Among other provisions, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 allows the federal government to indefinitely detain “sexually dangerous” offenders through a civil commitment process, which requires mandatory court hearings after such offenders have been certified by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as eligible for commitment. The Adam Walsh Act was named for the kidnapped and murdered son of America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh. [See: PLN,June 1996, p.12]. Full Article (pdf) (at www.prisonlegalnews.org)
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UK: Ruling allows sex register appeals
Sex offenders can appeal against having to register with police for life from Saturday, despite concerns raised by a children’s charity that they must “always be considered a risk”. Thousands of sex offenders will be able to apply to have their names removed after the Supreme Court ruled it was a breach of offenders’ human rights to be put on the register for life with no review. The Government has already expressed concern about the plans, with Home Secretary Theresa May saying “the minimum possible changes to the law” would…
Read MoreTX: “A Child Protection Act That Doesn’t”
On June 29, 2012, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 6063, a bill which, on its surface, is as noble and well-intentioned as a piece of legislation can possibly be. Titled “The Child Protection Act of 2012,” it would be difficult for anyone to find fault with its lofty purported goal – to protect children. While I cannot find fault with the goal, the bill itself is a misguided, misinformed, and useless piece of pompous political puffery and does little if anything at all to protect any child from anything.…
Read MoreNational Conference on Sex Offender Issues, Sept. 6-9, Albuquerque, NM
“Children’s safety is at stake,” asserted Robert Combs, this year’s Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL) conference committee chairperson. “And it will remain at stake until the sex-crime panic can be countered with factual information to ensure public safety.” “Inclusion on the sex offender registry does not signify the person is any sort of a threat whatsoever,” agreed Brenda Jones, RSOL’s executive director. “And therein lies the problem. We as a society need to educate ourselves, and the 4th annual RSOL national conference taking place in Albuquerque, NM, September 6 –…
Read MoreNew law orders libraries to oust sex offenders
LANCASTER – In a unanimous vote, the five-member City Council this week gave its initial approval to an ordinance that, among other restrictions, bans registered sex offenders from going near public libraries and museums. A Santa Barbara County attorney, who traveled about 100 miles to the Antelope Valley to protest the proposed ordinance, said it will be contested in court. “The one thing I forgot to say in there is, ‘You will be sued,’” attorney Janice Bellucci said outside of City Council chambers Tuesday night moments after she publicly addressed…
Read MoreLake County man gets prison in killing of neighbor he thought was child molester
A Lake County man was sentenced Wednesday to 32-years-to-life in prison for killing a neighbor he mistook for a convicted child molester. Ivan Oliver, 34, was convicted two weeks ago by a jury of first-degree murder for stabbing Michael Dodele 65 times at a Lakeport mobile home park. He also was found guilty of a special allegation of using information from the Megan’s Law website to commit a felony. A confusing entry led Oliver to believe Dodele was a convicted child molester. Dodele, 67, was listed for being a serial…
Read MoreIN: Indiana sex offender list violates due process
A federal appeals court said Indiana’s sex and violent offender registry unconstitutionally violated the due process rights of thousands of registrants because it did not give them a chance to fix mistakes. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago rejected arguments by the Indiana Department of Correction that it was not directly responsible for errors in the registry, which contains about 24,000 names, and that registrants had other procedures to challenge mistakes. Full Article
Read MoreNew Cerritos ordinance bans sex offenders from city parks, libraries [updated / Video]
California RSOL will be attending this ordinance’s second reading (August 23) to speak in opposition. See letter sent to City Council here. CERRITOS – Registered sex offenders won’t be allowed in city parks or many other public facilities under an ordinance approved last week by the City Council. Gary Berg, the city’s director of community and safety services, told the council Thursday that passing the ordinance isn’t going to prevent crime and enforcing it is problematic. Nevertheless, the council passed the ordinance 4-1. Council members Jim Edwards, Bruce W. Barrows,…
Read MoreSimi Valley sex offender law on track for Halloween [updated with video]
The Simi Valley City Council on Monday night introduced the latest version of a proposed Halloween law aimed at protecting trick-or-treating children from having contact with sex offenders. As initially put forth, the ordinance applied to all 119 of the city’s registered sex offenders. The version introduced at Monday night’s council meeting limited the application of the proposed law just to those convicted pedophiles living in Simi Valley who are publicly listed on the Meagan’s Law website. Full Article
Read MoreLong Beach police unveil citywide camera system
LONG BEACH – Criminals who come to Long Beach should beware of, and remember to smile for, the cameras. That’s 400 cameras citywide, both publicly and privately owned, that have been linked to the Long Beach Police Department’s communications center as part of a new program that combines law enforcement data with real-time video feeds from parks, beaches, business corridors, the Police Department helicopters and other sources throughout the city. Full Article
Read MoreFilm produced by registered sex offender pulled from festival
A movie filmed partly at Oceanside’s El Camino High School has been pulled at the last minute from the Oceanside International Film Festival, a week after organizers learned the man who made the movie is a registered sex offender. “Music High” – produced, written and directed by Mark Charles Maine of San Diego – was yanked from the lineup Wednesday, a day before the festival was scheduled to start, said festival director Dmitiry Demidov. Full Article More on this story: August 3: Film festival troubled over whether to show sex…
Read MoreJury returns guilty verdict in murder trial of man accused of fatally stabbing neighbor
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Thursday morning, following a day of deliberations, a jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial of a Lakeport man who was accused of stabbing his neighbor to death because he wrongly believed the man was a child molester. Ivan Garcia Oliver, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder, burglary and several special allegations for the stabbing death of Michael Dodele. The jury found him not guilty of a charge of elder abuse. Full Article
Read MoreRiding the Registry – My Tour of Broken Lives
by Marshall Burns, Ph.D. — Sex offender. The words strike fear in the heart and soul like no others. But who is it that wears this label? I wanted to know. So I set out to drive around the United States to meet people on the registry and hear their stories. My purpose was to gain an understanding of what it means to be a registered person in 21st-Century America. In this report, I share some of what I saw and learned on the trip. Full Article
Read More“Come Off It, Folks – How Many Paedophiles Can There Be?”
Hi Folks! Lenore here from Free-Range Kids and yes, that headline is the REAL TITLE of a column by some hack in The Telegraph who was sick of the “no males allowed to sit next to unaccompanied minors” deal, back in 2006, on British Airways. Oh wait a sec — that hack is Boris Johnson, NOW THE MAYOR OF LONDON! Full Article
Read MoreOff Topic AUS: Nurse ‘humiliated’ by Qantas policy
A nurse was made to feel as if he had a sign that read “kiddie fiddler” over his head after he was moved away from a young girl on a Qantas flight, he said. Daniel McCluskie said he had a similar experience to a firefighter on a Virgin Australia flight when he was made to switch seats with a woman because he was sitting next to an unaccompanied child. Full Article
Read MoreFBI: Child Abductions – Known Relationships Are the Greater Danger
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin – … Media news outlets have portrayed that abductors primarily consist of strangers or registered sex offenders (RSO), which has proven invalid in the past 2 fiscal years (FY). When a child is reported missing, members of the media advise parents to check sex offender registries to prevent their child from possible abduction or sexual victimization. However, FBI reporting indicates that RSOs are a minimal part of the problem. In FY 2009, an RSO was the abductor in 2 percent of child abduction cases; in FY…
Read MoreSex offenders in county parks: just 1 of 17 waivers granted (Orange County)
When Orange County’s Board of Supervisors last year banned registered sex offenders from county parks, they included a waiver process in the ordinance so that exceptions could be made. If a sex offender worked on an asphalt crew that was paving a road in a county park, for example, he or she could apply for a waiver, Supervisor Shawn Nelson said at the time. The supervisors assigned the sheriff’s department to decide which waiver applications ought to be granted. That was in April 2011. Full Article *** Letter by OC…
Read MoreOH: Court Holds that Adam Walsh Act is Unconstitutional; Awaits Decision from Ohio Supreme Court
An Ohio Appeals court has held, again, that Ohio’s Adam Walsh Act do not apply to individuals who were originally sentenced under Megan’s Law. The court, however, is awaiting further guidance from the Ohio Supreme Court. The case is State v. Davis, 2012-Ohio-3570. In 2004, the Defendant pled guilty to sexual battery and gross sexual imposition. He was sentenced to five years probation. Pursuant to Ohio’s Megan’s Law, the sex offender registration system then in effect, the Defendant was classified as a sexually oriented offender, the least restrictive classification. As…
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