AR: Bill to ban sex offenders from some Halloween activities dealt setback in committee vote

Senate Bill 10 — sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, and Rep. Rebecca Petty, R-Rogers — was knocked down by the committee after a lengthy discussion, but the vote was expunged, allowing its sponsors an opportunity to present it again later. SB10 would bar a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997 and who is assessed as a level 3 or level 4 offender from distributing treats to a child or from wearing a mask or other costume as part of a Halloween-related event.…

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AR: 15,800 names on Arkansas sex-offender rolls; state’s count second-highest in U.S.

[arkansasonline.com – 9/16/118] Arkansas has about 15,800 registered sex offenders — 526 offenders for every 100,000 residents — the second-highest total in the country based on population, recent national research shows. The manager of the state’s sex-offender registry says the numbers are misleading. “It’s not like we have 16,000 sex offenders roaming loose around Arkansas,” said Paula Stitz. “It’s more like 9,000.”   … there are 16,049 people registered in Arkansas’ sex-offender database, Stitz said. Of those, more than 3,100 are incarcerated, about 3,400 are now outside the state, and…

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AR: Here’s a helping hand – Right into a prison cell—or worse

[arkansasonline.com – 5/30/18] There are so many lessons to be drawn from Bobbie Gross’ tragic experience in trying to help her 17-year-old son that the challenge isn’t to describe just one but how to sum up the whole plethora of ills the young man fell into when left to the not-so-tender mercies of the State of Arkansas: It turns out that his mother, seeking to help him, made her first mistake when she filed a petition with a judge of Arkansas’ juvenile court system asking the court get her son…

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AR: Salesville, resident at impasse over sex offender sign, Nazi flags

A large sign identifying a sex offender — and apparently the controversial flags the resident has reportedly displayed in protest — will not be coming down, Mayor Tim Mayfield told a concerned businessman Tuesday night. The sign, maintained by the city and sitting in front of the Salesville Fire Department, identifies Charles Wade Floyd as a Level 4 sex offender and lists his address. Floyd, reportedly as a form of protest against the sign, has three Nazi flags and two Confederate flags displayed on his property along AR Hwy. 177…

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AR: Bill to Ban Sex Offenders from Museums

Rather than go see a movie, or hang out at home, today Kelly Gifford decided to take her son to a museum. “It’s a great opportunity for my son to have a good time while he’s learning,” Gifford says. She says she learned pretty quickly though that unlike a movie theater or her living room, museums and parks come with their fair share of distractions. “They’re kids. They’re going to run around,” she says. And perhaps nothing is scarier for a parent than the moment a child leaves their sight.…

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AR: School Checking Home School Residents Against Sex Offender List

For the first time any home in the Booneville School District where children are being home schooled is undergoing a check to verify no sex offenders live in the home. Though the Arkansas civil code 6-15-508, homeschooling is prohibited in a home where a sex offender lives. As a result Booneville Schools student resource officer Norman Wilder is using the legally required forms turned in at the administration building to check to see if any of the residents are registered sex offenders. Full Article

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AR: How State Handles Teen Sex Offenders

to one in three cases of child sexual assault will be at the hands of a teenager, and cases of teens with a history in the juvenile system assaulting younger children can lead to calls of tougher restrictions and more widespread notifications. In Arkansas, juveniles convicted of sex offenses are treated differently than adults, with a focus on rehabilitation to make offenders less likely to reoffend. But some victims’ families are saying they don’t understand how the system works or why we don’t have a count of youth offenders across…

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AR: Judge resigns after allegations that he offered young men reduced sentences in exchange for sexual favors

Once, the judge allegedly asked a man to pose like Michelangelo’s Statue of David in exchange for $300. He allegedly instructed another man to strip naked and bend over, handcuffed, inside an Arkansas courtroom while he snapped photographs, up close. And on multiple occasions, he allegedly sentenced men — often young and poor — to illegitimate “community service” that ultimately led them to the judge’s home or office, posing for more suggestive photographs as “proof” they had completed their work. Full Article Related Is Predator Judge Joseph Boeckmann The Most…

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AR: Sex Offender Database Violates Federal Law

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas is violating federal law with the way it tracks certain sex offenders. It has cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars and some say is putting the public in danger. The Adam Walsh Act was passed in 2006. Nearly 10 years later, Arkansas is non-compliant in three major areas. They are: failing to report certain juvenile offenders, establishing a process for getting off the registry and not listing all offenders online. Full Article

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AR: Sex Offender Registry – Address Debate

(KARK) — CONWAY, AR — An Arkansas advocacy group is fighting to get law enforcement agencies to remove the full addresses of sex offenders on websites. The group wants the numbers blocked, but not everyone is budging. Carla Swanson — with Arkansas Time after Time — sent out 900 letters to registered sex offenders with listed addresses on sheriffs’ websites. She says a couple hundred came back to her because the offender no longer lived there. Swanson says that proves the system isn’t very effective, but that’s not her only…

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AK: How We See It – Sex Offender Laws Need Another Look

Is it assuming too much to believe any substantial changes to the state’s sex offender laws is dead on arrival at the state Legislature? Will they even arrive? Arkansas lawmakers approved creation of a sex offender registry in 1997, joining other states and the federal government in establishing new penalties and handling for people convicted of sex-related crimes, particularly against children. These laws varied state to state, but had at least a couple of similarities. They require convicted sex offenders to register with local and state authorities so their whereabouts…

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AR: Advocates Question Effectiveness, Fairness of Sex Offender Registry

Carla Swanson doesn’t object to Arkansas’ sex offender registry, but she thinks it should contain a lot fewer than the 14,000 names currently listed. “So many on the registry are not a threat to society,” Swanson said. “I’m against it being flooded with so many sex offenders” the predators can’t be adequately tracked. Experts and some studies agree with Swanson, director of Arkansas Time After Time, an organization formed in 2010 to advocate for reforming the sex offender laws. Full Article

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Do sex offender restrictions work?

JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) – When we talk about sex offenders emotion tends to take over.  Call it a protective instinct.  We don’t want them living near our children or where our children go to school or play. The thoughts are terrifying to any parent.  But as we found out, those fears, don’t match the facts. “There is no data, according to my knowledge, that sex offender registry restrictions prevent sexual assault,” Sheri Flynn told Region 8 News. Full Article

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AR: Police Check On Sex Offenders As Spring Break Looms

Multiple agencies in Sebastian and Crawford counties conducted a sex offender compliance operation this week in preparation for keeping the community safe during spring break, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Operation “Safe Break” confirmed compliance with 452 offenders, checking on them to make sure they are following all sex offender requirements, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Authorities made four arrests during the operation, which involved non-compliance with sex offender registration. Officers will also be seeking warrants on another 10 offenders not arrested during the operation but who appear…

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AR: Sex Offenders, Experts Question Effectiveness of New Restrictions

LITTLE ROCK, AR – After serving their time, some sex offenders can be on another list for the rest of their lives. Convicted sex offenders are required to register with their local law enforcement office for at least 15 years, often much longer than that. Now some registered sex offenders and their families are saying this branding is doing more harm than good. Full Article

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