Source: fox19.com 9/14/22 ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) – A child rape suspect was found dead along with a family member of the alleged victim Sunday morning. The deaths are still being investigated, but Ohio State Highway Patrol said they believe it was a murder-suicide. Troopers found the bodies of 34-year-old Wesley Thomas and his 31-year-old girlfriend at the New Lyme Wildlife Area in Ashtabula County around 8:20 a.m. Sunday. Officials said the bodies were found with gunshot wounds on the ground near a vehicle, and a gun was found…
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MI: Ex-MI GOP House Speaker says sex with a minor was not assault because she consented
Source: dailykos.com 9/26/22 The Michigan State Police (MSP) began investigating Lee Chatfield, 34, for sexual assault after Rebekah Chatfield, 27, filed a complaint with the Lansing Police Department on December 21, 2021. Rebekah accused Lee of sexually assaulting her starting when she was 14 or 15 (in 2009 or 2010) — and ending in July 2021 when she was 26. The MSP has completed its investigation and has handed over its discoveries to MI’s Attorney General Dana Nessel. The MSP made no public recommendation. But the duration of the investigation, plus…
Read MoreFederal Court Denies Injunction, Allows Amended Complaint and New Motion
Source: ACSOL A federal court today denied a motion requesting a preliminary injunction in a case challenging the SORNA regulations. The court’s decision was based upon a determination that the sole individual plaintiff, John Doe, lacks legal standing because he has already registered for the time period required by his SORNA tier. The judge then provided plaintiffs with an opportunity to file an amended complaint within 14 days as well as to file a subsequent motion for preliminary injunction. During today’s hearing, the parties discussed whether SORNA regulations apply to…
Read MoreMI: Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate calls for tougher sentences for convicted sex offenders
Source: michiganradio.org 9/16/22 Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon says if she’s elected governor in November she’ll push for stronger penalties for convicted sex offenders. Dixon is spending this week outlining her public safety plan. In a Thursday speech, Dixon laid out a plan that would, among other things, create mandatory minimum sentences for sex crimes, though the state does already have mandatory minimums for some sexual offenses. “Make no mistake sexual predators are going to prison and we aren’t going to think twice about that,” Dixon told supporters in Pontiac.…
Read MorePA: Judge grants work release for ex-guard who sexually assaulted Northampton County inmate
Source: lehighvalleylive.com 9/22/22 A Northampton County judge sentenced a former county prison guard to jail Wednesday for sexually assaulting a female inmate, but also granted the man immediate work release. Kelvin Myers, 41, of Forks Township, previously pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault and was in court Wednesday for his sentencing in the case. Judge Murray sentenced Myers to four months to 18 months in county prison. Under the institutional sexual assault charge, Myers must register as a sex offender for 15 years under Pennsylvania’s version of Megan’s Law. “This…
Read MoreWV: West Virginia Man Charged with Federal Civil Rights Offenses for Sexual Assault of Two Victims
Source: justice.gov 9/22/22 A former parole officer with the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation was arrested today after being charged in federal court with civil rights violations, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators. Anthony _____, 44, was charged in a seven-count indictment unsealed today, with five counts of acting under color of law to deprive individuals of their civil rights, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of false statements to federal investigators. The indictment alleges that, while _____ was acting in…
Read MoreVA: Victory in Supreme Court of Virginia against out-of-control prosecution
Source: ajustfuture.org 9/20/22 Justices declare effort targeting leading advocate illegal, ending 5-year court battle On Thursday, the highest court in Virginia ended the Commonwealth’s 13-year campaign to indefinitely detain a prominent advocate on criminal justice matters, Galen Baughman. In a victory for justice the Supreme Court ruled that the petition filed against Baughman in 2017 was illegal. A Short History of Baughman’s Fight Baughman has been targeted by the Virginia attorney general’s office under the state’s civil confinement scheme since 2009 when prosecutors filed a petition to send him to…
Read MoreAZ: U.S. Marshals target sex offenders in Northern Arizona operation
Source: kyma.com 9/20/22 YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The combined efforts of the United States Marshals Service, Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and state police departments led to hundreds of sex offender compliance checks. In a press release, only one arrest was made in a compliance operation across Northern Arizona. “The Marshals Service is committed to assisting our partner agencies with sex offender compliance checks. By determining if offenders are complying with court ordered requirements, especially in rural communities, we help protect those most vulnerable to sex offenders,” said District of…
Read MoreFL: He Served 18 Months for a Sex Offense. He’s Re-Imprisoned Anyway, Possibly for Life.
Source: flaglerlive.com 9/21/22 Under Florida law, imprisonment does not depend only on proven guilt of a crime. It can also result from the possibility of a future crime. The imprisonment can be up to life. The offender has few avenues of appeal. The case is not even public. The documents on which it is based are sealed from public view. It is a little known but disquieting side of Florida law, permissible under the so-called Jimmy Ryce Act, which allows the “involuntary civil commitment” of sexually violent and dangerous predators…
Read MoreTX: Llano County man sentenced to 50 years for violating sex offender registration requirements
Source: kvue.com 9/21/22 BURNET, Texas — John Benedict “J.B.” _____ pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to 50 years in prison for violating his sex offender registration requirements. _____ was required to register as a sex offender after multiple 1997 Williamson County convictions for victimizing two young girls over a four-year period, according to a release from the 33rd/424th District Attorney’s office in Burnet. Years after he was paroled from prison, _____ used an unreported Facebook account to attempt to contact one of his victims, which is in violation of…
Read MoreFL: What do you think about Jacksonville not enforcing the sign requirement for sex offenders on Halloween?
Source: news4jax.com 9/22/22 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two registered sex offenders filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Jacksonville because they want to decorate for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays. Thursday, the offenders asked the judge to pause the city sign requirement outside their home because they believe it’s unconstitutional. Sex offenders in Jacksonville are required to have signs posted outside their home that read “no candy or treats here” so that children don’t trick-or-treat at their homes on Halloween. Because of the lawsuit, the city of Jacksonville has…
Read MoreNY: Catalfamo: End in-person college instruction for sex offenders
Source: poststar.com 9/20/22 Dave Catalfamo, Republican candidate for state Assembly District 113, pledged on Tuesday that he would introduce legislation that would bar registered sex offenders from taking classes on college campuses. The pledge is inspired by a SUNY Adirondack student, Destiny Rose, who began a petition to remove a registered sex offender, Timothy ___, 50, of Glens Falls, from campus, and switch him to virtual learning. Catalfamo said a story in Tuesday’s Post-Star is what prompted his pledge. As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition had 1,001 signatures. ___ was…
Read MoreChild Sex-Abuse Cases No Longer ‘Priority’ for FBI amid January 6 Investigation, Whistleblower Claims
Source: yahoo.com 9/20/22 The FBI is sidelining investigations into child sexual abuse in order to pursue January 6 probes and is inflating the number of “domestic extremism” cases across the country, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee claimed in a letter Monday, citing whistleblowers. The committee’s letter was spearheaded by ranking member Jim Jordan, and was addressed to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. It comes on the heels of another committee letter that cited whistleblowers claiming the FBI was “pressuring agents” to label cases as “domestic violent extremism” even when they didn’t…
Read MoreFormer Law Enforcement Launch Raven to Combat Child Exploitation
Source: prnewswire.com 9/19/22 Raven, the first effort of its kind, will fight to increase resources and funding to law enforcement to help save children from exploitation WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — As cases of child exploitation are rapidly increasing, some of the world’s most respected retired child exploitation investigators, retired ICAC Commanders, sex offender treatment providers, technology innovators and policy experts in the United States announced the formation of Raven. The 501(c)4 organization is dedicated to protecting children from victimization by raising awareness of the threat of online child…
Read MoreHow to Get a Sex Offender Out of Your Neighborhood
Source: truthfinder.com 9/14/22 One where they don’t have to be concerned when their children go to play outside. But it’s hard to know who all your neighbors are. You may be inclined to background check your neighbors. You never know, there might be individuals with a criminal history on the block, including people who commit sexual assault and other sex crimes. Many parents can’t help asking themselves, “What do I do if I live next to a sex offender?” One thing you do is worry. Another is to constantly keep…
Read MoreFL: Florida sex-offender registry challenge rejected
Source: cbsnews.com 9/14/22 TALLAHASSEE – In at least the third similar case filed by out-of-state residents, a federal appeals court Wednesday rejected an Oklahoma man’s constitutional challenge to being kept on a Florida sex offender registry. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by Douglas Lindsey, who was convicted in 1999 of statutory rape, sodomy, and lewd molestation in Oklahoma and was required to register in Oklahoma as a sex offender. In 2009, he successfully requested to be removed from the Oklahoma registry. Lindsey moved to…
Read MoreNational Center for Missing & Exploited Children Warns About Unsafe ‘Back-to-Schooling’
Source: reason.com 9/9/22 You’re more likely to be struck by a meteor than to have your kid abducted by a stranger. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) gets about $40 million a year in federal funding. It spends at least a few of those bucks crafting unnecessary emails like the one I got last week with the subject line: “Are your kids safely back-to-schooling?” Not only is “back-to-schooling” not a verb, but also the question seems geared less toward making kids safe and more toward making parents…
Read MoreCourt to Rule on SORNA Regulations Motion Without Hearing
The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) decided today to waive oral argument regarding its pending Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed in the SORNA regulations challenge. The decision to waive oral argument was made by PLF after the court delayed six times the date of the hearing on that motion. In the absence of oral argument regarding the motion, the court will make its decision based upon the extensive written record provided by both parties. The court does not have a deadline by which to make its decision, which could affect the…
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