Tag: Florida

FL: ‘Groomer’ debate inflames GOP fight over Florida law

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Source: thehill.com 4/8/22 “Groomer” is the new favorite term being used by far-right commentators and activists to describe opponents of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, sparking outrage among LBGTQ advocates who say that it is a smear that feeds into a trope casting members of the community as pedophiles. The Florida bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis week, which opponents have decried as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, prohibits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade. “Groomer” started to gain traction as…

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FL: Pennsylvania tourist to stay on Florida’s sex-offense registry

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Source: orlandosentinel.com 4/4/22 TALLAHASSEE — A Leon circuit judge has dismissed a Pennsylvania man’s challenge to a Florida law that kept him on a sexual-offense registry after a 10-day family vacation to Disney World in 2015. Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey dismissed the case last week, in part finding that a statute of limitations had expired. The man, identified in court documents as John Doe, reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office when he came to Florida because he was on a Pennsylvania registry at the time as a result of…

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FL: [1970’s Teen] convicted in 2000 of molesting Boy Scout ordered to move out of home near family pool in The Villages

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Source: villages-news.com 3/24/22 A [1970’s teen] convicted of molesting a[nother] Boy Scout has been ordered to move out of his parents’ home located near a family pool in The Villages. [His alleged victim in the mid 1970s claimed that an older boy had molested him. Siegfried Hepp Jr who was born in 1961 took a plea deal 30 years later as he was obviously unable to prove he had not abused the younger boy scout in the mid 1970s, when he himself was just a teenager.  When sentenced, his sentence…

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FL: Homeless sex offenders arrested in December released, illustrates systemic issue, attorney says

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Source: floridatoday.com 3/8/22 Seven Brevard sex offenders arrested in December after their homeless camp was shutdown, were released from jail in January and February and their charges dismissed, court records show. They’ve all returned to the community but have lost their jobs and belongings. They are being housed in a Brevard hotel, according to the Florida sex offender registry. The men previously lived in a homeless camp set up on vacant, private land at 4820 U.S. 192 near Melbourne. Their GPS monitors and ankle bracelets were registered to the camp, requiring them to return there by a set…

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FL: Former Coral Springs Cop Sentenced For Soliciting Sex From Teen

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Source: coralspringstalk.com 1/10/22 A former Coral Springs Police officer has been sentenced to 14-and-a-half months in state prison after pleading guilty to two counts of using a computer to sexually exploit a child, court records show. Steven Daniello, 64, who was arrested in January 2021, will also serve nearly four years of probation after completing his prison term, according to documents filed in Broward County Circuit Court. As part of his sentence, issued Jan. 4, Daniello will register as a sex offender, forfeit his law enforcement officer certification, pay $10,680…

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FL: OPPAGA 2021 Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Triennial Review

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Source: OPPAGA Report Summary: Both federal and Florida law facilitate oversight of sex offenders and predators living in Florida communities, with state agencies and local law enforcement monitoring, registering, verifying, and providing information about sex offenders. Florida is one of 17 states that is substantially compliant with federal sex offender registry requirements. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s (FDLE) sex offender registry lists more than 78,000 offenders and predators, of which, just over 30,000 reside in Florida communities, a number that has grown 62% since 2005. Approximately 6% of registered…

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FL: Homeless offenders in Brevard County struggle to find resources and shelter

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Source: floridatoday.com 1/3/22 Jason ____ is sitting in Brevard County Jail waiting to appear before a judge on a charge of violating parole. He’d rather be anywhere else, but the reality is he’s not wanted many other places. A charge against him made in 1998 at 15 years old, of which he was convicted in 2000, has marked him as a sex offender. He is one of 735 registered sex offenders in Brevard County, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That status makes Jason something of a…

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FL: Sex offender registry laws don’t work. Here’s what might.

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Source: tampabay.com 12/16/21 The uncomfortable truth? Those who commit sexual offenses are usually not strangers. There are roughly half a million sexual assault incidents in the United States every year — and more than 11,000 in Florida alone. These numbers are troubling. So it’s no surprise that people search the sex offender registration website to make sure that no one convicted of a sexual offense lives near them or more worrisome, their children’s school, day care or neighborhood park. The premise is simple: to make people feel safer in their…

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FL: Ocala man torches neighbor’s home because of rumor victim was a pedophile, police say

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Source: clickorlando.com 12/14/21 OCALA, Fla. – Ocala police arrested a man Monday who they believe started a fire that damaged a mobile home in early December. Kenneth Bryant, 42, was arrested at Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park. According to the arrest report, Bryant told police he couldn’t remember the incident because he was too intoxicated but said he was not fond of the victim because of rumors that the man was a child molester. Police said they responded to an arson call at the same mobile home park in the…

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FL: Members of homeless camp arrested on charges of violating probation after camp was shut down

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Source: yahoo.com 12/11/21 Note: This article is a follow up to the original article: ‘Literally nowhere else they can go’: Homeless camp shutdown leaves people with few options (floridatoday.com 12/8/21) A group of homeless people was arrested Friday afternoon for violating probation after their camp, where they were required by their probation officers to stay, was shut down and there was nowhere else for them to go. Of the 13 people who had been living at the camp, at least seven had GPS monitors or ankle bracelets registered to the site —…

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FL: ‘Literally nowhere else they can go’: Homeless camp shutdown leaves people with few options

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Source: floridatoday.com 12/9/21 Joshua Werbicki has made a home in the woods at 4820 Highway 192 near Melbourne. His driver’s license lists the campsite as his permanent residence. The GPS monitor he must wear as part of his probation requires him to stay at the camp at night. But Werbicki and approximately 12 others say they were told the property owner now wants the site bulldozed this week. They said they were originally given until 8 a.m. Wednesday to vacate by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. At least seven of them have GPS…

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FL: Florida Supreme Court makes it risky for a defendant to tell a judge ‘I’m innocent’

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Source: floridabulldog.org 12/7/21 The Florida Supreme Court is sending this message to criminal defendants: If you think you were wrongly convicted, keep it to yourself. Ignoring long-standing law, the justices decided that when defendants dare to dispute their guilt instead of owning the crime, state trial judges may pile on extra prison time. The court ruled last Thursday in the case of Alvin Davis, a 43-year-old black man with a lengthy rap sheet that includes convictions for attempted murder, robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. After a jury…

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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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