In 2009 I sent several emails (thinking that I would remain anonymous) to someone under the age of 18. The emails did not contain anything even remotely obscene, threatening or overtly sexual. But since this person’s parent decided the email was “inappropriate” she contacted the police who initiated an investigation which included; firstly, identifying me through my computer’s IP address; secondly, the surreptitious placing of a gps tracking device on my vehicle; and thirdly, after assuming this person’s identity online, unsuccessfully attempting – for six weeks – to lure me…
Read MoreMore News
General Comments January 2015
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of January 2015. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreCanada: Border agents stopped 150 U.S. sex offenders from entering Canada
Canada Border Services agents stopped more than 150 U.S. sex offenders from entering Canada, in part due to a partnership with United States customs, the federal government announced Monday. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney made the announcement Monday morning at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport. In 2014 alone, information provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents helped CBSA agents refuse entry to 59 sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreSERIAL KILLINGS: Case puts sex-offender monitoring under fire
Sitting on her couch with her two dogs, Detective Laura Lomeli peered at a series of red GPS dots on her laptop, searching for clues about a young woman whose mangled, nude body had been discovered weeks before on a recycling facility’s conveyor belt. Full Article
Read MoreThe prince and the sex offender
Overlooking the Atlantic’s azure waters along the coast of Palm Beach, Fla., extends a seemingly endless line of megamansions, hidden behind tall walls. There, some of the planet’s richest people play host to glamorous balls and parties. But in one of those houses, tucked away on El Brillo Way and once guarded by winged gargoyles, such glamour collided with scandal. Full Article Related: Palace takes unusual step to deny Prince Andrew underage sex claims
Read MoreLiving with 290: Thrown Into A Pot
I am a registered sex offender…so called anyways, i was thrown into a melting pot with everyone else. Wheres my justice? I am 23 years old college graduate and engaged yet I was thrown into a county jail for 10 months fighting something that happened when i was in between the ages of 16 and 17 why’d it take 5 years to arrest me? and if i was a minor and so was she why didn’t we both get in to trouble? You know most of us young people grew…
Read MoreStatic-99: A bumpy developmental path
The Static-99 is the most widely used instrument for assessing sex offenders’ future risk to the public. Indeed, some state governments and other agencies even mandate its use. But bureaucratic faith may be misplaced. Conventional psychological tests go through a standard process of development, beginning with the generation and refinement of items and proceeding through set stages that include pilot testing and replication, leading finally to peer review and formal publication. The trajectory of the Static-99 has been more haphazard: Since its debut 15 years ago, the tool has been…
Read MoreFL: 10 Investigates gets results with in-depth series on sex stings
TAMPA BAY, Florida — A drawn-out struggle to obtain public records has started to yield results for 10 Investigates, as local agencies have started releasing limited records – and providing insight – regarding how law enforcement conducts controversial sex “predator” stings. Full Article
Read MorePA: Lifetime registration mandate for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional, Pa. Supreme Court says
A Pennsylvania law that requires juveniles who commit the most serious types of sex crimes to register with police for life is unconstitutional because it breeches the youngsters’ civil rights, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Full Article
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting – February 7 in San Diego
Please join us for the February meeting in San Diego on February 7th, 2015. The meeting will take place at California Western Law School, 225 Cedar Street, in Room LL31 and begin at 10 am. The meeting will cover general topics of interest, as well as specific issues pertinent at meeting time, in addition to offering invaluable opportunities to network with others affected by this issue, as well as activists and professionals. We welcome registrants, friends and family and other supporters to attend. The meeting is off-limits to media and…
Read MoreNY: NY may need to free sex offenders
State mental health officials are trying to decide whether they will have to release civilly confined sex offenders because of a recent ruling from New York’s highest court. The odds are some of the offenders will be freed. The more pressing question may be: How many? Full Article
Read MoreSex offender lottery winner target of lawsuit
MOUNT DORA, Fla. – The victims of a sexual predator who became a lottery millionaire are now suing to win his wealth. Timothy Dale Poole won $3 million on a Florida Lottery scratch-off ticket he purchased at a Mount Dora 7-Eleven store on Dec. 6. In 1999, Orange County authorities arrested Poole following allegations that he sexually battered a 9-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2002. Full Article
Read MoreA California law about reporting child porn puts psychotherapists in a bind
A middle-aged man feels a spark with a co-worker that he hasn’t felt in years with his wife and wants to start an affair. He remains faithful. A teenager longs to lash out in rage against her parents. She instead composes an angry song. A new mom in the throes of severe sleep deprivation and exhaustion feels a sudden urge to smother her child. She does not do so. A man feels aroused by sexual images of children. He never acts on those desires. Full Article
Read MoreIllusion of Safety
When two registered sex offenders wearing GPS tracking devices were arrested on suspicion of killing four women, the Orange County Register launched an investigation into how this could happen in a state in which Jessica’s Law proponents promised: “GPS monitoring could have saved Jessica Lunsford’s life.” The result was a series of articles documenting dangerous gaps in an overburdened system that promised more than it could deliver. Here is a story that pulls together what the Register discovered. Full Article
Read MoreDC: why did DC house a sex offender near women and children?
My goal in the coming year is to better understand why some things, in this brief and transitory life, are as they seem to be. Not to accept it, necessarily, but just to be able to make sense of it. For instance, I am unable to figure out why D.C. taxpayers are being called upon to provide shelter for a man who, according to Mark Segraves of WRC-TV (Channel 4), was charged with several sex offenses and assaults in Prince George’s County nine years ago, pleaded guilty and was sentenced…
Read MoreSan Bernardino County, Victorville revise sex offender ordinances after civil rights lawsuits
San Bernardino County and the city of Victorville have settled lawsuits with a civil rights attorney challenging the constitutionality of both municipalities’ sex offender ordinances. Victorville has agreed to revise its 8-year-old ordinance to conform with state law, which prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of a school or park and bans those on parole and whose victims were under the age of 14 from visiting public parks without the express permission of their parole agent. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Hillsborough’s controversial sex offender court is disbanded
TAMPA — For 14 years, criminal cases involving accused rapists, molesters and child abusers in Hillsborough County have been heard by a single judge in the sex offender division. Full Article
Read MoreOnce punished, criminals deserve a second chance
It was a troublesome Facebook post from a conservative talk show host at a Santa Rosa radio station. Promoting an upcoming segment, last week’s post read: “Former KGO Radio Talk Show Host _____ _____, convicted of child pornography seven years ago, is going to be released from federal prison in time for Christmas. Where will he go? Are your children safe? Is he truly rehabilitated as he claims?” Full Opinion Piece
Read More