[usf.edu – 7/25/19] Rejecting First Amendment arguments, a state appeals court Wednesday upheld restrictions on internet use by a sex offender. The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal came in a Hillsborough County case in which Quinton Alford was sentenced to 10 years of sex-offender probation for kidnapping and three years of sex-offender probation for sexual battery. The terms of probation included barring Alford from using social media and prevented internet use except for work or shopping. Alford argued that the restrictions were overly broad and violated First…
Read MoreTag: Florida
FL: DeBary ordinance expands sex offender regulations
DeBary’s City Council passed an ordinance expanding regulations over registered sex offenders. The ordinance bans registered sex offenders from community pools, water parks, school bus stops, and other private and public areas. The ordinance also increases the distance sex offenders can live from these places. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Fort Lauderdale relaxes restrictions on where sex offenders can live
[sun-sentinel.com – 6/18/19] Fort Lauderdale city commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to relax the city’s residency restrictions on sex offenders. Offenders will now be allowed to live close to bus stops but they are still barred from living within 1,400 feet of a school, daycare and other places children gather. The change will expand the available housing for convicted offenders from 1.4% of the city to 15.3%. It also brings Fort Lauderdale more in line with Florida state law. Dr. Amy Miller praised the ordinance as “an absolutely phenomenal step,” to…
Read MoreFL: Homeless Sex Offenders Must Move Again
Ever since the Julia Tuttle Causeway became an encampment for sex offenders more than a decade ago, officials have been trying to shoo the group away from the rest of civilization. Thanks to stringent requirements mandating that child predators live 2,500 feet from schools, parks, and daycare centers, the offenders have struggled to find legal housing, leaving many effectively homeless. For years, the roving offenders have been shuffled from one place to another, angering unlucky neighbors and nearby business owners. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Fort Lauderdale opening more neighborhoods to sex offenders with change in strict law
[sun-sentinel.com – 6/7/19] There are no homes at 2700 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Although the only buildings standing are a McDonald’s and a Chick-fil-A, 110 people have registered it as an address. All of them are convicted sex offenders. This hot spot for sexual criminals is one of several along Federal Highway in northeast Fort Lauderdale, one of the few slivers in the city where a registered sex offender or sexual predator — rapists, molesters, child porn addicts — can legally reside. That will change soon. The city…
Read MoreFL: Homeless sex offender listed intersection near middle school as his address
[wftv.com – 5/22/19] The sexual offender registry is designed to help residents know where sexual offenders live. Channel 9 found out that within a 1-mile radius of Lake Eola Park, there are twice as many homeless sexual offenders as there are sexual offenders living in permanent residences. Related Headlines In dense downtown Orlando, there are 11 sexual offenders and sexual predators with real addresses (homes or apartments). Twice that number — 22 sex offenders or predators — live on the street or list homeless shelters as their residence. “It seems…
Read MoreFL: Approves Database to Publish Details of People Who Pay for Sex
The Florida legislature passed legislation within the past week, Senate Bill 540 and House Bill 851, to establish a public database that tracks people convicted of, or who have pleaded guilty to, soliciting paid sex. While the legislation’s bipartisan authors consider it to be a step toward ending human trafficking, critics call it a means to publicly shame clients and others associated with people who do consensual sex work. The Soliciting for Prostitution Public Database will include anyone convicted of or pleading guilty to “soliciting, inducing, enticing, or procuring another…
Read MoreFL: Housing elderly sex offenders
Since 82-year-old ____ ____ hit his head in a fall eight months ago, he can’t remember to take his medicine. His ex-wife, ____, calls him 11 times a day to remind him about his appointments. At that stage of dementia, many families would consider admitting him to a nursing home, but ____ said she has a list of assisted living homes that have rejected ____. The pages lined up are as tall as ____’s grandson – whom ____ has never seen. Full Article
Read MoreVA: A look at why Gov. Northam vetoed a bill related to sex offenders in emergency shelters
[wjla.com – 4/30/19] Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has vetoed legislation that would allow officials to temporarily block convicted sex offenders from using emergency shelters. Northam said Tuesday it is “unconscionable” that people could be turned away from shelters during hurricanes, flash floods or other emergencies. The legislation would have allowed shelter officials to deny entrance for convicted sex offenders for however long was “necessary to ensure the safety of other individuals” admitted to the shelter. The legislation would have also required convicted sex offenders to declare they are registered offenders…
Read MoreFL: Do Central Florida theme parks screen for sex offenders?
[wesh.com – 4/25/19] Could sex offenders be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando? In February, a registered sex offender was arrested after Orange County deputies said he exposed himself to a child at Aquatica. The accused, 52-year-old Gerald Youmans, was convicted in 2004 of exposing himself to a child in Palm Beach. He was designated a sexual predator, but according to an arrest affidavit, he held an annual pass to the theme park. The incident…
Read MoreFL: Oppose HB 987: Public Lodging Establishments
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 4/17/19] On April 10th, The Florida House of Representatives amended House Bill 987: Public Lodging Establishments, to require Persons required to register as sex offenders report to the Sheriff’s office where they will be staying, 48 hours before an intended stay at a Public Lodging Establishment, regardless of how long they will stay at the location! In addition, operators of a Public Lodging Establishment who have a Person required to register as a sex offender staying at or within 1000 feet of their establishment, must notify all…
Read MoreFL: Cops Re-Arrest 26 Sex Offenders in ‘Operation Karma.’ Their Crime? Not Updating Their Car Info.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Department in Florida is touting its successful completion of “Operation Karma,” a three-day sting in which cops arrested 26 registered sex offenders for violating various legal obligations imposed on them. “They are apparently up to no good and we are going to hold them accountable,” Sheriff Grady Judd promises The Miami Herald. Full Article Related ‘Karma’ caught up with these sex offenders and predators, Florida cops say
Read MoreFL: Bill to ban child sex dolls advances in Florida legislature
A Florida bill to ban childlike sex dolls passed its third Senate committee on Wednesday and is headed to the Senate floor. Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, sponsored SB 160 amid an international conversation surrounding child sex dolls and their link to increased sexual preying on children. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Florida’s Sex Offender Registry Proves Inescapable
It was the kind of headline guaranteed to generate clicks even over the winter holidays and amid a federal government shutdown: “Number of Sex Offenders Living in Florida Is Growing,” warned the Associated Press. In December, the Florida legislative auditor’s office released a report noting that the number of people on the state’s sex offender registry had expanded 53 percent since 2005, to about 73,000. But the report also contains this detail: 60 percent of those on the list live out of state, are in prison, or have been deported—up…
Read MoreFL: Powerful lobbyist Ron Book arrested on DUI charges
[tallahassee.com – 2/25/19] Ron Book, one of Florida’s most influential lobbyists who also represents the city of Tallahassee, has been arrested on DUI-related charges in Broward County, several South Florida news outlets have reported. Book, 66, was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol Sunday after crashing his Lamborghini near his house, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He was charged with a first-time DUI, refusing to submit to a DUI test and DUI with damage to a person or property, the paper reported. According to the Sun-Sentinel, Book was released…
Read MoreFL: Florida detective kills self after he’s accused of owning child porn
[orlandosentinel.com – 2/21/19] JACKSONVILLE — Authorities say a decorated Florida police detective killed himself just before he was to be arrested on charges that he possessed child pornography. The Florida Times-Union reports that Jacksonville sheriff’s Detective Vernon Richardson killed himself Tuesday, shortly after detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest. The neighboring St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation in December after receiving a tip he had child porn on his computer. Detectives found an image of two adolescent boys having sex. Read more
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade Sex Offenders ‘Forced to be Homeless’
[thecrimereport.org – 2/19/19] Since he was released from prison almost five years ago, John has never had a place he can call home. Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he spends nights outside in remote areas of Miami-Dade County—sleeping outside on a mat or in the front seat of his son’s truck. John (not his real name) was convicted in 1994 of a sex offense involving a minor. His homelessness is a direct result of the Lauren Book Child Safety Ordinance, enacted in Miami-Dade County in 2010, which bans individuals convicted of…
Read MoreFL: Comprehensive ‘Florida First Step Act’ Excludes Registrants
Sen. Jeff Brandes is spearheading the state’s criminal justice reform initiative. SB 642 is his 10th justice reform-related bill pre-filed for the upcoming Florida session. Full Article
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