Category: National

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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Women Against Registry Joins OCEAN Community Rally Against Civil Commitment

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Source: womenagainstregistry.org 7/26/21 On Sunday, July 18, 2021, Women Against Registry joined anti-registry activists and anti-civil commitment activists representing five Midwestern states in an outdoor community rally at the Minnesota State Capitol Building in St. Paul. The event was compiled by the Voices of OCEAN, a coalition of family members and loved ones of those indefinitely detained at the Minnesota PreCrime Preventative Detention Facility (Also known as MSOP). About 75 persons were in attendance, including a brief visit from a Minnesota legislator and a speech from Minnesota Supreme Court candidate…

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CT: State of Connecticut using EyeDetect for Testing Adult Sex Offenders on Probation or Parole

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Source: officer.com 7/23/21 The Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division (JBCSSD) of the State of Connecticut recently released public information indicating the EyeDetect lie detection technology is now being used for assessment and testing by Adult Sex Offender Services on a multi-year plan beginning Jan. 1, 2021. The contract calls for the state to administer 2,300 EyeDetect and polygraph exams annually. Adult Sex Offender Services maximizes public safety and reduces re-offense rates by overseeing the assessment and treatment services for known sex offenders under probation or parole. Many cases require…

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WI: Wisconsin Lawmaker Proposes Lifetime Restraining Orders To Protect Sexual Assault Survivors

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Source: wpr.org 7/21/21 A proposed bill in Wisconsin would allow survivors of sexual assault the opportunity to petition for a lifetime restraining order against their convicted assaulter. State Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, announced the new legislation Wednesday. Referred to as “Kayleigh’s Law,” the bill would allow survivors of first-degree, second-degree or third-degree sexual assault to seek continued protection from contact with their assailant even after that person’s probation has ended. Under current state law, a civil restraining order may be issued for an adult for up to four years and…

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VA: Officials address East Stone Gap residents about reported trailer park residence for people listed on the registry

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Source: timesnews.net 7/21/21 EAST STONE GAP — Wise County and state law enforcement officials told a community gathering Tuesday that state law does not have a provision for sanctuaries for people listed on the registry. The meeting of more than 100 local residents at the East Stone Gap Baptist Church’s community center brought Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp III, Sheriff Grant Kilgore, Virginia State Police investigators and other county officials to discuss reports of a residence for people listed on the registry being located at the Imby Lane Mobile…

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Florida Lawsuit Challenges Continued Registration of Non-Residents and Deceased Persons

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Source: ACSOL A lawsuit was filed in a Florida federal district court today that challenges the continued registration of non-residents and deceased persons convicted of a sex offense.  According to the lawsuit, the Florida registry currently includes more than 28,000 people who do not live in that state as well as more than 1,300 people who are dead. The plaintiff in this lawsuit was convicted of having sex with a minor (17-year-old woman) who he later married and together they had a child.  After the couple divorced, the plaintiff was…

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Colorado Court Upholds Severely Limited Use of Internet, Social Media for Registrant on Probation

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A Colorado court of appeals issued a decision today upholding a condition of probation that severely limits a registrant’s use of both the internet and social media while he is on probation.  The court acknowledged in its decision that the registrant’s offense did not include use of either the internet or social media. “This decision is outrageous and must be appealed,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “This court made a huge and erroneous leap in logic that a person who commits a hands-on offense with a family member, who…

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TX: Texas to be first state to make buying sex a felony

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Source: inforney.com 7/6/21 A new law that goes into effect Sept. 1 will make Texas the first state to punish sex buyers with a felony. HB 1540 was filed by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. It passed both chambers of the state legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The new law creates a separate offense for buying sex and raises the penalty to a state felony subject to jail time. It expands first-degree felony human trafficking to include certain actions related to obtaining victims from shelters…

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TX: Austin man to use backyard as homeless encampment site [EXCEPT FOR…]

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Source: spectrumlocalnews.com 7/6/21 AUSTIN, Texas — Josiah Ingalls isn’t giving up on his plan to use private land as an encampment for people experiencing homelessness. “Whenever you talk about housing and the homeless and that it’s not the government’s job and how people should do it and people should put them in their own backyard, well that’s what we are literally doing here,” Ingalls said. Ingalls is in the process of forming a nonprofit called Camp Haven Sanctuary, a temporary homeless encampment aimed at addressing the homelessness crisis in Austin. Camp Haven…

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WI: Rittenhouse attorney wants to show victim was a person convicted of a sex offense

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Source: news.yahoo.com 7/6/21 MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney wants a judge to allow him to argue that one of the men his client fatally shot during a Wisconsin protest was a person convicted of a sex offense, saying it supports a defense theory that he attacked Rittenhouse and intended to take his gun because he couldn’t legally possess one. Mark Richards maintained in court filings Thursday that Joseph Rosenbaum was convicted of having sex with a minor in Arizona in 2002 and was prohibited from possessing firearms. Rosenbaum…

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VA: Neighbors concerned about plans for a sanctuary for people listed on the registry in Wise County

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Source: wcyb.com 7/5/21 WISE COUNTY, Va. —An East Stone Gap community is concerned after learning a sanctuary for people with a sex offense conviction in their past might be intentionally relocated to their neighborhood. Residents of the Inby Lane Mobile Home Park received this letter from their landlord. Image of letter Longtime resident Vernon Porch Jr. has an eight-year-old daughter. Porch says he plans to leave the mobile home park. “Most of the time we have eight kids here just playing at my house and we can’t live here anymore…

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