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TN: To end retroactive punishment, a judge has ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry

Source: washingtonnewsday.com 12/4/21 To end retroactive punishment, a judge has ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry. To stop their retroactive sanctions, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ordered the removal of eight individuals from the sex offender list. In her order on Friday, Trauger said, “Tennessee officials continue to defy the Constitution’s guarantees.” “The same analysis applies… to Tennessee’s own, very comparable scheme and practices, according to federal district courts in this state. Officials in Tennessee have continued to apply the state’s long-held-to-be-illegal policy on others…

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CA: Number of Petitions Granted Continues to Grow

Source: ACSOL Contra Costa County today granted the first petition under its consideration.  The petition was submitted on behalf of a registrant convicted of PC 288(a) about 25 years ago who had successfully registered for more than 20 years.  Prior to today’s hearing, the relevant registration office determined that the registrant was eligible to submit his petition.  During today’s hearing, the District Attorney’s office stated it had no objection to the petition being granted. “Today was a great day not only for the registrant whose requirement to register has been…

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CIA Files Say Staffers Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children. They Weren’t Prosecuted.

Source: buzzfeednews.com 12/1/21 Declassified CIA inspector general reports show a pattern of abuse and a repeated decision by federal prosecutors not to hold agency personnel accountable. Over the past 14 years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed sexual crimes involving children. Though most of these cases were referred to US attorneys for prosecution, only one of the individuals was ever charged with a crime. Prosecutors sent the rest of the cases back to the CIA to handle…

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NY: Author Alice Sebold apologizes to man cleared in 1981 rape

Source: local10.com 11/30/21 Author Alice Sebold publicly apologized Tuesday to the man who was exonerated last week in the 1981 rape that was the basis for her memoir “Lucky” and said she was struggling with the role she played “within a system that sent an innocent man to jail.” Anthony Broadwater, 61, was convicted in 1982 of raping Sebold when she was a student at Syracuse University. He served 16 years in prison. His conviction was overturned Nov. 22 after prosecutors reexamined the case and determined there were serious flaws…

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Pakistan: “Chemical Castration” for Sex Offenders has flaws

Source: dailytimes.com.pk 12/1/21 There have been growing calls for tougher punishment against sexual offenders and stronger preventive measures in the aftermath of a series of violent crimes victimizing women and children. Recently, a Cabinet meeting approved a revised bill, under which a clause providing for “chemical castration” of habitual rapists had been removed from the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the light of objections raised by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Using hormonal drugs to reduce sexual violence recidivism is known as chemical castration. The first reported attempt…

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FL: Guaranteed income program breaks down barriers for formerly incarcerated [including registrants!]

Source: alligator.org 11/22/21 Community Spring fellows believe a criminal sentence shouldn’t impact lives after people serve their time. The nonprofit organization, which is known for breaking down structural poverty and supporting low-income people through monetary support, is running Just Income GNV. The privately funded pilot program, designed by formerly incarcerated individuals, assists formerly incarcerated people re-enter society with a guaranteed income. Community Spring hires fellows, specifically those who have been impacted by poverty, to identify systemic forces that spur further economic difficulties. The 2020-2021 fellowship class created the Just Income…

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Man Imprisoned for 16 Years for Raping Lovely Bones Author Is Exonerated

Source: Emily Horowitz – reason.com – 11/29/21 Anthony Broadwater, now 61, had no idea his accuser achieved fame and fortune while he has been living as a pariah for over 20 years on the sex offender registry. Alice Sebold’s bestselling 1999 memoir Lucky tells the story of a young woman raped by a stranger while attending Syracuse University. In the book, the rapist is caught and convicted. After writing about the experience, Sebold went on to write the bestseller The Lovely Bones, a fictional account of a teenage girl raped…

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UK: Town is shocked to find that hundreds of registered sex offenders are living among us

Source: wigantoday.net 11/26/21 Police forces, probation services and other government agencies keep tabs on dangerous criminals in communities across England and Wales using management plans known as multi-agency public protection (MMAPPA) arrangement. Ministry of Justice data shows 3,662 people convicted of sex crimes were being managed under MAPPAs in the Greater Manchester policing area at the end of March. … But the figures show that sex offenders were cautioned or convicted more than 1,640 times for breaching notification requirements in 2020-21 – 184 of the breaches were recorded in Greater…

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VA: Virginia professor to step down after backlash to research on ‘minor-attracted’ people

Source: nbcnews.com 11/24/21 An academic in Virginia whose research on “minor-attracted people” sparked threats and a petition calling for their removal announced their resignation Wednesday, university officials and the scholar said in a joint statement. Allyn Walker will remain on leave until they step down as an assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology at Old Dominion University in May. “We have concluded that this outcome is the best way to move forward,” university President Brian Hemphill said in the statement. He added that he hoped the move will help…

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NY: Conviction overturned in 1981 rape of ‘Lovely Bones’ author Alice Sebold

Source: kcra.com 11/24/21 SYRACUSE, N.Y. —A rape conviction at the center of a memoir by award-winning author Alice Sebold has been overturned because of what authorities determined were serious flaws with the 1982 prosecution and concerns the wrong man had been sent to jail. Anthony Broadwater, who spent 16 years in prison, was cleared Monday by a judge of raping Sebold when she was a student at Syracuse University, an assault she wrote about in her 1999 memoir, “Lucky.” Broadwater shook with emotion, sobbing as his head fell into his…

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FL: Serena’s Law: Closing a loophole that allowed sexual abusers to continue working with kids

Source: winknews.com 11/24/21 There’s a loophole that allows sexual abusers to continue working with children been if an organization does a background check. But, because of one young woman’s bravery, the system is fixed. … Now, “Serena’s Law” requires each clerk of court to post the identity online of someone who has an injunction or restraining order filed against them for the protection of a minor. She wants to focus on educating others about what abusers do. Read the full article  

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IA: Supreme Court upholds prison sex offender treatment process

Source: radioiowa.com 11/24/21 The Iowa Supreme Court rules against a group of inmates at the Newton prison who said their constitutional rights were violated by a delay in getting sex offender treatment need to be considered for parole. The ruling says the Iowa Department of Corrections has not postponed treatment in order to delay parole. It says it is a numbers problem where there are more male sex offenders in Iowa’s prison system than spots available for treatment. Read the full article  

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UK: My own pupils targeted me in the TikTok paedophile craze – now I can’t go back to our school

Source: news.yahoo.com 11/23/21 Teachers have always had to expect a certain amount of stick from their pupils. It’s part of the job; normally we don’t grumble too much about it. Over my 14 years in the profession I’ve worked across nine secondary schools, teaching history in Wales, Blackpool, and Liverpool. Sometimes, I encountered challenging behavioural problems. I’ve been told to “f— off”; called an “idiot” and a “tw–”. Teenagers can be aggressive, but as a teacher you can’t take any of it to heart. We have to depersonalise the abuse,…

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Rethinking the ‘Sex Offender’ Label

Source: thecrimereport.org 11/23/21 Last week, on Nov. 19, members of the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) took a critical first step in altering the language used to label those convicted of a sexual offense while in treatment towards a “person-first” perspective. This effort was not without opposition. The victim advocates and representatives from county prosecutors unsuccessfully attempted to table the vote and even accused members of the SOMB of not following protocols. Ultimately, the SOMB settled on the phrase, “adults who commit sexual offenses.” This change does not go…

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Los Angeles Courts Grant Two Petitions

Source: ACSOL Two superior courts in Los Angeles county have granted petitions submitted on behalf of two different registrants.  The first petition was granted on Nov. 5 in the San Fernando Valley court house to a registrant convicted of Penal Code section 243.4 whose tier had not yet been determined.  This registrant was represented by ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. The second petition was granted today in the downtown Los Angeles courthouse to a registrant convicted of Penal Code section 288(a) and assigned to Tier 2.  This registrant was represented by…

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NC: Scammers targeting sex offenders in NC

Source: cbs17.com 11/17/21 The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it recently learned of a scam aimed at getting thousands in cash from those on the sex offender registry. The sheriff’s office said an investigator received two calls on Wednesday about the scam. Both cases involved a caller saying a person needed to bring $2,000 in cash to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to avoid arrest for failure to appear and comply with a DNA order. “The people who received the calls were told this was not a scam, they would…

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