[theguardian.com – 12/15/20] Michael Sheath has been counselling people with what he describes as “deviant sexual interests” for a long time. “I have been working with men who abuse children for 33 years. For the first 15 years I worked with child molesters and I still do that, but now I also work with downloaders of child abuse imagery and online groomers.” Sheath is principal practitioner at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, counselling men who have been arrested for looking at child abuse images. He is on the frontline of what…
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FL: Motion to Alter or Amend filed in Ex Post Facto Plus Case
[floridaactioncommittee.org 0 12/22/20] As promised, the Ex Post Facto Plus case has not seen the end of the road. Yesterday, attorneys for the Does filed a Motion to Alter or Amend the Order. A copy of the Motion is below, but in lay terms it argues that the very recent 11th Circuit Court Case upon which the court relied should be distinguished from this one and/or the case should proceed as to the current Plaintiff’s obligations under the changes to the registry made within the statute of limitations (4 years…
Read MoreCrow introduces bill to deny Congress members’ pensions for sexual misconduct
[gazette.com – 12/21/20] U.S. Rep. Jason Crow was among the representatives on Friday to propose denying members of Congress their annual retirement payments if convicted for sexual misconduct. “As a soldier I learned that leadership starts with the example you set. I have long believed that members of Congress must be held to the same standard as our men and women in uniform,” said Crow. “However current law gives a pass to those in Congress. Sexual abuse is a crime and we must ensure it is treated like one and…
Read MoreWA: UW Seattle to host homeless Tent City 3 again [except for sex offenders]
[kiro7.com – 12/20/20] SEATTLE — The University of Washington welcomed back Tent City 3, hosting up to 70 residents for the next three months. UW said the lower occupancy will allow for social distancing and other COVID precautions. “Welcoming back Tent City 3 aligns with UW’s public mission and its commitment to helping solve the challenges of our city, state and world,” said Sally J. Clark, director of regional and community relations in a direct message to the UW News. “While organized tent cities are not a solution to homelessness,…
Read MoreMI: ACLU calls for Whitmer veto on Legislature-approved changes to Sex Offender Registration Act
[mlive.com – 12/20/20] DETROIT – Approved changes to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act are unconstitutional and ineffective at stopping offenders, argues the state’s ACLU chapter in an appeal for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to veto. State lawmakers approved altering registration protocols for sex offenders during the Legislature’s Wednesday, Dec. 16 session, fulfilling a 4-year-old mandate from the U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal court ruled in 2016 that it was unconstitutional to impose new restrictions on people convicted before the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act was updated with added rules in…
Read MoreGA: Removing the Scarlet Letter
[lagrangenews.com – 12/15/20] Decades ago, our state established the Georgia Sex Offender Registry (SOR). The purpose of SOR is to protect our citizens from sexually dangerous predators by identifying offenders that present the greatest risk of sexually re-offending. However, many people who are registered with SOR should not be because they pose no danger to society. Read the full opinion
Read MoreLA: Legislators look at options to increase reliability of LA. sex offender registry
[houmatoday.com – 12/18/20] Legislators began Thursday looking at changes to state law that would address inaccuracies in the registry that alerts neighbors that someone convicted of sex and/or child predatory crimes lives nearby. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that the severity of the crime, called a tier, wasn’t accurate for 61% of the sex offenders tested. The information listed on the registry wasn’t updated in 21% of the cases. That could mean the public often doesn’t know when a predator is within their midst. It could also mean that the…
Read MoreCO: State Supreme Court bars multiple convictions based on quantity of pornographic images
[coloradopolitics.com – 12/14/20] The Colorado Supreme Court has clarified that no matter how many pornographic images an individual possesses, sexual exploitation of a child merits a single charge, which prosecutors had derogatorily deemed a “volume discount on child pornography.” Following the decision, multiple state legislators agreed that the guidelines for prosecuting the crime should spark a conversation given the court’s interpretation. “What does justice look like for child pornography, be it one image or 10 images or 1,000 images?” asked Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora. “All I have to say is it…
Read MorePakistan: Chemical Castration, Sex Offender Registry in Pakistan’s New Rape Law
[vice.com – 12/16/20] Rocked by intense protests after a violent gang rape in September, Pakistan’s president has approved a new anti-rape law that seeks to double down on sexual crimes against women and children in the country. Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 will give speedy trials to women and children, create a national registry of sex offenders, give privacy to victims and survivors, and also allow chemical castration of repeat sex offenders. Moreover, the consent of the convict will not be taken for executing castration, the discretion of which will be held…
Read MoreMI: Michigan Senate approves tightened restrictions in Sex Offender Registration Act
[mlive.com – 12/16/20] The proposed amendments to SORA in House Bill 5679 are: Giving sex offenders no more than three days to register or report status changes in person with local law enforcement. Requiring offenders to report all email addresses, social media names or other forms of “internet identifiers.” That would not apply retroactively to offenders prior to July 1, 2011, but anyone required to register after that date must comply. Requiring all telephone numbers and vehicles used by the offender to be reported. Previously, they didn’t need to report…
Read MoreCA: Orange County sheriff refuses to release 1,800 inmates after judge’s order: ‘Serious threat’ to community
[yahoo.com Fox News – 12/15/20] Sheriff Don Barnes, Orange County, Calif., reacts to judge’s order reducing prison population amid coronavirus pandemic. Fox Newscaster (at 3:40): “We don’t want anyone to get COVID, but we don’t want anyone murdered or molested”. Sheriff: “I have no intention of releasing them.” Watch the video
Read MoreCA: High-risk inmates aren’t prioritized in state’s early releases
[calmatters.org – 12/11/20] In summary: More than 7,500 prisoners sent home in the program — which aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 — would have been released within months anyway. Thousands with health conditions remain in prison, and the virus keeps spreading. In July, amid an epidemic of coronavirus cases, California’s corrections agency rolled out early-release programs touted as a solution to protect inmates at overcrowded prisons. But nearly all of the prisoners selected were scheduled to be released within months anyway, while many inmates with longer sentences remain…
Read MoreEngland: WW2 veteran, 97, spared jail for sex offences over fears of COVID
[yahoo.com – 12/11/20] A World War Two veteran has avoided jail for sexually assaulting five women because of fears he may catch coronavirus in prison. Richard ____, 97, walked free from court despite “passing the custody threshold” and was instead given a 16 month sentence, suspended for two years. He was also put on the sex offenders register for ten years. Read the full article
Read MoreMI: Feds sued over prison attack that killed sex offender, hurt 2 others
[detroitnews.com – 12/11/20] Detroit — Two federal prison inmates and the estate of a third are suing the government, claiming officials at a Monroe County lockup failed to prevent a 2019 attack on the sex offenders, one of whom was stomped and stabbed to death. Christian Maire, Michal Figura and Craig Evans were attacked in January 2019 in the East Unit of The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan. Maire was stomped and stabbed repeatedly with a shank before being thrown down a flight of stairs, prosecutors said. Figura and Evans survived the attack, although…
Read MoreIL: Hundreds of Southern Illinoisans are required to register as sex offenders. But are we any safer?
[thesouthern.com – 11/27/20] SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ sex offender registry, which now includes more than 32,000 people — most of them men, though some women, as well — has rapidly expanded since its first iteration in 1986. Then, it included four qualifying crimes. Today, there are more than 30 crimes that trigger mandatory registration, including some repeat misdemeanor offenses. In recent years, policy makers and advocates, both for offenders as well as victims, have been raising questions as to whether the registry, and the ever-increasing rules around it, really makes the…
Read MoreNY: An influx of Sex Offenders in New Paltz Causes Town to Tighten Reigns
[newpaltz.edu – 12/10/20] Following the influx of multiple sex offenders to a motel in New Paltz, the Town of New Paltz passed a law that would limit the number of sex offenders allowed to live in one building. Seven registered sex offenders moved into the Econo Lodge Motel in New Paltz between Oct. 10 and Nov. 2. Following the publication of an article notifying students of this, one more level three sex offender moved into the motel on Nov. 12, increasing the count to eight registered sex offenders: seven level…
Read MoreID: 9th Circuit Reverses Trial Court Rulings Regarding Ex Post Facto, Religious Freedom
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a federal trial court erred when it dismissed a case involving 134 registrants in Idaho who claimed that the state’s sex offender laws violated their civil rights. In its ruling today, the Court opened up the possibility that the Idaho laws at issue violated both the federal and state constitutions. One of the claims in the case is that the state’s sex offender laws violate the ex post facto provision of the U. S. Constitution. Many of the state laws at…
Read MoreMI: Michigan poised to double down on failed sex offender registry
[freep.com – 2020-12-10] In early 2012, more than eight years ago, five people challenged Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) in court, arguing that the registry branded them as dangerous “sex offenders” without any individual review. One was a man — we’ll call him John — who met a woman at a club open only to those 18 and older. They slept together and only later did he learn that she was actually 15. They fell in love, eventually married, and now have three kids. But due to her age, John…
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