JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sided against three men previously convicted of a sex crime and facing a new criminal charge under a law making it illegal for them to be near certain parks. The cases are the most recent to focus on a portion of the Missouri Constitution barring retrospective and ex post facto laws. The high court ruled last month the ban on retrospective laws does not apply to criminal statutes. A divided Missouri Supreme Court concluded Tuesday the parks restriction is a…
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CT: Problems With Drug, Sex Offender Zones
Do crime-free zones around schools and other places where children gather actually protect children? The question will be aired in the next session of the General Assembly because of two proposals, one that seeks to reduce the size of drug-free zones around schools and another that would create zones around schools where sex offenders couldn’t live. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has unanimously approved a recommendation to scale back the state’s drug-free zone from 1,500 feet to 200 feet of school property. Meanwhile, two legislators are proposing a bill that would…
Read MoreMN: Education, empathy useful for legislators weighing sex offender program
Margretta Dwyer understands well the moral, legal and practical implications of dealing with sex offenders. But she hopes that Minnesota legislators working to revamp the civil commitment program also consider something else: Empathy. “I’m not saying sex offending is OK. I’m not saying be easy on them,” Dwyer said this week. “I’m saying there are ways we can help that are better than what we’re doing. Education, support, compassion.” Full Article
Read MoreNY:15 sex offenders charged with unregistered email accounts
Fifteen registered sex offenders were arrested this week for allegedly using email accounts on social networking sites like Facebook without first registering those accounts with the state Sex Offender Registry, officials announced Thursday. Under E-Stop legislation passed in 2008, these Oneida County sex offenders were charged with felonies and issued tickets to appear in Whitestown Town Court following a sweep by the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center, New York State Police, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office and police departments in Kirkland, Utica and Rome. While the arrests do not suggest…
Read MoreCT: A law to restrict who can live by schools, day cares
… “The last thing a parent should have to worry about when they send their child to school is whether a depraved sex offender is lurking around the corner from the jungle gym or classroom,” Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said when announcing the proposal last week. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Lawmakers file sex predator legislation
Florida senators filed a package of bills to crack down on violent sex predators Tuesday, promising to make sex offender reform the centerpiece of the upcoming legislative session. The senators propose longer prison sentences, stricter community monitoring and a wider pool of offenders who can be confined after their criminal sentences end. Lawmakers began working on the legislation after a Sun Sentinel investigation in August revealed that nearly 600 sex offenders committed new sex crimes after being reviewed under Florida’s predator law and set free. The law allows the state to…
Read MoreWA: Sex offenders, ACLU sue to hide low-level offenders’ identities [updated]
“My family would lose everything.” That’s the argument made by a King County sex offender terrified his name will be publicized if the State Patrol releases the sex offender registry it maintains. A married father of two convicted of sex crimes in 2009, the man is one of two low-level sex offenders brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the state from releasing the names of 21,000 registered sex offenders residing in Washington. Full Article UPDATE (12/20): No Decisions Made on Sex Offender Information Request
Read MoreNV: State reluctantly implements ‘harsh’ sex offender law
Full implementation of a 6-year-old Nevada law may soon cause a dramatic increase in the number of registered sex offenders — raising questions about whether the intended punishment fits the crime. One state lawmaker suggested dumping part of the “terrible, overly harsh law” as it applies to juvenile offenders. Congress approved the Adam Walsh Act in 2006 as a guideline for state laws on sex crimes. The statute was intended to toughen punishment for sex offenders, including making their photos, names and addresses available to the general public. Nevada legislators…
Read MoreGA: Student suspended for a year for hugging teacher
A Duluth High School senior has been suspended for one year and won’t graduate on time for hugging a teacher last month. ____ ____, 17, was suspended last week when a school hearing officer found he violated the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ rules on sexual harassment. Full Article
Read MoreOH: Changing Sex Offender Penalties (700 WLW Radio)
Scott talks with Derek Logue about the push to get penalties for sex offenders changed. Link
Read MoreMA: Court overturns escort’s sex offender label
BOSTON (AP) — The state’s highest court on Wednesday overturned the classification of a former escort service manager as a low-level sex offender, finding that the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board should have considered research showing women are less likely than men to commit new sex offenses. Full Article
Read MoreCT: 2 Legislators Want To Keep Sex Offenders Away From Children
A Republican and a Democrat announced plans last week to push for a law to prohibit sex offenders from living near places where children gather. The proposal comes from Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby, and Sen. Joe Crisco, D-Woodbridge. In a joint press release, the two legislators called for legislation establishing a 1,000-foot radius around schools, daycares, “and other locations where children typically gather.” The bill would prevent any registered sex offenders from residing within these zones. “The last thing a parent should have to worry about when they send their…
Read MoreCO: 6 year old suspended for kissing a girl
DENVER (AP) — The suspension of a 6-year-old boy for kissing a girl at school is raising questions about whether the peck should be considered sexual harassment. The boy’s mother said officials at Lincoln School of Science and Technology in Canon City, a southern Colorado city of 16,000, are over-reacting. Jennifer Saunders said her son was suspended once before for kissing the girl and had other disciplinary problems, and she was surprised to find out that he would be forced out of school again for several days. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Freeing sex offenders (Opinion)
The backlog of sex offenders waiting for treatment in the Colorado Department of Corrections has gotten a lot of attention lately, and with some justification. If these child molesters and rapists want to admit to the grievous harm they’ve caused their victims and learn how to manage their deviant behavior, by all means, they should. And Colorado taxpayers ought to gladly ante up for more counselors to provide that treatment. But that doesn’t mean these offenders automatically should be released by their minimum eligible parole date. Note the word “minimum.”…
Read MoreTX: Sex offenders banned from S.A. parks, River Walk
SAN ANTONIO — City Council on Thursday unanimously approved an ordinance to restrict registered sex offenders from city parks and a portion of the River Walk. The ordinance creates park safety zones that registered sex offenders can’t enter. They can’t live within 1,000 feet or loiter, whether standing or in a car, within 300 feet of a park safety zone, the draft ordinance states. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Michael’s Story of Neighborhood Action
I have an interesting tale to tell about how I brought my work home earlier this year. My next door neighbor told me she had learned from another neighbor there was a Level 2 and a Level 3 sex offender living in the neighborhood. In Washington, the registration and community notification system uses a three-level system, using an actuarial risk assessment measure. The lowest risk offenders, according to this instrument, are Level 1’s. The highest risks are Level 3’s. Seattle Police had printed up flyers about these two men and given them…
Read MoreU.S. Profits from Baiting Viewers of Child Porn…
Yesterday Google and Microsoft (which operates Bing and Yahoo search engines) announced that they will reprogram their search engines to block more than 100,000 unique terms / phrases associated with illegal child pornography. When a term is searched that is associated to child abuse a clear warning message from Google and child safety organizations will appear explaining the consequences of the searcher’s actions and pointing them toward expert help. (See numerous articles below) This reprogram proposal to protect children, to stop them from being re-victimization by having their abuse viewed time-and-time-again is…
Read MoreNC: Registered sex offenders given the boot at local homeless shelters
No more room at the inn for sex offenders. That’s the word from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff. We’ve learned that a number of offenders have used the uptown shelter as their registered address, but no more. 1210 North Tryon is a well known address near Center City Charlotte. It is listed as the Uptown Men’s Shelter. Type in the address in this state run search engine, and a place known for housing homeless still comes up as a residence for sex offenders. Keeping tabs on offenders here been a thorn in the side of Sheriff…
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