From the bench this week, a federal judge unafraid of offering blunt opinions suggested anyone who produces child pornography should be shot. An exact quote of what Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar said Tuesday during a case involving the collection of child porn was not available, but in an interview Thursday, the octogenarian reiterated the comment multiple times. “I said it. I said that they should be shot,” said Doumar, whom President Ronald Reagan nominated to the bench more than 35 years ago. Full Article
Read MoreCategory: National
NJ: Sex Offender Cannot Use Mistaken Age Defense
A former Cape May business owner who claimed a 13-year-old boy, with whom he had a sexual encounter, lied about his age cannot use that as a defense at trial, Appellate Court judges decided May 31. Full Article Related http://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-unpublished/2017/a0741-15.html Grindr not liable for man’s sex encounter with minor, federal judge rules
Read MoreOK: Two suspects identified in homicide of inmate at Oklahoma County jail
An inmate at the Oklahoma County jail who died in early February was the victim of a homicide, the first at the troubled facility in almost three years, an autopsy report shows. Two suspects already have been identified and are in custody, authorities said. … Windle had served time in prison for a 2003 attempted rape and indecent exposure. He was jailed in September after telling police he had been living in a Del City park since April 2014 and sleeping underneath a bridge. He was awaiting trial on two…
Read MoreIL: Supreme Court asked to review McLean County sex offender issue
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to review a case against a Normal man to determine the constitutionality of Illinois’ rules mandating that sex offenders report all their internet activity to authorities. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Starting over – Task force examining sex offender laws
At the end of June, ____ ____ will mark the 20th anniversary of two life-changing milestones: the year he was convicted at 21 of sexually abusing a teenage girl, and two decades without an arrest for another sex offense. ____ spent 60 days in jail and served two years’ probation for aggravated criminal sexual abuse in 1997. His identity also was included on a statewide sex offender registry for 10 years. Removal from the registry made it easier for ____ to start over in the community. But in November 2011,…
Read MoreIN: Man Exonerated After Serving More Than 25 Years for a Rape DNA Testing Proves He Didn’t Commit
A judge today granted a motion by the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office to dismiss the 1992 rape charges against William Barnhouse based on new DNA evidence proving Barnhouse’s innocence of the crime. With Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Arnold’s consent, the Innocence Project and the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at Indiana University McKinney persuaded a Delaware County court to reverse Barnhouse’s conviction on March 8, 2017 based on this new evidence. Further proceedings in the case were scheduled for May. Arnold’s decision to dismiss the indictment against Barnhouse, who has dealt…
Read MoreTX: Gooden, Nichols pass sex offender legislation
Last weekend, legislation that allows smaller cities to enact the same regulations as larger cities on where sex offenders can reside, finally passed both houses of the Texas Legislature. Full Article
Read MoreToday’s scarlet letter — the sex offender registry — is risky justice for youth (Commentary)
It was heartbreaking to read recently about Naperville 16-year-old Corey Walgren, who committed suicide following being threatened with sex offender registration for allegedly audiotaping a consensual sexual encounter with a classmate. For those of us who regularly work with youth on the sex offender registry, it also highlighted a truth that we know too well: Placement on the registry is a modern scarlet letter that can lead our young clients to want to take their own lives. Full Commentary Related http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-naperville-north-suicide-lawsuit-20170524-story.html
Read MoreWI: Sex offenders challenge Milwaukee residency restrictions
Six registered sex offenders are suing the City of Milwaukee over an ordinance that virtually bans them from living in the city, arguing the rules violate their constitutional rights. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Brandon middle school students facing felony child pornography charges
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies put the cuffs on two boys and two girls on Friday. All four are facing various child pornography charges. Full Article Corporal Larry McKinnon explains a 12-year-old boy took video of a juvenile victim performing a sex act on him. That defendant then shared the video with a 14-year-old boy who posted it on Instagram. Two other 12-year-old girls also received the video and are also now facing charges.
Read MoreMA: Our view – SJC ruling makes sex offenders ‘invisible’ to the public
____ had already served a lengthy prison sentence for rape when, police say, he posted a fake apartment listing on Craigslist earlier this month, luring a woman to his Swampscott apartment, where he beat and sexually assaulted her. The victim of ‘_’_’s alleged May 3 attack should have been able to learn of his criminal past before meeting him. And his neighbors in Swampscott deserved to know a sexual predator was living nearby. However, thanks to a highly questionable ruling two years ago by the Supreme Judicial Court, no one…
Read MoreNY: Sex offender’s future home goes up in flames amid neighborhood outcry
Residents of a Long Island neighborhood were so afraid that a kiddie-perv teacher was about to move in that someone posted fliers alerting everyone — and on Tuesday, his family’s under-construction home was burned to the ground. Full Article
Read MoreID: Lawsuit over Idaho’s sex-offender registry laws expands to 134 plaintiffs
A lawsuit filed last year by 104 sex offenders challenging Idaho’s laws that require registration and community notification of sex offenders has been expanded to 134 sex offenders. They say the laws violate an array of constitutional rights, from the prohibition on double jeopardy to freedom of religion. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Missouri to remove hundreds of GPS monitoring devices recently put on sex offenders
Hundreds of sex offenders will soon have GPS monitoring devices removed from their ankles after Missouri officials recently required that they wear the bulky devices, according to a preliminary injunction filed in Cole County Circuit Court on Monday. Full Article
Read MoreMN: sex offenders seek to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court
A group of Minnesota sex offenders has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to examine whether the state is violating the Constitution by confining people indefinitely in prison-like treatment centers after they have already completed their criminal sentences. Full Article
Read MoreWeiner will bear weight of sex offender laws he helped pass
… Do you remember those committee hearings you attended on the Adam Walsh Act (a failed attempt to standardize the complexities of sex offender registration)? Hopefully you paid attention, because sex offender registration laws and compliance with such laws are far more complex than simply avoiding sending nude pics via the wrong phone app. You helped make sure that, over the past decade, registration laws became some of the most draconian laws known to man. Full Article Related http://abovethelaw.com/2017/05/anthony-weiner-pleads-guilty-will-have-to-register-as-a-sex-offender/
Read MoreEditorial: Shackling sex offenders for life is no way to administer justice.
Many sex offenders in Missouri are finding themselves shackled for life to the state’s criminal justice system, even though some pleaded guilty or were convicted before a law tethering them to GPS monitoring ankle bracelets existed. The law took effect Jan. 1 but is being applied retroactively to crimes committed on or after Aug. 28, 2006.Full Article
Read MoreMO: Hundreds of Missouri sex offenders now required to wear GPS monitoring devices for life
A sex offender from St. Charles County thought he had moved on with his life after successfully completing five years probation for sending web cam photographs of his genitals to an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. Now he’s among hundreds of people in Missouri who are finding out they must attach GPS monitoring systems to their ankles for life, even though such a requirement wasn’t part of their sentencing agreement. Full Article
Read More