ACSOL will conduct its annual conference on Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18, 2021. Similar to its conference last year, this year’s conference will be held virtually using Zoom technology that will allow individuals to choose between audio only or audio and video participation. “We are pleased to announce that Jill Levenson, PhD, has agreed to make a keynote presentation at this year’s conference,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Dr. Levenson is a nationally acclaimed expert whose research has concluded that sex offender registries are ineffective and that…
Read MoreMore News
IL: Illinois House bill would change sex offender residence requirements
[wandtv.com – 3/18/21] SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – A bill moving through the Illinois House of Representatives would change how close a registered sex offender could live to a school, playground, or childcare facility. HB3913 would amend the Unified Code of Correction and allow a registered sex offender to reside within 250 feet of any the restricted facilities. State law currently requires they live 500 feet. The bill sponsored by Rep. Camille Lilly and Rep. Kelly Cassidy would also remove a weekly requirement that a registered sex offender must register their address…
Read MoreNC: Pasquotank Co Sheriff’s Office partnered with U.S. Marshals to conduct sex offender operation
[wavy.com – 3/18/21] ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – On Monday the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the United States Marshals Service to conduct a Sex Offender Enforcement and Compliance Operation. According to authorities, the purpose of the operation was to ensure that the eighty registered sex offenders in Pasquotank County were in compliance with state laws, and the Adam Walsh Act. The Adam Walsh Act is intended to help to protect children from sexual exploitation and violent crime. The compliance investigations included confirming the residency of each registered sex offender,…
Read MoreIA: Iowa Capitol Digest: Lawmakers discuss the sex offender registry, traffic speed and housing
[nonpareilonline.com – 3/18/21] The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced legislation that would require any individual on a sex offender registry in another state who moves to Iowa to be placed on Iowa’s sex offender registry for as long as they are required in the other state, or by Iowa law, whichever is longer. Sen. Zach Whiting, R-Spirit Lake, said state law enforcement officials expressed concern that some individuals may have moved to Iowa in order to avoid other states’ registry requirements. House File 201 already passed the House, 88-0, and is…
Read MoreFL: Florida Senate votes to close sex offender loophole
[sfchronicle.com – 3/18/21] TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A loophole in Florida’s sexual offender registration law would be closed under a Senate bill unanimously passed Thursday in response to a child molester who didn’t have to register because he didn’t pay a court-ordered fine. A judge ruled last year that Ray La Vel James of Tampa, who spent 12 years in prison after being convicted of molesting two girls at a public pool, didn’t have to register as a sex offender because the law states registration isn’t required until a sentence…
Read MoreAction Alert for CA: Oppose Senate Bill 615 by Writing
UPDATED NEWS: CA Senate Bill 615 Temporarily Suspended Please write to oppose California Senate Bill 615, which would harm the LGBTQ community! Senator Melissa Melendez (Republican, Riverside) has introduced a bill, that if enacted into law, would significantly reduce the benefits of former Senate Bill 145, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (Democrat, San Francisco). Specifically, the Senate Bill 615 would require anyone convicted of committing certain sexual acts with a minor more than three years younger to register as a sex offender. The existing law, established in former Senate Bill…
Read MoreNumber of Total CA Registrants Increases; Homeless and Registrants in Violation Decrease
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) reported today that the number of registrants in California has increased slightly, from a total of 108,106 to a total of 108,189, during the past month. In addition, the number of registrants living in the community has increased from 82,526 to 82,585. There were slight decreases, however, in the number of registrants who are in violation (from 18,565 to 18,519) and the number who are homeless (from 6,994 to 6,938). CASOMB also reported that there are 7,244 registrants currently on parole who are…
Read MoreAcademy Expels Registered Sex Offender Adam _____ After Variety Investigation
[variety.com – 3/17/21] After a story in Variety in November exposed the fact that registered sex offender — and noted cinematographer — Adam ____ has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2007, the organization has taken action and removed him. An Academy source confirmed to Variety that Adam ____ is no longer a member. When asked for a comment, a representative for the Academy did not immediately respond. Adam ____ also appears no longer to be in the American Society of Cinematographers, an…
Read MoreMN: Upcoming sex offense bills
[leg.mn.gov] Minnesota State Legislature bill search by “Crimes and Criminals-Sexual Offenses” The following is a partial list of proposed bills / laws regarding sex offenses that could possibly be up for a vote this legislative session. Use the link above to do a current search. 1. SF1730 / No HR introduced – Sex trafficking of a child added to the definition of “Substantial Child Endangerment” 2. SF1466 / HF409 – Terminating parental rights of the perpetrator for any child conceived due to the commission of a sexual conduct crime. This…
Read MoreNew Zealand: Ex-NZ First MP Darroch Ball, advocating for victims, blasts ‘out of touch’ Greens for opposing child sex offender list
[newshub.co.nz – 3/17/21] Former NZ First MP Darroch Ball, who advocates on behalf of victims, has described the Greens as “out of touch” for opposing the registration of child sex offenders. Nearly 600 child sex offenders will be put back on the national register after MPs rushed through urgent, retrospective changes on Wednesday to the Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Government Agency Registration) Act 2016. The Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the law was not clear enough when it came to people who committed an offence before it came…
Read MorePatty Wetterling
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/17/21] Dear Florida Action Committee Members and Advocates, So much respect is deserved by Patty Wetterling. In 1989, Patty’s son Jacob was abducted and killed near their home in Minnesota. Three years after Jacob’s abduction, Minnesota enacted a registry in his memory and a couple years after that, the federal government did the same. In fact, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act was the federal law that proceeded the Adam Walsh Act and was the original federal law that required states to…
Read MoreUse science, not stigma, to determine the next steps for Nushawn Williams (Commentary)
[syracuse.com – 3/16/21] Dr. William M. Valenti is a New York state-licensed physician in practice in Rochester. He has worked in HIV medicine, research and HIV health policy since 1981. Anne Kelsey is a staff attorney at the Center for HIV Law and Policy, in Brooklyn. In 1999, Nushawn Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape and two counts of reckless endangerment for having sex while HIV positive at the age of 19 and 20 years old. He served the full sentence of 12 years, but days before…
Read MoreUK: People Are Calling For Stalkers To Have A Register Like Sex Offenders
[tyla.com – 3/16/21] Following increased calls for the UK government to introduce greater safety measures for women, a Change.org petition is calling for a stalkers’ register. Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service founder Laura Richards started the petition which has accumulated over 232,000 signatures. “We need to act now to save lives by protecting women from serial stalkers and domestic violence perpetrators by extending the Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements to ensure that police, prison and probation services pro-actively identify, track, monitor and manage serial perpetrators,” explains Laura in the petition’s description.…
Read MoreKY: Senate panel advances bill supporting child sex-abuse victims
[forwardky.com – 3/16/21] A bill that would extend the statute of limitations for misdemeanor sex offenses involving minors from five to ten years after their eighteenth birthday is progressing through the Legislature. Written by Nadia Ramlagan of Kentucky News Connection Supporters of House Bill 472, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Bechler, R-Marion, said it will help more survivors be heard and their perpetrators held accountable. Nationwide, one in four girls and one in thirteen boys will experience sexual abuse, and 34% of all victims are younger than 12, according to data…
Read MoreIN: Bill would allow adults to be charged for sex crimes they committed years earlier as minors
[indystar.com – 3/16/21] Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow courts to charge people over the age of 21 as adults for child molestation acts they committed when they were teenagers. Supporters say they are trying to address an unintentional gap in Indiana law. They say there is no way to criminally convict those who are over 21 years old for child molestation acts they committed as teenagers. “There’s a gap in the law where the perpetrator has no accountability,” said David Powell, a representative from the Prosecuting…
Read MoreAL: Mill Street tent camp residents concerned over relocation
[whnt.com – 3/16/21] HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Several residents of a tent camp on Mill Street are expressing their concerns over the forced move to a different location. Some homeless Huntsville residents have until the end of the week to move as the city works on flood mitigation on Mill Street. While some may transition to service centers, many won’t or can’t. Instead, they will be moved to another tent camp on Derrick Street, but that presents another problem. People living at the Mill Street tent camp say there are several…
Read MoreCA: Old age not reason enough to release sex offender, state court rules
[sfchronicle.com – 3/16/21] Earl _____ has had multiple convictions for child molesting, the last one in 1988. After being held for 20 years in a state mental hospital awaiting a verdict on whether he should be confined as a “sexually violent predator,” _____ argued that, at age 74, and with no record of violence for many decades, he is too old to be dangerous. A state appeals court was unpersuaded. “While a person may ‘slow down’ with age, it does not necessarily follow that interest in sexual deviancy slows down.…
Read MoreIN: Annual Fee for Sex Offender Registration introduced in Vigo County
The Vigo County Council approved an ordinance establishing fees for sex offenders. The ordinance will set a $50 annual fee for sex or violent offender registration and a $5 for each time a sex or violent offender registers an address change. Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer says that Sheriff Plasse approached the County Commissioners with this idea last year. COVID-19 pushed it back a bit, but he says he’s happy the County was able to get this passed. Full Article
Read More