Sexting creating legal minefield for teenagers — and the Australian courts system

[Australian ABC News] When young people find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system on serious charges relating to sexting practices, it’s often a conundrum for sentencing judges. In some cases judges have expressed concern about the trend, and have exercised their discretion not to record convictions against young people charged with serious child pornography offences, for sharing sexually explicit photos of themselves. A South Australian Youth Court judge last week spared a 16-year-old boy a conviction for producing child pornography for taking a photo of his own genitals…

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We’re Putting Sex Offender Stamps on Passports. Here’s Why It Won’t Curb Sex Tourism & Trafficking

[InjusticeToday.com] On October 30th, the State Department announced that passports of people who are required to register as sex offenders because of an offense involving a minor will be marked with a “unique identifier” that will read: The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212b(c)(l). The law which occasions this requirement, International Megan’s Law (IML), was enacted in 2016 under President Obama. In addition to the identifier requirement, IML allows for existing passports…

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AUS: VG EXPOSED THE LARGEST CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE FORUM.IT WAS RUN BY THE POLICE.

Both men stiffen as VG confronts them. – Go ahead and publish what you know about us now, if you think it’s true, but be prepared for the consequences, says Jon. Next to him in a Brisbane hamburger pub sits Paul. VG has just told them what we’ve uncovered: that they run the world’s largest online forum for child sexual exploitation, “Childs Play”. Full Article

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Ireland to be first in Europe to cancel passports of paedophiles

[Irish Examiner] Earlier this year Australia became the first country in the world to introduce strict legislation to clamp down on sex offenders leaving or attempting to go abroad. Now Ireland looks set to follow with draft legislation expected to be introduced later this month, which would pave the way for this country becoming the first European nation to make it illegal for convicted paedophiles to travel overseas. The campaign is being spearheaded by Fr Shay Cullen, the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Irish missionary who runs the PREDA child abuse charity…

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Teen arrested on porn charges in Burrillville HS Dropbox case as explicit photos go global

[The Providence Journal] BURRILLVILLE, R.I. — The teenage girls may have believed that their intimate photos would stay private. However, more than 40 girls at Burrillville High School have learned the hard way that there is no privacy on the internet, after their “sexually explicit” photos and videos ended up in an online “Dropbox” site — which police say was controlled by a local 16-year-old boy and shared with his friends. Dropbox is a free online storage service that allows users to share and store files such as photos, documents…

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IRE: Seeking to track sex offenders poses human rights questions

The idea of electronic tagging for sex offenders is not a new one. It was considered by the Department of Justice in 2009 in relation to the Discussion Document on the Management of Sex Offenders, and continued to gain political interest in the following years, up to the recent announcement that new legislation will make provision for this perceived shortcoming in our law. Full Article

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UK: Police relax monitoring of sex offenders to focus on high-risk criminals

Police forces have dropped measures designed to stop convicted sex criminals reoffending, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has said, in a bid to focus more on those who present a greater risk. The new approach will see some low-risk offenders no longer being subject to annual home visits or having the risks they pose reassessed as thoroughly as before. Full Article

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Samoa: Girls, women and mothers have a right to be protected from sex offenders

The launch of the Samoa Law Reform Commission’s Report on the Sex Offenders Register yesterday is a step in the right direction. And with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi’s use of such strong language in relation to repeated sex offenders, it certainly sends the message that there is no place in this country for such people. Which is fantastic. At last we are moving on to something that should have been established a long, long time ago. We say this because over the years we’ve been extremely concerned about repeated sex…

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AUS: Australia to strip convicted paedophiles of passports

Convicted paedophiles will have their passports cancelled to prevent them travelling overseas to offend again under tough new laws which Australia Tuesday (May 30) hailed as a “world first”. Legislation will be introduced to parliament this month making it illegal for registered offenders to leave or attempt to leave the country as part of a crackdown on child-sex tourism. Full Article Related http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/child-sex-offenders-to-lose-passports/news-story/57c0c2fb70412cf456f8166ab3cb53ed http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11866342 http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article153295749.html http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11866342

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UK: Primary schoolchildren are coming home sunburnt as schools ban teachers from applying sun lotion

Experts say sunburn during childhood can more than double the risk of developing skin cancer as an adult. Touching pupils, such as to apply sun cream or offer a reassuring hand, is not banned under government rules, with the official guidelines stating there are occasions ‘when physical contact… with a pupil is proper and necessary’ But in practice, many schools discourage teachers from touching pupils with controversial ‘no touch’ policies. Full Article

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UK: Men won’t volunteer to help the Scouts for one depressing reason: they’ll be labelled paedophiles

Ever since it was officially recognised by Royal charter in 1912, the Scout Association has taught British kids the type of campfire practicality and social do-gooding that is arguably lacking in our tech-rich, late capitalist world. All that is in danger, however, as the organisation is having to turn away young applicants due to a lack of adult volunteers willing to teach them life skills such as how to tie knots, launch watercraft and work together to achieve a goal. … The second barrier is a more general red flag: the very real fear among many…

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