ELKO — Between food, services, housing and utilities, taxpayers are footing a bill of about $85 per day for each inmate locked in the Elko County Jail, according to Sheriff Jim Pitts. With a jail population that’s almost constantly at the facility’s 120 inmate capacity, lock-up expenses add up to more than $10,000 per day and millions of dollars each year, according to Pitts’ estimation. But the sheriff has proposed shifting a portion of those costs onto the inmates. The county commission on Wednesday wholly supported the idea, which outlines a $6…
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OH: Sex offenders living in nursing homes
If you have a loved one in a nursing home, they may be living under the same roof as a sex offender — and have no idea that they do. An exclusive Channel 3 investigation found 29 sex offenders living in 16 nursing homes in Northeast Ohio. Two of those nursing homes — one in a small village in Summit County — had up to four convicted sex offenders living in them. “You would not want to live in a nursing home or have a loved one live in a nursing…
Read MoreKY: RSO Registered sex offender wants permission to practice law [UPDATED]
UPDATE: Kentucky court rejects sex-offender bar exam (3/20/2014) The Kentucky Supreme Court has turned away a request from a convicted sex offender to reconsider his bid to take the bar exam and become a practicing lawyer. The seven justices on Thursday unanimously rejected a rehearing in the case. Full Article — A University of Kentucky law school graduate who finished in the top third of his class is asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision barring him from taking the bar exam because he’s on the state sex-offender registry. The…
Read MoreVA: Teen Girl Accused Of Posting Nude Selfies, Arrested For Child Porn
A 16-year-old Virginia girl is facing child pornography charges, after police say she posted photos of herself naked on Twitter. Authorities received an anonymous tip describing the photos, which were posted to Twitter around Jan. 30. The girl, a student in James City County, admitted to posting “multiple” lewd photos of herself to the social networking website last week, according to police. Full Article
Read MoreNV: Supreme Court Delays New Sexual Offender Registry Law
LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Supreme Court has delayed the start of the sexual offender registry law, also known as the Adam Walsh Act. The new law, which was to go into effect Feb. 1, would make the names of more sex offenders publicly accessible. The law says a sex offender, as young as 14 years old, must now publicly register. The Nevada Department of Public Safety expressed concerns about the manpower required to implement the law and sought a delay. Source Related:Nevada Supreme Court orders delay in enforcement of sex offender registration lawhttps://all4consolaws.org/tag/nevada/
Read MoreOR: Bill proposes life sentences for certain sex offenders
Some sex offenders could be subject to mandatory life sentences without parole — a sentence currently reserved exclusively for murderers — under a bill introduced by Senate President Peter Courtney. Senate Bill 1517 wasn’t the product of lobbying by law enforcement, parent groups or the Department of Corrections, Courtney said. It was his idea and bubbled up from an experience he had years ago, serving on former Gov. Barbara Roberts’ task force on child sex abuse. “It messed me up for a while,” he said. “I learned a lot of lessons…
Read MorePA: Woman on Megan’s Law list, who never committed sex crime, breaks down
McKEES ROCKS, Pa. — A woman on the Megan’s Law list, even though she never committed a sex crime, broke down while talking to Channel 11 Friday. “I am not a sex offender. I would never hurt a child,” said ____ ____. ____ was in tears as she was about to face a judge in McKees Rocks for failing to register as a sex offender. Police said she moved without notifying state police. Four years ago, ____ was convicted of interference with custody of children. That crime falls under the newest version of Megan’s Law,…
Read MoreCO: Sex offender says parole officer made threat after testimony
A convicted sex offender who testified before a legislative committee Tuesday was threatened with “severe consequences” by his parole officer, according to a complaint filed in federal District Court. The Department of Corrections is investigating whether his free-speech rights were violated. ____ ____ spoke at a hearing where advocates for sexual-assault victims debated mothers of sex offenders about a consultant’s report that Colorado was wasting tax dollars by overtreating low-risk offenders. He told legislators that he came out of prison as a low-risk offender, but after two years of treatment at…
Read MoreDE: Sex offender restrictions ineffective
Regarding sex offender residency restrictions (Letter to the Editor): Patty Wetterling, whose son Jacob was kidnapped and never found, posted the following statement on the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center website: “Because residency restrictions have been shown to be ineffective at preventing harm to children, and may indeed actually increase the risks to kids, the JWRC does not support residency restriction laws.” Full Post
Read MoreFL: law enforcement may have entrapped alleged sexual predators
PINELLAS COUNTY, Florida – A document obtained by 10 News indicates law enforcement may have crossed the line when trying to round up alleged sexual predators over the weekend — and defense attorneys say entrapment cases could be built around the evidence. The multi-agency sting, led by the Pinellas Co. Sheriff’s Office and Clearwater Police Department, netted 35 arrests in “Operation Home Alone.” The effort was coordinated by the region’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. ICAC guidelines instruct undercover officers to “allow the investigative target to set the tone, pace, and…
Read MoreNJ: Trying to Ban Sex Offenders from Social Media Is a Waste of Time
New Jersey has become the latest state to try to regulate how (and if) sex offenders can use social media, an increasingly tricky problem facing legislators around the country. But privacy experts say the laws are problematic, and probably unconstitutional. The proposed bill would require all sex offenders in New Jersey to disclose the fact on all of their social media accounts. A similar measure was introduced, but not passed, last year. The measure has been pre-filed for the 2014 legislative session. Donna Simon, an assemblywoman who sponsored the bill, said anyone caught violating the law,…
Read MoreTX: Grapevine Has Effectively Banned Child Molesters
For a portrait of the Kafkaesque nightmare criminal residency restrictions can create, go read about the permanent sex offender camp that took root several years ago beneath Miami’s Julia Tuttle Causeway. Thanks to a local ordinance barring them from living within 2,500 feet of any place that children congregate, there was quite literally nowhere else for them to go.It stands as an object lesson in how not to do public policy. It’s a lesson that Grapevine has yet to learn. Last week the Grapevine City Council, citing a “frightening and…
Read MoreMO: Mom tells of teen’s life on the sex-offender registry
The Missouri Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation last year that would remove many juvenile offenders from the public sex offender registry, which is posted on the Internet. It would not have lessened the punishment for any offender. Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the legislation and then launched a misleading campaign in which he highlighted some of the worst offenders on the registry. Let me tell you my son Zach’s story, as it gives a very different perspective. It shows how harmful the sex offender registry can be for juveniles who should not…
Read MoreFL: Idea to put signs in sex offender’s yards brought up to Port Orange council
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Port Orange City Council members met Tuesday night to discuss a proposal to put signs up in the yards of sexual predators that let everyone know just who is living in their neighborhoods. The issue came about when a group of parents pushed to have a sexual offender moved away from a nearby elementary school. They got what they wanted when the man moved away. Full Article
Read MoreNH: House committee passes bill prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live
A House committee easily passed a bill, 18-1, prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live yesterday, noting that judges have twice ruled residency restrictions unconstitutional. Still, lawmakers predicted a tough fight in the Senate, which has rejected similar bills before. “There is a perception that this bill is being soft on crime,” said Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, a Manchester Republican who voted for the bill. “All of us who have heard (this debate) know the benefits of the bill. But we’re going to need to explain it.” Rep. Al Baldasaro,…
Read MoreCO: Sex-offender treatment system criticized at hearing
A convicted sex offender publicly criticized Colorado’s treatment system at a legislative hearing Tuesday, saying he cannot even go fishing because his privileges have been restricted. ____ ____ spent seven years in prison for fondling a girl. He said he came out well-adjusted and optimistic and rated as a low risk to commit a new sexual offense. But after nearly two years of treatment in the community, “I don’t feel well-adjusted and optimistic at this point,” he said. Turner’s testimony at a House and Senate Judicial Committee hearing came on the heels…
Read MoreWI: 7th Circuit upholds $100 annual sex offender registry fee
The $100 that Wisconsin sex offenders must pay every year for being listed on a registry is not an unlawful fine, a federal appeals court has ruled. But the court did not address other lifetime conditions of Wisconsin sex offender registration because it found the challengers lacked standing. The decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling by a Green Bay federal judge, and also thwarted the plaintiffs’ request to proceed as unnamed. Instead, the court added their names to the case. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach…
Read MorePA: Supreme Court reinstates child porn charges in Lehigh County sexting case
A video of a teenage girl and boy engaged in a sex act circulated among Allentown youths for at least a year before another girl was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography for posting it on Facebook. Although a Lehigh County judge agreed with the girl’s attorneys that the charges were “an overreaction by law enforcement” and dismissed them in 2012, the state Supreme Court on Thursday reversed his decision. The girl, identified in court papers only as C.S., must return to Lehigh County juvenile court to face felony…
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