Source: tallahassee.com 3/10/26 Florida lawmakers passed a bill to increase penalties for child sexual abuse crimes. The bill also targets AI-generated child sexual abuse material, making its creation and transmission a second-degree felony. It replaces the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” in state law. Florida lawmakers want to crack down on child sexual predators and AI child sex images or video. A sweeping bill approved Monday, March 8, by the Senate and approved by the House last week would dramatically increase penalties for child sex crimes and…
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FL: Bill upping prison time for child sexual predators heading to Senate floor
Source: floridapolitics.com 3/2/26 The legislation comes as Attorney General James Uthmeier has stepped up action against child sexual predators. A bill designed to increase prison sentences for child sex offenders is now heading to the Senate floor. The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee has advanced the measure, completing the Committee review process in the upper chamber. “This bill increases penalties and creates mandatory prison sentences for the most serious sex crimes, especially those involving children,” said Sen. Jonathan Martin, a Fort Myers Republican who sponsored the bill (SB 1750). “This deals with child pornography…
Read MoreNon-Punitive in Name Only: How Ellingburg v. United States Threatens Florida’s “Civil” Registry Model
Source: thewillardreport.substack.com 2/1/26 The Doctrine of Finality is the bedrock of the American criminal justice system—the silent promise that once a citizen pays their debt, the ledger is closed. But in Florida, that ledger is written in disappearing ink. For nearly thirty years, Tallahassee has perfected a system where the rules of the Florida sex offender registry change every legislative session, effectively re-litigating over 30,000 “closed” cases every January. Since 1997, the state has tightened the screws over 20 times, transforming this supposedly “civil” administrative tool into what the nation’s…
Read MoreFL: Lawmakers take another try at identifying what is ‘harmful to minors’
Source: floridaphoenix.com 1/27/26 Access by children to library materials could be at stake. A Florida House committee sent to the House floor a bill that would define how school library materials may be “harmful to minors,” building on a controversial 2023 law that led to removal of library books from schools based on objections from the public. The House Education & Employment Committee approved HB 1119, its second and final committee, despite concerns from the public, some lawmakers, and advocacy groups that the bill may be used to eliminate books…
Read MoreFL: Registrant ordered to move out of Florida home
Source: newsnationnow.com 1/24/26 CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — Michael Jonathan ______ was convicted on 17 counts of having child pornography on his computer. Court documents show he had more than 300,000 sexually explicit images of child pornography. Friday, he stood before Judge Julie Sercus to ask that he be allowed to live in his home while serving probation for his convictions. The state argued that there is a park and a daycare located in close proximity to the home Michael would like to remain in. His attorney said the park doesn’t…
Read MoreFAC Nationwide Call to Action: Oppose Massive Florida Homeless. Make Calls Now to Fight HB 45 / SB 212
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 1/15/26 [ACSOL encourages everyone to make some calls to fight this insanity] HB 45 and SB 212 are dangerous, extreme, and counterproductive. SB 212 would banish more than 30,000 Floridians from “being” within 200 feet of a body of water and both bills would make 80% of Florida uninhabitable, displacing thousands of families from their homes and causing thousands to lose stable employment. These bills undermine public safety by increasing homelessness, instability, unemployment, and monitoring challenges. The bills will: Push thousands into homelessness by making the majority of…
Read MoreFL: South Florida registered sex offender’s citizenship revoked: U.S. Attorney
Source: nbcmiami.com 1/20/26 A Peruvian-born registered sex offender who was living in South Florida has had his U.S. citizenship revoked after he obtained it by fraud, authorities said. Renzo William _______, 25, had his citizenship revoked and Certificate of Naturalization canceled, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Tuesday. Renzo, who had been living in Fort Lauderdale, was also sentenced to 100 days of home detention and one year of probation after pleading guilty to unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization, prosecutors said. Court records, on…
Read MoreFL: Zoning committee approves ordinance that allows Jacksonville daycare to reopen within 2,000 feet of sex predator
Source: news4jax.com 1/7/26 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Land Use and Zoning committee approved an ordinance that allows a day care to reopen within 2,000 feet of a sex predator. The current city code requires a 2,500-foot distance between the two. The request that the day care owner is making would shrink that distance to 1,980 feet, putting the offender just outside the radius. “There is a great need for day care in the neighborhood,” Paul Harden, the attorney for the day care, said. “This provides day care for folks who work…
Read MoreIL: Lakemoor man accused of creating homemade bomb with intent to blow up alleged sex offender
Source: lakemchenryscanner.com 1/7/26 Prosecutors say a Lakemoor man created a homemade explosive device, which required the bomb squad to respond, and they believe he intended to blow up an alleged sex offender. Joseph A. Savino, 43, of Lakemoor, was charged with one count of possession of an explosive or incendiary device, a Class 1 felony. The Lakemoor Police Department responded on October 18 to the 31800 block of Darrell Road in Lakemoor for a report of a burglary. Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Theis said a caretaker arrived at…
Read MoreFL: Questions about how Florida tracks sex offenders who do not have a permanent place to live
Source: winknews.com 12/26/25 The man arrested in connection with the disappearance of a teenager near Fort Myers Beach over the weekend has been released from jail after posting bond early Friday morning. Worden Bourn was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and providing drugs to a minor. He is also a registered sex offender. Bourn’s arrest has raised questions about how Florida tracks sex offenders who do not have a permanent place to live — a category known under state law as “transient” sex offenders. According to the Florida…
Read MoreFL: Florida’s new reporting system is shining a light on human trafficking in the Sunshine State
Source: theconversation.com 12/8/25 Most Americans imagine human trafficking as a violent kidnapping or a “stranger danger” crime – someone abducted from a parking lot or trapped in a shipping container brought in from another country. In fact, trafficking rarely takes this form. In most cases, traffickers spend months or even years building trust and creating emotional and economic bonds with their victims. They use a variety of coercion and control techniques such as emotional abuse, forced criminality, financial abuse, and physical and sexual abuse to entrap their victims. Meanwhile, the perpetrators are making…
Read MoreFL: Former Miami-Dade cop dead of apparent suicide days before child pornography sentencing
Source: nbcmiami.com 11/18/25 [ACSOL comment: Another tragic and unnecessary loss] Former Miami-Dade Police Sgt. James ____ died by apparent suicide in the Federal Detention Center-Miami Monday just days before he faced a minimum 15-year sentence for producing and possessing child sexual abuse videos, his attorney has confirmed to NBC6. The attorney, Michael Catalano, said the Bureau of Prisons informed him on Monday that James was found alone in the top bunk in his cell, dead of an apparent suicide by strangulation. It is the second apparent suicide of an inmate…
Read MoreFL: ‘Missy’s Law’ filed with hopes to prohibit the release of sex offenders while awaiting sentencing
Source: wctv.tv 11/18/25 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A Florida bill, intended to prohibit the release of sexual offenders on bail while they await sentencing, was filed Tuesday. “Missy’s Law,” filed by Representative Sam Greco, is named after 5-year-old Missy Mogle, who was found unresponsive at a southeast Tallahassee home in May. Since then, her mom, Chloe Spencer, and stepdad, Daniel Spencer, were both arrested after being accused of cruelly neglecting and abusing the young girl. … The legislation wrote that it would be “requiring a court to remand a person found guilty…
Read MoreFL: Florida to seek death penalty against child rapist; asks SCOTUS to reconsider execution precedent
Source: floridaphoenix.com 11/12/25 AG Uthmeier cites accusations against nanny who recorded himself molesting at least 5 children. While announcing that Florida will seek the death penalty for a 36-year-old nanny indicted for raping multiple young children, including a three-year-old, Attorney General James Uthmeier called on the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to reverse a decades-old decision declaring it unconstitutional to execute child rapists. Uthmeier stressed during a Brooksville press conference that Nathan _______, accused of videoing the rape of five children under 12 in Hernando County — with more rapes…
Read MoreFL: Registrant arrested for crossing a school parking lot (entrapment by geography)
Source: tapinto.net and FAC 11/10/25 MELBOURNE, FL – Melbourne police arrested a 46-year-old Cocoa man Nov. 6 after officers said he was walking through the parking lot of Melbourne High School in violation of a local ordinance restricting registered sex offenders from entering certain areas. Why was the man arrested near Melbourne High School? According to an affidavit signed by Officer Emily Renken, Renken and Officer McGaha were patrolling South Babcock Street at about 9:07 p.m. when they saw a man in a black hoodie and black shorts walking through the parking lot…
Read MoreFlorida action alert: Take action now to oppose HB 45 / SB 212
Source: Florida Action Committee [Janice’s note: Florida residents (people in other states can also take action), please take action now to stop these terrible bills] The Florida bill banning registrants from living within 1000 feet from public pools, beaches, lakes, and rivers will be taken up before the House Health Professions and Programs Subcommittee subcommittee in just under two weeks. We NEED our members to contact the legislators at the bottom of this message to express their opposition to this… Click here to take action
Read MoreFL: Florida arrest fuels debate over dropping the term ‘child pornography’ from state law
Source: cbs12.com 10/30/25 PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — Florida lawmakers are considering whether to strike the term “child pornography” from state law — replacing it with “child sexual-abuse material,” or CSAM. The push for change comes as a South Florida man faces more than two dozen felony charges for possessing and uploading explicit videos of children — files detectives say he called his “drug.” … The language debate The arrest comes as Florida lawmakers debate how these crimes should be defined under state law. Under current statute, Smith is charged…
Read MoreFL: Florida cases seeking death penalty for child sex abuse could test precedent in Supreme Court
Source: abajournal.com 10/30/25 Two Florida prosecutions could test the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in 2008 that held that the death penalty for child rape is unconstitutional. Prosecutors in Palm Beach County, Florida, filed notice earlier this month that they intend to seek the death penalty for Josue Mendez-Sales, and his roommate, Pablo Cobon-Mendez, who are accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports in a story published by the Tampa Bay Times. And in Putnam County, Florida, prosecutors indicated in June that they will…
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