[news4jax.com – 4/15/19] As if parents don’t have enough to deal with once their teens’ hormones start kicking in. Apparently, “sexting” is the new flirting, according to some experts. Research compiled in a new article in Pediatrics found that texting sexual images has become increasingly common among teenagers in the United States. That’s not completely surprising, considering teens are using cellphones more than ever. But in 39 studies featuring more than 110,000 teens, researchers found that more than a quarter of teens (27.4%) have received a sext and 14.8% have…
Read MoreCategory: National
IN: County considers sex offender fee
The Jackson County Commissioners plan to discuss creating an annual fee for work associated with maintaining the county’s sex offender registry. … Commissioners were receptive to the idea. Commissioner Drew Markel said he would like to see offenders pay their fees like those who serve sentences on probation. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Low-risk sex offenders could come off CT registry
HARTFORD — The Judiciary Committee advanced a bill that would allow some low-risk offenders to come off the state’s public sex offender registry — a move that proponents said would make it easier for law enforcement to focus on high-risk offenders. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Stringer fallout halts sex offender registry reform
[eacourier.com – 4/11/19] Legislation that would make more people eligible to have their names removed from Arizona’s sex offender registry may end up being an inadvertent casualty of the recent revelations of decades-old sex crime allegations that led David Stringer to resign from the Arizona House of Representatives. House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, sponsored House Bill 2613, which he crafted with assistance from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The bill would expand the list of crimes for which sex offenders could petition to be removed from the registry, while…
Read MoreWA: Washington Sexting Bill Aims to Shield Teens From Adult Law
[usnews.com – 4/11/19] Legislation aimed at keeping youth who send sexually explicit texts from being charged under adult sex crime laws has cleared the Legislature in Washington state. The bill , which passed late Wednesday night, would create a new group of crimes reserved specifically for minors who are caught with explicit images of other minors, attempting to solve what lawmakers described as a paradox in current law, where even youth who report a sexual picture or video can themselves be potentially charged with a felony — and even forced…
Read MorePA: Constitutional right or crime? Case of alleged harassment of sex offender’s family heads to court
[lehighvalleylive.com – 4/9/19] A father and son from Freemansburg accused of harassing the family of a sex offender are headed to Northampton County Court on their respective criminal charges. James Forte Sr. and James Forte Jr., who both live in 200 block of Juniata Street in the borough, had their preliminary hearings Tuesday in front of District Judge Nicholas Englesson. Following testimony from the victim and a borough police officer, Englesson sent all the charges to county court, where the pair now face possible trial. false Father and son accused…
Read MorePA: High Court will again review sex offender registration
Two years ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shook up long-settled orthodoxy by ruling that the state’s sex offender registration law, otherwise known as SORNA (Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act) was punishment. The case, Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2018), presented the Court with two questions: whether people who committed their crimes before the adoption of the law could continue to be registered without running afoul of the state Constitution’s Ex Post Facto Clause, a fairness doctrine that prevents governments from retroactively applying greater punishments to conduct than…
Read MoreLA: After admitting sex with 3 boys, substitute teacher spared jail and barred from class only two years
[usatoday.com – 4/5/19] After pleading guilty to having sex with three underage teenagers and sending lewd messages, a substitute teacher in Louisiana was spared jail and could even be headed back to the classroom, New Orlean’s station WDSU reports. As part of a plea deal, 34-year-old ______ pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. When she was arrested in 2016, the Terrebonne Parish instructor faced three felony charges, according to the report. A…
Read MoreIA: Iowa Supreme Court rules requiring sex offenders to report social media presence is not a First Amendment violation
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that requiring sex offenders to disclose their social media identities and other digital information does not violate their free speech rights. Five of the seven justices agreed that the requirement, part of the state’s sex offender registry, was put in place a decade ago to protect children and victims from possible abuse but was not a “proxy for content regulations.” Justice Thomas Waterman’s opinion emphasized that sex offenders aren’t required to disclose their passwords and aren’t prevented from participating in social media. Full Article Opinion
Read MoreProsecutors Dropping Child Porn Charges After Software Tools Are Questioned
[propublica.org – 4/3/19] Using specialized software, investigators traced explicit child pornography to Todd Hartman’s internet address. A dozen police officers raided his Los Angeles-area apartment, seized his computer and arrested him for files including a video of a man ejaculating on a 7-year-old girl. But after his lawyer contended that the software tool inappropriately accessed Hartman’s private files, and asked to examine how it worked, prosecutors dismissed the case. Near Phoenix, police with a similar detection program tracked underage porn photos, including a 4-year-old with her legs spread, to…
Read MoreNC Bill: Convicted Animal Abusers Will Be Added to an Online Registry; Much Like Sex Offenders
[wfmynews2.com – 4/2/19] After a person’s first Animal Abuse offense, they would be put on the registry for the next two years. If they have another offense they would be put on the registry for five years. If you are convicted of an animal abuse crime this bill reiterates you may be forced to give up any animals you own. If you are a repeat offender and are put on the registry multiple times the proposed bill says you would have to give up your animals, and would not be…
Read MoreIL: Federal Judge Finds Illinois Rules On Sex Offenders Unconstitutional
[wbez.org – 4/1/19] A federal judge in Chicago has found the Illinois Department of Corrections is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners convicted of certain sex crimes by making the restrictions on where they can live so stringent that inmates are often locked up long beyond their sentences. In a ruling issued Sunday, Judge Virginia Kendall wrote that hundreds of offenders in the state’s prison system successfully complete their entire court-ordered sentences yet remain behind bars indefinitely. Kendall found the corrections department is depriving them of fundamental rights, and…
Read MoreCT: Lawmakers Debate Changes in Sex Offender Registry
[courant.com – 4/1/19] State legislators are debating whether they should make changes in the state’s sex offender registry, which was established in 1998. Former Republican state legislator Bob Farr of West Hartford and other advocates called Monday for approving the recommendations of the state’s sentencing commission on changes to the registry, which is currently “based on the offense and not on the risk of re-offending.” The current registry now lists convicted criminals for 10 years, 20 years or life. The registry started with 800 criminals who were placed retroactively…
Read MoreWI: Fairchild residents up in arms over sex offender housing plan
[leadertelegram.com – 3/26/19] Fairchild residents came out in force Tuesday to share their objections to a plan to potentially house released sexual predators in the community. Nearly 40 Fairchild area residents packed into a small meeting room Tuesday morning at the Eau Claire County Courthouse to express their outrage at the possibility of housing sex offenders on supervised release at a facility on county-owned land about 1¼ miles northwest of Fairchild. Their comments came during a meeting of Eau Claire County’s Supervised Release Committee, which is tasked with identifying a…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: We are More Than a Mugshot
Last week’s Miami Herald article bothered me. You know the one, “Karma caught up with these sex offenders and predators, Florida cops say”. It was called Operation Karma, the totally unnecessary round-up of registrants, in this case, 26 of them, whose only “crime” was neglecting to follow through with some tiresome registration requirement, listing a new home address, registering a motor vehicle, a media account, updating employment information, etc. I suppose this “operation” served two purposes, it gave the police of Polk County, Fl. something to do that particular day…
Read MoreAZ: Sex offenders get chance to end life-long registration under House proposal
[azcapitoltimes.com – 3/29/19] State lawmakers are weighing whether to give judges more leeway to eliminate the requirement that certain people register for life as sex offenders. A measure approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee would allow people convicted of certain sex crimes, when they turn 35, to petition to be absolved of the mandate. Not everyone would be eligible. The legislation pushed by House Speaker Rusty Bowers would apply only in situations where the offender was younger than 22 at the time and the victim was at least 15…
Read MoreOR: Portland city leader wants landlords to forgive bad credit and crimes
[komonews.com – 3/28/19] Hoping to get more people into homes, Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly is proposing that landlords look past a prospective renter’s ding in their credit or even their criminal past. … But when she realized the new rules might let a burglar, or an arsonist, or even a sex offender move in next door, she admitted she had to rethink the proposal. Read more
Read MoreNCJFCJ Releases Resolution for Sex Offender Requirements for Youth Under Age 18
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) released its latest resolution regarding sex offender requirements for youth under the age of 18. Research shows that placing youth on sex offender registries does not advance public safety and can actually make communities less safe. Research also shows that re-offending rates for youth who offend sexually are extremely low and that juvenile sexual re-offense risk assessments have been validated for predicting sexual re-offending. Full Press Release RELATED LINKS: KY: Grayson County Sheriff’s Office warns of “sexting” trend among teens [wbko.com -3/28/19]
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