Washington Post: The biggest Pinocchios of 2015

No single issue earned more Pinocchios than dubious claims about sex trafficking. There are not 300,000 children at risk for sexual exploitation. There are not 100,000 children in the sex trade. Human trafficking is not a $9.5 billion business in the United States. Girls do not become victims of sex trafficking at an average age of 13 years. The federal government has not arrested hundreds of sex traffickers. These were all false claims made in 2015 by politicians, advocacy groups and government officials. (last paragraph) Full Article

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NC: Officials say Brunswick sex offender court, while controversial, works

BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Southeastern North Carolina became the home of what officials there think is the first sex offender accountability and rehabilitation court program in the state after Ola Lewis noticed a trend in her Superior Court courtroom. Lewis, the senior resident Superior Court judge for Brunswick County, considered starting the court after several sex offenders came into her courthouse for violating the terms of their probation — namely not attending court-mandated treatment, which can cost about $40 a week. Full Article

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CA: Most Sex Offender Parolees Exempt from Ban

Three-quarters of California’s paroled sex offenders previously banned from living near parks, schools and other places where children congregate now face no housing restrictions after the state changed its policy in response to a court ruling that said the prohibition only applies to child molesters, according to data compiled at the request of The Associated Press. Full Article In other news outlets http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-exclusive-sex-offender-parolees-exempt-ban-35750104 http://www.redding.com/news/wire-news/most-sex-offender-parolees-exempt-from-ban http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015-12-14/ap-exclusive-most-sex-offender-parolees-exempt-from-ban http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/1214/AP-Exclusive-California-sex-offenders-exempt-from-ban-on-housing-location

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Impact Justice: The Center on Youth Registration Reform

The Center on Youth Registration Reform aims to eliminate the practice of placing children on sex offender registries in the United States. Using a zealous, unwavering, yet tactical strategy, the Center works to confront the fears and misconceptions about children that drove our country to include them in sex offender registration schemes, and transform the paradigm of how the criminal justice system responds to child sexual behavior. Full Article

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OR: Law could make sex offender data more accessible

There are 115 sex offenders registered in Baker County but only one will show up in a search of the Oregon State Police’s website. … The reason for the lack of information about registered sex offenders online is the result of Oregon law that prior to January 2014 limited OSP’s authority to list sex offenders on public websites to only those deemed “predatory” by the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision. The new system, which will evaluate and place sex offenders at Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3…

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Attorney Ordered to Reimburse Attorney Fees to Registered Citizen

A Los Angeles attorney was recently ordered to reimburse most, although not all, attorney fees paid by a registered citizen and a family member seeking to obtain relief from registration after an arbitrator from the L.A. County Bar Association found that the clients “were clearly given bad advice”. The attorney in this matter advised his clients that the best available relief from registration was a Writ of Mandate.  The attorney also advised his client that he was not eligible to apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation (COR). The registered citizen paid the attorney a total of $4,500 for…

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NE: Older teens not the only ones caught sexting

The young couple had dated a year and a half when their relationship was exposed. He was 15 and she was 14, and they were exchanging nude pictures and videos of themselves through their cellphones. But the private exchanges would not stay confidential. Earlier this year, Bellevue school officials found images on the boy’s phone. Then Bellevue police got involved, carrying out a search warrant to go through the teen’s phone over a concern about Child Pornography. Full Article

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TruTV Show: Adam Ruins Everything – Polygraphs are Pseudoscience

Yesterday while watching the CBS Morning Show I learned about a new television show that uses comedy to skewer misconceptions.  So last night we watched the first 6 episodes OnDemand, the premise is great….. take on myths, urban legends, fallacies and issues that you had no idea were built on lies, fear and/or to fill people’s pockets….. and he lampoons these misconceptions with facts, statistics and historical data (noted in upper right corner through each segment)!    One segment was on polygraphs and I wanted to share. Video

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NH: Sex offender at center of Supreme Court case accused of failing to register online account

A Manchester man with disabilities who has petitioned for years to get off the state’s public sex offender registry, and who won the chance this year to argue his case in court, has been arrested, accused of failing to disclose an online account. ____ ____, 66, was detained Wednesday and charged with one count of failure to register, a felony. A police detective told the Union Leader he had created a Facebook account, but did not elaborate. Full Article Related NH: 850 convicted sex offenders eligible to petition to get…

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MN: Reforms to state sex offender program suspended by appeals court

The state of Minnesota won a round in court Thursday, when a federal appeals panel suspended a judge’s order that would have required prompt changes to the state’s troubled sex offender program. In October U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ordered the state to revamp the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), including changes that could lead to the accelerated release of sex offenders. On Thursday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative stay of Frank’s order; it remains in effect while the appellate panel considers the state’s request…

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