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TX: Former Staffers Condemn Cruel Treatment of Inmates at a Texan Prison for Sex Offenders

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Source: reason.com 8/12/21 The men must keep masturbation diaries, wear ankle monitors, and even use penile circumference gauges. Lenore Skenazy For many men serving time for committing sex offenses in Texas, their prison term never really ends—even if they complete their sentence. That’s because they’re required to enter a live-in mental health facility before returning to society. That facility—in Littlefield, Texas—is actually a former maximum security prison in the middle of a dirt field. “It comes as a surprise,” says Mary Sue Molnar, founder of Texas Voices for Reason and…

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Andrew Cuomo and the Myth of the Evil Perpetrator: Governor Cuomo’s recent scandal illustrates a myth about sexual abuse

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Source: psychologytoday.com 8/11/21 Key points Prior to the reports of sexual abuse, Governor Cuomo was a popular and trusted public figure. The Myth of the Evil Perpetrator suggests that we are psychologically biased to think of sexual abusers as only archetypes of evil. In reality, even trusted figures are capable of sexual abuse (and often abuse from these individuals is even more prolific). We must be cognizant of our bias against finding “good” people culpable for sexual abuse, and understand how this bias can affect victims. “To cheapen or ridicule…

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Fear in the Heartland

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Source: slate.com 8/9/21 How the case of the kidnapped paperboys accelerated the “stranger danger” panic of the 1980s. By Paul M. Renfro In the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 5, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch vanished while delivering copies of the Des Moines Register. Two years later, 13-year-old paperboy Eugene Wade Martin disappeared under virtually identical circumstances on the south side of Des Moines. These cases terrified residents of Des Moines and Iowa, many of whom believed that the Midwest—a “safe,” and implicitly white, place—ought to be immune from “this…

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New Bureau of Justice Statistics Study: 9:10 sexual assault victimizations were committed by someone the victim knew

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Sources: Floridaactioncommittee.org 8/10/21 bjs.ojp.gov A new study put out by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, the United States’ primary source for criminal justice statistics, supports that notion that more than 9 out of 10 sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. The study aggregates data from law enforcement in 20 states, as reported to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2019. Contrary to “stranger danger”, the myth that is the basis for most sex offender registration schemes, the study finds that the overwhelming majority of…

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TX: Family of Texas teacher suing police after sting operation

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Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 8/10/21 The family of a Texas teacher are suing a local police department, claiming that a detective drove him to suicide by unjustly arresting him as part of a sting operation. A 39-year-old junior high school teacher from Conroe, Texas, poisoned himself to death with carbon monoxide just days after being released from the Montgomery County jail in August 2019. At the time of his death, Peterson was facing a charge of online solicitation of a minor, which is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in…

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UT: Request from registered sex offender to change taxi driver ordinance raises bigger questions

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Source: stgeorgeutah.com 8/8/21 A local resident’s request to the Cedar City Council for an exemption to one of its ordinances has raised the question of when – or if – a convicted sex offender who has since served their time and been crime-free should be allowed to have the same freedoms to pursue a living as other citizens. The issue first came up in May when Enoch resident Jamie Sherman spoke to the City Council during the public comment portion of the agenda. Sherman told the council that he and…

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NJ: N.J. Supreme Court sides with sex offender seeking removal from Megan’s Law registry

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Source: nj.com 8/9/21 An amendment to Megan’s Law that tightens the rules on who can seek to be removed from a sex offender registry can’t be applied retroactively to crimes committed before the amendment was passed, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Monday. The case involved a man, identified by the initials J.D.-F., who was working as a manager at a McDonald’s in Hillsborough in 2001 when he was accused of improperly touching two teenage boys who worked there. He was convicted in December 2002 of criminal sexual contact and child…

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VA: Top Republican Donor Killed in Prison After Serving Nearly Two Decades for Sexually Assaulting His Own Children

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Source: msn.com 8/8/21 A once-lauded Republican donor and former businessman was killed in prison late Tuesday by another inmate, the Associated Press and a collection of news organizations reported this week. According to the Virginia Department of Corrections, Mark A. Grethen, 63, who was initially not identified by name, died “following an apparent attack by another inmate inside the victim’s cell.” The attack occurred at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, a for-profit prison operated by The GEO Group, Inc., a news release indicated. “The victim was serving a 26-year sentence for…

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FL: Three Disney World employees along with 17 arrested in child sex sting

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Three Walt Disney World employees in Orlando were along with 17 suspects arrested in a massive child sex sting in Florida. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests as part of ‘Operation Child Protector’ at a news conference on Tuesday. Collectively, the group was charged with 49 felony counts and two misdemeanors, including: traveling to meet a minor for sex, attempted felony battery, using a computer to seduce a child, and transmission of material harmful to a child. Officials said most of the suspects had communicated with undercover agents, posing as…

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Live Scan Application Form Available to Registrants

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Source: ACSOL Registrants who are uncertain regarding the penal code section of the offense for which they were convicted, the date of their conviction and other related information can obtain that information in a document called a Live Scan Report.  In order to obtain the report, a registrant must submit a completed application and their fingerprints to a store, such as UPS, and pay about $50.  The report is then mailed to the registrant only at the mailing address they provide. “Most people, including registrants, receive a copy of their…

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Apple to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse

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Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens. Apple unveiled plans to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused, including by governments looking to surveil their citizens. The tool designed to detected known images of child sexual abuse,…

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FL: Missing sex offender with dementia found after forgetting address while checking in for registry

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Source: fox35orlando.com 8/5/21 A sex offender who suffers from dementia was missing after forgetting his address while checking in with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. By Thursday morning, officials said he was found and is OK. Deputies say Dale ____, who does not have a permanent address, went to the sheriff’s office Tuesday to conduct his mandatory check-in for the sex offender registry, however, when he got there, he couldn’t remember the address where he has been staying. Deputies say they let him leave so he could find and write…

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WI: Wisconsin judge to plead guilty to federal child pornography charges

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Source: courthousenews.com 4/4/21 A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge charged in state and federal courts with multiple counts of possessing child pornography has agreed to plead guilty to the federal charges, according to a plea agreement approved by prosecutors and filed with the court on Wednesday. Under the agreement, Brett Blomme, 38, would plead guilty to two felony counts of child pornography possession, forego his right to a jury trial and forfeit any property or assets connected to his crimes. Each count carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence, five…

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FL: Federal judge rejects sheriff’s office’s attempt to dismiss lawsuit challenging ‘predictive policing’ program

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Source: wtsp.com 3/5/21 A federal judge rejected the Pasco County Sheriff’s motion to dismiss a case against Sheriff Chris Nocco’s Orwellian “predictive policing” program, the Institute of Justice said in a release Wednesday. In a lawsuit filed by Pasco County families back in March, Nocco was accused of punishing people “for crimes they have not committed and may never commit” – in a practice called predictive policing. Judge Steven D. Merryday issued an order denying the Pasco County sheriff’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “Today’s decision is an important step…

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CA: Californians can petition to be removed from the sex offender registry

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Source: abc10.com 9/4/21 In 1947, California was the first state to create a sex offender registry. Until July 2021, anyone convicted of being a sex offender in the state had to register for life with no exceptions. Now, for the first time, offenders can petition to be removed from the list. Tami Martin is the legislative director of Equality California, a LGBTQ civil rights organization that helped sponsor the legislation altering the sex offender registry. “The registry, I’m sure you know, has catastrophic consequences for people who are on it.…

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DOJ report: Agents used photos of FBI employees to lure sex offenders

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Source: upi.com 8/2/21 FBI agents have used photos of young female support staff employees posing as children or sex workers to lure sexual predators on social media websites, Department of Justice inspectors say. A report by the department’s Office of the Inspector General submitted late last week found that one agent used photos of FBI support employees who were not certified as undercover agents without getting consent from their superiors. DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz reported that the agent “said he was ‘fishing’ on social media sites but not recording…

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