With less than two weeks to the end of the legislative session, the state Sentencing Commission is asking Senate leaders to bring two potentially controversial proposals to a vote. SB 1113 would create a new sex offender registry board, which would set the length of time a person could be on the registry based on their risk of reoffending and not just the offenses they committed. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Connecticut
CT: Police awards questioned after sex offender honored
Some Town Council members are calling procedure into question after the Police Department dolled out a Citizen’s Award to a registered sex offender at its awards ceremony last week, recognizing him for his actions in thwarting car burglars in his neighborhood last July. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Low-risk sex offenders could come off CT registry
HARTFORD — The Judiciary Committee advanced a bill that would allow some low-risk offenders to come off the state’s public sex offender registry — a move that proponents said would make it easier for law enforcement to focus on high-risk offenders. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Lawmakers Debate Changes in Sex Offender Registry
[courant.com – 4/1/19] State legislators are debating whether they should make changes in the state’s sex offender registry, which was established in 1998. Former Republican state legislator Bob Farr of West Hartford and other advocates called Monday for approving the recommendations of the state’s sentencing commission on changes to the registry, which is currently “based on the offense and not on the risk of re-offending.” The current registry now lists convicted criminals for 10 years, 20 years or life. The registry started with 800 criminals who were placed retroactively…
Read MoreCT: Town repeals sex offender restrictions amid lawsuit
[apnews.com – 3/24/19] WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP) — Residents of a Connecticut town have repealed a local ordinance that banned registered sex offenders from local parks, schools, the town library and other public places amid a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law. The Windsor Locks law was approved 11 years ago amid concerns about threats to children’s safety by people listed on the state’s sex-offender registry. A federal lawsuit by an anonymous resident and an advocacy group alleges the ordinance violates sex offenders’ constitutional rights. Read more
Read MoreCT: Press Release from One Standard of Justice, Inc. re: Windsor Locks federal suit re: “Child Safety Zones”
[onestandardofjustice.org – 2/7/19] On March 27, 2018, Stamford attorney Audrey Felsen of Koffsky & Felsen filed suit in federal court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the town of Windsor Locks. The suit, on behalf of plaintiffs One Standard of Justice, Inc. and a Windsor Locks resident identified as John Doe, challenges the constitutionality of Windsor Locks’ “Child Safety Zones” ordinance. “This suit is for declaratory and injunctive relief from an overly broad ordinance that clearly violates the first and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution,” said Felsen. “The…
Read MoreCT: Windsor Locks to vote on repealing sex offender proximity ordinance
[journalinquirer.com – 3/15/19] Nearly a year after an advocacy group and an anonymous resident filed a lawsuit against the town over an ordinance barring sex offenders from designated public places, voters will have the option Tuesday to repeal that ordinance at a town meeting. The town meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The ordinance, enacted over 10 years ago, prohibits those on the sex offender registry from “child safety zones,” which include local parks, public schools, the library, the Town Hall gymnasium, and the senior center. There…
Read MoreCT: Commission Considers Changes to State Sex-Offender Registry
Connecticut is steps closer to potentially changing the way the state’s sex-offender registry is managed. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission is holding a public hearing Thursday and reviewing several proposed changes following a two-year study that began in 2015. “There was concern in the legislature, I think, that maybe Connecticut could find a better way to deal with sex offender registration, sex offender management,” Superior Court Judge Robert Delvin, chair of the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, said. Full Article
Read MoreCT: A Sex-Offender Synagogue President Resigns Despite Rabbi’s Support
[forward.com – 10/10/18] The president of a Connecticut synagogue resigned his position on Sunday, one week after his status as a registered sex offender became widely known in his community, bringing a #Metoo-era quandary about repentance and disclosure to a small suburb of Hartford, Connecticut. In 2008, Jason _________, now 53, went to meet with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, allegedly to take nude pictures of her. The girl turned out to be law enforcement officers conducting a sting, and he was arrested. After his arrest, he immediately…
Read MoreCT: Lawmakers Missed an Opportunity to Reform Sex-Offender Registry
[law.com – 6/28/18] Two years ago, the Connecticut Legislature held hearings on a variety of bills that would have modified the state’s sex offender registry. Rather than adopt any change, because of the complexities of our sex offender laws the Legislature asked the state Sentencing Commission to study the effectiveness of the current sex offender registration requirements. The commission was to report back by 2018. Under current law, when sex offenders have served their sentences and are released into the community, they must register on a public sex offender registry.…
Read MoreCT: Keep statute of limitations; and another ‘liberal activist’
[journalinquirer.com 5/4/18] Arguing recently for the repeal of Connecticut’s statute of limitations for sex offenses, Laura Cordes, executive director of the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, declared, “Justice should not have an expiration date.” But justice often does have an expiration date, and not because of statutes of limitations but rather because as time passes evidence inevitably is lost, memories fade, and witnesses die or disappear, making it impossible to mount a complete and effective prosecution or defense. Connecticut’s current statute of limitations for sex offenses is five years,…
Read MoreCT: Suit targets WL ban on sex offenders in public places
An anonymous resident and an advocacy group that represents accused and convicted sex offenders have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down the town’s 10-year-old policy barring people on Connecticut’s sex offender registry from a number of public places. Full Article
Read MoreCT: ‘Child Safety Zones’ Cast Too Wide a Net, Pardoned Sex Offender Says
HARTFORD, Conn. (CN) — Nearly 10 years after he was pardoned for sexually assaulting a 25-year-old woman, a Connecticut man claims in a federal complaint that he is barred from using the library and other public spaces because of an unconstitutional town law. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Mother of victims wants schools to know if students are sex offenders
[theday.com] A New Fairfield mother who said her daughters were sexually assaulted by a family friend is pushing for a law that would require the state to notify a school superintendent when a juvenile who lives in the district and will enroll in school there is a convicted sexual offender. “We have all seen the horrible and tragic events that are unfolding too often in school settings, when children with mental health issues are not given the help and attention they need,” said the woman, whose name is being withheld…
Read MoreCT: Nursing home can continue to service sex offenders, Judge says
[floridaactioncommittee.org] A Connecticut Superior Court Judge allowed a Rocky Hill Nursing Facility to remain open and servicing its patients, after the Town tried to shut it down, finding the fact that it provides care to prison parolees does not violate Rocky Hill’s zoning code. The Hartford Courant reported that “neighbors testified during the trial in August that the presence of sex offenders had caused unease in the neighborhood and real estate professionals testified that the facility had caused property values in the neighborhood to go down.” Read more
Read MoreCT: 5 arrested after potential sex offender sting in Guilford
[wfsb.com] GUILFORD, CT (WFSB) – Five men were arrested during a sting in Guilford this weekend that was searching for potential sex offenders. Between Friday and Sunday, the Guilford Police Department and the Veterans 4 Child Rescue Foundation conducted a regional/multi-jurisdictional joint/parallel sting known as “Not in my Town” initiative. The focus of the sting was to arrest “potential sex offenders” after investigators had “arranged sexual liaisons” with fictional children. The fictional children reached out to the possible suspect through various social media applications over the internet. “They came to…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: To Jail and Then to Hell
A town in Connecticut passed a new law this week that bans registrants from virtually all of its public sites, including parks, recreation centers, event centers, swimming pools, trails, and open space land. The new law also prohibits registrants from attending school events even if their children are participating in them. The town’s decision to ban registrants was made about the same time as their public schools prepared to participate in “The Great Kindness Challenge”, an international program meant to show that kindness matters. The irony of these two events…
Read MoreCT: Naugatuck puts its property off-limits to sex offenders
[rep-am.com] NAUGATUCK – Registered sex offenders will no longer be allowed on most borough-owned property. The Board of Mayor and Burgesses unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday that bans any person convicted of a sexual offense from frequenting borough-owned parks, schools, playgrounds,… Read more
Read More