Author: webmaster

Federal Sentencing of Child Pornography: Production Offenses

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Oct 13, 2021 This report updates and expands upon the Commission’s 2012 Report to the Congress: Federal Child Pornography Offenses. It provides the Commission’s most in-depth study of child pornography production offenses to date through an analysis of three primary factors that the Commission has identified as relevant to sentencing child pornography production offenders. Focusing on data related to child pornography production offenders’ proximity to the victim, participation in production, and propensity to engage in other abusive behaviors, this report provides insight into how offenders exploit victims and technology to…

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FL: Former Seminole County assistant state attorney enters plea on 2 felony sex charges

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SEMINOLE COUNTY, Florida. — A former Seminole County Assistant State Attorney has entered a plea on two felony charges of having sex with a minor who worked for him. There was emotional testimony on Thursday in court from the victim, as Andrew Jones took the deal. WESH 2’s Bob Hazen explains why he will avoid jail time for the crime. This former prosecutor, who wanted to be a judge, admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old girl. The victim testified she still has nightmares about it. But the lawyer’s plea…

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Students disciplined for engaging in sex act at an Atlanta middle school

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ATLANTA (CBS46) — Two metro Atlanta middle school students face disciplinary action for their involvement in a sex incident on school grounds. Most parents, like Patrisha Mongeon, were disturbed to learn that the students engaged in a sex act and recorded it. “It’s really scary. My daughter goes here and she’s at the age where these things start happening. I was hoping to wait a little longer before these types of explicit conversations were had in my household,” Mongeon said. A source tells CBS46 that the two students performed a…

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KS: Criminal justice panel hashes out potential changes to Kansas offender registry

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TOPEKA — Criminal justice advocates, experts and law enforcement are debating potential changes to the Kansas drug and sex offender registry, including whether registries should be made public and an exit mechanism for some offenders. Of primary concern for the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission Subcommittee on Proportionality and Sentencing is whether drug offenders should be included on a public registry or if that information should be available only to law enforcement. Under Kansas law, those with a drug conviction are required to register on the same public list as…

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Action Alert: Congressional Bill to Expand Reach of IML

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A new piece of federal legislation (HR 5150), if passed and signed into law, would expand the reach of the International Megan’s Law (IML).  The new legislation was introduced by the original author of the IML, Rep. Chris Smith (Republican, NJ), as well as Rep. Karen Bass (Democrat, CA). The provisions of the legislation regarding the IML are a very small part of the 92-page bill which claims to be aimed at preventing and protecting victims of trafficking.  The IML provisions would expand the scope of the IML by extending…

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ACSOL Executive Director to Discuss Need to Overturn U.S. Supreme Court’s Mistake on September 18

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ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci will discuss the need to overturn a significant and harmful decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court, Smith v. Doe, during the ACSOL conference on Saturday, September 18, at 10 a.m.  She will also discuss, with ACSOL President Chance Oberstein, the newly effective Tiered Registry Law in California on Saturday, September 18, at 12:30 p.m.. “The U.S. Supreme Court made a terrible mistake when it decided that the requirement to register is not punishment,” stated Bellucci.  “Due to that decision, governments at every level —…

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Bill honoring abolitionist aims to expand human trafficking prevention

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CLEVELAND (Catholic News Service) — Two members of Congress have introduced a bill to expand successful trafficking prevention efforts in schools and businesses. Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.) introduced the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection and Reauthorization Act of 2021 in the House of Representatives Sept. 3. “During COVID … the exploitation of children has risen substantially, mostly online, and there is kind of like a pent-up demand to exploit, it’s lingering there,” Smith said during a livestreamed news conference prior to the bill’s introduction.…

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States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2021

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Louisiana once again has the highest incarceration rate in the U.S., (Rates calculated per 100,000 people) unseating Oklahoma to return to its long-held position as “the world’s prison capital.” By comparison, states like New York and Massachusetts appear progressive, but even these states lock people up at higher rates than nearly every other country on earth. Compared to the rest of the world, every U.S. state relies too heavily on prisons and jails to respond to crime. Looking at each state in the global context reveals that, in every region…

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Emily Horowitz to Speak at ACSOL Conference on September 17

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Professor and Sociologist Emily Horowitz will deliver a thought provoking presentation during the ACSOL conference on Friday, September 17, at 11 a.m. (Pacific).  Her presentation will focus upon “The Failure of Legal Responses to Sexual Violence” and will include a new perspective on how and why false claims about sex offenses have become so pervasive. “Professor Horowitz understands the daily challenges faced by registrants and their loved ones,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “Her scholarly research includes sex offenses and other crimes against children as well as the hysteria…

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Critics seek reform of Colorado sex offense laws they say can do more harm than good

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Lawmakers, researchers and even some victims seek reform of Colorado’s Sex Offense Management Board. By ALEX BURNESS | [email protected] | The Denver Post September 6, 2021 Close to 30 years ago, Mr. Bethurum was living in Wray, in his late 40s, when he groomed an underage family member and entered into what he wrongly thought of as a relationship. He says he now understands now there is no such thing as a “relationship” between a child and an adult. He completed his prison sentence for sexual assault on a child,…

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Indecent exposure charges filed against trans woman over L.A. spa incident

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Prosecutors filed multiple counts of indecent exposure this week against a transgender woman whose alleged conduct was at the center of a viral video that sparked a pair of violent protests outside a spa in Westlake this summer, officials said Thursday. ______ Merager was charged Monday with five counts of indecent exposure, relating to an incident inside the Wi Spa on June 23, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles Police Department. The next day, a viral video emerged alleging a customer had exposed their penis in…

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Kansas Supreme Court Ruling: City Conviction Requires Sex Offender Registration

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The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a man’s municipal conviction for sexual battery requires him to register as a sex offender. The 5-2 decision comes in the case of a man, who was convicted in 2018 of sexual battery in violation of the Shawnee municipal code. At issue was whether he was required to register as a sex offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act. The Supreme Court ruled that he did, finding that the Shawnee ordinance is identical to the state statute. Justices Melissa Standridge and Eric Rosen…

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FL: Three Disney World employees along with 17 arrested in child sex sting

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Three Walt Disney World employees in Orlando were along with 17 suspects arrested in a massive child sex sting in Florida. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests as part of ‘Operation Child Protector’ at a news conference on Tuesday. Collectively, the group was charged with 49 felony counts and two misdemeanors, including: traveling to meet a minor for sex, attempted felony battery, using a computer to seduce a child, and transmission of material harmful to a child. Officials said most of the suspects had communicated with undercover agents, posing as…

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Apple to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse

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Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens. Apple unveiled plans to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused, including by governments looking to surveil their citizens. The tool designed to detected known images of child sexual abuse,…

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