Westminster city officials this week became the latest Orange County city to repeal a ban on sex offenders in city parks, following a recent appeals court ruling striking down a similar county law. Wednesday night, council members voted 3-1, with councilmember Sergio Contreras voting no and Andy Quach absent, to repeal the ordinance requiring convicted sex offenders to get written permission from police before setting foot in a city park. Violation was a misdemeanor. Full Article Note: The Article contains a video segment of the December 2012 Lake Forest City…
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CA Sex Offender Management Board Considering New Tiered Registry Bill
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB), a state organization, has begun consideration of a new tiered registry bill that would allow some, but not all, registered citizens to end their requirement to register in either 10 or 20 years. The bill would also allow most registered citizens who have been registered for 30 years or more and have not committed a subsequent sex offense to stop registering in the year 2017. According to CASOMB, the draft bill would increase public safety by allowing law enforcement to focus resources upon…
Read MoreWestminster expected to repeal sex-offender ban
WESTMINSTER – The City Council on Wednesday will likely repeal its ban on registered sex offenders entering public parks – a move that staffers hope will both satisfy recent court decisions that prevent cities from enacting such laws and help settle a potentially expensive lawsuit. Full Article
Read MoreSteep cost to house sex offenders
Sometime before Oct. 24, if all goes according to plan, ____ ____ will move into a rented three-bedroom home on five acres in the backcountry community of Campo — a move that will be unwelcome by neighbors, closely watched by a team of experts, and expensive to taxpayers. _____, 58, is the most recent sexually violent predator to win release from a state hospital to live on his own, but under supervision. It won’t come cheap, either: the state Department of Hospitals said that the average cost for supervision of sexually violent…
Read MoreBellflower eases ‘loitering’ rules for sex offenders
BELLFLOWER — The City Council Monday night gave final approval to an ordinance change halting the enforcement of “loitering” restrictions on registered sexual offenders as listed in a 2010 city law and instead aligns itself with state law on the subject, which is not as restrictive. Originally approved Aug. 25, the ordinance change will take effect in 30 days. There was no comment on the unanimous decision from council members or the audience. Full Article
Read MoreSex Offender Sues Westminster For Enacting “Unconstitutional” City Park Ban
An activist working to reform municipal and county sex-offender restriction laws in California is now targeting the City of Westminster, according to a federal lawsuit. Full Article
Read MoreCivil rights activist group sues South Pasadena over ‘arbitrary and discriminatory’ sex offender ordinance
SOUTH PASADENA >> A civil rights activist group filed a lawsuit against South Pasadena this week, alleging the city’s sex offender ordinance strips “a socially outcast minority” of their First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Attorney Janice Bellucci, president of the California Reform Sex Offender Laws organization, called South Pasadena’s Title 20E-1 through 20E-10 municipal code arbitrary and discriminatory. The regulation was passed in 2009. Full Article Also see: South Pasadena Ordinance Challenged in Federal Court South Pasadena agrees not to enforce city’s presence restrictions
Read MoreSouth Pasadena Ordinance Challenged in Federal Court
A sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of South Pasadena has been challenged in a lawsuit filed today in federal district court on behalf of a registered citizen. “The lawsuit was filed today because the City of South Pasadena Police Department recently arrested a registered citizen who did not live in that city, but who chose to visit a park in that city,” stated California RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “The City did so despite the fact that the City Council instructed city staff on February 19 not to enforce…
Read MoreReport faults military sex-offender tracking
The Defense Department doesn’t know how many registered sex offenders have access to military bases and lacks a departmentwide sex offender registry, a new report says. The military also has no way to verify if applicants for military housing are sex offenders required to register with local police, the audit conducted by the Inspector General for the Pentagon found. According to the audit, the department is working to fix the problems but still has work to do. Full Article
Read MoreAdelanto to amend sex offender code
ADELANTO — The City Council has voted unanimously to approve the first reading of an ordinance that would amend the city’s code to comply with recent court rulings regarding the presence of registered sex offenders at public parks. “Recent decisions have been issued by the Court of Appeals which call into question the validity of city ordinances that prohibit sex offenders from entering city parks,” a city staff report reads. Full Article
Read MoreCarson vows to ‘go to war’ to keep sex offender restrictions
Carson’s political leaders are prepared to throw the city’s weight — and its bank account — behind a legal and legislative battle to maintain control over where sex offenders are allowed to visit and live in the city. Full Article
Read MoreWasco sex offender ordinance adopted in 2007 thrown out
WASCO, Calif. – A sex offender ordinance in Wasco challenged by a law firm has been thrown out. The ordinance adopted by the city in 2007 restricted offenders from getting 300 feet near of public or private places. This involved public libraries, schools, parks, bus stops and child care centers. A Central Coast law office challenged that ordinance on grounds that it was too broad and violated offenders’ constitutional rights. As part of the settlement, the city of Wasco must now pay legal fees. Article Related
Read MoreFederal Cybersecurity Director Found Guilty on Child Porn Charges
As the acting cybersecurity chief of a federal agency, ____ ____ should have been well versed in the digital footprints users leave behind online when they visit web sites and download images. But ____ —convicted today in Nebraska on three child porn charges including conspiracy to solicit and distribute child porn—must have believed his use of the Tor anonymizing network shielded him from federal investigators. … The FBI monitored him for a year and after arresting him in November 2012 continued to operate his child porn sites secretly from a federal facility…
Read MoreCalifornia passes ‘yes-means-yes’ campus sexual assault bill
Californian lawmakers passed a law on Thursday requiring universities to adopt “affirmative consent” language in their definitions of consensual sex, part of a nationwide drive to curb sexual assault on U.S. campuses. Full Article LA Times Article
Read MoreScotts Valley sex offender treatment center closes days before school starts
SCOTTS VALLEY >> A sex offender treatment center that drew the ire of some parents because it was located near Scotts Valley Middle School closed Monday. The announcement came Tuesday on the eve of the first day of school in Scotts Valley, months after the Scotts Valley Police Department asked the center to find a new location and almost two years since the facility first opened doors. Full Article
Read MoreHesperia settles lawsuit with sex offender
HESPERIA — Since this week’s council meeting and its late continuation of closed session to discuss pending litigation, an agreement was reached Thursday to settle a registered sex offender’s lawsuit against the city. Full Article Related REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER SUES CITY OF HESPERIA; 15thLAWSUIT FILED IN 4 MONTHS [Upated with Media Link]
Read MoreCoalition Urges CA Governor: Protect Patients, Stop Gutting Confidentiality
(Los Angeles, California, August 20, 2014) — A coalition of nonprofits alarmed about the gutting of patient confidentiality urges California Governor Jerry Brown to veto pending legislation that requires mental health practitioners to police their patients and report a growing list of statements to law enforcement—or face prosecution and potential jail time. Full Article
Read MoreLocal Sex Offender Watch Alert Barred
Sonora, CA — The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department can no longer provide a sex offender watch list or alert residents when an offender moves into their neighborhood. The Sheriff’s Office has been forced by California’s Department of Justice to drop the “Offender Watch” online service which allowed residents to go on line, enter their address and be alerted via email if a sex offender moved in. Full Article
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