[aei.org] Key Points Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA), whose goal is “no more victims,” provides sex offenders released from prison with pro-social support as they return to society and emphasizes accountability by insisting that offenders accept responsibility for their actions. Findings from a CoSA program in cshowed that the program significantly reduced sex offense recidivism, lowering the risk of rearrest for a new sex offense by 88 percent. By helping sex offenders successfully transition from prison to the community, CoSA prevents individuals from being victims of crime, including sex…
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UK: Crossing Guard, 77, Accused of “Grooming” Children By Giving Them High-Fives
[letgrow.org] A 77-year-old school crossing guard was ordered to stop high-fiving kids, as this could be the gateway to sexually abusing them. In response, he has thrown in the towel. Bryan Broom, a “lollipop man” (so-called not because he gave kids lollipops, but because crossing guards in Britain hold up circular stop signs on sticks), said he can’t stand the idea that merely being friendly to kids could be interpreted as skeevy. As the UK’s Mirror reports: Bryan has revealed why he made the tough decision to quit doing the…
Read MoreTX: Contentious 331st District race pits longtime judge against attorney
[mystatesman.com] The only contested judicial race in Travis County’s criminal district courts has gotten contentious, with challenger Chantal Eldridge saying taxpayers have been underserved by the incumbent while Eldridge faces questions of her own about the registered sex offender she employs in her law firm and intends to bring on as a judicial aide if she wins. Eldridge, a 53-year-old career defense lawyer who narrowly lost a judicial race in 2016, is running against state District Judge David Crain, who has presided over the felony 331st District Court since 2010…
Read MoreMN: Convicted rapist wins the right to live in West St. Paul
[citypages.com] Thomas Evenstad was convicted in 1999 of raping an 18-year-old woman. In 2014, he picked up more convictions for stalking and harassing the victim, her family, investigators, and the judges involved in his prosecution. When he finally got out of jail last August, he moved in to a friend’s apartment in West St. Paul. Three days later, police told his landlord that Evenstad couldn’t stay, threatening them both with criminal charges if he didn’t vacate. That’s because West St. Paul doesn’t allow sex offenders to live within 1,200 feet…
Read MoreWA: Law Would Reduce Severity of Charges for Teens Who Send, View Sexually Explicit Images
[chronline.com] The state Senate a week ago passed legislation amending state law to reduce charges against teens over 12 years old for sending, producing or viewing sexually explicit material of other teens over 12 years old from a felony to a misdemeanor charge. According to a news release from the Washington state Senate Democrats, the changes reflect the distinction between the sending of sexually explicit images by teens, as opposed to distributing such materials through malicious intent. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond. Under current law, any…
Read MoreTX: Weekend Read: They served their prison sentences, but they’re still locked up
[splcenter.org] Jason Schoenfeld already served a full prison sentence, but he’s back behind bars — not because of what he’s done, but because of what the state of Texas says he might do. Schoenfeld entered a detention center in Littlefield, Texas more than two years ago. Located in a remote corner of the Texas Panhandle, it was once a prison and currently houses a rehabilitation program for men like Schoenfeld who have committed sex offenses. Schoenfeld used to attend therapy sessions every two weeks. They’ve slowed to once every three…
Read MoreFL: Registrant Denied Access to Hospital For Son’s Surgery
[floridaactioncommittee.org] A member contacted us this week. He’s on the registry for an offense that took place over 15 years ago. He brought his son to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando for surgery and was denied access at the door because of his status on the registry. These policies that prevent former offenders from ever parenting their children are ridiculous! When someone looks back on their childhood and reflects on the meaningful events when a parent was there for them, they think of sporting events, graduations, illnesses. Laws that banish…
Read MoreOR: OSU to require students with felony convictions, sex-offender status to self-report
[katu.com] CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State University said Thursday that a new policy will go into effect this fall that will require new and continuing students to self-report past felony convictions and whether they are registered sex offenders before enrolling in classes. The new policy was formed after it was reported in June 2017 that the university’s star baseball pitcher Luke Heimlich was a registered sex offender and had admitted to molesting a 6-year-old girl in 2010 when he was a teenager. Read more
Read MoreFL: Sex offenders — decision needed
[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Some members of our society are shadow people, so marginalized that they are hanging on by their fingernails. Some have a slightly firmer grip, but they are perched precariously close to the edge, so close that they can be hurled into the abyss by a mere word, accusation, or click of a mouse. In Florida colonies of these shadow people survive, sleeping at night in the woods, under bridges, and in railroad yards, and now the man who is almost solely responsible for this…
Read MoreNY: Governor Cuomo Announces 30-Day Budget Amendment to Protect New York’s Children from Sex Offenders
[governor.ny.gov] Action Will Prohibit Level 2 and 3 Sex Offenders From Being Within 1,000 Feet of Kindergarten and Pre-K Schools. Ban Sex Offenders From Staying in Temporary Emergency Housing or Shelters Where Families Live. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a 30-day budget amendment will be advanced to protect children in New York State. The amendment will restrict sex offenders whose victims are under the age of 13 from traveling or living near schools where young children go to learn, and will ban offenders from living in temporary or emergency…
Read MoreGA: He was arrested for a sex act that’s no longer a crime. Years later, he remains convicted
[washingtonpost.com] Charlton Green was 20 when he was arrested after having oral sex with a 16-year-old male in a Georgia hotel room. He was convicted of a sex crime — not because the act was not consensual (it was), nor because the teen was not within the age of consent (in Georgia, it is 16). He was convicted because the incident happened in 1997, when oral and anal sex between consenting adults was prohibited under Georgia’s sodomy law. The conviction required him to register as a sex offender, a stigmatizing…
Read MoreNE: Bill would expand authority for mental health professionals
[UPDATED links 2/18/18] [nebfacts.blogspot.com] The Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week on another bill worth watching. While not focusing exclusively on registered citizens, LB964 does use the fear of the “dangerous sex offender” as a selling point. Mental health professionals would have the same authority as law enforcement to place people in emergency protective custody under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Feb. 14. LB964, introduced by Omaha Sen. Mike McDonnell, a mental health professional could take a mentally ill and dangerous person or a dangerous sex offender…
Read MoreFL: More Than Half the Registered Sex Offenders in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida are Homeless
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The City of Ft. Lauderdale’s ordinance has caused more than half of the registered sex offenders in the city to be homeless. The City ordinance, which banishes sex offenders from; “within one thousand four hundred (1,400) feet of any of the following:(1) Any school where the majority of the population attending are students less than sixteen (16) years of age; (2) Designated public school bus stop; (3) Child day care facility as defined in the city’s Unified Land Development Regulations where the majority of the population attending are students…
Read MoreCA: Changes Are Coming to California Sex Offender Registry
[independent.com] Fifty-four sex offenders live within two miles of the Santa Barbara Independent’s Figueroa Street offices. Their mugshots, height, weight, ethnicity, eye color, home addresses, criminal charges, and date they were released from jail are listed on the Megan’s Law website. That is about to change. California lawmakers voted last year to reduce the length of time required for sex-offender registration. This means a sizeable number of Santa Barbara County registrants will no longer be tracked or publicly identified. “It’s like putting a GPS on every shark in the ocean…
Read MoreThe Evolution of Unconstitutionality in Sex Offender Registration Laws by Catherine L. Carpenter [paper]
[papers.ssrn.com] Abstract More is not always better. Consider sex offender registration laws. Initially anchored by rational basis, registration schemes have spiraled out of control because legislators, eager to please a fearful public, have been given unfettered freedom by a deferential judiciary. This particular article does not challenge the state’s legislative power to enact sex offender registration laws. Instead, this piece posits that, even if sex offender registration schemes were initially constitutional, serially amended sex offender registration schemes – what this piece dubs super-registration schemes – are not. Their emergence over…
Read MoreReason and the Soho Forum Want to Know, Do We Abolish the Registry?
[UPDATED links 2/21/18] [sexlawandpolicy.org] Dr. Emily Horowitz, noted sex offense policy researcher, and Marci Hamilton, child safety advocate, went toe-to-toe in an engaging debate Monday night, which may be a first of its kind on the need for sex offender registries. On the resolution for whether the laws requiring those convicted of sex offenses to put their names in a registry should be abolished, Dr. Emily Horowitz argued the affirmative and Ms. Marci Hamilton the negative. Even though Dr. Horowitz crafted a well-reasoned argument against the use of sex offender…
Read MorePA: Sex offender resigns as fire chief in Pennsylvania town
[startribune.com] SPARTANSBURG, Pa. — A registered sex offender who was recently re-elected as chief of a Pennsylvania town’s volunteer fire department has resigned. The (Corry) Journal reports that Roger Gilbert Jr. quit the Spartansburg department Sunday, a day after the newspaper reported on his criminal background. Gilbert tells the Journal that he will “no longer be affiliated with any organization that helps anyone.” He was in his second stint as chief after being elected by fellow firefighters. Read more
Read MoreN. Ireland: Self-styled ‘paedophile hunters’ revealed
[bbc.com – UPDATED LINKS 2/15/18] Some of the leaders of self-styled paedophile-hunting groups operating in Northern Ireland have been identified for the first time. There are increasing concerns about the methods many of the groups use, and their lack of accountability. The so-called paedophile-hunting groups target people online who they believe are sexual predators. They confront them and broadcast the encounter live on the internet, then call the police. There have been more than 100 incidents of that nature reported to police in Northern Ireland, but no-one has been charged…
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