[law.umich.edu] The National Registry of Exonerations recently issued its 2017 report. Of the 139 exonerations they added to the registry in 2017, 21% were for sex crimes, not counting the two for registration crimes. About half of all the exonerations were based on the conclusion that no crime had been committed (as opposed to the finding that the exoneree was not the perpetrator). Eleven of these were child sexual abuse convictions. Download the Exonerations In 2017 report [PDF] The original path is: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/ExonerationsIn2017.pdf
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NY: Bills re-instate residency/ proximity laws, Shelter Bans and end Statutes of Limitations
[once-fallen.blogspot] Read comments by once-fallen.blogspot Read NY Assembly Bill A9505C Read NY Senate Bill S7505B
Read MoreTrump’s ‘Bipartisan’ Nominees to Sentencing Commission Tilt Conservative
[thecrimereport.org] President Donald Trump’s four nominees to the U.S. Sentencing Commission include three well-known conservatives who may be inclined to support tougher sentences in federal criminal cases. The White House announcement Thursday described it as a “bipartisan group” of nominees, but if all of them are approved by the Senate, the voting majority of the six-member commission (two of whom serve as ex-officio, nonvoting members), could tilt rightward, according to observers. The commission, an independent judiciary agency, was created by Congress in 1984 “to reduce sentencing disparities and promote transparency…
Read MoreAt the Fox News Site, a Sudden Focus on Women as Sex Offenders
[nytimes.com] In November, there was the story of a 22-year-old science teacher arrested in Oklahoma for her “sex romp” with a male student. In September, an article told of a 38-year-old teacher who kissed a student and let him “touch her breasts behind Culver’s,” a burger joint in Kerrville, Tex. And in July there was a report on a 54-year-old music teacher in Georgia who, a headline announced, “blames male student, 17, for tricking her into having sex ‘like a used-car salesman.’” Instances of female teachers sexually abusing male students…
Read MoreHow A Trailer Park Becomes A Secret Haven For Sex Offenders
[cracked.com] “Sex Offender Trailer Park” sounds like either a great horror movie, a middling rock band, or a horrible sitcom. In real life, neighborhoods like that do exist, because of a problem society has no goddamned idea how to solve. In many cities, laws keep registered sex offenders from living anywhere near where children gather, which means there are only tiny areas where they can live. We talked to James, who owned a trailer park that became known as a haven for the people society would prefer not to deal…
Read MoreFL: A National Push For Victims’ Rights is Now Hitting Florida. But Critics Are Fighting Back
[injusticetoday.com] Voters in Florida may soon get to decide whether to give victims of crime a bigger say in the criminal justice system. A proposed amendment to the state constitution known as Marsy’s Law for Florida would enshrine specific rights for crime victims, such as the right to privacy and the “right to be reasonably protected from the accused.” It would also give victims legal standing to testify during hearings to determine a defendant’s bail, sentencing, plea deals and parole. “The pain a victim suffers in the aftermath of a…
Read MoreMO: To better spot sexual predators, schools get advice from teachers convicted of sex crimes
[news-leader.com] To better safeguard schools from sexual predators, the Center for Education Safety turned to an unlikely source: Former Missouri teachers convicted of crossing the line with students. Six former school employees, most still behind bars, agreed to answer questions from a former law enforcement officer who works as training coordinator for the center, which is part of the Missouri School Boards’ Association. At a training Monday in Springfield for school safety coordinators, interviewer Gary Moore shared what he gained by asking the convicted felons how they chose and groomed…
Read MoreNY: Outdated Ideas About Violent Crime Hurt Victims and Trap Offenders
[citylimits.org] On August 21st, 1979, two girls aged 17 and 21 entered Rose and Louis Feit’s apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn and demanded money. Rose refused, so the girls grabbed a knife and a potato peeler out of the kitchen drawer. Rose Feit, who was 73, was left with 28 stab wounds, according to court records. Louis, who was 80, had 59. Both died of their injuries. Valerie Gaiter, the 21-year-old, was convicted of two counts of robbery and two counts of second-degree murder. Almost 40 years later, she’s still technically…
Read MoreFixing a Non-Existent Problem with an Ineffective Solution [paper]
[uakron.edu] Sex offender. This is an extremely consequential label, carrying with it a harsh—and often unjustified—stigma. Virgil McCranie certainly did not want this label. Virgil was 19 years old and his girlfriend Misty was 14 years old when they first had sex. But later, Misty learned that Virgil had cheated on her, so she told her father that she had slept with Virgil. Enraged, Misty’s father went to the police with this information; Virgil was subsequently charged with statutory rape. Because she was under the age of consent at the…
Read MoreIreland: Falsely accused Belfast man slams vigilante paedophile hunters
[belfasttelegraph.co.uk] A Belfast law graduate has called for new legislation to curb vigilante paedophile hunters after he was wrongly identified as a sexual predator and falsely accused of grooming children. The Queen’s University graduate was left confused following a sudden influx of friend requests on social media, before it became apparent that he shared the same name as one of the vigilante group’s targets. A barrage of profane abuse soon followed. “It made me feel sick to the stomach. I was so angry when I realised what had happened, so…
Read MoreCanada: Calgary man suing police, feds for demanding fingerprints because of his birth date is same as a sex offender
[calgaryherald.com] A Calgary man says he was forced to provide his fingerprints or give up a 12-year career of coaching youth hockey, all because he shares the same date of birth as a pardoned sex offender. And after a fruitless five-year odyssey for an explanation for what he feels is a violation of his constitutionally protected Charter rights, retired oil engineer Jim Besse is now suing the RCMP, Calgary police, the Calgary police commission and Chief Roger Chaffin. “I have always been upfront, saying, ‘Take five minutes and tell me…
Read MoreMI: Wyatt’s Law: Proposed legislation aims to create statewide child abuser registry
[wxyz.com] A local mother is fighting to fix a broken system that leaves children vulnerable to extreme abuse at the hands of repeat offenders. “It was like oh my God. My worst fears came true. I was right. His case came into the prosecutor’s office as a homicide because they didn’t expect him to pull through,” says Erica Hammel, who’s son nearly died as a result of physical abuse. Today, Erica’s son Wyatt lives with major injuries that have impacted his day to day life. “That’s the heartbreaking thing for…
Read MoreUnjust Sexual Offense Laws: Insanity and Hope
[criminallegalnews.org] Unjust Laws Over the past 25 years, the U.S. has developed a pernicious system of sexual offense laws, including increased sentences and public registries of offenders. Based largely on unfounded hysteria surrounding a tiny fraction of high-profile cases, these laws today are a tangled mess and cause considerable injustice. The problems are caused in large measure by lawmakers’ desires to seem tough on crime and their lack of knowledge about the facts. There is a very broad brush applied to the term “sex offender.” Most, in fact, are not…
Read MoreFL: Junk science leads to father’s wrongful arrest, false accusation of raping his son
[washingtonpost.com] During the ritual-sex-abuse panic of the 1980s and 1990s, children undergoing recovered memory therapy and other dubious psychological treatment recounted crimes so horrific and depraved, they’re hard to even think about. They described bizarre satanic-themed sex abuse where children were penetrated with knives. They described orgies with adults and children who could barely walk. They described animal and human sacrifice. A big reason why these kids were believed despite the complete lack of physical evidence — if children were murdered, there should have been children in the area who…
Read MoreMN: 50-year conditional release or probation terms for sex offenders
[www.revisor.mn.gov] A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring sex offenders to serve 50-year conditional release or probation terms; establishing intensive probation for certain sex offenders; Read the full bill
Read MoreNC: Questions keep convicted sex-offender parent from attending his child’s basketball games
[journalnow.com] ______, a sex offender, is being investigated by the Surry County Sheriff’s Office for going onto the campus of Millennium Charter Academy to watch his child play basketball, officials say. ____ was attending basketball games at the school this winter, and volunteered to run the clock under an agreement with the school that allows him to be on campus as long as he is under supervision. Someone raised an alarm with the Surry County Sheriff’s Office, and for now ____ and the school have mutually agreed that ____ won’t…
Read MoreNJ: NJ child porn kingpin pleads guilty, experts say Megan’s Law cannot prevent sex abuse
[trentonian.com] TRENTON >> An Ocean County man who possessed over 36,000 videos and images of child pornography pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing child pornography online. Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood, is facing a six-year recommended prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, but two New Jersey experts warn that sex offender registration and notification laws do not prevent sexual violence. Psychology professors Elizabeth Jeglic of Cranbury and Cynthia Calkins Mercado of Union City dispute the conventional wisdom of Megan’s Law in a…
Read MoreThose on sex offender registries targeted for telephone scams
[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Scams offering to get someone off the registry for a fee have been around for a while. A new scam has appeared within the past few months, and as of this writing has targeted registrants in some form in at least four states: Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and New Mexico, with New Mexico being the most recent. All involve telephone calls to registrants claiming to be from someone at the registry office or police department and claiming the registrant is somehow out of compliance. From…
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