Category: National

ME: Sex offenders find refuge at hotels funded by FEMA, investigation reveals

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Source: ktxs.com 8/30/22 SOUTH PORTLAND, ME (WGME) — Some hotels in a Maine city have been in the spotlight since the start of the pandemic, as they began housing individuals experiencing homelessness as well as asylum seekers. Some hotels in a Maine city have been in the spotlight since the start of the pandemic, as they began housing individuals experiencing homelessness as well as asylum seekers. (WGME) A concerned citizen in South Portland asked the WGME I-Team about it. There are quite a number of sex offenders living in hotels…

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UT: Former prosecutor for AG’s Child Protection Unit arrested in child porn investigation

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Source: ksl.com 8/25/22 SPANISH FORK — A man who used to work for the Child Protection Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office has been arrested and accused of possessing child pornography. Gary ___, 66, of Spanish Fork, was arrested Wednesday by Utah County sheriff’s deputies for investigation of six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The investigation began Aug. 4 when investigators received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of suspected child pornography being uploaded on a social media app. Police say the…

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IN: ‘We don’t want you here’ Sheriff says over 1,800 sex offenders live in Marion Co., 52% aren’t from here

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Source: wrtv.com 8/24/22 INDIANAPOLIS — There are more than 18,000 sexual or violent offenders living in Marion County, more than half of which were convicted and sentenced from out-of-area, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. As part of the office’s efforts to drive down the number of sex offenders in the community, the sheriff’s office conducted a sweep Wednesday morning near Brookside Park. The Sheriff’s Office says 34 registered sex offenders live within a half mile of there. “That is a ridiculous number to be in that neighborhood,” said…

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PA: Pennsylvania Court Decides State Registry Laws Violate State Constitution

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Source: ACSOL A court in Pennsylvania decided this week that its state registry laws violate the state’s constitution for two reasons.  First, the laws are based upon a false presumption that all registrants have a high risk of reoffending.  Second, the laws are punitive.  “This decision by a Pennsylvania court is the clearest statement available to date regarding how registries punish individuals convicted of a sex offense and yet are ineffective at preventing future sexual abuse,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “Although this decision is binding only in Pennsylvania,…

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WA: Dogs trained to sniff out electronic devices help catch child predators

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Source: katv.com 8/22/22 WASHINGTON (TND) — Chewie is one of this country’s most highly-trained work dogs. He works on the front lines in the fight to track down child predators by detecting and locating electronic storage devices. There are less than 100 canines certified to do this type of work. and Todd Jordan has trained nearly 70 of them. The dogs are trained to indicate on things such as thumb drives, SD cards, microSD cards, anything they can hold or store images that can be used in child sexual abuse…

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AZ: Judge limits privilege defense in AZ Mormon sex abuse case

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Source: msn.com 8/19/22 An Arizona judge overseeing a high-profile lawsuit accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of conspiring to cover-up child sex abuse has ruled that the church may not refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under the state’s “clergy-penitent privilege.” Clergy in Arizona, as in many other states, are required to report information about child sexual abuse or neglect to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. But an exception to that law — the privilege — allows members of the clergy who learn of…

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****Fifth Update: SORNA Regulations Hearing Rescheduled for Sept 12, 9am PT. Zoom available.

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Source: ACSOL Update as of Aug 17, 2022:  The hearing date has again changed.  The new hearing date is now set for Sept 12, 2022 at 9:00 am Pacific Time. Click below to read the document filed with court requesting that the judge change the hearing date from Aug. 29 to another date to be determined.  The reason given is that the assistant U.S. attorney has a scheduling conflict.  Stip to Continue date for hearing on PI motion – Aug 2022 A hearing is in a federal district court to…

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TN: From registry to life sentence: Has Tennessee’s sex offender registry gone too far?

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Source: newschannel5.com 8/15/22 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Attorneys have called for a change to the Tennessee sex offender registry they said created an unconstitutional punishment as legislators added more restrictions each year.  Thomas has lived in Nashville almost all his life, but he’s rarely seen beyond work and the occasional grocery store run. Those trips are usually done within 15 minutes of the store closing. Thomas seems to think it’s safer that way, so for that reason, NewsChannel 5 Investigates will stick with first names. It’s life as he’s known…

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TX: A Texas man convicted of child sexual assault died after chugging from a water bottle as the verdict was read

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Source: nbcnews.com 8/12/22 A Texas man charged with five counts of child sexual assault died after a jury convicted him and he chugged a bottle of liquid in the courtroom, his lawyer said Friday. After the first count was read on Thursday afternoon and the Denton County jury returned a guilty verdict, Edward Leclair, 57, started drinking from a plastic water bottle filled with what appeared to be clear liquid, lawyer Mike Howard said. “I looked over and noticed him drinking,” Howard said. “His hand was shaking. At the time,…

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WI: The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has restored a lawsuit over Hartland’s limit on sex offenders

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Source: jsonline.com 8/12/22 A small Wisconsin town’s attempt to ban more sex offenders from living there flunks one of two tests that would make it unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision sent the matter back to a lower court for argument about the second test, and whether the local law should be thrown out. Hartland adopted an ordinance in 2018 after it felt it had more offenders per capita than other Waukesha County communities. A sex offender who wanted to move there sued, claiming the ordinance amounted to an…

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PA: Licensed Pennsylvania sex therapist defends ‘minor-attracted persons’ in viral video

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Source: foxnews.com 8/11/22 A licensed sex therapist and counselor sparked backlash on social media after posting a video where she appeared to defend “minor-attracted persons.” “They are probably the most vilified population of folks in our culture,” Miranda Galbreath says in the video posted on YouTube titled “Let’s talk about minor-attracted persons.” Galbreath goes on to explain that “most folks” make “incorrect assumptions” about “minor-attracted persons” and those assumptions “create harm for an already marginalized population.” “The term pedophile has moved from being a diagnostic label to being a judgmental,…

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FL: Brevard County sticks by tough ordinance restricting sex offenders

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Source: floridatoday.com 8/8/22 Brevard County commissioners reaffirmed their tough stance toward registered sex offenders by making only making minor changes to a regulation limiting where they can go — even as the measure is being challenged in court. The commission updated section 74 of the county code on Tuesday to allow businesses to register as a park so long as the business is used for recreation and is a place that children regularly visit. That will enable the owner to create a 1,000-foot buffer zone prohibiting any individual on the sex offender registry from visiting…

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FL: FDLE beginning investigation into death of Blackwater Corrections inmate

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Source: yahoo.com 8/3/22 The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating an inmate’s death at the Blackwater River Correctional Facility. FDLE’s Special Agent in Charge Chris Williams told the News Journal the agency is investigating the death of 35-year-old Andrew Thompson, but could not provide further information. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Thompson died on July 27. Thompson was arrested in March 2021 and was sentenced to 45 years in prison on April 4, 2022, after pleading no contest to 12 counts of possessing child pornography and one…

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PA: Court upholds sex offender registration as constitutional

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Source: huntingdondailynews.com 8/3/22 An attempt by a Petersburg man to be released from lifetime sexual offender registration failed last month when Pennsylvania’s Superior Court asserted registration is a “non-punitive, collateral consequence of his conviction” and not a violation of his constitutional rights. … According to the decision issued by the Superior Court in Howard’s case, Howard argued lifetime registration is “cruel and unusual punishment” and therefore violates his constitutional rights as outlined in the U.S. Constitution’s 8th Amendment. In its decision, written by the state Judge Alice Beck Dubow, the…

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IL: Plan moves ahead to create Joliet park too close for sex offenders to remain in their apartments

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Source: shawlocal.com 8/4/22 The city of Joliet is about to become the owner of a fire-damaged house acquired for the strategic purpose of forcing out registered sex offenders who live a block away. The Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved the acquisition of the unoccupied house at 1000 N. Center St. at a price of $124,000. City officials, siding with Cunningham neighborhood residents alarmed about an apartment house that has been converted to living quarters for a half-dozen registered sex offenders, say they intend to build a park on the…

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TN: Tennessee nurses push for new law to add protection from sex offenders

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Source: wkrn.com 8/4/22 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nurses in Nashville are hoping to put a new bill on the books that would add another layer of protection against registered sex offenders. “We face anything from any gross sexual comments, people have been threatened, and unfortunately, they have been trapped in a room where the patient has been a wall between the door and the nurse themselves, so it’s scary,” said nurse Ciearria. She asked News 2, not to reveal where she works but says sexual harassment has become a constant.…

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NC: ‘Operation Simon Says’: Authorities conduct sex offender compliance op in Union County area

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Source: fox46.com 8/3/22 MONROE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Law enforcement officers conducted a “large-scale sex offender operation” around Union County late last month to ensure that convicted sex offenders in the area were in compliance with state laws, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office. Officials said teams from UCSO, the U.S. Marshals Service and the NC Department of Public Safety conducted compliance checks on around 75 convicted sex offenders. Out of the 75 offenders, authorities said 53 were in full compliance with their registration, residential and personal restrictions…

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IL: Former B-N piano teacher sentenced to life in 2nd sexual assault case

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https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2022-08-01/former-b-n-piano-teacher-sentenced-to-life-in-2nd-sex-assault-caseSource: wglt.org 8/1/22 A former piano teacher serving 450 years for sexual assault of one of his students was sentenced to life in prison Monday for similar charges related to a second student. Aaron ____ , 41, was convicted in April in connection with an ongoing sexual relationship with a minor girl that lasted years and began when she was a minor. The life term handed down by Judge Casey Costigan is in addition to the 450 years Aaron received in January, also given by Costigan. Read the full article…

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