“It’s just as easy as ordering a pizza, to order a person.” These haunting words, spoken by an undercover Dayton detective, encapsulate a fragment of both the horror and pervasiveness of the human trafficking crisis facing our country in the digital age. “It’s everywhere because of the online environment,” the detective said. “There’s no boundaries or limitations.” Full Article
Read MoreCategory: General News
Will More Kids Be Branded Sex Offenders for Life?
On May 22, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Federal Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2017. The House’s judiciary subcommittee on crime, terrorism, homeland security and investigations worked to reauthorize the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, the only federal law that requires states, tribes and other jurisdictions to register children who have committed sexual offenses. Full Article
Read MoreUPDATED: 50-State Comparison Relief from Sex Offender Registration Obligations
Prepared for the NACDL Restoration of Rights Project. List Permanent Link
Read MoreAre Geek Squad agents spying for the FBI?
Yes, they carry badges and drive black-and-white vehicles. But some Geek Squad agents appear to have taken the “agent” part of their titles a bit too literally. Best Buy, the consumer-electronics giant that owns the on-call computer-repair service, recently admitted that four employees took money from the FBI after the agency received information from the agents about customers suspected of possessing child pornography. As a result, the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco is suing the Justice Department to disclose the extent of the FBI’s relationship with Best Buy. Full…
Read MoreCanada: Polygraph for pedophiles – how virtual reality is used to assess sex offenders
In a maximum security mental health facility in Montreal is a “cave-like” virtual reality vault that’s used to show images of child sexual abuse to sex offenders. Patients sit inside the vault with devices placed around their penises to measure signs of arousal as they are shown computer-generated animations of naked children. Full Article
Read MoreATSA Position Statement re. HR 1761
The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) makes the following statement regarding the May 25, 2017, passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of HR 1761, the Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act of 2017: We applaud the intent of this bill to strengthen statutes prohibiting the production and distribution of child pornography. Child sexual abuse is a horrific crime that can cause long-term trauma and harm to those who are abused. Unfortunately, this bill, as passed, creates the unintended consequence of criminalizing all transmissions of sexual images of minors. This…
Read MoreStatewide Survey–Occupational Licensing Boards & Criminal Records
Root & Rebound is taking the first step in trying to connect and coordinate statewide efforts to reduce Occupational Licensing Bans and Barriers based on a candidate’s criminal record, and are asking for 15 minutes of your time to tell us about any work you are involved in through this survey: CA Criminal Records & Occupational Licensing Advocacy & Representation Coordinating Statewide Efforts This will help us to understand what is happening in the current landscape and where our efforts and statewide coordination are needed and not needed (just as…
Read MoreGeneral Comments June 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of June 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreCosby Trial Puts U.S. States’ Sex-Crime Prosecution Laws in Focus
The opening of Bill Cosby’s sex assault trial on Monday highlights a quirk of the U.S. legal system, in which standards vary widely from state to state on how much time prosecutors have to file criminal charges after an alleged assault. Full Article
Read MoreIs it Good Policy to Regulate the Passports of Sex Offenders?
The days of overseas travel may soon be over for Australia’s convicted child sex offenders. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she planned to introduce legislation that would cancel the passports of about 20,000 people on the national child sex offender register. The new legislation will “make Australia a world leader in protecting vulnerable children from child sex tourism,” according to the foreign minister’s office. Full article
Read MoreHouse Overwhelmingly Supports Bill Subjecting Teen Sexters to 15-Years in Federal Prison
Teens who text each other explicit images could be subject to 15 years in federal prison under a new bill that just passed the House of Representatives. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, has called the measure “deadly and counterproductive.” Full Article
Read MoreRoot & Rebound: Join us in SoCal in June!
Know Your Rights Training for People Directly Impacted & Their Families (Free) Fair Chance Training for Workforce Development (Training Fee) Conference on Constitutional Rights of Sex Offenders (Training Fee) Space is limited so RSVP today! WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14th, 2017 ‘Know Your Rights’ TrainingWe For individuals who are formerly incarcerated & their family members. WHERE: El Proyecto Worksource Center 9024 Laurel Canyon, Sun Valley, CA 91352WHEN: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.In collaboration with the Center for Living and Learning, Root & Rebound will hold a training in the San Fernando Valley to speak with directly impacted individuals and…
Read MoreDOJ, FBI Executives Approved Running a Child Porn Site
The FBI decision to briefly run a large dark web child pornography site was done in close consultation with the Department of Justice, and was approved by executives from both agencies, according to a court transcript reviewed by Motherboard. Full Article
Read MoreIf Drunk Drivers Were Treated like Sex Offenders…
Nobody likes sex offenders. People aren’t very fond of drunk drivers, either. In fact persons convicted of DUI, DWI are thousands of times more likely to be involved in the same type of crime again, and kill or injure far more people including children and young adults each year than previously convicted sex offenders. But no matter how egregious the crime, both groups are entitled to the same rights under our Constitution. In particular, after they complete their punishment, they should be DONE and able to start over. If they…
Read MoreAK: Alaska Cops Fight for the Right to Sexually Exploit Prostitution Suspects
Once again, cops are arguing that they need to be allowed to have sex with suspects in order to investigate prostitution allegations. And once again, lawmakers and journalists are acting like exploitation and assault of sex workers by law enforcement is a rare occurrence, rather than a national epidemic. Full Article
Read MoreJacob Wetterling Resource Center: We Spend Too Much Money Watching Sex Offenders
Thursday was National Missing Children’s Day, a day meant to highlight the problem of child abduction. And while there have been advancements in laws and technology to keep children safe and help families, an organization known for protecting kids thinks says we spend too much money in at least one area. “There is huge hysteria around released sex offenders when they are not usually the problem,” said Alison Feigh, the program director at the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center Feigh said children are harmed most often by people they know, trust and have access to –…
Read MoreIL: School disciplinary incident ends with a Naperville teen’s suicide: ‘They scared him to death’
…The following day, Naperville police suspected that Corey — who had no criminal history and had never been in serious trouble at school — had video on his phone of a consensual sexual encounter with a 16-year-old classmate and possibly played it for friends. At lunchtime, he was called into the dean’s office. There, with a police officer and campus dean, Corey was questioned about possessing and possibly sharing “child pornography,” allegedly threatened that he’d be put on the state’s sex offender registry, then was left alone to wait for…
Read MoreThe Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2017 Passes in the House of Representatives
Today, the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2017, which would allow the protections of the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act to continue saving the lives of children throughout the nation, passed in the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support. Full Press Release Also see https://judiciary.house.gov/press-release/goodlatte-floor-statement-targeting-child-predators-act/ https://judiciary.house.gov/press-release/goodlatte-floor-statement-global-child-protection-act/ https://judiciary.house.gov/issue/preventing-crimes-against-children/
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