[theweek.com – 9/13/18] To push an issue, a leader usually needs to have integrity or street cred. Abraham Lincoln had the first when he led the country out of slavery. Richard Nixon, a security hawk, had the second when he made peace with China. President Donald Trump admittedly has neither when it comes to women’s issues. So his administration is hardly in any moral position to revamp the rules governing sexual assault on college campuses that President Barack Obama, a paragon of propriety, put in place. Yet Obama’s rules were…
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SC: Can sex offenders stay at Red Cross shelters?
With Hurricane Florence barreling towards the coast of the Carolinas, residents in multiple counties have been urged to evacuate either out of town or to emergency shelters. But what about safety at shelters? ABC News asked the American Red Cross if sex offenders were allowed to stay at shelters with others residents. Full Article Related links: VERIFY: Yes, sex offenders can stay at public shelters during Florence in NC [wcnc.com – 9/15/18]
Read MorePA: Extended registration periods under SORNA unlawful
Court ruling against retroactive extension of registration period for 19 individuals who were convicted before the enactment of SORNA – but resentenced to longer / lifetime registration under SORNA after subsequent probation violations. Opinion Related PA: State Supreme Court remanding cases after Muniz All PA articles
Read MoreNE: Judge – Keep juvenile sex offenders off registry
A federal judge has told Nebraska to keep juvenile sex offenders off the state sex offender registry if they weren’t tried as adults — at least for now. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Tuesday’s order from U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf gives a temporary reprieve to dozens of people who received letters from the Nebraska State Patrol telling them they must register as sex offenders. The letters cited a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision. Full Article
Read MoreOR: Discovery of dog saves Oregon man from sex-crime conviction
[stltoday.com – 9/10/18] The discovery of a black Lab named Lucy led to the unravelling of a criminal case Monday against an Oregon man who had begun serving a 50-year prison sentence. Joshua Horner, a plumber from the central Oregon town of Redmond, was convicted on April 12, 2017, of sexual abuse of a minor. In the trial, the complainant testified Horner had threatened to shoot her animals if she went to the police about the alleged molestation, and said she saw him shoot and kill her dog to make…
Read MoreAcademic Study Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register; 22 States Don’t Remove Registrants After They Depart
Note: before you travel to another state, it is your responsibility to always read up on the latest registration regulations. Don’t depend on secondhand studies like this. Do your research so you don’t land in jail. Download Academic Study that Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register
Read MoreLaws Punishing Homeless People for Sleeping in Public Are Cruel and Unusual, Fed Court Rules
[nytimes.com – 9/5/18] Prosecuting homeless people for sleeping on the streets when there is no shelter available is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court said this week. The case stems from two ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that make it a crime to sleep or camp in buildings, streets and other public places. Six homeless people who had been convicted under the laws sued the city in 2009, saying their constitutional rights had been violated. After years of legal wrangling, a three-judge…
Read MoreND: Satisfied with sex offender registry as it is (Editorial)
As shown on a large, colored map in Sunday’s Grand Forks Herald, sex offenders are among us. Most sex offenders in Grand Forks are considered by the state of North Dakota to be low-risk; however, a half-dozen in the city are high-risk offenders and, according to the state, deserve a higher level of scrutiny. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Man plans to publish names of level 1 sex offenders
Sex offender vigilante Curtis Hart has caused a furor among level 1 sex offenders by planning to publish many of their 570 names on the internet. Hart has requested that the sheriff’s office give him the names of all level 1 sex offenders in Cowlitz County, and under terms of a state Supreme Court ruling the agency must comply. The names, along with photos, addresses, and brief descriptions of the offenses could be released in less than two weeks. Full Article
Read MorePA: Professor fired over child-sex conviction must be rehired by Pa. university, state court says
[pennlive.com – 8/31/18] Lock Haven University must reinstate a mathematics professor who was fired after his 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children was discovered, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday. Prof. Charles Morgan can’t be allowed to teach high school students who are taking advanced placement classes at the school, however, the state judges found. That decision, outlined in an opinion by Senior Judge James Gardner Colins, upholds an arbitration ruling won on the prof’s behalf by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the professors’ union. University…
Read MoreND: North Dakota works to track registered sex offenders
[inforum.com – 9/2/18] Keeping track track of sex offenders in North Dakota requires technology and the teamwork of law enforcement and communities across the state. There are among nearly 1,900 sex offenders in the state, according to Liz Brocker, a spokeswoman for the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office. A website for the Attorney General’s Office tracks the locations of sex offenders in the state, based on their residence or place of employment. Staff with the office work extensively to keep the website up to date with extensive information on offenders,…
Read MoreMD: Maryland joins sex-offender registry program
[washingtonpost.com – 8/26/18] HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Maryland is joining a sex-offender registry program that law enforcement officials say will make it more efficient to share records. The Herald-Mail reported Sunday that Maryland became the 17th state to join OffenderWatch last week. A statewide contract will allow every sheriff’s office, participating police departments and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to use the technology. Maryland residents will also be able to register online to receive alerts and updates at no cost when offenders register within a specific radius of…
Read MoreIA: Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Survives Court Challenge
A nearly six-year-old lawsuit challenging Iowa’s program for keeping sex offenders confined after they serve their prison terms has been dismissed by a federal judge in Sioux City. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett ruled against patients in the Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders, or CCUSO, housed at the Mental Health Institute in Cherokee. Full Article
Read MoreNC: Craven County sex offenders are carefully tracked
Between 170 and 190 sex offenders live in Craven County following strict guidelines regarding where they can live, visit, work or walk. Not only does the Sheriff’s department track their daily lives, but they can be tracked by their neighbors or relatives as well, through the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry, a site that will warn residents where the offenders are, what they look like, and of what crime they are convicted. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Sex offender gets jail for not reporting social media password
A Level 1 sex offender from the Tuscarora Indian Reservation was sentenced Thursday to a year in the Niagara County Jail for not telling authorities one of his social media passwords. ____ ____, 48, of Susie’s Lane, must register because of a misdemeanor sex conviction in 2004, defense attorney David J. Mansour said. In April, ____ pleaded guilty to a felony count of failure to register. He reported two social media accounts last year, but only one password. Mansour said ____ thought the accounts were linked. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Pastor convicted of child porn gets probation, must post sex offender sign at his home
An associate pastor who told police he kept child porn on his computer as part of research for “a possible lesson involving Cupid, love and human trafficking” has been sentenced to eight years’ probation. ____ ____, 79, also was ordered by Judge Mollee B. Westfall to post a sign at his Hurst home that says, “A person on probation for a child sex offense lives here.” Full Article
Read MoreMO: New three-tiered sex offender law goes into effect Tuesday
Starting Tuesday, August 28, a new law goes into effect that’s expected to drop the number of registered sex offenders in Missouri. It will be a three-tiered system that punishes people based on the severity of their offenses. Full Article Related MO: New Law Expected To Reduce Missouri’s Sex Offender Registry Count
Read MoreFL: The Last Victim: One man caught in the day-care hysteria decades ago still seeks justice
[nationalreview.com – 8/23/18] On January 23, 2014, the Florida Parole Commission sent Frank Fuster a letter informing him that, owing to a recent policy change, it had determined that his initial interview was scheduled for March 2134. No, that isn’t a misprint. His first parole hearing is scheduled in 120 years. And this for a crime that, by any fair reading of the evidence, not only did Fuster not commit but never even happened. Thirty-three years ago, Fuster, along with his young wife, Ileana, was convicted of sexually abusing children…
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