Category: General News

Critics seek reform of Colorado sex offense laws they say can do more harm than good

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Lawmakers, researchers and even some victims seek reform of Colorado’s Sex Offense Management Board. By ALEX BURNESS | [email protected] | The Denver Post September 6, 2021 Close to 30 years ago, Mr. Bethurum was living in Wray, in his late 40s, when he groomed an underage family member and entered into what he wrongly thought of as a relationship. He says he now understands now there is no such thing as a “relationship” between a child and an adult. He completed his prison sentence for sexual assault on a child,…

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Indecent exposure charges filed against trans woman over L.A. spa incident

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Prosecutors filed multiple counts of indecent exposure this week against a transgender woman whose alleged conduct was at the center of a viral video that sparked a pair of violent protests outside a spa in Westlake this summer, officials said Thursday. ______ Merager was charged Monday with five counts of indecent exposure, relating to an incident inside the Wi Spa on June 23, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles Police Department. The next day, a viral video emerged alleging a customer had exposed their penis in…

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An old arrest can follow you forever online. Some newspapers want to fix that.

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Source: washingtonpost.com 8/31/21 The Boston Globe has joined a handful of newsrooms around the country doing something once unthinkable: changing old articles because they are ruining a person’s life.  The newspaper on Friday launched its Fresh Start initiative, which allows people to petition to have information about them removed from or added to old stories, to have their names anonymized, or to have the stories delisted from Google searches. The Globe will prioritize stories involving minor crimes and those from long ago, but will also consider ones about “embarrassing” noncriminal…

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Kansas Supreme Court Ruling: City Conviction Requires Sex Offender Registration

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The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a man’s municipal conviction for sexual battery requires him to register as a sex offender. The 5-2 decision comes in the case of a man, who was convicted in 2018 of sexual battery in violation of the Shawnee municipal code. At issue was whether he was required to register as a sex offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act. The Supreme Court ruled that he did, finding that the Shawnee ordinance is identical to the state statute. Justices Melissa Standridge and Eric Rosen…

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Action Alert: Call before Aug 26 to support the Jeremy Rose family against job discrimination

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Women Against Registry (W.A.R.) 8/24/21 NATIONWIDE CALL TO ACTION! We are all in this together so please take action as soon as possible and certainly before the program airs on KSTU-FOX 13 on August 26 in the evening! We were contacted by a registered citizen in Salt Lake City Utah a few months back. He was being vilified by Fox13 television station due to a grievance a vengeful female had against the director for kicking her son out of the group which had nothing to do with him. He was…

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FL: Three Disney World employees along with 17 arrested in child sex sting

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Three Walt Disney World employees in Orlando were along with 17 suspects arrested in a massive child sex sting in Florida. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests as part of ‘Operation Child Protector’ at a news conference on Tuesday. Collectively, the group was charged with 49 felony counts and two misdemeanors, including: traveling to meet a minor for sex, attempted felony battery, using a computer to seduce a child, and transmission of material harmful to a child. Officials said most of the suspects had communicated with undercover agents, posing as…

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Apple to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse

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Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens. Apple unveiled plans to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused, including by governments looking to surveil their citizens. The tool designed to detected known images of child sexual abuse,…

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Budget breakdown: Minnesota to review sex offense registry program 30 years after it became law

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A Minnesota group will study the laws that govern people convicted of a sex offense this year and provide a report to the Legislature in January. The state budget includes $25,000 for the creation of a Predatory Offense Statutory Framework Working Group by Sept. 1. It will examine the state’s predatory offense registration laws including “the requirements placed on people convicted of an offense, the crimes for which POR is required, the method by which POR requirements are applied to people convicted of an offense and the effectiveness of the…

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MN: OCEAN Community Conference and Rally — July 18, 2021

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  OCEAN is hosting their Community Conference at Capital Mall in St. Paul, Sunday, July 18, 2021. At this gathering, a lineup of speakers will educate the public on the terrors of preventive detention in the state of Minnesota. The first speaker will be introduced at 1:00 PM. If you can, please bring your own chair. At 3:30 PM we will walk/drive to the Governor’s Mansion, where we will demand an Executive Order from Governor Tim Walz to shutdown preventive detention in Minnesota. The current conditions are ripe for mass…

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NE: James Fairbanks sentenced: 40–70 years in murder of person listed on the registry

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OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — James Fairbanks, who pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the killing of  Mattieo Condoluci last year, was sentenced in a Douglas County on Wednesday morning. 3 News Now reporter, Jon Kipper was in the courtroom where a judge sentenced him to a total of 40–70 years on two counts: second-degree murder and possessing a firearm while committing a felony. Condoluci’s daughter spoke in support of Fairbanks at the sentencing hearing and Condoluci’s son spoke against Fairbanks. On May 16, 2020, Condoluci, 64, was found dead…

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ACSOL Files Lawsuit Challenging Re-Sentencing Regulations

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ACSOL has filed a lawsuit challenging regulations issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that categorically exclude inmates required to register from re-sentencing opportunities provided in recent legislation.  The lawsuit was filed on July 6 in Sacramento Superior Court. “The regulations being challenged repeat the same mistake made by CDCR in its regulations implementing Proposition 57,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “That is, the re-sentencing regulations create a categorical exclusion of all registrants even though the legislation does not.” The individual plaintiff in the case, Antoine…

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CA: Dad tackles person convicted of sex offense who exposed himself in front of 5-year-old daughter

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A brave dad tackled and duct-taped a person who is listed on the sex offense registry who broke into a California home and exposed himself in front of his sleeping 5-year-old daughter, according to a new report. The man started creeping around outside the home in Grayson around 5 a.m. Tuesday, KOVR reported. “He went and knocked the door, he tried to open the door, peeking through the window, trying to see and he was showing his private parts around the windows,” said the little girl’s sister, Ceci Ramirez, translating…

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Why Sex Offense Laws Do More Harm Than Good

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By Deborah Jacobs There are few crimes more heinous than child molestation. Whether violently attacked by a stranger or preyed upon by a trusted adult in the home, school or place of worship, children who survive such assaults are often left to walk a lifelong path of sorrow and pain. Unfortunately, our government has failed to take steps that will make a meaningful difference in preventing sex offenses. Megan’s Law, civil commitment, and the newest trend in anti-sex offense legislation, banishment zones, which restrict people convicted of a sex offense…

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High price for moral panic over historical sexual abuse

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Have a look at these extraordinary figures. Two years into our National Redress Scheme (NRS) for victims of institutional sexual abuse, over $500 million has been paid to 5,920 of 10,000 applicants who have so far applied – a mere blip compared to the 60,000 victims assumed to be eligible. The total cost of the scheme is estimated at an astonishing $4.01 billion, according to the Royal Commission’s report on redress. Responsible institutions, like the churches, are paying out part of this money but the Commonwealth Government has already handed out $55 million…

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MN: Victoria neighborhood protests person listed on the registry at level 3

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A group of frustrated, angry and concerned citizens is keeping a close watch on a person listed on the registry at level 3, recently released into their Victoria neighborhood. The group is hoping to have Vanhecke removed from that area. But state Department of Corrections officials believe he is not a public danger and is entitled to live at the residence in question. One DOC official believes the community group maintaining a constant vigil outside Vanhecke’s residence may be doing a disservice to him and the community. Regardless of the…

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Colorado Court Upholds Severely Limited Use of Internet, Social Media for Registrant on Probation

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A Colorado court of appeals issued a decision today upholding a condition of probation that severely limits a registrant’s use of both the internet and social media while he is on probation.  The court acknowledged in its decision that the registrant’s offense did not include use of either the internet or social media. “This decision is outrageous and must be appealed,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “This court made a huge and erroneous leap in logic that a person who commits a hands-on offense with a family member, who…

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Is the Tide Turning Against Public Sex Offense Registries?

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BY RORY FLEMING JULY 2, 2021 On June 8, the American Law Institute, arguably the most prestigious non-governmental law reform organization in the country, concluded its national meeting. One of its agenda items was to have its thousands of elected members—top federal appeals judges among them, who enjoy lifetime appointments after being confirmed by the United States Senate—vote on a draft of the revised chapter of the Model Penal Code for sex crimes. The Model Penal Code, first codified in 1962, helps guide legislation as well as interpretative decisions by courts. ALI’s membership voted to approve the most recent draft, which…

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