Source: economist.com 11/21/22 If you read Brandon Fleury a story when he was three, he’d recite it back to you word for word. His father Patrick, then a professional tennis coach, was both bemused and impressed by his physically awkward son. He would tell people about Brandon’s capacity for mimicry – eventually he found himself explaining it to a jury. Brandon had a tough childhood. One night when he was five and lying in bed with his mother, she had a pulmonary embolism and died. Fleury became a full-time single…
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CA: California county bans landlords from conducting criminal background checks for housing
Source: foxnews.com 12/22/22 A California county has passed an ordinance that will ban landlords from conducting criminal background checks on prospective tenants, a move made in an effort to make it easier to get housing and curb discrimination. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to adopt a Fair Chance housing ordinance. One member abstained. The ordinance is part of a package of tenant protection bills. The measure will prohibit both private and public landlords from requiring applicants to disclose arrests or convictions. It also bans advertising…
Read MoreHow Does Megan’s Law Impact Real Estate Disclosure?
Source: rismedia.com 12/22/22 Whether you are buying or selling a home, Megan’s Law could affect whether the real estate transaction proceeds. If you have a family, you want to ensure they will be safe in their new home. When asked, “Are there any sexual offenders near me?” Megan’s Law helps you find out. We will examine this law and how it can affect real estate disclosures. What is Megan’s Law? Megan’s Law requires sex offenders to have their names in a register, and sometimes they also need to notify law…
Read MoreGOP Congressmembers who are very concerned about grooming vote against child sex abuse bill
Source: msn.com 12/22/22 Numerous Republican Congressmembers who have accused LGBTQ+ people of sexualizing children just voted against a bill that would help the actual victims of child sex abuse. Many of these 28 Republicans have been using “grooming” to score political points. They weren’t willing to vote for a real bill to fight child sex abuse. The bill, entitled Respect for Child Survivors Act, was developed with input from child welfare groups to address the mistreatment that child witnesses sometimes face during investigations of their own abuse. The bill requires…
Read MoreCA: UK’s DailyMail spreads stereotypes and lies about registrants
Source: dailymail.co.uk 12/21/22 DailyMail.com’s analysis of a California sex offender database reveals that nearly 2,000 convicted pedophiles are living together in groups of three or more in ‘pedophile dens’ in the state Some of the ‘pedophile dens’ are just a block away from schools DailyMail.com also spoke to residents of the ‘dens’ and even got a tour of one property housing several child molesters We can reveal that a $1million, 6-bed home in Northridge, California, with a tennis court, is home to six pedophiles with some of the most heinous…
Read MoreAppellate Court Denies Registrants Access to Jury Service
Source: ACSOL An appellate court in California today issued a decision that, in effect, denies everyone convicted of a felony sex offense who is currently required to register from serving on a jury. According to that court, serving as a juror “is not a fundamental right” and the exclusion of those registrants from juries “serves the legitimate state goal of ensuring impartial jury verdicts.” Today’s decision by the First Appellate District Court of Appeal is the court’s response to an appeal filed in November 2021. In that appeal, plaintiffs asked…
Read MoreTake the survey on current and future reformist/abolitionist efforts
Source: Derek W. Logue of OnceFallen.com Many of you will be familiar with the name Derek Logue and Once Fallen. Derek has asked that we share this survey with our supporters. Here is Derek’s message: The fight to reform or abolish the public sex offense registry began when Megan’s Law was signed in 1996, and over the years, efforts to challenge the public registry have grown larger and more organized. Those who identify as registry reformists or abolitionists are not a homogeneous group– some of us are on the registry,…
Read MoreMeta cracks down on teen “sextortion” on Facebook, Instagram
Source: arstechnica.com 11/21/22 Teens will finally have a way to proactively stop the spread of intimate images. Last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) released data showing that it received overwhelmingly more reports of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) from Facebook than any other web service it tracked. Where other popular social platforms like Twitter and TikTok had tens of thousands of reports, Facebook had 22 million. Today, Facebook announced new efforts to limit the spread of some of that CSAM on its platforms. Partnering with…
Read MoreAction Alert: International Megan’s Law (IML) failed victims of sexual abuse overseas as federal agent sexually abuses children in the Philippines
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 12/21/22 International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders (IML) was supposed to be a tool for the federal government to notify other countries regarding the international travel of sex offenders. In theory, it was supposed to authorize federal agents to provide warnings in the form of a “green notice” to the receiving country. By providing this notice, the receiving country could protect their children from sexual abuse. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Smith said, “With its…
Read MoreFBI finds sharp rise in online extortion of teens tricked into sending sexually explicit photos
Source: pbs.org 12/19/22 WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI sounded the alarm Monday about an explosive increase in teenage boys being targeted online and extorted for money after being tricked into sending sexually explicit pictures. At least 3,000 children, mostly teenage boys, have been victims of the schemes that are connected to more than a dozen suicides this year, a scale that U.S. authorities have not seen before, Justice Department officials said. Many think they are chatting online with kids around their own age but are quickly manipulated into sending explicit…
Read MoreCanada: Despite no public sex offender registry, recidivism rate has dropped by nearly 70%
Source: myscience.org 12/20/22 Study led by Professor Patrick Lussier shows significant decline in recidivism of sex crimes in Canada over 80 years Encouraging news: between 1940 and 2019, the recidivism rate of sex offenders in this country has dropped by nearly 70%, according to a study published in the journal Criminology and Public Policy. Improved knowledge of sexual offending and training of criminal justice officials could explain these results, argues Patrick Lussier, a professor at the School of Social Work and Criminology and leader of the meta-analysis. Over a two-year…
Read MoreNE: Dodge County sex offenders face challenges in registering
Source: fremonttribune.com 12/20/22 Convicted sex offenders in Fremont and Dodge County are required to register with law enforcement when they move, attend a new school or take a new job, however a recent incident at the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office highlighted the difficulties offenders face in complying with the law. A local convicted sex offender — Ronald Eugene ____ Jr., 38, of Fremont — contacted the Fremont Tribune after his repeated efforts to comply with Nebraska’s sex offender registration requirements under his sentencing were unsuccessful. ____ Jr. said he twice…
Read MoreFederally funded police task forces carry out thousands of online stings each year, despite little evidence that they prevent abuse
Source: theappeal.org 12/19/22 On July 8, 2018, Norman Achin, then a 50 year-old public school teacher living in Northern Virginia, signed up for the adults-only dating app Grindr. Two days later, he was contacted by someone calling himself AlexVA. Soon after they started talking, AlexVA told Achin that he was 14 years old. “I was looking for adult fun. Did not expect to run into your age,” Achin responded through the app on July 12. “Not interested in that kind of relationship with a boy.” The next day, he reported…
Read MoreOH: Sex offender, homicide suspect killing in Columbus sees no charges for SWAT deputies
Source: nbc4i.com 12/16/22 COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The officers involved in the fatal shooting of a double homicide suspect in northeast Columbus will not be indicted, the county prosecutor said Thursday. A grand jury voted against prosecuting two Franklin County Sheriff’s Office SWAT deputies, according to the office of Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Tyack. The pair were attempting on June 7 to serve an arrest warrant on 20-year-old Pozz Striblin. At around 7 p.m. that evening, the two SWAT deputies went to a Sunoco gas station at Stelzer and…
Read MoreUK: Prison officer jailed after starting relationship with inmate and sending ‘explicit’ images
Source: dailyrecord.co.uk 12/18/22 A prison officer has been jailed after entering a relationship with a prisoner and sending him ‘explicit’ images. Jennifer Gavan, 27, wept as she was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office after starting an inappropriate relationship with a male prisoner. Gavan was accused of entering into an inappropriate relationship with prisoner Alex Coxon, now 25, accepting £150 to bring a mobile phone into the jail, and communicating with him via a phone held illegally while working at HMP Berwyn, which houses…
Read MorePA: Scranton ordinance on where registered sex offenders can live remains contrary to court decision
Source: wfmz.com 12/17/22 SCRANTON — At 17, Zachary Pluko saw his future in the military or law enforcement. At 29, the vision is a memory. Pluko works at a Turkey Hill store to cover the monthly $600 rent he pays for a room on Moir Court. He and six other residents of 839-841 Moir Court mostly keep to themselves but they all share something in common: they’re registered sex offenders. Their residence, about 940 feet from a school, is contrary to an unenforced Scranton ordinance that remains part of the…
Read MoreACSOL January 21, 2023 Meeting
[NOTE: We have a NEW Zoom link shown below!] Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL board member and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 21, online on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the…
Read MoreCA: L.A. County sheriff’s deputy under investigation after sex act is caught on hot mic
Source: latimes.com 12/15/22 The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a deputy for allegedly engaging in a sex act during a break and broadcasting the tryst over her radio, officials said Thursday A short audio recording first made public by TMZ captured part of the alleged encounter. In it, a woman laughs and says, “You’re going to rip my underwear!” A man replies and a beep common on police radios sounds. A source familiar with the investigation, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said the woman’s voice…
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