RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Beginning July 1 last year, people convicted of possession of child porn were subject to more lenient punishments after sentencing guidelines for the charge were reduced. “We think that that decision is irresponsible; it affects public safety,” said Camille Cooper with the National Association to Protect Children. Full Article
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MS: Sex offenders could pay for trooper school under new bill
JACKSON, MISS– One of the main talking points of this legislative session is the incredible shortage of state troopers. Representative Tom Miles told News Mississippi just how critical the shortage is Monday, outlining that only 489 highway patrolmen are on the roadways, and 189 of those are ready to retire. The state needs an ongoing school for state troopers, and the idea has pitched to the state legislature before. The problem has always been how to fund it. Representative Andy Gipson has a solution, at least a long term one. Tuesday, House…
Read MoreWI: Appeals court upholds provisional release of sex offender
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The state Court of Appeals has upheld a judicial panel’s decision to provisionally release a man from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. ____ ____, formally known as ____ ____, pleaded guilty in 1976 to kidnapping and raping a woman in Ramsey County. He was civilly committed and asked for a provisional discharge from the sex offender program in 2013. It was granted, but the state says the judicial appeal panel erred because it relied on a witness with inaccurate information. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Legislator aims to block sex offenders from getting pen pals
It’s a common refrain online: An inmate posts a want ad seeking a pen pal while describing themselves in the most flattering terms someone behind bars can come up with. The inmates often described the loneliness of being incarcerated. But, few, if any, ever disclose why they are behind bars on sites like WriteAPrisoner.com or Prisoninmatepenpal.com. Someone choosing to correspond with them could end up writing to a person convicted of most any crime. But, that may be a bit more limited under House Bill 821 as lawmakers return to Austin on…
Read MoreNC: Petitions to Terminate Sex Offender Registration – Moir Tiers
Last month the supreme court decided State v. Moir. It is a case about how a state sex crime—namely, indecent liberties with a child—fits within the offense tiering system set out in the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Full Article
Read MoreCO: Colorado wasting as much as $44 million a year in sex-offender program, audit says
Colorado’s Department of Corrections is wasting as much as $44 million annually because it has not fixed problems in a treatment program intended to prepare sex offenders for release from prison, a recent state audit found.Full Article
Read MoreFL: Column misleads about sex offenders
In Lauren Book’s Dec. 11 column, she wrote about the dangers that sexual predators pose to children and admonishes parents to be suspicious of staff at youth-serving organizations. We all want to protect children, so how could such a column be objectionable? Because it is alarmist, misleading and mostly false. Full Opinion Piece Related Lauren Book: UK abuse cases show need to safeguard children
Read MoreNE: Ruling that allowed kids in sex offender’s home spurs lawmaker
LINCOLN — Reactions ranged from bewilderment to outrage over a Nebraska Supreme Court decision earlier this year that allowed two girls to remain in the home of a felony sex offender. And the decision set a clear precedent, said Brandon Brinegar, the Kearney lawyer who represented the biological father who had tried to remove the girls from the sex offender’s residence. Brinegar said lawmakers would have to act to prevent similar rulings in the future. That’s just what a state senator from Omaha intends to do in the upcoming session…
Read MoreMN: Appeals Court – Sex Offender Program Constitutional
Minnesota’s program for keeping sex offenders confined after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower-court judge who said it violates offenders’ rights because hardly anyone is ever released. Full Article Decision Related ‘A System That Is Clearly Broken’ The Latest: Official: Sex offender program needs more money
Read MoreWI: ‘Modern-Day Leper’
A “modern-day leper.” Those are his words, not ours. Ventae Parrow is branded by the state of Wisconsin as a “homeless sex offender” and, by many in society, an outcast to be feared, warned about, and shunned. He’d have more rights to move freely if he’d killed someone. He’s served his prison sentence (again), but the elaborate network of Milwaukee city ordinances places almost insurmountable restrictions on how and where he can live. Milwaukee sex offenders who fall under new ordinances pretty much can’t live anywhere, except – the map…
Read MoreIL: Class Action – Supervised release policies unjustly effectively keep sex offenders in prison ‘for life’
CHICAGO — A lawsuit has been filed accusing the state of Illinois of violating the rights of convicted sex offenders by maintaining policies that do not allow a number of them to be released from prison after they have served their sentences, effectively leaving them informally sentenced to life in prison. Full Article
Read MoreMT: Bill Would Cap Jail Time for 18-Year-Olds Who Have Consensual Sex with Other Teens at ‘Just’ 5 Years
It is a measure of how insane our sex offender laws have become, to announce that this proposed bill in Montana is a relief. Senate Bill 26 would prevent 18-year-olds who have consensual sex with other teens under the age of consent (younger than 16, but at least age 14) from needing to register as sex offenders. It would also cap the time they can possibly serve in prison at just five years. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Sex Offenders Say Illinois Parole System Is Broken
CHICAGO (CN) – More than 4,000 sex offenders in Illinois face effective life sentences despite a court granting them parole because of restrictions on where they can live, seven men claim in a federal class action. Full Article
Read MoreNV: Court ruling gives state authorities trouble with tracking sex offenders
RENO, Nev. (News 4) — The state is having a hard time keeping track of its most heinous sex offenders because of a new Nevada Supreme Court ruling. Parole and Probation tracks 6,000 sex offenders in the state, with 1,000 on lifetime supervision. Staff make sure they’re registered as required by law — they confirm their address and make sure the offenders have no contact with their victims. Full Article
Read MoreIA: Sex Offender Facial Recognition System
MASON CITY, Iowa – More sex offenders could soon be off of the streets thanks to a new project that will help identify them. The Iowa Department of Public Safety is currently seeking funds that will be used to create a state-wide facial recognition system to identify sexual offenders. Once the software is in place, it will connect with other databases and cross-reference sex offenders through photos using a biometric system. Full Article
Read MoreAR: Bill would bar sex offenders from school events
Allison Finley is the mother of a sexual assault victim. “We found out some years later because my child could not verbalize at two and a half [years old] what had been done,” she explains. The attacker is in prison but the impact continues. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Sex offender ordinance on way out
A Krum ordinance that greatly restricts where convicted sex offenders may live appears headed for the dustbin. Similar ordinances in Argyle, Hickory Creek, Oak Point and Ponder could fall soon. Full Article
Read MoreMI: New sex offender rules stalled
Passage seems increasingly unlikely for a bill that would limit the places registered sex offenders can work and was inspired by the discovery that sex offenders worked at a Lansing nonprofit that serves victims of sexual assault. Full Article
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