Source: thedailybeast.com 3/14/24 More than 1,800 state and local police officers were arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse in the U.S. between 2005 and 2022, a chilling investigation by The Washington Post revealed Thursday. In most of the arrests, the Post reported that victims were not related to or acquaintances of their abusers, with some children reportedly being assaulted by the very officers who were sent to help them after they fell victim to a separate sexual assault. The Post reported girls, aged 13 through 15, were the…
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WA: Livid parent accuses police of using kids as ‘bait’ to catch sex offender near school
Source: aol.com 3/4/24 A convicted sex offender is accused of driving by a Tri-Cities middle school more than two dozen times over the course of a week and allegedly exposing himself to at least two children. And parents are furious that they weren’t notified until after he was arrested. Javier _____, 29, of Benton City, was arrested by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office last week and charged with indecent exposure and failure to register as a sex offender. On Feb. 22, a detective with a unit that specializes in violent…
Read MoreD.C. Vigil Educates U. S. Supreme Court, Public – Smith v. Doe Must Go!
A vigil was held on Friday, March 15, near the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to educate both the Court and the public regarding significant harms that have resulted from Smith V. Doe, a decision issued by that court in 2003. Speakers at the vigil included civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci of California, David Garlock of Pennsylvania, Danell Puglisi-Knutson of Florida, Shawna Baldwin of Arizona and Christopher Sparks of Florida. The vigil was live streamed using Zoom technology and a recording of the vigil will be available soon on…
Read MoreCO: Colorado Senate Bill 118 would allow community-based treatment for sex offenders
Source: coloradopolitics.com 3/12/24 Senate Judiciary members heard testimony on a bill that would eliminate indeterminate prison sentences for certain convicted sex offenders and allow them to receive treatment in the community rather than in prisons, but did not vote on the measure at the request of the bill’s sponsor. In addition to removing some indeterminate sentences, Senate Bill 118 would impose mandatory minimums for individuals convicted of sex crimes, mandating that they serve 75% of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The bill would allow offenders deemed “low-risk” to complete…
Read MoreMO: Trial Date Delayed for Missouri Halloween Sign Case
Source: ACSOL A federal district court has agreed to delay the trial date in the pending case that challenges a Halloween sign requirement in the state of Missouri. Originally the trial was to begin on March 27, however, the court has agreed to delay that date until June 20. The court’s decision to delay the trial date was made after the plaintiff filed a motion for that delay. The request was made, in part, after the Attorney General sent more than 800 pages of documents and videos to plaintiff’s counsel…
Read MoreWarden ousted as FBI again searches California federal women’s prison plagued by sexual abuse
Source: apnews.com 3/11/24 The warden of a troubled federal women’s prison in California has been ousted months into his tenure as FBI agents on Monday hauled boxes of evidence from the facility in an apparent escalation of a yearslong investigation that put a former warden and other employees behind bars for sexually abusing inmates. The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed the leadership shakeup at FCI Dublin, saying in a statement that “recent developments have necessitated new executive employees be installed at the institution.” The agency wouldn’t specify what the developments…
Read MoreCO: Colorado Bureau of Investigation finds DNA scientist manipulated data in hundreds of cases over decades
Source: yahoo.com 3/9/24 A now-former forensic scientist with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) manipulated or omitted DNA test results in hundreds of cases, an internal affairs investigation found, which prompted a full review of her work during her nearly 30-year career at the agency. The CBI released the findings of the investigation into Yvonne “Missy” Woods Friday, which concluded Woods’ handling of DNA testing data affected 652 cases between 2008 and 2023, including posting incomplete results in some cases. A review of her work from 1994 to 2008 is…
Read MoreFL: ‘Traumatized’ Florida mother suspected of trafficking her own child on Southwest Airlines flight speak out
Source: bizpacreview.com 3/3/24 A mother’s “traumatizing” law enforcement experience traveling with her four-year-old son prompted her to call for changes from the government and airlines. On Feb. 17, Bridgetta Tomarchio was making a routine trip from her home in Florida with her son Lucian to visit the boy’s father in Ohio. However, the journey took a detour at the car rental counter when she was approached by officers under suspicion of child trafficking. “As I’m in Hertz getting my car, these two officers come in, and they say, ‘Excuse…
Read MoreAction Alert for MO residents: Missouri Bill Makes Teachers Sex Offenders If They Accept Trans Kids’ Pronouns
Source: riverfronttimes.com 3/1/24 A new bill introduced in the Missouri House would force teachers to register as sex offenders if they use the names and pronouns of transgender children or otherwise support them and their identity. HB2885, filed on Thursday, February 29 by state Representative Jamie Gragg (R-Ozark), would make it a Class E felony for teachers or school counselors to aid the “social transition” of a child — meaning that a teacher “provides support, regardless of whether the support is material, information, or other resources to a child regarding…
Read MoreThe FBI Is Using Push Notifications to Catch Sexual Predators
Source: gizmodo.com 2/29/24 The data in a push notification can help law enforcement officials identify and track a criminal suspect. Most people turn on mobile push notifications and then promptly forget about them. However, it turns out that if you’re up to no good, those notifications could get you thrown in prison. The Washington Post reports that the FBI has been using mobile push notification data to unmask people suspected of serious crimes, like pedophilia, terrorism, and murder. The Post did a little digging into court records and found evidence…
Read MoreIL: Ex-Chicago police officer is sentenced to a year in prison for forcing woman to perform sex act in squad car
Source: currently.att.yahoo.com 2/27/24 A former Chicago police officer who forced a woman to engage in a sex act in his squad car in 2019 was sentenced to a year in federal prison, prosecutors said Monday. James Sajdak, 65, pleaded guilty in November to one count of deprivation of civil rights, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement. He was sentenced Friday to the maximum allowed for the misdemeanor charge. On March 5, 2019, Sajdak flashed the lights of his police vehicle at…
Read MoreElectronic Monitoring Is an Extension of Mass Incarceration
Source: vera.org 1/30/24 Craig Caudill had a plan for life after his release from prison. While incarcerated, he completed a commercial driver’s license truck driving program in Huntsville, Texas. He was even entrusted to drive trucks for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison system after completing the program, transporting cotton across the state. Working as a truck driver seemed like a solid option after his release in 2021. He knew there was a demand for truck drivers and that the work paid well. But four days before his…
Read MoreTX: Texas Sues Pornhub for Failing to Check IDs
Source: news.yahoo.com 2/28/24 The first age verification lawsuit against a major web porn purveyor is here. On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he was suing Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo. Paxton claims it is violating HB 1181, a Texas law passed last year. The new law requires porn websites to use “reasonable age verification methods” to make sure viewers are 18 or above and to post warnings about porn’s alleged harms, along with a number for a national mental-health hotline. “Texas has a right to protect its children…
Read MoreGA: Georgia lawmakers hold out hope for bill that would restrict publication of mugshots
Source: georgiarecorder.com 2/26/24 Sheriff’s offices posting mugshots of booked people has been a commonplace practice for a while now. It also has some blood on its hands. “An 18-year-old committed suicide because they did not have the money to get the mugshot removed, and he could not get a job,” said Tyrone Democrat Rep. Derrick Jackson. Georgians who have not been convicted of a crime have lost their jobs and reputations because of their posted mugshot. Those with criminal records have unemployment rates at 27% according to the Prison Policy…
Read MorePlease Join U.S. Supreme Court Vigil on March 15
A vigil will be held near the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, March 15, in order to educate the Court regarding the significant harm suffered by more than one million American families due to the Court’s decision, Smith v. Doe, issued in March 2003. The vigil will begin at 10 a.m. and featured speakers include Janice Bellucci of California and Christopher Sparks of Florida. “It is important to remind the U.S. Supreme Court of the mistake it made 21 years ago,” stated civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci. …
Read MoreTX: ‘The system failed us:’ Audrii Cunningham’s father, grandmother release statement following her death
Source: click2houston.com 2/24/24 LIVINGSTON, Texas – The father of Audrii Cunningham along with her grandmother have released a statement after her body was found in the Trinity River on Tuesday. The Livingston girl was at the center of an Amber Alert and had been missing for six days. Her body was found on Tuesday after multiple days of searching. Saturday, her father and grandmother released a statement, saying they are devastated by what happened to Audrii and also saying the suspect in her murder, Don Steven McDougal, did not show…
Read MoreMS: Mississippi Police Arrested a 10-Year-Old for Peeing Behind His Mom’s Car. Now, the Family Is Suing
Source: reason.com 2/26/24 Third-grader Quantavious Eason was arrested and charged as a “child in need of services” after being caught peeing behind his mother’s car. After her 10-year-old son was sentenced to “adult” probation for public urination last year, LaTonya Eason has filed a lawsuit against the police officers who arrested her son, claiming that their actions amounted to excessive force and inflicted “physical and psychological injury” on her son. In August 2023, LaTonya Eason attended a meeting at a Senatobia, Mississippi, law office, leaving her two children, including 10-year-old…
Read MoreMA: A father did everything he could to protect his son. Until he couldn’t.
Source: bostonglobe.com 2/22/24 BRAINTREE — Kevin Berner hung up the phone and — in a daze — headed toward the kitchen and his 12-year-old son. Hey buddy, can we talk? Minutes earlier, Berner had received a phone call from another father in the neighborhood who shared a disturbing story. He said his son had been in a carpool recently when another boy pulled up a cellphone photo of Berner’s son. The seventh-grader was naked in the photo “from head to toe.” Berner knew that his son — whose learning disabilities…
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