Source: reason.com 5/1/24 Victor Manuel Martinez Wario was jailed for a total of five days, spending three of those in special housing for sex offenders. In 2021, Whittier, California, police arrested Victor Manuel Martinez Wario on an outstanding warrant related to a 2012 child molestation conviction. The only problem? Police had arrested the wrong person. However, despite Wario frequently telling police he didn’t have any warrants out for his arrest, they didn’t bother to check—leaving Wario imprisoned for five days. Now, Wario is suing, claiming that police negligence amounted to…
Read MoreTag: California
CA: Dozens arrested in Sacramento County child sex crimes sting operation
Source: kcra.com 4/22/24 One suspect was a San Jose fire captain, another was a Sunday school teacher and one was a US postal service employee SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. —Two dozen men were arrested in a three-day sting operation in Sacramento County, according to the sheriff’s office. The operation was aimed at finding people setting up meetings with children under the age of 13 with the intention of having sex with them. The sheriff’s office said the suspects range from men in their 20s to 70s. Officials said several of the…
Read MoreCA: Gov. Newsom signals support for bill targeting consumers of child sex trafficking industry
Source: kcra.com 4/18/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signaled his support for a proposal targeting the consumers of child sex trafficking in California, but he suggested he has concerns about changes that were abruptly made to the proposal this week. “I look forward to getting this bill on my desk in a way that I’ll sign it, but we have some work to do,” Newsom said in a virtual news conference Thursday in response to KCRA 3’s question on the proposal. Republican State Senator Shannon Grove introduced the…
Read MoreCA: Bill to make purchasing children for sex a felony in California moves forward, but with some changes
Source: kcra.com 4/16/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —A key California Senate committee on Tuesday moved forward with a proposal to make purchasing a child for sex a felony in the state, but it was not necessarily a smooth process for the bill’s author. Because of that, it raises new questions about the future of the proposal. Democratic committee members forced Republican author State Sen. Shannon Grove to make changes to Senate Bill 1414 to only allow the felony classification for the purchase of minors under the age of 16. The Senate Public…
Read MoreCA: Purchasing a child for sex is a misdemeanor in California, lawmakers to debate classifying it as a felony
CLICK HERE FOR UPDATED INFORMATION (as of 4/16/24) Source: kcra.com 4/13/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —California lawmakers next week are set to debate a proposal that would ramp up the consequences for consumers of the child sex trafficking industry. Under California law, purchasing or soliciting a child for sex is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail, or a minimum of two days in jail, and a $10,000 fine. Republican State Sen. Shannon Grove is trying to change that with SB 1414, which would classify…
Read MoreCA Dept. of Justice Agrees to Reduce Some Tier Assignments
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) has agreed to reduce tier assignments for individuals convicted of an attempted offense. That agreement has been formalized in an order issued by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge this week. “This is a significant victory for those convicted of an attempted offense,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “In the past, CA DOJ assigned those people to the same tier as if they had completed their offense. As a result, thousands of registrants became ineligible to petition for removal from…
Read MoreCA: Woodland serial sex offender receives multiple life sentences
Source: kcra.com 3/26/24 [ACSOL is posting this as an example of extreme sentences] A Woodland man received multiple life sentences for the sexual assaults of four minor female victims, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. On Monday, 30-year-old Miguel ___ was sentenced to two indeterminate life sentences in state prison, totaling 30 years, with an additional term of 10 years after his life sentence is served. In January, Miguel pled guilty to three counts of committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under 14 for three…
Read MoreCA: Victim was carjacked, kidnapped, assaulted in Central California by registered sex offender, police say
Source: cbsnews.com 3/21/24 [ACSOL is posting this article to show how the actions of one registrant can negatively impact our efforts for justice] ELK GROVE – A person of interest in a kidnapping case out of Madera has been arrested in Elk Grove, police announced Wednesday. City of Madera police were looking for 54-year-old Otis McKinzy, a parolee and registered sex offender. Police say McKinzy was living out of his car in Madera and was staying on the streets near the victim’s home near Yosemite Avenue and L Street. Early…
Read MoreCA: A Beverly Hills middle school is investigating students sharing AI-made nude photos of classmates
Source: nbcnews.com 2/27/24 Students at a middle school in Beverly Hills, California, used artificial intelligence technology to create fake nude photos of their classmates, according to school administrators. Now, the community is grappling with the fallout. School officials at Beverly Vista Middle School were made aware of the “AI-generated nude photos” of students last week, the district superintendent said in a letter to parents. The superintendent told NBC News the photos included students’ faces superimposed onto nude bodies. The district did not share how it determined the photos were produced…
Read MoreAppellate Court Reverses Denial of Petition (Good News!)
Source: ACSOL The Second Appellate District Court today issued a decision reversing a trial judge’s decision to deny a petition filed on behalf of a California person required to register. As a result of this decision, the trial court judge must grant that petition which will in turn terminate the person’s requirement to register. “Today’s decision is the third appellate court decision reversing a trial court judge’s decision to deny a petition,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “In all three decisions, the appellate court found that the District Attorney…
Read MoreCA: People With Criminal Records Should Not Have to Hire a Lawyer Just to Get a Job
Source: truthout.org 2/4/24 State laws are restricting people with convictions from working as nurses, counselors and janitors. Finding work can be difficult for anyone, but Fernando Herrera faces an extra challenge. California has banned him for life from his dream job as a firefighter because of two felonies he committed as a teenager. Herrera went to prison for assaults he committed at ages 14 and 15. But he took responsibility for his actions and turned his life around. He worked as an unpaid firefighter while in prison and found his…
Read MoreCA: New California bill proposes law change to stop transient release of sexually violent predators
Source: cbsnews.com 2/2/24 ROCKLIN — Outrage in Placer County over the placement of a legally designated sexually violent predator (SVP) was met with a possible solution Friday put forward by Republican Assemblyman Joe Patterson of Rocklin. Patterson introduced a new bill looking to ban all release of SVPs as transients into California communities. He wants to strengthen the definition of acceptable housing when these offenders are released from state hospitals after they complete their mandated treatment. “If they are going to be released, they have to be released in a…
Read MoreCA: A Constitutionally Dubious California Bill Would Ban Possession of AI-Generated Child Pornography
Source: reason.com 1/26/24 The proposal seems to conflict with a Supreme Court ruling against laws that criminalize mere possession of obscene material. Back in 2016, a study found that it was increasingly difficult for subjects to distinguish between actual photographs of people and computer-generated simulations of them. The researchers suggested that development would complicate prosecution of child pornography cases. That concern has been magnified by rapid improvements in artificial intelligence, prompting a California bill that would, among other things, make it a felony to possess virtual child pornography when it…
Read MoreCA: Appellate Court Overturns Trial Court’s Denial of Petition
Source: ACSOL The Second District Court of Appeals has issued a decision that overturns a decision by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denying a registrant’s petition for removal from the registry. According to today’s appellate court decision, the trial judge’s decision was improper because the District Attorney failed to prove that the registrant poses a current danger to public safety. “This decision is very important because it upholds a prior appellate court decision, People v. Thai, which ruled that the burden of proof is upon the District Attorney, not…
Read MoreCA Survey: Did CDCR spend your parolee $200 release allowance for you?
Source: rootandrebound.org and prisonerswithchildren.org [ACSOL’s comment: CA parolees, ex-parolees, and supporters, please take a few moments to take this survey share your personal experiences with CDCR spending your parolee $200 allowance.] From: Claudia J. Gonzalez, cgonzalez@rootandrebound.org As advocates for justice and fairness, we need your help to address an ongoing issue affecting individuals released or paroled from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) institutions. By law, individuals leaving CDCR facilities are entitled to a $200 release allowance known as ‘Gate Money.’ Unfortunately, there’s a concerning practice within CDCR where…
Read MoreChange IS afoot at CASOMB – Occasional Musings by the President of ACSOL, Catherine L. Carpenter
Occasional Musings by the President Change IS afoot at CASOMB By Catherine L. Carpenter President, Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws Slowly, change is taking place at California Sex Offense Management Board (CASOMB). It is not change with a capital “C,” nor is it the widespread overhaul ACSOL is demanding. But even small positive changes are important in an advocacy movement. So, I want to take a moment to celebrate the small, but powerful shift I witnessed at this week’s CASOMB board meeting. On Thursday, January 18, I attended the…
Read MoreCA: Number of CA Registrants Continues to Decline
Source: ACSOL The number of individuals required to register in California continues to decline, according to a report made by the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) during the January 18 meeting of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB). Specifically, the number of individuals required to register decreased by 896 from 105,738 to 104,842 between November 2023 and January 2024. Of that total, there are 76,575 registrants in the community of whom 19,789 are in violation due to registration issues. There are also 6,503 individuals required to register who…
Read MoreCA: CASOMB Issues Report Proposing Changes to Tiered Registry Law
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) has issued a report which recommends to the state legislature several changes to the Tiered Registry Law. If the legislature adopts these changes, thousands of individuals required to register who are currently ineligible to petition for removal from the registry will become eligible. However, no one will be automatically removed from the registry if the legislature adopts these changes. The largest group of registrants who would be helped by these changes are those convicted of felony possession of child pornography. The members of…
Read More