Effort to Remove Anti-Registrant Merchandise from Etsy.com
Please join ACSOL and others in an effort to persuade Etsy to remove anti-registrant merchandise from its website. The merchandise at issue includes messages on clothing and bumper stickers such as “Shoot Your Local Pedophile” and “Dead Pedophiles Don’t Reoffend.” “These and other statements on merchandise incite violence and therefore are not protected by the First Amendment,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. Messages demanding that Etsy remove its anti-registrant merchandise from its website should be sent by email to [email protected] It is important to note that the anti-registrant merchandise…
Read MoreNew reports present findings on sexual victimization reported by inmates
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) BJS has released Sexual Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2023–24 and Sexual Victimization in Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2023–24. These reports present findings from the fourth National Inmate Survey (NIS-4) in state and federal prisons and local jails. This NIS is part of BJS’s National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which collects allegations of sexual victimization directly from victims and information on reported sexual victimization from administrative records. The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108–79) requires BJS to carry out…
Read MoreHow Federal Supervision Nearly Derailed Noel’s Second Chance
Source: reformalliance.com 12/1/25 When Noel Barrientos came home from federal prison in 2018, he believed the hardest part of his sentence was behind him. He had served three and a half years for a white-collar offense, and was eager to rebuild his life, reconnect with his two young daughters, and start a career. But Noel was placed on federal supervision, which meant his newfound freedom was fragile. He left prison only to be followed by a long list of unhelpful rules and by a system that fails to promote stability. …
Read MoreJustice Department can unseal Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case records, judge says
Source: apnews.com 12/9/25 NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge said on Tuesday. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled after the Justice Department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Epstein’s cases, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents. The ruling, in the wake of the passage last month of the Epstein Files Transparency…
Read MoreFL: Florida’s new reporting system is shining a light on human trafficking in the Sunshine State
Source: theconversation.com 12/8/25 Most Americans imagine human trafficking as a violent kidnapping or a “stranger danger” crime – someone abducted from a parking lot or trapped in a shipping container brought in from another country. In fact, trafficking rarely takes this form. In most cases, traffickers spend months or even years building trust and creating emotional and economic bonds with their victims. They use a variety of coercion and control techniques such as emotional abuse, forced criminality, financial abuse, and physical and sexual abuse to entrap their victims. Meanwhile, the perpetrators are making…
Read MoreCA: Fresno County targets sex offender concentration with new ordinance proposal
Source: kmph.com 12/8/25 FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Fresno County Supervisors Garry Bredefeld and Brian Pacheco, alongside Sheriff John Zanoni, have announced a proposed ordinance aimed at limiting the number of registered sex offenders in single-family homes in unincorporated areas. They are holding a news conference on Monday morning at 10 a.m. to announce the proposal at the Hall of Records in downtown Fresno. The move comes after residents voiced concerns about safety and quality of life. “This ordinance is long overdue,” Bredefeld said. “No neighborhood should be made to feel afraid…
Read MoreUT: Violent Drug-Using Wellington Vigilante Attempts to Murder Registrant
Source: fox13now.com 12/5/25 WELLINGTON, Utah — A Wellington father was arrested and faces a charge of attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a registered sex offender 17 times after he allegedly made comments his minor daughter. Thad James Gurule was arrested on Wednesday. Police were called Monday to a Wellington home in Wellington after a call regarding a man covered in blood standing on the porch. Emergency personnel eventually found the victim a short distance away from the location with multiple stab wounds and lacerations. … Officers identified the alleged…
Read MoreChicago Promoted Two Police Officers After Investigators Found They Engaged in Sexual Misconduct
Source: propublica.org 12/4/25 The Chicago Police Department’s promotions system allows officers’ disciplinary records to be ignored. Despite years of reform efforts, nothing has changed. One of Chicago’s newest police sergeants had been deemed “unfit to serve” after an investigation uncovered evidence that he created a fake Facebook account and spread a nude photo of a woman he was sexually involved with, then lied to investigators about it. Another new sergeant had been found to have engaged in conduct that “seriously undermines public faith, credibility, and trust in the Department”…
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