UPDATE: Motion to repeal passes 5-0 The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday is scheduled to consider instituting a reward for help in identifying vandals and repealing a law that aims to rein in the movements of sex offenders. The Police Department has recommended that the council consider revoking a 2012 ordinance that bans registered sex offenders from entering city parks and sports facilities without law enforcement permission. Costa Mesa’s ordinance was similar to ones passed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and Irvine City Council. Two state appellate court decisions, however, have ruled against the legality…
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Anderson sex offender shoots intruder in self defense
ANDERSON, Calif. – Shasta County deputies are seeking the last of three suspects in a shooting incident that left one man in critical condition. Investigators believe an Anderson resident shot an intruder in self-defense during an attempted robbery. Deputies said a woman came to the home of ____ ____, 56. ____, a convicted sex offender, told KRCR News Channel 7 how two intruders tried to rob him. “She pushed me back in [the house]. I realized she was involved in it, and she kept threatening me with a taser,” he said.…
Read MoreCITY OF CYPRESS AGREES NOT TO ENFORCE RESIDENCY AND PRESENCE RESTRICTIONS
The City of Cypress, located in Orange County, has agreed not to enforce most of its residency restrictions and all of its presence restrictions as terms of two settlement agreements reached on January 31. The City of Cypress also agreed to pay attorney’s fees and costs for the lawsuits filed against them in federal and state courts. In exchange, the plaintiffs in those cases have agreed to dismiss with prejudice the pending lawsuits. “This is a significant victory for the registered citizens and the family members of registered citizens in…
Read MoreSex offenders should not be allowed in parks or beaches
In 2012 a law was passed that prohibited registered sex offenders from entering areas where children would likely be present. This in includes parks, playgrounds and beaches. However, according to ABC News the law was overturned in an appeals court in January 2014 because it was said to violate California’s state law. It is clear the state of California and its cities are not doing all they can to protect the families and children of California by leaving them vulnerable to dangerous criminals. In May 2012, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas…
Read MoreSheriff Department Launches Sex Offender Watch System
STANISLAUS COUNTY – Sheriff Adam Christianson has announced the launch of a new service called OffenderWatch, a public notification system on sex offenders. The new service is a citizen-friendly, easy to use website that enables people to search for potentially dangerous sex offenders and predators, who may be in close proximity to their homes, places of work, schools, churches and day care centers. Full Article
Read MoreO.C. lawyer disbarred over child porn
Possession of child pornography is automatic grounds for a lawyer’s disbarment, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday.The ruling came as the court disbarred ____ ____ ____ of Aliso Viejo, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to a felony child porn charge. State law requires disbarment of a lawyer convicted of an offense involving “moral turpitude.” Until Thursday’s unanimous ruling, it had been unclear whether a conviction for possessing child pornography always met that standard. The State Bar, which oversees attorney discipline, had urged the Supreme Court to rule that it does. “Today’s decision…
Read MoreD.A. will take sex-offenders fight to state Supreme Court
[UPDATED 1/14] SANTA ANA The Orange County District Attorney’s Office plans to go to the California Supreme Court to defend local ordinances that ban registered sex offenders from city parks. A state appeals court on Friday struck down an Irvine law that barred registered sex offenders from city parks without written permission from police, a ruling that will become legal precedent. The court also struck down a similar Orange County law. About a dozen other Orange County cities passed similar ordinances banning sex offenders from parks at the urging of District Attorney…
Read MoreMolest victim requests probation for sex offender
A 58-year-old Santa Rosa man who molested his step-grand-daughter was released from custody Thursday after serving about a year in jail. Prosecutors sought a 12-year prison sentence for ____ ____ ____, who was accused of molesting the girl when she was three or four years old and again when she was 10-years-old. They had, however, agreed to a plea bargain that allowed for the possibility of probation. Citing ____’s poor health and the victim’s request for him to avoid prison, Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite set him free. He will serve five years’…
Read MoreAppeals court rules against Orange County on sex offender law
A panel of California appeals court judges found Friday that state law trumps Orange County’s regulations on sex offenders that ban them from parks and beaches. The fourth appellate district decision reverses the conviction of ____ ____, a registered sex offender who was convicted of a misdemeanor for violating the county ordinance after he went to a company picnic at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley in 2011. ____ had been convicted of misdemeanor sexual battery in 2010. The county’s restrictions on sex offenders, passed in 2011, were among the…
Read MoreEl Dorado County Votes to Repeal Sex Offender Ordinance
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to repeal its sex offender ordinance which prohibited all registered citizens from visiting county recreational areas and the county library. This vote was taken on January 7 in the absence of Supervisor Norma Santiago. A second and final vote on the repeal is scheduled on January 14 and would become effective 30 days later. “The ultimate repeal of the El Dorado County ordinance is a significant victory for more than 100,000 registered citizens and members of their families,” stated CA…
Read MoreCA State Assembly Bill Would Overturn Court Decision, Limit Eligibility to Apply for Certificate of Rehabilitation
A bill has been introduced in the California State Assembly that would, if passed overturn a recent court decision and further limit the number of registered citizens who are eligible to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation. That bill is AB 1438, which was introduced by Assembly Members Eric Linder (Republican, Riverside) on January 6. The California Court of Appeals decided in the case, People v. Tirey, on November 15, 2013, that registered citizens convicted of Penal Code Section 288(a) are eligible to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation. The court’s decision is based…
Read MoreSex offender ordinance inspired by Phillip Garrido expected to be repealed in El Dorado County
PLACERVILLE – The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors is expected to repeal a 2-year-old sex offender ordinance Tuesday to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit. The 2012 ordinance was inspired by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, the county’s most notorious sex offenders, who were convicted the year before of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard and holding her for 18 years. The measure forbids registered sex offenders from coming within 300 feet of parks, schools, libraries, public pools and other places where children congregate. “The ordinance that’s on the books today is, in fact, unconstitutional,”…
Read MoreEditorial: Hands off our laptops
As President Obama ponders a task force’s recommendations for reining in electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency, a federal judge in New York has allowed another government agency to invade the privacy of Americans. Judge Edward R. Korman ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents may confiscate and examine the contents of laptop computers of Americans returning to the country even if they lack reasonable suspicion that the devices contain evidence of criminal activity. … In that case, the 9th Circuit nevertheless upheld a sophisticated forensic analysis of…
Read MorePeople of Campo tell judge not to place sex offender in their community
SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Campo residents told a judge today they don’t want a soon-to-be-released sexually violent predator placed in their rural southeastern San Diego County community. After a hearing last August, Superior Court Judge David Gill found that ____ ____ could safely be released into the community for continued treatment and supervision. Last month, the Department of State Hospitals proposed placing Badger at a 5.07-acre private residence on Custer Road in Campo. The nearest schools are Campo Elementary, located 2.2 miles away, Mountain Meadow High School and Potrero Elementary School,…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting in Los Angeles – February 8
The next CA RSOL meeting in Los Angeles will take place on February 8th at 10 am, at the usual location – the ACLU building at 1313 W. 8th Street in Los Angeles. Registrants, family and friends, supporters and professionals are welcome to attend. Media and Government officials are not invited in order to ensure everyone’s privacy. We will discuss current topics, changes in the laws as well as pending litigation and advocacy strategies. Please join us on February 8th – Show up, Stand up, Speak up!
Read MoreOne in four GPS devices on criminals in L.A. County were faulty
One in every four GPS devices used to track serious criminals released in Los Angeles County has proved to be faulty, according to a probation department audit — allowing violent felons to roam undetected for days or, in some cases, weeks. The problems included batteries that wouldn’t hold a charge and defective electronics that generated excessive false alarms. One felon, county officials said, had to have his GPS monitor replaced 11 times over a year; for five days during the 45-day audit period, his whereabouts were unknown. Full Article Related: Audit:…
Read MoreHe’s Not a Sex Offender, Married Man Says
VISALIA, Calif. (CN) – A man required to register as a sex offender for life for having consensual relations with his now-wife 24 years ago – when he was 19 and she was 17 – asked a state court to remove that obligation so he can get on with his life. In 1989, police busted ___ ___ ___, then 19, for having “consensual, voluntary relations” with his 17-year-old girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to a single count of oral copulation with a minor. That charge requires mandatory, lifetime registration as a…
Read More25 to life for failing to reregister as sex offender
___ ___ was a 41-year-old man with a long criminal record and a low IQ when he left Oakland in late 1999 and bedded down at a homeless shelter in San Mateo. Police found him there in March 2000 and discovered he had failed to reregister as a sex offender as required by law — once a year, within five days of his birthday, and within five days of a change of address. After a San Mateo County judge barred a psychologist from testifying about ____ low mental capacity, a…
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