Category: Non-California State

TX: McLennan County sheriff’s deputies arrest members of Oklahoma vigilante group that targets sex offenders

R H

Source: ktre.com 10/21/25 WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Three reported members of the Oklahoma Predators Prevention Group (OPP), an online vigilante group that entraps suspected sex predators, were arrested by the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office after a recent case involving a Central Texas man. Russell Goodwin, Ryan Koch and George Liebsch were all charged with unlawful restraint-exposure to substantial risk of serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony. The sheriff’s office said two of the members have “extensive criminal histories spanning several years.” The investigation began in August when the three OPP members traveled from…

Read More

NY appeals court reverses sex offender risk ruling

R H

Source: nydailyrecord.com 10/20/25 A state appeals court has rescinded a lower court ruling setting the risk level of a sex offender because the prosecution never requested the determination and the judge failed to explain the basis for his ruling. In Yates County, state Supreme Court Justice Jason L. Cook, in November 2023, determined that defendant Stephanie A. Ridley was a level three risk under the state Sex Offender Registration Act. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department, unanimously reversed Cook’s finding “in the interest of justice and on…

Read More

OH: Former Ohio public defender dies by suicide after arrest

R H

Source: ohiocapitaljournal.com 10/20/25 David Stebbins, a former federal public defender who played a prominent role in many Ohio death-penalty cases, died by suicide on Oct. 2, according to records in the office of Franklin County Coroner Nathaniel Overmire.  Stebbins was arrested in late September on charges of pandering child pornography, according to records at the Franklin County Clerk’s office. Stebbins, 77, had represented many clients on Ohio’s death row, and supervised more-junior public defenders doing so. According to a charging document, Stebbins in May transmitted images of a boy engaged in sexual activity. He was…

Read More

MI: Michigan Sex Offender Registries Performance Audit Report shows problems

R H

Source: audgen.michigan.gov 10/2025 [Sample information:] Inaccuracies in MSOR information for 9 (20%) of 45 samples active registrants and improper cancellation of 7 (16%) of 43 sample registrants Documentation was missing or incomplete for 4 (7%) of 60 sampled out-of-state registrants were no longer domiciled, temporarily residing, working, or attending school in Michigan  Potentially 2,742 registrants have address discrepancies Read the report  

Read More

CO: Colorado Child Porn Law Didn’t Ban Deepfake Porn Until Recent Amendments, Court Holds

R H

Source: reason.com 10/14/25 From In the Interest of Juvenile: S.G.H., decided yesterday by the Colorado Supreme Court, written by Justice Carlos A. Samour, Jr.: S.G.H., a young teenager, … is accused of using a generative-AI tool to blend authentic images of three classmates’ actual faces and clothed bodies with computer-generated images portraying naked intimate body parts to make it appear as though the classmates are nude…. Every state has laws prohibiting the nonconsensual distribution of authentic intimate images, and the federal government recently enacted a similar measure. But “few laws in the United…

Read More

IN: Funding loss could force several former inmates, including sex offenders, out of Indy rehab housing

R H

Source: wthr.com 10/10/25 An Indianapolis rehabilitation program for people just out of prison is running out of money. Without new funding, several former inmates, including registered sex offenders, could lose housing and supervision. The one-story brick home on the northeast side doesn’t draw much attention. No noise from inside. No decorations. A paper sign reading “no trick-or-treat household” stands ready by the inner doorway.   Eight registered sex offenders live here. For these men rebuilding from their past, this house is the difference between a roof and a relapse, a…

Read More

MO: Missouri City Reverses Position on Halloween Sign Enforcement

R H

The City of Hazelwood, Missouri, has reversed its original position regarding enforcement of a state law declared unconstitutional by a federal district court.  In letters dated October 1, 2025, and mailed to all registrants residing in that city, the Hazelwood Chief of Police stated that registrants must post a sign on their home on Halloween.   “It was difficult to understand why the Hazelwood Chief of Police would make such a significant mistake,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “That city, after all, is a party in the lawsuit that successfully…

Read More

MO: Missouri City Threatens to Enforce Halloween Sign Requirement Despite Statewide Injunction

R H

The City of Hazelwood, Missouri, has mailed letters to all registrants in that city stating that the City will enforce this year a state law that has been declared unconstitutional.  That law requires registrants to post a sign on their home on Halloween. A federal district court judge issued a statewide permanent injunction on October 2, 2024, which prohibits enforcement of that state law.  The Attorney General of Missouri appealed the district court judge’s decision to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and oral arguments were conducted last month.   In…

Read More

FL: The Parents Who Wrote Florida’s Sex Offender Laws

R H

Source: YouTube 10/5/25 Stacey Dooley explores the extreme sex offender laws in Florida, focusing on the controversial 2,500-foot residency restrictions. Meet offenders like Chris Dawson in Miracle Village and Brandon, forced into a Miami homeless camp, who desperately seek rehabilitation and a second chance. Their stories are juxtaposed with the unwavering stance of… Watch the video  

Read More

PA: Being suspected of child abuse can land you in this Pa. database — even without a conviction

R H

Source: timesleader.com 10/2/25 To protect kids, Pennsylvania maintains a registry of people convicted and suspected of child abuse and neglect. The registry is used for background checks across the commonwealth, and in theory, it keeps those who could harm children away from schools, workplaces and other sensitive settings. But the state places people on the list without legal proceedings in which they or an attorney can mount a defense. A lawsuit pending in Commonwealth Court alleges this violates a person’s right to due process and reputation under the Pennsylvania Constitution. As that…

Read More

Registrant Publishes Book About Registration Laws in Texas

R H

Source: amazon.com My name is Daniel Gillie. I was recently released from prison as a registered person in Texas about 3 months ago. During my time in prison I found out how little education the State of Texas gives you in regards to registration. Finding this out motivated me to learn all the rules and requirements of registration, and eventually, my wife and I decided to make a book out of it to help other people. The book is called ” The Texas Registrants’ Guide” and it is currently available on Amazon…

Read More

MO: Missouri defends Halloween sex offender sign requirement at Eighth Circuit

R H

Source: courthousenews.com 9/16/25 Missouri is trying to revive a mandate for sex offenders to post a sign on Halloween stating they don’t have candy or treats at their residence after the law was blocked last October.   ST. LOUIS (CN) — An Eighth Circuit judge compared a Missouri law requiring sex offenders to post signs on Halloween saying they don’t have candy to a North Dakota law requiring landowners to post signs warning if there is quicksand on their property during a hearing Tuesday challenging the sign law’s constitutionality. “In…

Read More

Attorneys Present Arguments Regarding Missouri Halloween Sign Law Before 8th Circuit Court of Appeals

R H

Source: ACSOL Attorneys representing Thomas Sanderson, a person required to register, and the State of Missouri formally presented oral arguments yesterday before three judges of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The focus of the oral arguments was a state law that requires all persons required to register to post a sign on their home on Halloween.   During oral argument, the State of Missouri continued to assert that the sign requirement is conduct, not speech, and therefore not protected by First Amendment.  The state also asserted that the sign requirement…

Read More

WI: Amber Alert cancelled for Ruby Lehmann, suspect in custody

R H

Source: wisn.com 9/13/25 Authorities have cancelled the Amber Alert for 6-year-old Ruby Lehmann on Sept. 13, just before 6 p.m. Lehmann is safe, according to the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and the suspect, Jordan Coyle, is in custody. The Amber Alert for Lehmann went out Thursday, after she went missing from her grandmother’s house in Almond, Wisconsin. Officials in Portage County believed Ruby was with Jordan ______, 34. Jordan is a registered sex offender. Family told law enforcement he’s the girl’s uncle. According to the Portage County Sheriff’s Office on…

Read More

MI: Michigan GOP bill aims to ban pornography online, including content on “disconnection between biology and gender”

R H

Source: cbsnews.com 9/15/25 A group of House Republicans has introduced a bill in Lansing that intends to ban all pornography online, including descriptions of “a disconnection between biology and gender.”  House Bill 4938, named the “Anticorruption of Public Morals Act,” was introduced Thursday and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  “Don’t make it, don’t share it, don’t view it,” lead sponsor Rep. Josh Schriver of Oxford, a Republican from District 66, said in a social media post about the bill along with a request to add porn distributors to the…

Read More

ME: AI-generated child sexual abuse images are being created in Maine. Police can’t investigate

R H

Source: themainemonitor.org 9/15/25 Across the country, 43 states have outlawed sexual deepfakes, and 28 banned AI-generated child sexual abuse material.   A Maine man went to watch a children’s soccer game. He snapped photos of kids playing. Then he went home and used artificial intelligence to take the otherwise innocuous pictures and turn them into sexually explicit images. Police know who he is. But there is nothing they could do because the images are legal to have under state law, according to Maine State Police Lt. Jason Richards, who is…

Read More

FL: Putnam County passes one of Florida’s toughest sex offender ordinances after ‘Predator Camp’ outcry

R H

Source: Florida Action Committee re: actionnewsjax.com 9/12/25  Months after a storm of community outrage over what neighbors called a “predator camp,” Putnam County has enacted one of the strictest sex offender ordinances in the state of Florida. The controversial park at the center of it all — CCM Park on Balsam Street — once housed more than 22 registered sex offenders living in proximity. The situation sparked public concern, a series of investigative reports, and ultimately, sweeping legislative action. Action News Jax Nicholas Brooks revisited the site this week and…

Read More