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 MoreCategory: California
Appeals 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…
Read MoreO.C. supervisors reject Megan’s Law-style website for vicious dogs
Orange County won’t be creating a Megan’s Law-style website for dangerous dogs any time soon. The county Board of Supervisors had been considering creating an online database listing the addresses of homes where dangerous dogs are kept, but on Tuesday a majority of supervisors said they don’t support such a site. “I think that whole area needs a lot more study before we go in that direction,” said Supervisor Patricia Bates. … … Bates said she worried it might be difficult for owners to get their dogs removed from the site even…
Read MoreLocal man illustrates state sex offender trend
On the same day last month that state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris was announcing an initiative designed to stop criminals from re-offending, prosecutors were in Antelope Valley Superior Court for a pretrial hearing in a case filed against ____ ____ ____, 70, a Valencia resident and three-time convicted sex offender. In the latest case against ____ due to go to court next year, he’s charged with annoying a girl by following her and videotaping her inside a Valencia retail store. Full Article
Read MoreSierra Madre Stops Enforcement of Sex Offender Ordinance
The City of Sierra Madre has agreed to stop enforcement of its sex offender ordinance, which prohibited all registered sex offenders, from residing in most of the city and from being present in child safety zones that included the city’s schools, parks and public library. The Sierra Madre City Council approved this action on December 10 after being sued in federal district court by one of the city’s four registered citizens. The legal challenge was based upon allegations that the city ordinance violated the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S.…
Read MoreJuror in child molester case removed for using dictionaries
Judge finds juror committed ‘serious, willful misconduct’ for using standard dictionaries to look up a critical word during deliberations. SANTA ANA – A juror was removed for misconduct Wednesday for using dictionaries to look up a word during deliberations in a trial to determine whether a twice-convicted child molester should remain locked up in a mental hospital as a sexually violent predator. The juror referenced the word “likely” in a dictionary at home and brought another dictionary into the deliberating room, disobeying repeated admonishments from Orange County Superior Court Judge…
Read MorePush to ban crime box on job applications expands
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim wants to make this question virtually obsolete on job applications in San Francisco: Have you been convicted of a crime? Kim is proposing to expand the city’s existing ban by having it include most private employers, publicly funded housing providers and city contractors. Ten states and more than 50 cities have adopted some version of “ban the box,” and a growing number of private employers are also jumping on board – earlier this year, Target announced it would strip the question from its applications. The federal…
Read MoreFormer San Diego Mayor gets 3 months home confinement
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO — Disgraced former Mayor Bob Filner received three months of home confinement and three years of probation in a sentencing hearing Monday, the final chapter in Filner’s stunning fall following from his repeated inappropriate sexual behavior toward women. The sentencing by Superior Court Judge Robert Trentacosta came after Filner pleaded guilty in October to one felony charge of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor charges of battery. The former 10-term congressman will also have to seek mental health treatment, surrender a portion of his pension and be prohibited from…
Read MoreRuling may have vast effect on sex-offender registry, attorney says
Appeals court decision involving an Orange County case could impact thousands seeking to have their names removed from the ‘Megan’s Law’ list. SANTA ANA – A court ruling involving an Orange County case could result in hearings for thousands of California sex offenders seeking to have their names removed from the “Megan’s Law” registry, says an attorney who represents a sex offender. California’s 4th District Court of Appeal found unconstitutional a state law that allows some sex offenders to have hearings for certificates of rehabilitation while denying that right to…
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