[actionnewsjax.com – 2/19/20] JACKSONVILLE,, Fla. — A local day care opened in a neighborhood surrounded with registered sex offenders and predators. An Action News Jax investigation found people convicted of sex crimes now live less than 1,000 feet from Bella Childcare, which started enrolling children in January. A viewer, who didn’t want to give his name, reached out to Action News Jax to express concerns because he provides transitional housing for sex offenders nearby. The transitional house is on Walnut St., which is right around the corner from Bella Childcare.…
Read MoreTag: Florida
FL: Florida can’t bar felons from registering to vote over fees and fines, court rules
[cbsnews.com – 2/19/20] Florida cannot bar felons who served their time from registering to vote simply because they have failed to pay all fines and fees stemming from their cases, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tallahassee federal judge’s preliminary injunction that the implementation of Amendment 4 – approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 to allow most felons who served their time to regain the right to vote – amounted to an unfair poll tax that would…
Read MoreFL: NPR Station to discuss sex offender issues at 1:00PM today.
Today at 1:00PM on South Florida’s NPR affiliate 91.3, they will be running a story on sex offenders. For those in the South Florida area, you can listen live on your radio. For those out of the area, you can stream it live online from https://www.npr.org/ or search for WLRN 91.3 HD1 https://www.wlrn.org/topic/radio. FAC Announcement
Read MoreFL: Florida House bill would require background checks for delivery workers
[orlandoweekly.com – 1/9/20] Background checks would be required for delivery employees after the murder of a 75-year-old Boca Raton woman in August, under a bill filed Tuesday by Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach. Caruso’s proposal (HB 1129) would require all home-delivery workers to undergo background checks that include a search of a multistate criminal database and a search of the National Sex Offender Public Website, which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The checks would be required “regardless of whether such person, employee, or agent intends to enter…
Read MoreFL: Cape Coral police identify mother, son found dead in home; son was registered sex offender
[news-press.com – 12/4/19 -Shooting victim shamed] The bodies of a man and his mother were identified as those found Tuesday morning in a northwest Cape Coral home. Cape Coral police identified them as _______________.. Police said the investigation remains active. ___________ is a registered sex offender, listed as living at 2617 NW 9th St., on the Florida Sex Offender registry. He was convicted in 2012 of lewd or lascivious conduct on a person younger than 16. A crime scene cleaning crew member removes his environmental suit at a house in the 2600…
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade uproots sex offender camp yet again. Does harsh law really make public safer?
The latest eviction order came earlier this month: Some 70 paroled child sex offenders, now living in a flimsy village of tents, cardboard boxes and rusty campers in an industrial zone just east of Miami International Airport, were told they had to find a new home — yet again. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Judge rules Pinellas detective, prosecutors lied in child porn case. Defendant could go free
[tampabay.com – 11/21/19] A 63-year-old man facing charges of lewd and lascivious molestation and possession of child pornography could go free after a judge found that Pinellas sheriff’s detectives and Pinellas-Pasco prosecutors lied to obtain a search warrant in the case. The Tampa Bay Times obtained a Nov. 1 order written by Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge William Burgess III in which he found law enforcement officials engaged in a “ruse” to obtain a search warrant for one crime that they used to obtain evidence to prosecute other crimes. “Had it not…
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade County closing down homeless camp while promoting homeless awareness week
[local10.com – 11/18/19] MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A group of people living in a Miami homeless camp is being told to leave. This is happening in the middle of Homeless Awareness Week. … It’s now so large that the county is deeming it a sanitary nuisance and a safety issue, sending cease and desist notices to dozens who call the street home. The order comes into effect as the county is promoting its hunger and homelessness awareness week, asking the public to be more considerate of residents without roofs over…
Read MoreFL: Inmate gets wish, sentenced to death for third Florida murder
[newsherald.com – 11/18/19] Rocky Ali Beamon, a three-time killer who publicly professed his hatred for sex offenders, had his wish granted Friday when he was sentenced to death for the 2017 murder of 27-year-old Nicholas Anderson. Beamon had been previously sentenced to die on Jan. 28 for killing a fellow inmate in 2012 at Apalachee Correctional Institution in Jackson County. He had pleaded guilty to the crime and waived his right to trial. … In May of 2018, Beamon wrote a letter to 14th District Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson…
Read MoreFL: Florida Sheriff’s Association says Halloween initiative targeting sex offenders was a success
[wtsp.com – 11/12/19] LARGO, Fla. — The Florida Sheriff’s Association is happy with the Halloween initiative to keep kids safe during trick or treating and related events. The operation involved 18 counties that targeted sexual offenders and predators to ensure that they followed the law. This involved a three-day operation that included physical checks on every sexual offender/predator to ensure they are properly registered and in compliance. … Hours dedicated to this operation: 774 hours Read how they were successful [in huge overtime pay]
Read MoreFL: Bringing Sense to Sex Offender Laws [Audio recording]
[Miami Law Explainer on soundcloud.com – 10/28/19] In the decade since the national shame of a colony of sex offenders made homeless by draconian residency restrictions, how far has the city and nation moved in finding humane and successful rehabilitation? Miami Law’s director of Tenants’ Rights Jeffrey Hearne parses the depressing lack of progress. Recorded October 28, 2019. Listen to the recording
Read MoreFL: Florida Cops Went to Absurd Lengths to Entrap Man Who Showed No Interest in Underage Sex
[reason.com – 10/21/19] How do you catch a predator in Sarasota, Florida? You create one. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is going to “outrageous lengths” to make law-abiding lonely guys into sex offenders. That’s according to Noah Pransky, a fearless journalist who has been covering Florida’s addiction to entrapment for years. In September, SCSO arrested 23 men for allegedly soliciting underage girls for sex. Pransky’s most recent piece in Florida Politics chronicles the elaborate back and forth between one of those men and a police officer pretending to be a…
Read MoreFL: Sex offender jailed after not moving to Georgia
A convicted sex offender who notified authorities he was moving to Georgia last month but never made the trip was charged with failing to report he was still in Ocala. Full Article
Read MoreFL: People on Sex Offender Registry Should Shelter from Dorian in Jail
For some people convicted of sex crimes in Florida, the only shelter open to them during Hurricane Dorian was the county jail. In some counties, people on the registry were barred from shelters set up for those evacuating, and told to go to separate locations, away from children and other community members. If they attempted to stay with friends or relatives, they faced daunting residency and registration requirements, according to the Florida Action Committee, which advocates for reform of sex offender registry laws. Failure to comply can mean a felony conviction and…
Read MoreFL: A look inside Florida Civil Commitment Center life: Pesci v. Budz
[law.justia.com – 8/21/19] James Pesci is a detainee at the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), a for-profit facility that houses sex offenders involuntarily committed under Florida’s Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act. Pesci is not a prisoner; like the other roughly 600 residents of FCCC, he has already served out his prison sentence. Instead, he is involuntarily committed because the State has determined that he is a “sexually violent predator” likely to engage in future “acts of sexual violence if not confined in a secure facility for long-term…
Read MoreFL: More sex offenders arrive so NSB wants to make rules more strict
There are more sex offenders moving to New Smyrna Beach and that has prompted city leaders to consider shrinking the locations where both sexual offenders and sexual predators can legally live. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Congratulations Derek!!! Appellate Court Voids Lauren Book’s Injunction
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 8/14/19] The order was issued by the 4th District Court of Appeals today so it’s being posted prior to our adding commentary in an effort to share this as quickly as possible. The court voided Senator Lauren Book’s restraining order against Once Fallen’s Derek Logue. We all knew it was bogus, now the court’s agree! Logue v. Book UPDATE: All the credit MUST go to attorney Gary Edinger, of Benjamin, Aaronson, Edinger & Patanzo for writing an incredible appellate brief. Lots of appreciation to Gary, Jamie Benjamin and…
Read MoreFL: Convicted sex offender drowned in Duval County jail cell toilet after beating
[firstcoastnews.com – 8/1/19] JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The inmate killed inside his Duval County Jail cell Tuesday was drowned in his jail cell toilet in addition to being beaten by his cellmate, First Coast News learned Wednesday. Paul Dixon, 43, was charged with 2nd-degree murder after police say he killed cellmate _, 56, on the fifth floor of the Duval County jail. Multiple sources tell First Coast News that ____, a convicted sex offender, was beaten by Dixon who then drowned him in his jail cell toilet. The official cause of…
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