FORT MYERS, Fla. – What’s simple for many people – changing one’s profile name or email address for Facebook – can result in up to five years in prison for Lee County’s approximately 800 registered sex offenders and predators. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Florida
FL: Florida sex offender registry: double-digit growth
More than a dozen people a day walk into the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and register as sex offenders. The county is home to more than 2,200 of them. A recent study by researchers at the Florida Legislature found that the number of registered sex offenders living in Florida communities has increased 44 percent over the past 10 years. Full Article Related Fla. sex offenders figures announced, pushes surroundings awareness
Read MoreFL: Concerning the Registrants at the Tracks
As mentioned in a prior post; the ACLU filed it’s Appellate Brief on behalf of FAC and the 200+ registered citizens living alongside the railroad tracks at the corner of 79th Street and NW 36th Avenue in Miami. Derek Logue of OnceFallen.com, who had traveled to Florida last week and visited the encampment initiated a post to which FAC replied. Since our reply contained a lot of information and could possibly be an action item for anyone (or group of people) who want to help these people, we’ve re-posted the…
Read MoreFL: Don’t harass sex predator, judge tells Pasco sheriff’s office
DADE CITY — Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Linda Babb signed a protective order this week that prevents the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office “from further harassment” of a registered sex predator living in Pasco County. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Court Rules Public Has Access to Sex Offender Hearings
An appeals court has ruled the public cannot be excluded from a courtroom when a judge is considering whether a sex offender should be committed indefinitely after his prison sentence has expired. Judge Jack Tuter gave NBC 6 permission to bring a camera into the courtroom. But the attorney for Corey Lake, a sexually violent sexual predator whose 13-year prison sentence expired in 2012, objected. Assistant public defender Rob Jakovich argued details of confidential treatment records would be exposed in open court, unless the public was barred. … Because ___ was seeking…
Read MoreFL: Lauren Book, Running Unopposed, Raises $1.3 Million Despite Criticisms
Plantation resident Lauren Book, 31, has raised about $1.3 million for her state senate campaign, though she’s running unopposed. Her charity was also awarded a million dollars by the state legislature this session. Book is the daughter of powerful Florida lobbyist Ron Book, and after suffering horrific abuse by a nanny in her teen years, she founded Lauren’s Kids, which raises awareness about childhood sexual abuse and advocates for legislation affecting sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Mentally ill man arrested after hunting down sex offender with hammer, deputies say
A convicted sex offender fended off an attack from a man wielding a hammer and “acting really nervous and sweating” who rang his doorbell Monday night, reports show. ____ ____, 54, opened the door of his Jardim De Largo Street home at around 9:30 p.m. to a man who allegedly lunged at him at him with the hammer, deputies said. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Hillsborough proposal to restrict sexual predators could backfire, experts say
TAMPA — Keeping sex offenders far away from children is a popular idea for obvious reasons. And the Hillsborough County Commission is considering a measure that would force sexual predators to live even farther from places where children gather than current law requires. But experts say the proposal — modeled on restrictions enacted in Pasco County and across the country — is likely to make offenders more dangerous, not less. Full Article Related Litigant against Pasco’s sex predator rule vows same in Hillsborough
Read MoreFL: Pushing sex offenders into the next back yard (Editorial)
A question for our local elected officials: Who wants to be seen as pro-sex offender? Anyone?Anyone? Here’s the latest politicized push that could accomplish little and maybe even do some harm: local governments looking to all but ban sex offenders from living in our midst. And no, this doesn’t sound like a bad idea, until you consider the actual and practical facts. Full Editorial
Read MoreFL: Pahokee church opens its doors to sex offenders
PAHOKEE, Fla. – If you stop by First United Methodist Church in Pahokee, you’ll hear a united voice to the beat of 24-year old ____ ____. “I was going to be in a band,” he says. Inside this sanctuary, he’s a member of this congregation. Outside of it, in the eyes of the law, he’s a convicted sex offender. “I can’t live next to a park, playground, school, daycare, anywhere children congregate,” ____ says. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Lawyer challenges Pasco predator ordinance
the constitutionality of Pasco County’s sexual predator ordinance, which is keeping ____ ____ ____ from returning to the Lutz area to live. _____ was sentenced to community control and sex offender probation after pleading guilty to a molestation charge in Hillsborough County. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Treasure Island to list sex offenders on city cable channel
TREASURE ISLAND — City residents will soon see pictures and information about sexual predators and offenders living in their neighborhoods on their local TV channel. Full Article
Read MoreFlorida Sex Offender story moves to New York stage
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Travis Russ says his decision to come to the tiny town of Pahokee draws a common response from natives. “Why would you come to Pahokee? Who comes to Pahokee?” It’s a legitimate question. And the answer is: mostly sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreFL: 40 people have no place to go after homeless camp vacated
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — After it was discovered a handful of sex offenders were among about 40 people living in tents on a piece of property in Kissimmee, the property owner told them they had to leave. Most of the homeless people evicted from the property along Old Vineland Road have no place to go, and the city of Kissimmee and Osceola County have no help to offer. Full Article
Read MoreFL: FATSA Recommendations on the Florida Registry
The Florida Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers submitted a report to the Florida Legislatures Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) making several evidence-based recommendations for Florida’s Sex Offender Registry System. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade Sex Offender Residency Ordinance Unsuccessfully Challenged
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently challenged the constitutionality of a Miami-Dade County, Florida ordinance that, according to the organization, forces sex offenders on probation into homelessness by imposing residency restrictions so harsh there is literally no place where they are legally permitted to live. … While that may indeed be outrageous, the federal district court hearing the challenge to the Miami-Dade ordinance did not find it unconstitutional. The court dismissed the suit in April 2015, finding the ordinance was not punitive in nature and advanced a legitimate governmental…
Read MoreFL: Palm Beach billionaire victims “complicit” so not truly victims, government says
A routine status check Monday on a 2008 federal lawsuit tied to sex offender ____ ____’s plea deal ended with a new allegation from the government. The two victims who filed the lawsuit — Jane Doe No. 1 and Jane Doe No. 2 — aren’t actually victims because they procured other girls for ____ and received money for it, Assistant United States Attorney Dexter Lee said in West Palm Beach federal court. If someone “is complicit in the offenses,” they can’t be considered victims under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights…
Read MoreFL: Eighth Grader Disciplined For Giving Hug To Friend At School
____ ____, 14, is now an eighth grader with a record. ____ was given suspension by Jackson Heights principal Sarah Mansur-Blythe (left) for a hug. That’s right. She hugged a friend who was having a bad day and was immediately reported for discipline under a hopelessly undefined prohibition on “inappropriate or obscene acts.” Full Article
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