Life term for Briton who killed innocent man he suspected of pedophilia

LONDON — A 28-year-old Englishman was jailed for life Tuesday over the murder of a man he wrongly suspected of being a pedophile — bashing the older victim to death after the pair had sex. Christopher Hunnisett killed 57-year-old Peter Bick at the victim’s flat in Lewes — southeast England — after embarking on a crusade to “rid the world of pedophiles,” the Lewes People reported. Hunnisett was sentenced in London, having earlier been found guilty at Lewes Crown Court of the January 2011 killing. Full Article 

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San Bernardino County – Ban on RSOs Participating in Halloween

May 22, 2012 – SB County Board of Supervisors directs County Counsel to research and return to the Board with a recommendation on an ordinance that restricts the activities of sex offenders on Halloween that reside within the unincorporated areas of the County. From the Agenda: Some of these restrictions include: Having a porch light on during usual “trick-or-treating” hours of 5 p.m. to Midnight on Halloween; Decorating their home for Halloween; Hosting a “haunted House” on their property; Handing out candy; Answering the door for anyone other than law…

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TX: Registered sex offender wins election in small Texas town

The controversy surrounding city elections in a town in the Texas Panhandle continues. That’s because one of the newly elected city council members has a checkered past. A pair of two-year terms on Skellytown’s city council were up for grabs Saturday. The results are in now and not everyone is happy. That’s because one of those spots is now being filled by a man who is a former mayor forced to resign. He is also a registered sex offender. Full Article

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IL: Charges Dropped Against Man Who Served 20 Years for Rape

Lake County prosecutors on Tuesday dropped sexual assault charges against a man accused in a decades-old Waukegan rape. “I’m feeling great,” said Bennie Starks. “The fight is not over yet. We still have one more hurdle, but it’s a great day.” Starks, convicted in 1986 of assaulting a 68-year-old woman, had served 20 years of a 60-year sentence when DNA evidence was retrieved that excluded him from the crime. Full Article

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Missouri House passes sex offender bill

JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri House is sending a bill to the Senate that could drastically cut back the state’s sex offender registry rolls. After giving initial approval Tuesday night, the chamber took a second vote on the issue Thursday, advancing it to the other chamber. House Bill 1700 received near unanimous and overwhelmingly bi-partisan support in the Republican-controlled House. Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/missouri-house-passes-sex-offender-bill/article_4353f458-789d-11e1-a594-001a4bcf6878.html#ixzz1v6k7D0Hk

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Let Them Live With the Other Large Reptiles: The Failure of Residency Restrictions

America has a lot of harsh laws against sex offenders that shame and banish this unpopular group. Miami sends them to live in the swamps with the poisonous snakes and boa constrictors. Georgia bars them from living or working within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. Pretty much the whole state is off limits for employment or domicile. California bans them from living in just about any of the cities. Those laws are under serious legal challenge, and the Georgia bus stop code is on hold pending the outcome…

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Mothers of sex offenders share responsibility, burden of label

(CNN) — Christine Smith will never forget the moment she watched her 21-year-old son being led out of a Florida courtroom in handcuffs. “This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening,” she recalls thinking at the time. “Take me instead.” She sobbed because there was nothing she could do. Matthew, the second of her three children, was going to prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts of possession of child pornography. A judge in Duval County sentenced him in April 2010 to 18 months in state…

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The New Jews in America

This is the twenty-sixth in a series of articles about Auburn-area homeless people, written by local attorney, author, and Sierra College Instructor, Bob Litchfield . The young man looks to be about twenty years old. But it turns out that he is actually 28. He has been homeless for about two years. Since he is a 290 registered sex offender, we will not use his real name. Instead, we’ll call him Sam. Young Sam can’t get a job, he is homeless, he wears a GPS ankle monitor, and he is…

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Treatment of sex offenders at issue in conference

Posting photos of sex offenders on the Internet and lumping all of those convicted of the crimes into one category is probably not keeping anyone safer, according to a member of the California board tasked with managing sex offenders. The question of how California deals with sex offenders was under scrutiny Thursday, as dozens of professionals from social workers to law enforcement officers met in San Diego for an annual conference offered by the California Coalition on Sexual Offending. Full Article

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Officials speak of nuanced approach to monitoring sex offenders

Crafting Chelsea’s Law —- named for slain Poway teen Chelsea King —- was a “bipartisan success,” but other California laws to monitor sex offenders are problematic, state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said Friday. At a panel discussion with San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in Mission Valley, Leno addressed a gathering of professionals from social workers to law enforcement officers, who were in town for an annual conference held by the California Coalition on Sexual Offending.  Full Article

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MI: ‘Romeo’ not cleared, gets life on list

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – He was a poster child for what was wrong with Michigan’s sex offender registry — a teen on the list for a one-night stand with an under-age girl. Then, the state passed sweeping reforms to the sex offender list,  and it appeared Rick McQuillin’s name would be erased, and his life would change. A year later, Target 8 found his life has changed — for the worse.   Full Article

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Sex Offender at 12, Punished For Life

When Kevin was 12 years old he was slapped with a felony. His school’s principal caught him and his 10 year old friend sexually experimenting in the boy’s bathroom. He says it was consensual, that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, but Kevin was branded as a Level Two sex offender. His name and photo went up on Lewis County’s sex offender website and his life became a living hell. Full Article

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