CT: Nursing home hit with $10,000 fine after alleged sex assault

Source: ctmirror.org 9/30/21 The state Department of Public Health has fined the owners of an East Windsor nursing home $10,000 for failing to protect the safety of their residents and staff when they admitted a 50-year-old registered sex offender from Massachusetts who allegedly tried to sexually assault a nurse. The incident occurred on May 19, when Miguel _____, a convicted rapist and a registered sex offender in Massachusetts with a warrant out for his arrest at that time, allegedly locked a female employee in his room at the Fresh River…

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GA: ‘Her death would not be in vain’: Petition could create new sex offender ID policy for ATL nightlife

Source: cbs46.com 9/30/21 ATLANTA (CBS46) — A new petition could make it harder for sex offenders to get into metro Atlanta bars and night clubs. The petition already has close to 10,000 signatures and it was started by friends of a local bartender who was kidnapped and raped. Chris Anthony said it doesn’t feel like it’s been almost two months since his friend 27-year-old Mariam Abdulrab was taken from him, “Honestly it still feels fresh you know when you don’t have any answers.” Police believe DeMarcus Brinkley kidnapped Abdulrab from her…

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CO: Sex Offender’s Indeterminate Sentence Upheld as Constitutional

Source: bloomberglaw.com 9/29/21 The indeterminate sentence a Colorado sex offender received didn’t violate his equal protection or due process rights even though he has served 37 years for a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 24 years, the Tenth Circuit said Wednesday. Bruce ____ pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault in 1984. The maximum determinate sentence for the crime was 24 years, but the judge sentenced him under the Colorado Sex Offenders Act to a term of confinement lasting from one day to life imprisonment. Bruce ____ argued that…

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FL: Florida Faces Challenges On Sex Offender Registry

Source: miami.cbslocal.com 9/28/21 TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) — Florida is facing two constitutional challenges from men who live in other states and contend they have been improperly kept on public sex-offender registry lists in Florida. Oregon resident Moji Momeni filed a lawsuit Friday in Leon County circuit court alleging that his constitutional privacy and due-process rights have been violated because Florida continues to list him as a registered sex offender, though he stopped being required to register in Oregon last year. Momeni, who was convicted in 2006 on sexual-abuse charges in Oregon,…

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LA: Lafayette case over Louisiana sex offender identification law could be heard by Supreme Court

Source: theadvocate.com 9/27/21 Louisiana attorneys may know this week whether the U.S. Supreme Court will review a case this term involving a state statute that compels people convicted of sex crimes to carry cards identifying them as sex offenders. High court justices were culling through possible cases to review in the fall starting Monday morning, including one in which former 15th Judicial District Judge Patrick Michot Sr. ruled in 2019 in favor of Tazin A. Hill, formerly of Duson, a convicted sex offender who altered his state-issued identification card to…

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Washington D.C.: Metro board scuttles vote on its contentious proposal to ban people for sex crime arrests

Source: washingtonpost.com 9/23/21 Metro’s board has dropped a proposal to ban people from the transit system who were arrested on suspicion of sex crimes or found to be carrying a dangerous weapon, the board chairman said Thursday. The proposal had been scheduled for a vote this month, prompting more than 100 letters or messages to board members, mostly against the proposal, and protests at Metro stations and in front of a board member’s house. The proposed ban would have allowed Metro Transit Police to immediately suspend people from stations, trains…

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Spreading HIV Is Against the Law in 37 States – With Penalties Ranging Up To Life in Prison

Source: usnews.com 9/22/21 Despite the fact that HIV is now a treatable medical condition, the majority of U.S. states still have laws on the books that criminalize exposing other people to HIV. Whether or not the virus is transmitted does not matter. Neither does a person’s intention to cause harm. A person simply must be aware of being HIV-positive to be found guilty. These laws are enforced mainly on marginalized people living in poverty who cannot afford lawyers. The penalties – felony convictions and being placed on sex offender registries…

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IL: Felony child sex offenders evade background checks, state law to make state fair carnival vehicles in Illinois work

Source: illinoisnewstoday.com 9/22/21 Illinois State Police investigation is “open and ongoing” Agricultural Ministry may terminate carnival company contracts as “indignated” After investigating Target 3 Springfield, Illinois — A registered sex offender six months after the Illinois Correctional Bureau released 41-year-old Jason Flynn from state prison on Ferony’s conviction, including sexual abuse of a 12-year-old child. Was working on a carnival. Equipment near toddlers at the Illinois State Fair. Despite background checks protocols and state law designed to keep child sex offenders away from children at fairs, the WCIA survey is…

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KS: Criminal justice panel hashes out potential changes to Kansas offender registry

TOPEKA — Criminal justice advocates, experts and law enforcement are debating potential changes to the Kansas drug and sex offender registry, including whether registries should be made public and an exit mechanism for some offenders. Of primary concern for the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission Subcommittee on Proportionality and Sentencing is whether drug offenders should be included on a public registry or if that information should be available only to law enforcement. Under Kansas law, those with a drug conviction are required to register on the same public list as…

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USA Today Fact Check: Some states require special IDs for people with a sex offense

Source: usatoday.com 9/17/21 The claim: Sex offenders don’t have to carry cards because it ‘violates their privacy’ President Joe Biden announced COVID-19 vaccine requirements Sept. 9 for federal workers and companies with more than 100 employees. That means millions of Americans may soon have to prove they’ve received the shot. A widespread claim on social media attempts to make a point by comparing that potential requirement to those for sex offenders. “There are 800,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. and they don’t carry a card because it ‘violates their privacy,’”…

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FAC’s CALL TO ACTION: Florida Columbia Youth Football Association will not hold football jamboree at park because registrant sits on the park board

Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 9/18/21 Columbia County, Florida temporarily needs a different venue to hold their annual football jamboree, an event relished by the community.  It could be moved to Annie Mattox Park, but allegations surfaced that a person who is forced to register sits on the park board.  The association said they will be looking elsewhere. The cancelation sparked an uproar at Thursday night’s Columbia County Commissioners’ meeting, which was September 16, 2021.  So far, the video is not up at https://www.columbiacountyga.gov/county/commissions/agenda-and-minutes. This man with a past sex offense was accepted…

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Food Brands Fight the Background Check

Source: tastecooking.com 9/14/21 A growing number of bakeries, restaurants, and ice cream companies are leading the charge to employ the formerly incarcerated. “It’s the same work I was used to in prison, but the difference is that, in prison, I was working for 10 cents a day.” Alvin Wilson is a 66-year-old baker. Living in New York’s Westchester County with his sister, he’s spent the last seven years mixing brownie batter ingredients and packing the baked result at Greyston Bakery, the organization whose brownies can be found in your favorite…

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IL: Former GOP House speaker agrees to settlement with man whom he allegedly molested as a child: report

Source: rawstory.com 9/15/21 On Wednesday, CBS 2 Chicago reported that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has agreed to a “tentative” settlement with the man who alleges he paid him off to cover up child sex abuse. “The man, referred to only as James Doe in filings, brought the breach-of-contract lawsuit in 2016 in a bid to force Hastert to pay the unpaid balance of the hush money, nearly $2 million. Hastert’s lawyers said the 2010 deal was void after Doe spoke about it to others,” said the report. “A…

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OH: Ohio mayor tells ENTIRE school board to resign or ‘face child pornography charges’ after teachers gave children writing prompt to ‘write a sex scene you wouldn’t show your mom’

Source: dailymail.co.uk 9/16/21 A mayor in Ohio has threatened the city’s entire school board with criminal charges unless they resign over highly sexual writing prompts that teachers gave to underage students. Hudson Mayor Craig Schubert delivered the harsh ultimate during a school board meeting on Monday, garnering loud applause from outraged parents who also spoke out on the issue. At issue are the highly inappropriate writing prompts distributed to students in the Liberal Arts II writing class at Hudson High School, including ‘Write a sex scene you wouldn’t show your mom’,…

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MA: ‘Glaring failure’ in criminal and sex offender background checks for professional license applicants

Source: boston25news.com 9/15/21 BOSTON — The state agency that oversees the granting of professional licenses for hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts workers is falling short when it comes to criminal and sex offender background checks on those applicants, according to a newly-released audit. Auditor Suzanne Bump’s report finds the the Division of Professional Licensure (DPL), which is now referred to as the Division of Occupational Licensure, has been unable to determine whether its boards and commissions were performing Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and Sex Offender Record Information (SORI) checks…

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IL: Democrat-Sponsored ‘TEXAS Act’ Would Allow $10K Bounties On Sexual Abusers…

Source: nprillinois.org 9/14/21 Two weeks after Texas effectively banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a Democratic state lawmaker in Illinois is proposing a law based on Texas’ model — but turned on its head. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), who in 2019 sponsored law defining abortion as a fundamental right in Illinois, is introducing a bill dubbed the “EXpanding Abortion Services Act,” the acronym of which spells TEXAS. The Texas law is uniquely designed, allowing private citizens the right to bring a civil lawsuit against anyone who performs an…

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Action Alert: Congressional Bill to Expand Reach of IML

A new piece of federal legislation (HR 5150), if passed and signed into law, would expand the reach of the International Megan’s Law (IML).  The new legislation was introduced by the original author of the IML, Rep. Chris Smith (Republican, NJ), as well as Rep. Karen Bass (Democrat, CA). The provisions of the legislation regarding the IML are a very small part of the 92-page bill which claims to be aimed at preventing and protecting victims of trafficking.  The IML provisions would expand the scope of the IML by extending…

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MD: Maryland judge commits suicide as feds moved in for child porn arrest

Source: nypost.com 9/11/21 A Maryland judge fatally shot himself just as federal law enforcement showed up to his home to arrest him on child porn charges Friday morning, authorities said. Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Newell, 50, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound by FBI agents at around 6:43 a.m., according to the Maryland US Attorney’s Office. The feds were at the judge’s Henderson home to arrest him on a complaint charging him with sexual exploitation of a child for allegedly filming teenage boys in the nude…

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