Source: floridaactioncommittee.org The Florida Action Committee (FAC), a statewide nonprofit organization advocating for evidence-based criminal justice policies, today announced the filing of a sweeping federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s sex offender registration and restriction scheme as unconstitutional. Filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Case No. 4:26-cv-00388-MW-MJF), the lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, along with fifty counties and municipalities that enforce additional residency and presence restrictions. The complaint argues that Florida’s registry has evolved far…
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FL: Florida pastor cleared of child molestation charges says he forgives accusers
Source: roysreport.com 8/10/26 A Florida pastor accused in April of molesting four girls has been cleared of the criminal charges and says he forgives those he believes instigated the investigation that led to his arrest. Angelo Musicaro, 56, founding pastor of Worship-Life Church in New Port Richey, spent 10 days in custody before church members raised money for his $600,000 bond. The Florida state attorney’s office has now dropped all four felony charges. State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said that after testimony was given under oath, the facts did not warrant…
Read MoreFL: A Mixed Bag: Challenge to Florida’s “SEXUAL PREDATOR” Driver License Branding Dismissed—But Not on the Merits
Source: Florida Action Committee 7/31/26 The U.S. District Court has ruled against the plaintiff in a challenge to Florida’s requirement that the words “SEXUAL PREDATOR” appear prominently on the driver’s licenses of individuals designated as sexual predators. Bad news for this Plaintiff, obviously, but it’s not quite as bad as it seems. The plaintiff, Lane Kirkpatrick, argued that forcing him to carry and present a driver’s license branded with “SEXUAL PREDATOR” violates the First Amendment by compelling him to communicate the government’s message every time he shows his ID. The…
Read MoreUPDATED 7/17: Florida sex offender law: Swimming pool rules spark debate
Source: fox13news.com 7/15/26 Click here to watch the related video. Derek Logue speaks out at 04:34 [7/17/26] The Brief: A newly active Florida law bans sex offenders convicted of crimes against minors from living within 1,000 feet of a public swimming pool. Supporters call the law common-sense protection for children. Opponents claim it could increase offender homelessness and make them harder to track. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A controversial new housing restriction went into effect across Florida, prohibiting specific sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of public swimming pools and splash pads. New…
Read MoreFL: Registrants forced to sit in shopping center all night
Source: local10.com 6/29/30 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — By day, River Market is one of Fort Lauderdale’s busiest shopping destinations. Families dine outside restaurants. Customers shop at Whole Foods, Sephora, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lululemon, and other retailers along North Federal Highway between Sunrise and Oakland Park boulevards. But after sunset, Local 10 News documented something shoppers, employees and even the city’s mayor said they had no idea was happening. Over several nights, Local 10 observed multiple people released from prison remaining overnight at or near the shopping center. Several individuals currently…
Read MoreFL: Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempting to Meet A 13-Year-Old to Engage in Sexual Activity
Source: justice.gov 6/29/26 [ACSOL note: this is to show extreme sentencing in Florida] Ocala, Florida – Trevor _____ (57, Ocala) has been sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber to life in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and committing a felony offense involving a minor as a registered sex offender. A federal jury found Hedge guilty on March 3, 2026. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in May…
Read MoreFL: Registered sex offender in line to be next small town city manager
Source: pnj.com 6/17/26 [ACSOL note: this is behind a paywall but we are posting this for the possible value Florida residents may find in it] The small town of Jay is set to appoint a convicted sex offender as its new town manager. Current Town Manager Eric Seib has been working part time since September and on July 3 will officially retire from the position. April Watson, who was made operations manager by unanimous vote of the Jay Town Council on the same night Seib stepped back from full time…
Read MoreACLU Sues After Facial Recognition Falsely Identifies Florida Man as a Child Abductor
Source: reason.com 6/11/26 Police arrested and charged Robert Dillon with a heinous crime based on nothing more than a faulty image search. Police arrested a man in Florida for attempted child abduction in a town he had never visited, and the only evidence linking him to the crime was an AI facial recognition hit. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), he is now suing the officers and agencies who put him through it. In November 2023, police in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, responded to a call about an attempted child…
Read MoreFL: Will Florida create a new class of preschool kids labeled as sex offenders?
Source: aroundosceola.com 5/28/26 The parents of a student who attended a private Celebration Christian school say the state needs clearer rules and more transparency after alleging in a lawsuit that their daughter was repeatedly sexually abused beginning at age 4 by a classmate. The case has exposed what the family and experts describe as a troubling gap: when the child accused is too young to face criminal charges, there may be limited ability to ensure intervention or alert another school to serious safety concerns. Law enforcement and mental health experts…
Read MoreFL: Lawsuit filed challenging Putnam County Ordinance
Source: Florida Action Committee 4/23/26 Today, a federal class action lawsuit was filed against Putnam County, Florida, challenging their recently amended Ordinance that precludes persons on the sex offender registry from living within 500 feet of one another, among other restrictions. Attorneys Adele Nicholas, Mark Weinberg and Ron Kleiner are representing the Plaintiffs, who are registrants and property owners subjected to the Ordinance. This is the first of what will hopefully be a series of lawsuits challenging Sex Offender Residency Restrictions (SORRs) in Florida – putting an end to the…
Read MoreFL: DeSantis tells Florida House to impeach Tallahassee judge who released sex offender on bond
Source: floridaphoenix.com 3/31/26 Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on the Florida House to impeach a Tallahassee judge who briefly released a sex offender onto the streets, resulting in the killing of the man’s 5-year-old stepdaughter. “To my friends in the Florida House of Representatives, I don’t think what you’ve done is enough,” DeSantis said during a Tampa press conference on Tuesday. “You have the power, and you have sufficient numbers in your chamber, to impeach this judge, Tiffany Baker-Carper. “Until you start holding these judges accountable, they are gonna continue…
Read MoreFL: DeSantis signs Missy’s law requiring bond revocation for convicted offenders
Source: mysuncoast.com 3/31/26 SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two Florida bills aimed at increasing penalties in child sexual abuse cases and requiring custody for certain convicted defendants before sentencing. Speaking at the Tampa Bay Regional Operational Center at FDLE, DeSantis said the laws are meant to strengthen protections for children and prevent offenders from remaining free after conviction. One of the measures, House Bill 445, is known as “Missy’s Law.” DeSantis said the bill requires judges to remand certain convicted defendants to custody pending sentencing. DeSantis tied…
Read MoreFL: Florida’s new sex offender registrant restrictions will not improve public safety
Source: reason.org 4/30/26 Making it impossible for people to find a place to live after serving their sentences is harsh and counterproductive to preventing further crimes. Florida lawmakers are preparing to add new restrictions on where certain registered sex offenders are allowed to live, blocking them from housing near public pools, which include splash pads and a variety of water recreation attractions. While presented as a way of protecting children from predators, in truth, these new rules would push registrants farther into the shadows, into homelessness, and in some…
Read MoreFL: Child predators, AI abuse material penalties getting harsher in Florida
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…
Read MoreFL: 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…
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