Last month, Timothy Poole of Mount Dora, Florida, won nearly $3 million on a scratch-off lottery ticket purchased at a 7-Eleven. Like most jackpot winners, he was given a giant check and got his picture taken by the state lottery. But that picture may have gained the ex-cab driver a lot more publicity than he ever wanted. Soon after Poole cashed in a lump sum of over $2.2 million dollars (after taxes), his picture was recognized and his past came back to haunt him. Poole is a registered sexual offender: After…
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VT: Lawmakers ask – How good does sex registry need to be?
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont lawmakers are grappling with how close to perfect the state’s sex offender registry needs to be before offenders’ addresses are posted online. Vermont in 2009 passed a law saying the registry had to have a clean audit from the state auditor of accounts before addresses could be posted. A 2010 audit found many errors; a follow-up audit last July found what Auditor of Accounts Doug Hoffer labeled “critical errors” in 11 percent of cases. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Juvenile sexting law needs to be fixed
Had she done it two years earlier, a teenage girl who used her cell phone to “sext,” or send a picture of her privates to a classmate, would have been in big trouble. But a Florida law designed to go easy on juveniles who transmit nude images turned out to be more lenient than anyone intended, an appeals court has ruled. Now the 13-year-old girl at the center of a Broward case won’t be facing any penalty at all, and neither will any other juvenile sexting defendant, the court ruled,…
Read MoreNH: A local lawmaker sponsors bills to protect convicted sex offenders
A local lawmaker has sponsored several bills in the N.H. House of Representatives that would increase protections for people on the state’s registry of sex offenders. Rep. Timothy N. Robertson, D-Keene, said he was motivated by information about two recent local attacks that he said may have been committed by someone who targeted people listed on the registry. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Re-commitment of sex offenders in Texas is unfair
Sex offenders, especially child predators, are some of the most reviled people on Earth. And because of the nature of their crimes, the public generally wants them put away for a long, long time. The question is: What’s long enough? Full article
Read MoreWI: Sex offender ordinance passed by Park Falls Common Council
At the Park Falls Common Council meeting Monday, Jan. 12, one topic high on the agenda was the passing of an ordinance that will regulate the movements and residential areas of sex offenders in the City of Park Falls. A draft of the proposed ordinance was previously reviewed and approved at the December 8 meeting of the Public Services Committee. Full article
Read MoreVA: Bill – Add to Virginia’s sex offender registry
Sex offenders from decades ago, who committed their crimes before the state’s registry was created in 1994, would have their names added to a registry supplement under legislation that advanced Monday. Full article
Read MoreCO: Should we stop labeling people ‘sex offender’?
KUSA – A state regulatory board debated Friday whether the label “sex offender” was too stigmatizing to people who committed sex crimes. Colorado’s Sex Offender Management Board regulates treatment, rehabilitation, and monitoring of sex offenders. Friday’s board meeting included a vote whether to eliminate the word “sex offender” from the board’s official policies. Suggestions for replacement words included “clients,” “defendants” and “individuals.” Full Article
Read MoreME: Maine’s highest court finds decision in sex offender case flawed
Justices tell a lower court to look again at a man’s challenge to being placed on the list retroactively in the wake of new legislation. A Maine judge must give further consideration to whether a man’s rights were violated by legislative action requiring him to be placed on the state sex offender registry retroactively, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday. Full Article
Read MoreFL: To Entrap an Innocent
Florida police use sex-crime laws to bait men with no apparent interest in underage trysts. After a year-long investigation, WTSP, a CBS affiliate in Tampa Bay, Florida, has uncovered an alarming pattern of police trying to entrap innocent adults in sex crimes. The stings follow the basic pattern familiar to anyone who has seen To Catch a Predator, except “many of the men whose mugshots have been paraded out by local sheriffs in made-for-TV press conferences were not seeking to meet children online. Instead, they were minding their own business,…
Read MoreOffensive offender list (Editorial)
Kids do stupid things. And sometimes they do stupid things that are criminal. But unlike adults who commit a crime, we don’t subject kids to the same consequences, which sometimes can be harsh and life-changing. We take into consideration their immaturity and the likelihood that a young person’s behavior can be altered via counseling, oversight and education, and we cut them a break. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Police lured innocent men into online sex stings and seized their property, records show
Police posed as underage teens online to lure men into breaking the law as part of an apparent revenue scheme by Florida law enforcement agencies, according to an investigation of newly released public records. Emails and other online communications analyzed by WTSP-TV revealed that many of the men who were eventually arrested were not interested in meeting children but were instead seeking adult sex partners – until they encountered undercover officers. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Where should sex offenders live?
Albany – A local attorney told the state’s top court Monday that a county law restricting the residency of convicted sex offenders within 1,000 feet of schools should be superseded by state law and not be enforced. Full Article
Read MoreFL: 10 Investigates gets results with in-depth series on sex stings
TAMPA BAY, Florida — A drawn-out struggle to obtain public records has started to yield results for 10 Investigates, as local agencies have started releasing limited records – and providing insight – regarding how law enforcement conducts controversial sex “predator” stings. Full Article
Read MorePA: Lifetime registration mandate for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional, Pa. Supreme Court says
A Pennsylvania law that requires juveniles who commit the most serious types of sex crimes to register with police for life is unconstitutional because it breeches the youngsters’ civil rights, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Full Article
Read MoreNY: NY may need to free sex offenders
State mental health officials are trying to decide whether they will have to release civilly confined sex offenders because of a recent ruling from New York’s highest court. The odds are some of the offenders will be freed. The more pressing question may be: How many? Full Article
Read MoreSex offender lottery winner target of lawsuit
MOUNT DORA, Fla. – The victims of a sexual predator who became a lottery millionaire are now suing to win his wealth. Timothy Dale Poole won $3 million on a Florida Lottery scratch-off ticket he purchased at a Mount Dora 7-Eleven store on Dec. 6. In 1999, Orange County authorities arrested Poole following allegations that he sexually battered a 9-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2002. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Hillsborough’s controversial sex offender court is disbanded
TAMPA — For 14 years, criminal cases involving accused rapists, molesters and child abusers in Hillsborough County have been heard by a single judge in the sex offender division. Full Article
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