Tag: Florida

FL: Sex offender freed from prison moves in near family pool in The Villages!

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Source: villages-news.com 12/4/21 A 60-year-old sex offender released last month from a Florida prison has moved in with his mother near a family swimming pool in The Villages. Edward ______ was released Nov. 25 from a state prison. He has registered a permanent address at 1312 La Estrellita Way in the Village of Santiago, not far from the El Santiago swimming pool and recreation center, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Read the full article  

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FL: Serena’s Law: Closing a loophole that allowed sexual abusers to continue working with kids

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Source: winknews.com 11/24/21 There’s a loophole that allows sexual abusers to continue working with children been if an organization does a background check. But, because of one young woman’s bravery, the system is fixed. … Now, “Serena’s Law” requires each clerk of court to post the identity online of someone who has an injunction or restraining order filed against them for the protection of a minor. She wants to focus on educating others about what abusers do. Read the full article  

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FL: Sheriff says tech companies not doing enough to stop child porn

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Source: abcactionnews.com 11/4/21 A local sheriff is calling out big tech companies, saying they’re not doing enough to stop the spread of child pornography. In late September, Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigators made a major bust, identifying suspects in possession of child pornography that originated from countries all over the world. “They’re finding everything. They’re finding things that you can’t even conceive of or we can talk about publicly,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. “Two years old, four years old, seven years old, eight years old. This last case…

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FL: V.M. Ybor has a sex offender problem, residents say

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Source: floridapolitics.com 11/6/21 Hillsborough County has an ordinance against clustering sex offenders, but no one enforces it. When Kim Headland first moved to the V.M. Ybor area 20 years ago, she said there were few if any sex offenders registered in her neighborhood. “Since then, hundreds —  if not thousands — of offenders have been funneled into our community,” she told the Tampa City Council on Thursday. “Much to the financial benefit of a few property owners and the perceived benefit of TPD.” V.M. Ybor is named for cigar manufacturer…

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FL: 16 Registered Sexual Offenders And Predators During Halloween Initiative Were Arrested

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Source: atlanta.cbslocal.com 11/2/21 The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, conducted a Halloween sexual offender/predator compliance initiative during the month of October, 2021. The operation was aimed at ensuring compliance with Florida’s registration laws for convicted sex offenders and sex predators (FSS 775.21 & 943.0435) within Polk County*. Detectives charged 16 suspects with failure to comply with sex offender registrations laws and/or violation of probation. … There are 1,255 Sexual Offenders and 142 sexual predators registered in Polk County. Read the…

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FL: Florida Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Killing Fellow Convicted Child Sex Offender Cellmate. He ‘Stomped’ on His Throat

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Source: lawandcrime.com 10/21/21 A judge in Florida this week sentenced a 44-year-old man to spend the remainder of his life behind bars for the brutal murder of his former prison cellmate—a convicted child sex offender—whose throat he crushed. A Santa Rosa County jury on Tuesday found Jimmy Ray Carruthers guilty of second-degree murder in the 2019 death of his 78-year-old cellmate, David Kever, the Pensacola News Journal (PNJ) reported. Immediately after the jury returned the guilty verdict, Circuit Court Judge Darlene Dickey handed Carruthers the life sentence. In a press…

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FL: Orange County sergeant accused of abuse of power terminated

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Source: msn.com 10/7/21 A sergeant with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has been terminated after the sheriff’s office said he abused his power during a traffic stop. … An internal investigation into a traffic stop found Vidler purposely targeted Jeremy Dewitte, a registered sex offender who has a history of arrests for impersonating a police officer. Initially, Vidler said he was pulling the convicted felon over for carrying a firearm, but it turned out to be a pepper ball gun. A sheriff’s office internal investigation found the pepper ball weapon was in plain view and…

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FL: Citrus County judge says being on the sex offense registry for life is punishment

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Source: chronicleonline.com (found by Florida Action Committee) Howard decided on Monday a lifelong label as a sex offender was a suitable punishment for Ashlee _____, the Dunnellon 21-year-old who sexually coerced and molested a teenage boy. After Ashlee _____pleaded no contest to her fate, Howard adjudicated her guilty of soliciting a child for sexual conduct, two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between 12 and 16 years old and three counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. For the first six years of registering as a…

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FL: Florida Faces Challenges On Sex Offender Registry

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Source: miami.cbslocal.com 9/28/21 TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) — Florida is facing two constitutional challenges from men who live in other states and contend they have been improperly kept on public sex-offender registry lists in Florida. Oregon resident Moji Momeni filed a lawsuit Friday in Leon County circuit court alleging that his constitutional privacy and due-process rights have been violated because Florida continues to list him as a registered sex offender, though he stopped being required to register in Oregon last year. Momeni, who was convicted in 2006 on sexual-abuse charges in Oregon,…

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FL: DOJ Now Investigating Florida Sheriff’s Office For Using A Federal Grant To Fund Its ‘Predictive Policing’ Harassment Programs

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Source: techdirt.com 9/21/21 The Pasco County (FL) Sheriff’s Office believes in “intelligence-led policing.” This is its formal slang for harassing residents until (in the office’s own words) “they sue or move.” The Sheriff’s Office turns anyone with a criminal background into a suspect-for-life. Deputies visit residences and residents on the “intelligence-led” shit list multiple times a month, demanding answers to questions they have no business asking. When residents fail to comply, nuisance (in every sense of the word) citations are issued for things like uncut grass or missing mailbox numbers.…

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FL: Letter to the Editor: Sex offender registry issue needs to be addressed

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Source: nwfdailynews.com 9/2/21 As a counselor in the state of Florida, I think it’s time to address challenges concerning social media and illegal sex with minors, and the growing number of designated sex offenders in our state (356/100K – total 76,000 in Florida – 800K nationally). All sex offenders are not child molesters. Pedophiles and rapists are. The US Bureau of Justice reports the average age of a sex offender is 14! Policemen, prosecutors, and judges need to stand up against this bad law. It’s the only law that allows continued punishment after sentencing…

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FL: FBI Agent, Army Reserves Col. charged with sex crimes against children in Florida

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Source: cbs42.com 8/27/21 FRANKLIN COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — An FBI agent who investigated sex crimes against children has been arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes against children across several states, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said Supervisory Special Agent David ____ was tasked with investigating crimes against children, including child pornography. But in February of this year, he was accused of exposing himself to a 14-year-old girl in a “lewd and lascivious manner,” while on vacation in St. George Island. The investigation began in Franklin County…

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FL: Police Arrest Teen Accused of Helping GOP Strategist’s Underage Sex Trafficking

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Source: thedailybeast.com 8/14/21 Shortly after arresting GOP strategist Anton Lazzaro for underage sex trafficking, police say they’ve caught up with his 19-year-old associate, who now faces the same charges. Jose Pagliery Political Investigations Reporter Law enforcement in Florida has arrested Gisela Castro Medina, a 19-year-old accused of helping a wealthy, young Republican strategist in Minnesota prey on girls and recruit them for paid sex. She faces the same criminal charges as her alleged pal, GOP operative Anton Lazzaro: sex trafficking of a minor, attempt to commit sex trafficking, and obstruction…

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FL: Missing sex offender with dementia found after forgetting address while checking in for registry

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Source: fox35orlando.com 8/5/21 A sex offender who suffers from dementia was missing after forgetting his address while checking in with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. By Thursday morning, officials said he was found and is OK. Deputies say Dale ____, who does not have a permanent address, went to the sheriff’s office Tuesday to conduct his mandatory check-in for the sex offender registry, however, when he got there, he couldn’t remember the address where he has been staying. Deputies say they let him leave so he could find and write…

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FL: Federal judge rejects sheriff’s office’s attempt to dismiss lawsuit challenging ‘predictive policing’ program

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Source: wtsp.com 3/5/21 A federal judge rejected the Pasco County Sheriff’s motion to dismiss a case against Sheriff Chris Nocco’s Orwellian “predictive policing” program, the Institute of Justice said in a release Wednesday. In a lawsuit filed by Pasco County families back in March, Nocco was accused of punishing people “for crimes they have not committed and may never commit” – in a practice called predictive policing. Judge Steven D. Merryday issued an order denying the Pasco County sheriff’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “Today’s decision is an important step…

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VA: Officials address East Stone Gap residents about reported trailer park residence for people listed on the registry

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Source: timesnews.net 7/21/21 EAST STONE GAP — Wise County and state law enforcement officials told a community gathering Tuesday that state law does not have a provision for sanctuaries for people listed on the registry. The meeting of more than 100 local residents at the East Stone Gap Baptist Church’s community center brought Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp III, Sheriff Grant Kilgore, Virginia State Police investigators and other county officials to discuss reports of a residence for people listed on the registry being located at the Imby Lane Mobile…

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Florida Lawsuit Challenges Continued Registration of Non-Residents and Deceased Persons

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Source: ACSOL A lawsuit was filed in a Florida federal district court today that challenges the continued registration of non-residents and deceased persons convicted of a sex offense.  According to the lawsuit, the Florida registry currently includes more than 28,000 people who do not live in that state as well as more than 1,300 people who are dead. The plaintiff in this lawsuit was convicted of having sex with a minor (17-year-old woman) who he later married and together they had a child.  After the couple divorced, the plaintiff was…

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