From Commonwealth v. Kushmanick, which was decided last year by a Pennsylvania appellate court, but which I just came across last week (all quotes are from the opinion): 1. The facts: Kushmanick started dating S.C. when he was 18 or 19, and she was 16 (according to defendant, just a week shy of her 17th birthday). The age of consent for sexual activity generally in Pennsylvania is 16. (There is the possibility that someone may be prosecuted for “corrupting the morals of a minor” when the minor is 16 or 17,…
Read MoreCategory: General News
Vigilantes Assault, Rob and Murder Registered Sex Offenders
As repeatedly reported in Prison Legal News, for over a decade registered sex offenders have been targeted by vigilantes and assaulted, robbed and murdered due to their past crimes. And as noted in this issue’s cover story, that is part of the dark side of sex offender registries, which allow public access to offenders’ residential addresses and other personal information. Such information not only endangers registered sex offenders but also those who live with them and, in at least one case in Dallas, Texas, an innocent victim. That Dallas man, who was beaten…
Read More14-Year-Old Boy Facing Assault Charge, Sex Offender Registry for Sex with 12-Year-Old Girl
A Houston-area seventh-grade boy has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child because he engaged in consensual sex with his sixth-grade girlfriend. Unless a judge decides to show leniency, he could be forced to register as a sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreSchools face vexing test: Which kids will sexually attack?
The children who sexually assault other children may be the popular jocks, the loners or anyone in between. There is no typical attacker, no way for schools to predict who might inflict that kind of torment on a classmate.Full Article
Read MoreWI: Bill Would Create Exemption for Wis. Sex Offender Registry
– A bipartisan proposal creates an exemption to Wisconsin’s sex offender registry for teenagers ages 15 to 18 who are convicted after having consensual sex. State law makes it a crime for two people under the age of 18 to have sexual contact, regardless of consent. Republican Rep. Joel Kleefisch and Democratic Rep. Fred Kessler have written legislation that creates a new crime of “underage sexual activity” and lowers the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor. Other states have labeled it the “Romeo and Juliet” exemption. Full Article
Read MoreTraveling Abroad Sucks if You’re an Ex-Con
Going through customs can be unnerving and problematic for everyone. You’ve got to deal with long lines, uncertainty over what’s considered a contraband item, and the possibility of being denied entry to the country you’re visiting. But it can be even worse for ex-cons. Just ask the so-called Hot Felon, ____ ____. He was reportedly denied entry into the UK last month, even though he’d secured a work permit, was scheduled for a series of magazine shoots, and had permission from his parole officer to travel. Full Article
Read MoreSex assaults in high school sports minimized as ‘hazing’
The Georgia school district said it was investigating the baseball players for “misbehavior” and “inappropriate physical contact.” What it didn’t reveal was that a younger teammate had reported being sexually assaulted. Full Article
Read MoreAccurate rape statistics ensure credible arguments
On April 20, The News-Letter ran a piece titled “Sexual assault at college: Confronting the rapists in our lives.” Although it is perfectly understandable where the author, a female senior undergraduate student studying International Studies, is coming from, there is a lack of some key points that provide the necessary context to fully comprehend the issue that King, the writer, brought forth. Full Article
Read MoreLecturers critique child sexual abuse prevention policies
Experts gathered to discuss child sexual abuse prevention at the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s fifth annual Child Sexual Abuse Symposium. The Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse hosted the symposium on Thursday, April 27. Full Article
Read MoreRegistration, Tracking of Sex Offenders Drives Mass Incarceration Numbers and Costs
The September 1988 rape and murder of 29-year-old Diane Ballasiotes in Seattle, Washington, followed by the 1989 rape and sexual mutilation of a 7-year-old Tacoma boy, were the seedlings of today’s nationwide sex offender registry laws – a 50-state network that tracks over 805,000 registrants and whose usefulness as a crime-prevention tool has been questioned and criticized. Full Article
Read MoreGeneral Comments May 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of May 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreSex Offender Registration – Why Fear Isn’t Smart Policy
As momentum around criminal justice reform builds nationwide, sex offenders are one population that is consistently left out of the conversation. Full Editorial
Read MoreTN: Lawmakers pass bill lessening sexting punishment
Minors who send sexually explicit photos to one another could face far less serious consequences than they do now, under a bill that received final support from Tennessee lawmakers Wednesday. Full Article
Read MoreKindergarteners among youngest schoolhouse assault victims
Student-on-student sexual assaults rise significantly during middle-school years, an Associated Press analysis of federal crime data found. But even as early as kindergarten and first grade, children can be at risk: About 5 percent of all sexual attacks reported on school property in a recent two-year period happened to 5 and 6 year olds, according to the AP analysis. Full Article Related Hidden horror of school sex assaults revealed by AP Senate Committee Approves SB 26 With Amendments
Read MoreHidden horror of school sex assaults revealed by AP
____ ____ was 12 when they came after him. The classmates who tormented him were children, too, entering the age of pimples and cracking voices. Eventually, he swore under oath, the boys raped him and left him bleeding, the culmination of a year of harassment. Though ____ repeatedly told teachers and administrators about insults and physical attacks, he didn’t report being sexually assaulted until a year later, launching a long legal fight over whether his school had done enough to protect him. Full Article
Read MoreU.S. Senate declares April ‘Second Chances Month’ in support of former inmates
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday declaring April as “Second Chances Month” for people who were once incarcerated and are trying to break back into mainstream society. Full Article
Read MoreFeds tell Supreme Court that mug shots should stay secret
The Justice Department won’t budge from its position that federal mug shots of criminals should be kept secret, arguing in a U.S. Supreme Court brief that jailhouse photos are “embarrassing, nonpublic” moments that add to defendants’ grief. Full Article
Read MoreChild Safety at Sea – Freed and Stuart Talk Cruise Policies to Protect Kids
Protecting kids at sea has been a hot topic of late, as some major cruise lines have adjusted their pool policies to add lifeguards. Most revealing on the subject of child protection, though? Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service, Royal Caribbean International, told hundreds of agents attending the final General Session of Cruise360 on Saturday that Royal Caribbean initiates a process 30 days prior to sailing to help assure no registered sex offenders sail on the line. Full Article
Read More