Category: National

NH: Federal Bureau Of Prisons’ Misclassification Of Inmate Leads To Compassionate Release

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Source: forbes.com 8/17/21 Joshua Fields (District of New Hampshire, Case No. 14-cr-074-LM) had a troubled life. His substance abuse which started at age 9 was nothing more than a path to mental health issues and brushes with the criminal justice system. After pleading guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of a weapon, and mounting up a few prior criminal offenses, Fields pled guilty and was sentenced to 180 months in prison (later reduced to 120 months under a revised law). When he was sentenced in 2014, it…

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IN: Divided 7th Circuit reverses order to remove sex offender names for ‘right to travel’ violation but remands equal-protection claim

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Source: theindianalawyer.com 8/17/21 A split en banc 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a decision from an original three-judge panel that ordered the removal of six names from the Indiana sex offender registry, finding that the state’s sex offender registration law doesn’t discriminate based on residency. However, the case was remanded for further consideration of an equal-protection claim. Judge Amy St. Eve — a member of the original panel who dissented from the January ruling — wrote for the en banc majority Monday in Brian Hope, et al. v.…

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FL: Police Arrest Teen Accused of Helping GOP Strategist’s Underage Sex Trafficking

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Source: thedailybeast.com 8/14/21 Shortly after arresting GOP strategist Anton Lazzaro for underage sex trafficking, police say they’ve caught up with his 19-year-old associate, who now faces the same charges. Jose Pagliery Political Investigations Reporter Law enforcement in Florida has arrested Gisela Castro Medina, a 19-year-old accused of helping a wealthy, young Republican strategist in Minnesota prey on girls and recruit them for paid sex. She faces the same criminal charges as her alleged pal, GOP operative Anton Lazzaro: sex trafficking of a minor, attempt to commit sex trafficking, and obstruction…

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CO: Colorado Ped Patrol chases internet child predators along the Front Range as an audience watches online

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Source: denverpost.com 8/11/21 Local police discourage the vigilante stings as they worry about public safety Andy Cross, The Denver Post By Noelle Phillips | [email protected] | The Denver Post PUBLISHED: August 11, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 11, 2021 at 9:09 a.m. Tommy Fellows hands shook as he looked at the text message from a man who said he wanted to meet a teenage girl for sex. “What are u going to wear for daddy when I pick u up?” the message said. Fellows handed the phone back…

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TX: Former Staffers Condemn Cruel Treatment of Inmates at a Texan Prison for Sex Offenders

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Source: reason.com 8/12/21 The men must keep masturbation diaries, wear ankle monitors, and even use penile circumference gauges. Lenore Skenazy For many men serving time for committing sex offenses in Texas, their prison term never really ends—even if they complete their sentence. That’s because they’re required to enter a live-in mental health facility before returning to society. That facility—in Littlefield, Texas—is actually a former maximum security prison in the middle of a dirt field. “It comes as a surprise,” says Mary Sue Molnar, founder of Texas Voices for Reason and…

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New Bureau of Justice Statistics Study: 9:10 sexual assault victimizations were committed by someone the victim knew

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Sources: Floridaactioncommittee.org 8/10/21 bjs.ojp.gov A new study put out by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, the United States’ primary source for criminal justice statistics, supports that notion that more than 9 out of 10 sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. The study aggregates data from law enforcement in 20 states, as reported to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2019. Contrary to “stranger danger”, the myth that is the basis for most sex offender registration schemes, the study finds that the overwhelming majority of…

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TX: Family of Texas teacher suing police after sting operation

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Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 8/10/21 The family of a Texas teacher are suing a local police department, claiming that a detective drove him to suicide by unjustly arresting him as part of a sting operation. A 39-year-old junior high school teacher from Conroe, Texas, poisoned himself to death with carbon monoxide just days after being released from the Montgomery County jail in August 2019. At the time of his death, Peterson was facing a charge of online solicitation of a minor, which is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in…

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UT: Request from registered sex offender to change taxi driver ordinance raises bigger questions

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Source: stgeorgeutah.com 8/8/21 A local resident’s request to the Cedar City Council for an exemption to one of its ordinances has raised the question of when – or if – a convicted sex offender who has since served their time and been crime-free should be allowed to have the same freedoms to pursue a living as other citizens. The issue first came up in May when Enoch resident Jamie Sherman spoke to the City Council during the public comment portion of the agenda. Sherman told the council that he and…

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NJ: N.J. Supreme Court sides with sex offender seeking removal from Megan’s Law registry

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Source: nj.com 8/9/21 An amendment to Megan’s Law that tightens the rules on who can seek to be removed from a sex offender registry can’t be applied retroactively to crimes committed before the amendment was passed, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Monday. The case involved a man, identified by the initials J.D.-F., who was working as a manager at a McDonald’s in Hillsborough in 2001 when he was accused of improperly touching two teenage boys who worked there. He was convicted in December 2002 of criminal sexual contact and child…

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VA: Top Republican Donor Killed in Prison After Serving Nearly Two Decades for Sexually Assaulting His Own Children

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Source: msn.com 8/8/21 A once-lauded Republican donor and former businessman was killed in prison late Tuesday by another inmate, the Associated Press and a collection of news organizations reported this week. According to the Virginia Department of Corrections, Mark A. Grethen, 63, who was initially not identified by name, died “following an apparent attack by another inmate inside the victim’s cell.” The attack occurred at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, a for-profit prison operated by The GEO Group, Inc., a news release indicated. “The victim was serving a 26-year sentence for…

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FL: Missing sex offender with dementia found after forgetting address while checking in for registry

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Source: fox35orlando.com 8/5/21 A sex offender who suffers from dementia was missing after forgetting his address while checking in with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. By Thursday morning, officials said he was found and is OK. Deputies say Dale ____, who does not have a permanent address, went to the sheriff’s office Tuesday to conduct his mandatory check-in for the sex offender registry, however, when he got there, he couldn’t remember the address where he has been staying. Deputies say they let him leave so he could find and write…

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WI: Wisconsin judge to plead guilty to federal child pornography charges

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Source: courthousenews.com 4/4/21 A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge charged in state and federal courts with multiple counts of possessing child pornography has agreed to plead guilty to the federal charges, according to a plea agreement approved by prosecutors and filed with the court on Wednesday. Under the agreement, Brett Blomme, 38, would plead guilty to two felony counts of child pornography possession, forego his right to a jury trial and forfeit any property or assets connected to his crimes. Each count carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence, five…

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FL: Federal judge rejects sheriff’s office’s attempt to dismiss lawsuit challenging ‘predictive policing’ program

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Source: wtsp.com 3/5/21 A federal judge rejected the Pasco County Sheriff’s motion to dismiss a case against Sheriff Chris Nocco’s Orwellian “predictive policing” program, the Institute of Justice said in a release Wednesday. In a lawsuit filed by Pasco County families back in March, Nocco was accused of punishing people “for crimes they have not committed and may never commit” – in a practice called predictive policing. Judge Steven D. Merryday issued an order denying the Pasco County sheriff’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “Today’s decision is an important step…

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DOJ report: Agents used photos of FBI employees to lure sex offenders

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Source: upi.com 8/2/21 FBI agents have used photos of young female support staff employees posing as children or sex workers to lure sexual predators on social media websites, Department of Justice inspectors say. A report by the department’s Office of the Inspector General submitted late last week found that one agent used photos of FBI support employees who were not certified as undercover agents without getting consent from their superiors. DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz reported that the agent “said he was ‘fishing’ on social media sites but not recording…

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UK: The knock that tears families apart: ‘They were at the door, telling me he had accessed indecent images of children’

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Source: theguardian.com 7/31/21 Every month in the UK, hundreds of homes are visited by police officers dropping a bombshell: someone has been viewing images of child abuse. What happens to the families left behind? Harriet Grant Sat 31 Jul 2021 04.00 EDT It was an ordinary summer evening in 2016 for Emma when her ex-husband, Ben, dropped their young children back after a weekend visit at his place. The couple had been divorced for less than a year. Their split had brought with it the usual pain and sadness that…

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Wash. DC: Metro delays vote on proposal that would ban passengers arrested for sex offense

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Source: washingtonpost.com 7/29/21 Metro’s board on Thursday postponed a vote on a plan that would let transit police ban someone arrested on suspicion of a sex crime or an offense involving a dangerous weapon. The delay came after civil liberties groups and activists voiced opposition to the measure and asked the transit agency to reconsider. Members of the board’s safety committee had unanimously approved the proposed ban two weeks ago, setting the stage for a final vote of the full board. Board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg pulled the measure off…

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Michigan Supreme Court Declares Sex Offender Laws Are Punitive

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Source: ACSOL The Michigan Supreme Court today issued a decision declaring that the state’s sex offender law adopted in 2011 cannot retroactively be applied to a registrant convicted two years earlier.  The Court based its decision upon the ex post facto clauses of both the Michigan and the U.S. Constitutions. “Today’s decision is a significant victory not only for the registrant involved in this case, but also for all Michigan registrants convicted prior to 2011,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “This decision can and should be used as a…

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MO: Police arrest non-compliant sex offender squatting in Kansas City Historic Northeast neighborhood

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Source: fox4kc.com 7/23/21 KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A non-compliant sex offender was arrested in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast neighborhood Friday and FOX4 was there for it all. FOX4 brought you the story Thursday of a woman who said the man is stalking her. Police got him to leave but he came back. Instead of leaving in an ambulance this time, he left in handcuffs. The neighborhood is glad he is gone, but unsure if he will be back. Missy Jones has been dealing with him for three years and thought…

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