A professional polygrapher has an influential role in rewriting the rules in Colorado for how often their profession conducts lie-detector testing on sex offenders, an arrangement that critics have called a conflict of interest. Colorado will pay Jeff Jenks’ Wheat Ridge polygraph firm, Amich & Jenks Inc., up to $1.9 million to polygraph sex offenders in prison from 2010 to 2020, according to state contracts. Full Article
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NE: Judge asks why state wants to put boy on sex offender list
Federal appellate judges focused their questions this week on an attorney for the state, asking why Nebraska is pushing to put a 15-year-old boy on the state’s public sex offender registry rather than use “good old police discretion.” Full Article
Read MoreMI: Detroit Cops Raid an Innocent Family’s Home at Gunpoint on Bogus Sex-Trafficking Tip
In the high days of America’s militarized war on drugs, baseless and botched home raids have become a defining feature—with often disastrous consequences. Now we’re seeing the same sort of overzealous enforcement efforts in the fight against forced prostitution. This week, Detroit police raided an innocent family’s home after receiving a faulty sex-trafficking tip and then seeing two teens enter the house. One of the teens was the family’s 13-year-old daughter, who lived there. She wound up face-down and handcuffed on the floor, along with the rest of her family,…
Read MoreSex offender fails to meet registration requirements
An Austin County jury convicted ___ ___, 43, of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements May 3 in Judge Jeff Steinhauser’s 155thJudicial District Court. Evidence concluded May 2, around 2:30 p.m., and the jury delivered the guilty verdict the next day after more than eight hours of deliberation. After punishment evidence was presented, the jury deliberated about 25 minutes before sentencing Ward to 99 years in prison. Full Article
Read MoreWI: Kenosha to loosen residency rules for sex offenders
Residency restrictions the city of Kenosha places on sex offenders could soon change. On Monday evening, the city’s Public Safety and Welfare Committee approved ordinance changes proposed by Mayor John Antaramian to repeal and recreate some of the city’s rules. The changes must still pass City Council later this month. The proposal would shorten from 2,500 to 1,000 feet the distance from a prohibited location where sex offenders could temporarily or permanently reside. Full Article
Read MoreWI: “Romeo and Juliet” offenders wouldn’t be listed on sex offender registry
A group of lawmakers says Wisconsin’s sex offender registry is watered down with teenagers who have no purpose being on it, and they’ve proposed legislation to carve out a so-called “Romeo and Juliet” exemption. Under the bill, teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 years old who have consensual sex would no longer be put on the state registry, though they would be guilty of a misdemeanor crime. Wisconsin law makes it illegal for two people under the age of 18 to have sexual contact, regardless of consent. Full…
Read MoreNJ: Upholds Lie Detector Tests for Sex Offenders
Paroled sex offenders must submit to lie detector tests as part of the conditions of their release but must be made more clearly aware of their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Monday in rejecting a challenge to the tests. Full Article
Read MoreCO: After two years of debate, Colorado teen sexting bill heads to Governor
A compromise teen sexting bill is heading to the desk of Colorado’s governor after passing both chambers of the state’s legislature and more than two years of fierce debate about how to address the complicated issue that’s becoming more prevalent. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Residents can participate in sex offender sentencing survey
A public input survey regarding sex offender sentencing is now available to Connecticut residents until June 2. The State of Connecticut Sentencing Commission’s Special Committee on Sex Offenders created the survey to identify concerns the public may have. The survey touches upon sentencing, the sex offender registry for Connecticut and the supervision and management of sex offenders on parole or probation. Full Article / Survey
Read MoreNY: Lawmakers Brainstorm Sex Offender Legislation Reform
More than a dozen local lawmakers and law enforcers gathered at Yorktown Town Hall last week at a roundtable organized by state Sen. Terrence Murphy in an effort to update and strengthen legislation that will keep communities safe from sexual predators. Currently, he said, there are more than 1,200 registered sex offenders living in Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Judge Stays Further Action in Minnesota Sex Offenders Case
A federal judge has stayed further proceedings in a class-action lawsuit over Minnesota’s sex offender treatment program while lawyers for the offenders ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court finding that the program is constitutional. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Lauren’s Kids racks up six-figure donations via auto tag registration renewals
In January, Broward County car owners who received their auto tag renewal notices also got a special message from Lauren’s Kids, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing child sex abuse and founded by freshman State Sen. Lauren Book. Inside the envelopes, colorful flyers bearing Lauren’s Kids logo wished vehicle registrants a happy birthday while segueing into an ominous stat: “Yet shockingly, 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.” Full Article
Read MoreSC: Teens can be kept on sex-offender registry for life
South Carolina can continue to require some teens convicted of serious sex crimes to appear on the state’s public sex-offender registry and wear an electronic monitor for the rest of their lives, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. A boy from Spartanburg County who was 15 when he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy and ended up on the registry challenged the law. Full Article
Read MoreShakespeare And Sexting: Reconsidering Penalties For Teen Sexual Activity
Worried that the law sometimes imposes too big a penalty on teens who engage in consensual sexual activity, some legislators are pushing to reduce the consequences. More than 20 years ago, when ____ ____ was 19 and his girlfriend Amber was 15, Montana’s laws tore them apart, sending Russell to prison for four years for having sex with a minor. Source
Read MoreAZ: Prescott starts new program to monitor sex offenders
Getting aggressive with sex offenders – Sex offenders living in the City of Prescott are now under an additional layer of supervision. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Governor Proposes Bill Protecting Teen Sexters From Felony Charges
The Massachusetts state legislature will consider a bill that protects teen sexters from excessive prosecution while imposing harsher punishments on people who share nude photos with others without the subject’s consent. Filed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday, the bill would prevent prosecutors from charging teen sexters as child pornographers, recommending that they be sent to an educational program instead of prison or juvenile detention. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Loophole could allow sex offenders to work for Uber, Lyft
Some are concerned about what is being called a dangerous loophole in the agreement that allows ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft to operate in New York state. Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, says she found the loophole while studying the bill’s fine print. “It’s allowing Level 1 offenders that have been, as we’ve seen, convicted of very violent offenses against minors and adults and they will after seven years be permitted to pick up females in the dark,” Ahearn says. Full Article
Read MorePA: Bill cutting off public assistance for non-compliant Megan’s Law registrants passes the Pa. House
Legislation that would make convicted sex offenders who are out of compliance with Megan’s Law ineligible for public assistance passed the state House of Representatives on Monday by a 190-2 vote. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Cox, R-Berks County, now goes to the Senate for consideration. It would allow sex offenders’ benefits to be reinstated immediately once they came back into compliance but would not be eligible for any missed benefits. However, it allows benefits to continue for their minor children even if a parent or guardian is a non-compliant Megan’s Law…
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