[gloucestertimes.com – 12/3/19] BOSTON — Convicted child rapists who commit new crimes could be sentenced to life without parole under a proposal by Gov. Charlie Baker to toughen sex offender laws. Baker’s proposal, which went before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, would increase the penalty for rape of a child with force by someone who has already been convicted of sexual offenses to life without parole. It establishes new charges for the rape of multiple children with force, which would carry a mandatory life sentence. It also would require…
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RI: Shunned wherever he goes, sex offender greeted by protests in Lincoln
In the short time that ____ has been out of prison, he has moved to Providence, then to Cranston and now to a small house off Cobble Hill Road in Lincoln — where more than 40 protesters gathered Wednesday night to shout demands and insults at his house. Soon after nightfall Wednesday, the street filled with more than more 40 protesters, many of them accepting an invitation to move onto the snow-covered lawn of ____ neighbor. They shouted toward the sex offender’s front door a short distance away. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Cape Coral police identify mother, son found dead in home; son was registered sex offender
[news-press.com – 12/4/19 -Shooting victim shamed] The bodies of a man and his mother were identified as those found Tuesday morning in a northwest Cape Coral home. Cape Coral police identified them as _______________.. Police said the investigation remains active. ___________ is a registered sex offender, listed as living at 2617 NW 9th St., on the Florida Sex Offender registry. He was convicted in 2012 of lewd or lascivious conduct on a person younger than 16. A crime scene cleaning crew member removes his environmental suit at a house in the 2600…
Read MorePA: Sex offender registry law in Pa. facing life-or-death test at Supreme Court
The landmark Pennsylvania law that for nearly a quarter of a century has required a public registry of sex offenders and community notification about their whereabouts is facing a life-or-death challenge before the state’s highest court. Full Article Related PA: Attorney General – Cases could jeopardize Megan’s Law sex offenders registry
Read MoreRep. Chris Smith Speaks About The Dangers Of Human Trafficking
Speaking at at the Borgata hotel in Atlantic City during the week before Thanksgiving, Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ 4, delivered the following speech to hundreds of prosecutors at the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey. … Why International Megan’s Law? We know from law enforcement, academia and media documentation that Americans on the U.S. sex offender registries are frequently caught sexually abusing children in Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and, frankly, everywhere. The inherent secrecy of international travel enables child exploitation. A deeply disturbing 2010 report by the Government…
Read MoreTX: Tejano singer convicted of rape to launch comeback tour
[washingtonpost.com – 12/4/19] HOUSTON — A Tejano singer who was convicted of raping an underage female relative and imprisoned for more than a decade is preparing to relaunch his career with a sold-out show in Houston, despite the original terms of his release barring him from visiting the city and surrounding county because the victim lives there. … “For every one person against him, there are three more who support him,” said Vallejo, who noted that Lopez has been busy rehearsing. Tejano is a style of dance music that mixes…
Read MoreTN: Justice Department Announces More than $376 Million in Awards to Promote Public Safety
[justice.gov – 12/4/10] $5,528,132 Will Support Crime-Fighting Efforts in the Western District of Tennessee MEMPHIS – The Department of Justice today announced that it has awarded more than $376 million in grant funding to enhance state, local and tribal law enforcement operations and reinforce public safety efforts in jurisdictions across the United States. $5,528,132 will support public safety activities in the Western District of Tennessee. The awards were made by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs. “Crime and violence hold families, friends and neighborhoods hostage, and they rip communities apart,”…
Read MoreUPDATED: 50-State Chart on Relief from Sex Offender Registration 11-21-2019
[ccresourcecenter.org – 11/21/19] We [Collateral Consequences Resource Center] have completed an overhaul of our 50-State chart on relief from sex offender registration obligations, to bring it up to date and ensure that it is thorough and accurate. This chart documents the duration of sex offender registration requirements, as well as legal mechanisms for early termination from such requirements. In conducting this review, we have identified a handful of states that have, since the chart was last revised in November 2017, expanded the availability of relief from sex offender registration requirements, including…
Read MoreMN: Is Minnesota’s Sex Offender Registry Helping or Hurting?
Minnesota’s Predatory Offender Registry was first passed in 1991. It was intended to assist law enforcement in quickly locating and clearing suspects in child predator and kidnapping cases. 28 years later, the registry covers 21,000+ individuals and requires registration for many more crimes, including “crimes against the person” — 27 of them. It costs over $1m to implement every year. Stacy Bettison recently published an article in Minnesota Bench and Bar entitled “The New Scarlet Letter – Is Minnesota’s Predatory Offender Registry Hurting or Hurting?” Bettison has a strong interest…
Read MoreChild Custody/Visitation Laws Applicable to Registered Persons
[sosen.org – 12/1/19] In my 2016 Jobs and Welfare Survey of 307 registered persons, I found that registrants in this survey were less likely to be married than the general population (34.43% of Regs vs 49% of gen) and less likely to have kids (54.93 Regs. vs 74% Gen. pop.). However, this still means many people forced to register on America’s sex offense registries have families. This makes parental rights an important topic for, registered citizens many of whom are afraid that registry status can be used against them. PURPOSE…
Read MorePA: Attorney General – Cases could jeopardize Megan’s Law sex offenders registry
Survivors of sexual assault have shared with me their struggles in overcoming the traumatic harm caused by those who’ve preyed upon them. Their strength and courage inspires and drives me every day to pursue allegations of sexual abuse wherever we find it. In 1994, 7-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbor — someone her parents did not know had two prior convictions for sexually assaulting young girls. Her death and memory made a profound impact on our nation and resulted in “Megan’s Law.” Through Megan’s Law, survivors…
Read MoreWhy there is no national domestic assault offender registry – yet
[foxnews.com – 11/30/19] It was a murder so brutal – and one that continues to haunt law enforcement in the quiet community of Osceola County, Florida. … For those like Gibson, who are tasked with safeguarding the most vulnerable in the community, it has raised the question as to what more the justice system should and could be doing to support victims of domestic violence. Namely, why there has been little headway made to establish a national registry for those convicted of domestic violence crimes – similar to the SORNA…
Read MoreTX: Neighbors: Sex offenders may follow proposed Good Samaritan homeless shelter to area
[caller.com – 11/29/19] There was a time when Abel Palacious found himself homeless. Now, he lives across the street from the old Lamar Elementary School. The school, at the corner of Morris and 19th streets, could be converted into the largest homeless shelter in Corpus Christi. It would house 308 beds as the new location for the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission. The organization served Palacious when he was homeless. Even so, he said he can’t support the shelter’s proposed location because registered sex offenders are allowed to stay at the Good Samaritan. He has…
Read MoreIL: Documented harassment of a registrant by a police officer
[uscourts.gov – 11/26/19 – 7th Circuit] The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that state actors have, at a minimum, a rational basis for treating similarly situated people differently. Rex _____ alleges that Officer Tizoc Landeros prevented him from updating his Illinois sexual offender registration and otherwise used his official position to harass Frederickson purely out of personal dislike. Without an updated registration, Frederickson was unable to move from Joliet, Illinois, to nearby Bolingbrook. The district court found that Frederickson had put forth enough evidence to allow a…
Read MoreOH: Cleveland Police: Final warning for dumped child sex files sergeant
[bbc.com – 11/27/19] A police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct after confidential files about paedophiles and their victims were found dumped in a recycling bin outside his home. Sgt Martin Skirving-Chehab, of Cleveland Police, took two carrier bags of paperwork home before his mother-in-law accidentally threw them out. The papers contained details about 55 sex offenders. A police misconduct panel gave him a final written warning. It found the officer failed to sort through the carrier bags, risk assess the material or store it in a secure…
Read MoreWI: 65 percent of registered sex offenders approved for Green Bay housing exemption since Nov. 2018
[nbc26.com – 11/28/19] Darlene Esquivel did not want Theodore Blazek to be able to live next door. Blazek, a registered sex offender convicted of possession of child pornography, asked for an exemption to a Green Bay ordinance that bars registered sex offenders with a conviction involving children from living within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, and playgrounds. Blazek declined an on-camera interview, but said he is not a threat and wants to live in the home because he owns it. Esquivel said she told her nine-year-old daughter about Blazek’s history.…
Read MoreSupreme Court Won’t Weigh Curbing U.S. Agency Powers
[bloomberglaw.com – 11/25/19] The U.S. Supreme Court refused Nov. 25 to once again consider whether Congress is disregarding a long-held legal doctrine and giving too much power to federal agencies. Last term a short-handed Supreme Court refused to reinvigorate the “non-delegation doctrine,” which prohibits lawmakers from effectively passing off their legislative authority to another branch of government. The doctrine was used to upend New Deal legislation in the 1930s, but has been dormant since. Conservatives and libertarians eager to dismantle the so-called administrative state are eager for the court to…
Read MoreWI: Gov. Tony Evers Vetoes Changes To Sex Offender Residency Requirements
[wpr.org – 11/25/19] Measure Passed Legislature With Unanimous Vote, Bipartisan Support Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have lifted state restrictions on how close people convicted of sex crimes can live to schools. The bill, which passed the state Assembly and Senate unanimously, would have repealed a state law that bars sexually violent persons from living less than 1,500 feet from schools, public parks, places of worship or youth centers. The bill would also have required offenders be placed in their home county after being released from…
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