[1065.iheart.com – 10/17/19] A Sheriff in Georgia is not messing around when it comes to Halloween. He put up “No Trick-Or-Treat at This Address” signs in the yards of sex offenders in order to keep children out of harms way. “I’m not trying to humiliate ’em or anything like that. Let’s face reality: We have a greater chance of children getting run over by a car [on Halloween] than being a victim of sexual assault by a repeat offender,” says Sheriff Gary Long. “But at the end of the day…
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OH: Sheriff’s office says check sex offender list before children go trick-or-treating
[salemnews.net – 10/18/19] LISBON — With about 158 registered sex offenders living in Columbiana County, the county sheriff’s office is reminding residents they can check for the registered addresses online so children can avoid those houses while trick-or-treating. “We do the best we can in making sure sex offenders live where they tell us, so it is crucial that our citizens visit our website to see who the registered sex offenders are and where they are living,” said Chief Deputy Kip Dowling, adding he encourages county citizens to check…
Read MoreLA: Louisiana sheriffs promoting new app that alerts parents if sex offenders contact children
[theadvocate.com – 10/16/19] Louisiana sheriffs are backing a new mobile app that will alert parents if a registered sex offender contacts their child. The app, Safe Virtual Neighborhood, is the newest development from OffenderWatch and parent company Watch Systems, a Covington-based company known for tracking sex offenders. Watch Systems and Louisiana’s law enforcement community have worked together since 2000, when the company launched its sex offender registry system. … The Safe Virtual Neighborhood app utilizes existing information collected in law enforcement offender databases and applies it to people’s personal mobile…
Read MoreKY: ‘It will also prevent this from happening again.’ Neighbors, including local prosecutor, sought park to displace sex offender
In a neighborhood of broad lawns and trees, residents wanted one of their neighbors to leave – and they seized on an unusual way to try and get the city’s help to force him out. The drama involved a local prosecutor, a sex offender, and a tiny sliver of land along Dixie Highway with a handful of benches and a doggy bag dispenser. In the spring, a registered sex offender moved in next door to Kyle Burns, who also happened to be an assistant Commonwealth attorney for Campbell County. Burns had an…
Read MoreNY: Sex offenders form PAC to try and gain political voice
[timesunion.com – 10/14/19] Voting blocs, where people support candidates on specific issues, have long played an outsized role in New York politics – from labor unions that focus on workplace rules, to environmentalists who place clean air and water at the top of the list. But now an unusual bloc is emerging from an unexpected place: the locked sex offenders unit at one of the state’s major psychiatric hospitals. Convicted sex offenders at Central New York Psychiatric Center are joining a PAC, or political action committee, which could conceivably raise…
Read MoreCO: Colorado considers keeping some juvenile sex offenders off registry
[thedenverchannel.com – 10/12/10] DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers have advanced a proposal to place fewer convicted juveniles on the state sex offender registry and partially seal the list from the public, officials said. The draft was endorsed Thursday by an interim committee of lawmakers tasked with considering changes to how the state justice system treats people with mental illness, The Denver Post reported . The proposed changes are informed by research showing that harshly penalizing juvenile sex offenders often does nothing to improve public safety or rehabilitate the offenders, lawmakers…
Read MoreMO: Sex Offender’s Art Sculpture Allegedly Attracts Children, Disrupts Neighborhood
An art sculpture in the front yard of a Kansas City home attracts a lot of children, which has the surrounding neighbors upset. Normally such art wouldn’t be a problem, though in this case, it’s in the yard of a registered sex offender. The sculpture is made of hanging bikes, and a majority of the bikes look like they’re for kids. The neighbors thought it was a piece of art until they found out the creator and man who lives there is a registered sex offender in Missouri. Full Article
Read MoreGA: NCSO to host 13th annual Halloween Shut-In for sex offenders
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Community Supervision will host their 13th annual sex offender Halloween Shut-In from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: Fights to Keep Tabs on Qualifying Sex Offenders
A lawyer for New Jersey arguing Monday before the state Supreme Court called it vital to public safety that certain sex offenders register as such for life. “Society has the right to know of their presence, not in order to punish them, but to protect itself,” Deputy Attorney General Emily Anderson said, defending a provision of a 1994 law named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka of Hamilton Township who was raped and murdered by a neighbor already twice convicted of sexual assault. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Former Sex Offenders can Proceed with Lawsuit Challenging Restrictions on Internet Use
A group of former sex offenders may continue with their lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC’s) restrictive policy on internet access for those convicted of sex crimes. A federal district court has ruled that it is premature at this early stage of the litigation to dismiss the lawsuit. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Patrick Hope column: Virginia’s sexually violent predator laws have gone too far
[richmond.com – 9/29/19] The “lock ’em up and throw away the key” era of criminal justice is over. Virginians have reassessed their views on criminal justice to better address mass incarceration weighed against costs and the likelihood to reoffend. Policies ripe for reform include: resentencing prisoners who were convicted as youth; repealing mandatory minimums; legalizing marijuana; abolishing the death penalty; ending solitary; reinstating parole; ending cash bail; and creating alternatives to incarceration. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has a strong track record of criminal justice reform. But there’s one enforcement…
Read MoreNC: Sheriff warns sex offenders to stay away from the fair
Men and women on the sex offender registry know they’re supposed to avoid areas where children are, but the local sheriff wants to be sure that’s top of mind now that the Cleveland County Fair has opened. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Nebraska sex offenders testify for change in registry law
[journalstar.com – 9/27/19] Twenty-eight people who were registered sex offenders, or the wife, mother, father, brother or counselor of sex offenders, lined up to give testimony to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Friday, asking for changes to the Nebraska registry law. The Judiciary Committee embarked on a study of the sex offender registry law over the interim to determine if changes are needed and, if so, what they should be. The registered offenders told the committee about how the registry created life-altering situations in which they couldn’t get jobs, or…
Read MoreWI: Sun Prairie 17-year-old charged with 2 felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting teammate
[channel3000.com – 9/26/19] MADISON, Wis. – A Sun Prairie teenager has been charged for an alleged incident in August when deputies said he sexually assaulted his football teammate. ______, 17, appeared in Dane County Court on Thursday, where he was charged with felony second-degree sexual assault, felony sexual exploitation of a child through filming and misdemeanor battery. In court Thursday morning, the judge ordered ____ to not have any contact with the other teens involved in the incident, not disseminate any pictures or video of the alleged victim online or…
Read MoreTN: Five year old autistic boy accused of being a sex offender
[mynbc5.com – 9/25/19] According to WTVC, East Ridge Elementary said the child overstepped his boundaries, but the boy’s mother insists he doesn’t know any better. Advertisement Summery Putnam, Nathan’s mom, said she received a call from her son’s teacher about three weeks ago. “I was sick to my stomach because first of all don’t you understand he’s a 5-year-old? He’s a child?” Putnam said. “The teacher called me and she said, ‘You need to have a talk with Nathan about boundaries.’” Putnam said Nathan’s autism makes it difficult for him…
Read MoreOH: Continued sharing of images ‘worse than actual abuse’ for child pornography victim
[wcpo.com – 9/24/19] CINCINNATI — ‘Solomon’ was sexually assaulted for the first time during an overnight trip in Kentucky. He was 8 years old. “I don’t have a legacy that doesn’t involve being raped as a child,” Solomon told the WCPO I-Team. Solomon said his abuser also took photos and videos of him posing naked, then sold them online. Those images can still be found online, according to documents that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Ohio filed in child pornography cases. “It’s worse than the actual abuse I…
Read MoreOR: “Say More About That” Show Notes: Episode #30 – The bias against sex offenders
[therapyden.com – 9/22/19] Today, I talk to fellow therapist Taunya Gesner about her experience working with sexual offenders. We discuss what attracted her to this population and why she feels strongly about speaking up for them. We talk about therapist’s automatic bias about the population. We dive into my bias about how there is a part of me that thinks sexual offenders are evil. (Spoiler alert, they’re not all evil.) We discuss misconception the public has about them and how it’s incredibly difficult to find a good job and adequate…
Read MoreMA: O’Connell sponsors bill to prevent sex offender name change
[tauntongazette.com – 9/19/19] TAUNTON – State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, R-Taunton, wants to put an end to what she calls a loophole that allows registered sex offenders to legally change their names. O’Connell, who is running in this year’s Taunton mayoral race, filed legislation a week ago to prohibit convicted sex offenders from changing their name to hide their identity. She said that more than a dozen cosponsors in the House signed the bill that she says in the end will protect children and families. A story last January by Boston…
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