Letter to the Editor – What if the worst thing you ever did was posted on the internet for the whole world to see? What if you did that thing as a child but have to wear it like a scarlet letter forever? Full Letter
Read MoreCategory: National
IL: Crowded Chicago Police office forces sex offenders to violate parole
The Chicago Police Department forces sex offenders to violate their parole. I know that sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two weeks with sex offenders waiting — for hours and hours — outside police headquarters and watching a Kafkaesque process play out. Every morning sex offenders start lining up at 6, while it’s still dark out, sometimes even earlier than that, and I probably don’t have to remind you how cold it’s been…
Read MoreFL: State senators fast track sex offender legislation
State senators are poised to pass landmark legislation aimed at better protecting Floridians from rapists and child molesters Tuesday, the first day of the annual Legislative session. “I don’t want to let one more day go by without making Florida scorched earth for sexual predators,” said Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. The package of four bills would toughen sex-crime sentences, increase community monitoring, and keep more of the most dangerous offenders confined after their prison terms end. It would provide the most comprehensive overhaul of sex offender legislation in more than…
Read MoreMA: Porn debate over National Geographic photo goes to SJC
The question of whether a photo of a naked boy in National Geographic constitutes child pornography when found in the troubling jailhouse stash of a convicted sex offender goes before the state’s highest court today. “After a summer day’s swim, a boy returns to his new bike,” reads the caption under award-winning photojournalist Lynn Johnson’s picture in “Inside the Dragon,” the magazine’s 2008 special edition on China. The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office convinced a grand jury that in the prison footlocker of convicted sex offender ____ ____, the image merited…
Read MoreVA: Flaws in the state’s sex offender registry
The Virginia Sex Offender Registry exists to keep society safe, especially its children. Sometimes, it does just the opposite. Sometimes, the law that prevents sex offenders from being on school property and around kids isolates and stigmatizes innocent people. It can ruin lives. Full Article
Read MoreOR: Teen sexting – A photo sent, life changed forever
A law creates a three-tiered sex offender registration system BEND — Sexting — sending nude pictures or arousing text messages — has become part of our modern-day life. But for one Central Oregon teen, who wants to remain anonymous, sending one picture changed his life. “I’m on supervised probation for 120 months, which is 10 years — and I sent a picture,” he said. Last year, when he was 18 years old and in high school, he sent a nude picture to his friend, a 15-year-old girl. Although there was never any…
Read MoreCO: With 2 Different Bills, Colorado Will Get A ‘Jessica’s Law’
DENVER (CBS4) – Colorado lawmakers from both parties are working on different versions of a bill that would lay out mandatory sentences for child sex offenders. Similar bills have failed before. Last year’s bill, brought by Republicans, died in an end-of-session drama that left Democrats struggling to explain why they opposed a bill that went hard on sex offenders. So this year there are dueling bills — one Democratic one Republican. The intent of both bills is the same — to make sure anyone who sexually assaults a child spends a long…
Read MorePA: Third Judge Rules Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Unconstitutional
Under current Pennsylvania law, juvenile sex offenders have to comply with lifetime registration requirements. But this month, a third Pennsylvania judge ruled that law unconstitutional, setting the stage for the issue to be addressed by the state supreme court. Judges from York, Monroe, and Lancaster counties have now all written opinions stating that the law fails to take juveniles’ greater capacity for reform into account. Full Article
Read MoreOp Ed: Tennessee Rep. Wants to Print “Sex Offender” in Red on Every Sex Offender’s Driver’s License
Matthew Hill, a Tennessee state representative who ran for office with an image of a fetus on his campaign fliers, has entertained the notion that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and previously proposed legislation to force Tennesseans to exclusively speak English while at work, has got another bright idea. Hill is sponsoring a bill that would print the words sex offender—in three places, and in red lettering—on the driver’s licenses of everyone listed on the sex-offender registry in the state. Hill says that he was moved to support the legislation after…
Read MoreTX: Registered sex offenders banned from San Antonio parks
SAN ANTONIO — More than 80 parks across San Antonio will turn into restricted zones for registered sex offenders. The new ordinance takes effect Saturday, March 1. City council unanimously approved it in December as the best interest of public safety. Texas Voices, a group which advocates for non-violent offenders, says analysis of similar ordinances in other states suggest restrictions do not create safer environments. The group said some registrants are on the list if they were charged for having a consensual relationship with a minor at 18-years-old. “The hardest part…
Read MoreIN: Sex offenders told to move after I-Team 8 investigation
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Dozens of sex offenders are being told they are in violation of the law and need to move after an I-Team 8 investigation. Tuesday night, I-Team 8’s story showed sex offenders living near schools and day cares. After seeing the I-Team 8 evidence showing where sex offenders live, Sheriff John Layton launched his own investigation and is taking immediate action: 41 sex offenders have been told they are in violation. Full Article
Read MoreGA: Moore asks House for second chance
State Rep. Sam Moore (R-Macedonia) has withdrawn his bill lessening restrictions on sex offenders and is asking for a second chance after the proposal caused a public backlash Friday on the floor of the House of Representatives. Moore, who is entering his third week in office, stood before the House on Monday morning and apologized to his fellow lawmakers, the voters in his District 22 and the entire state of Georgia — though he also criticized those who publicly bashed him. Full Article
Read MorePA: Child Porn Charges Reinstated Against Sexting Teen
LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa.—In a move that may have the effect of branding a teenage girl—and possibly hundreds more—as a “sex offender” for life, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reinstated child porn charges against the girl, known in court papers only as “C.S.”, who posted a hardcore video of two of her teenage friends on Facebook. C.S. was originally charged with violations of 18 Pa.C.S. §6312, “Sexual Abuse of Children,” for having “disseminated” the video in violation of subsection (c) of the law, and also under subsection (d), “Child Pornography.” However,…
Read MoreTN: Bill would place ‘sex offender’ on convicted offender’s license
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Should sex offenders have the status marked on their driver’s license in Tennessee? The idea received a good bit of debate Wednesday on Capitol Hill. A new bill would require the words “sex offender” to be stamped on a convicted offender’s driver’s license in red three times. It would increase state expenditures one time by $150,000. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Eighth Grader Faces Child Pornography Charges
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla- A Pasco County eighth grader faces felony child pornography charges after deputies say he posted a nude picture of a 13-year-old girl on Facebook. Deputies said the 14-year-old boy had been exchanging pictures on an app but became angry when the girl stopped sending explicit photos. The girl, meanwhile told investigators she never expected to see those photos made public. The suspect’s mother, who said this was a case of two kids arguing and said that it shouldn’t have made escalated into adult felony charges. She also said the…
Read MoreTX: A teacher, sexting and the right to free speech
He was 30 and she was 13 — a teacher and his student — but their relationship went far beyond the classroom, authorities say. In six days in October 2012, they sent 688 text messages to each other, and the conversation became sexual, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The messages — known as “sexting” — included descriptions of sexual preferences and fantasies and discussions of dreams about each other, the affidavit says. ____ ____, now 31, who was a junior high school teacher in the Everman district, was eventually arrested on…
Read MoreWA: Problems plague GPS tracking of offenders
A Pierce County man had no trouble disabling the GPS tracking device that was bound to his ankle, even though it is supposed to send off an alert to law enforcement if it’s tampered with. “I got sick of this little bugger on my leg, it was beating my ankle into a bloody pulp,” said the 25 year old who asked to be called “Red.” “I’m not a tagged animal,” he added. Full Article
Read MoreGA: Lawmaker apologizes for bill scrapping sex offender loitering statute
A freshman Republican state lawmaker apologized Monday for introducing legislation that would scrap a state ban on registered sex offenders loitering near schools, daycare centers and other places where children gather. “In hindsight, this rookie mistake was silly,” Rep. Sam Moore of Cherokee County said in an extraordinary speech delivered on the House floor. “I am mature enough to admit that. At the time though, I believed that I was fulfilling a campaign promise to hit the ground running.” Moore said he did not intend to enable child molesters with House Bill 1033.…
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