Source: wevv.com 10/30/21 Halloween is nearly here. Soon thousands of Tri-State children will flock to the streets for their fill of candy and frights, but while costumes monsters and villains are out in good fun, there’s a fear real predators might be lurking in the shadows. “You don’t know what situation you’re going to be faced with, which can be scary,” Trish Crawford said. “You don’t know who you’re going to run into when you go to someone’s door. My son is five now but I think even as, this…
Read MoreTag: Indiana
IN: Community raises concerns on operator of new business run by a registrant
Source: washtimesherald.com 10/13/21 LOOGOOTEE – The fact that a convicted sex offender has opened a tattoo shop near a preschool brought out an overflow crowd of more than 30 to Tuesday’s Loogootee City Council meeting. Makenzie Wagoner, 19, made an impassioned plea for city officials and the public at large to take action to protect young children. She does not want the business closed, but rather forced to relocate some place away from children. Indiana law prohibits sex offenders of minors from living within 1,000 feet of any school property,…
Read MoreIN: Indiana Police target sex offenders in operation before Halloween
Source: nwitimes.com 10/15/21 LAPORTE COUNTY — As trick-or-treating season will soon entice children to front doors across the Region, law enforcement launched “Operation Candy Corn Compliance” to target violent sex offenders. On Thursday the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office conducted the countywide initiative to ensure sexually violent predators and offenders against children are in compliance of being registered as a sex offender. “All 123 of the classified and registered sexually violent predators and offenders against children were specifically targeted because of the upcoming trick-or-treat that will be taking place during the…
Read MoreIN: Federal Appeals Court OKs Indiana Sex Offender Registry Law
Source: wfyi.org 8/24/21 A federal appeals court said Indiana’s sex offender registry law does not violate the U.S. Constitution, overturning previous rulings. Indiana’s sex offender registry law does not require offenders to register if they were convicted before it was created in the 1990s. But it does require offenders who move to Indiana to register if they were registered in another state, even if their conviction came before Indiana’s law was created. A few offenders who came from other states sued, arguing they were treated differently than offenders who’d always…
Read MoreIN: Divided 7th Circuit reverses order to remove sex offender names for ‘right to travel’ violation but remands equal-protection claim
Source: theindianalawyer.com 8/17/21 A split en banc 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a decision from an original three-judge panel that ordered the removal of six names from the Indiana sex offender registry, finding that the state’s sex offender registration law doesn’t discriminate based on residency. However, the case was remanded for further consideration of an equal-protection claim. Judge Amy St. Eve — a member of the original panel who dissented from the January ruling — wrote for the en banc majority Monday in Brian Hope, et al. v.…
Read MoreIN: En Banc Seventh Circuit Hears Challenge to Indiana Sex Offender Registry Law
[courthousenews.com – 5/20/21] Indiana argued before the full Seventh Circuit on Thursday that state law does not place unfair registration requirements on sex offenders moving to the Hoosier State. At issue is a provision of the Indiana Sex Offender Registry Act requiring people convicted of sex offenses who relocate to Indiana to register as sex offenders, even if the crime was committed before the law was passed. The plaintiffs are challenging its retroactive application. The requirement creates a situation where an Indiana resident who was not required register as a…
Read MoreIN: Bill would allow adults to be charged for sex crimes they committed years earlier as minors
[indystar.com – 3/16/21] Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow courts to charge people over the age of 21 as adults for child molestation acts they committed when they were teenagers. Supporters say they are trying to address an unintentional gap in Indiana law. They say there is no way to criminally convict those who are over 21 years old for child molestation acts they committed as teenagers. “There’s a gap in the law where the perpetrator has no accountability,” said David Powell, a representative from the Prosecuting…
Read MoreIN: Annual Fee for Sex Offender Registration introduced in Vigo County
The Vigo County Council approved an ordinance establishing fees for sex offenders. The ordinance will set a $50 annual fee for sex or violent offender registration and a $5 for each time a sex or violent offender registers an address change. Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer says that Sheriff Plasse approached the County Commissioners with this idea last year. COVID-19 pushed it back a bit, but he says he’s happy the County was able to get this passed. Full Article
Read MoreIN: These civilians hunt child predators. Expert warns they’re ‘playing with fire.’
[yahoo.com – 2/25/21] INDIANAPOLIS — The confrontation begins at a side door of Lebanon Senior High School. Viewers watched via Facebook Live as a woman approached the school, about 40 minutes northwest of downtown Indianapolis, and was greeted by Brian J. Boyer, a band teacher who, in that moment, was allegedly waiting for a 14-year-old girl to meet him for sex. “Do you wanna come out and talk to me for a minute?” the woman asked. “Basically, I brought you out here ‘cause we know who you are, I’m definitely…
Read MoreIN: No Registration for Registrants From Other States If Their Crime Wouldn’t Require it in Indiana
INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, et al, Defendants-Appellants. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. No. 1:16-cv-02865-RLY-TAB — Richard L. Young, Judge. ____________________ ARGUED JANUARY 14, 2020 — DECIDED JANUARY 6, 2021 ____________________ Before ROVNER, WOOD, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges. ROVNER, Circuit Judge. Sex offender registration and notification laws have a unique place at the intersection of criminal and civil law. These civil laws impose cumbersome and often lifelong burdens on former criminal perpetrators, many of whom have finished all forms…
Read MoreIN: WATCH NOW: Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Sgt. Bryan Kersey conducts sex offender checks
[kenoshanews.com – 11/20/20] Ride Shotgun with Lake County, Indiana sheriff’s Sgt. Bryan Kersey as he checks to ensure convicted Northwest Indiana sex offenders are complying with state sex-offender registry laws. This special episode of “Riding Shotgun with NWI Cops” was filmed recently in conjunction with a Midwest reporting project titled, “Out of the Shadows: Spotlight on Sex Crimes.” The special report will span multiple newspapers throughout Lee Enterprises’ Midwest news agencies and will be taking a deep look at sex crimes, the offenders, their victims and the effectiveness of state…
Read MoreIN: COA – Removal from sex offender registry makes man’s case moot
A man whose name was removed from Indiana’s Sex and Violent Offender Registry on the state’s volition has successfully sought rehearing at the Indiana Court of Appeals, which has now deemed his case moot. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Bill extending sex crimes statute of limitations advances to full House
[theindianalawyer.com – 2/21/20] “How many more victims will there be?” Dawn Price, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, posed that question before the Indiana House Courts and Criminal Code Committee on Wednesday while testifying in support of legislation that would extend the amount of time victims have to prosecute their perpetrators. Price shared her story of being molested and raped as a child by her adoptive father until she was nearly 13 years old. When Price, then a minor, told her mother what was happening, no action was taken. Even…
Read MoreIN: COA reinstates petition to get off sex offender registry
A man’s petition to remove his name from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry was reinstated Friday when an appellate panel concluded that the trial court that dismissed the petition had jurisdiction to consider it. In 1989, Stephen Peele was convicted of several felony child molesting charges and was sentenced to an aggregate 12 years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Then in 2003, Peele was convicted of Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor. At some point, Peele was notified that he was required to register as a sex…
Read MoreIN: Great decision out of Indiana
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 7/12/19] A great decision out of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana was issued earlier this week. … Federal Court Judge Richard L, Young found this result illogical. In his 37 page opinion he writes, “The state has offered no evidence that out-of-state sex offenders or those that leave and return are inherently more dangerous than resident sex offenders, and the court can think of none.” But what is really great about this decision is that it is ANOTHER federal district court that…
Read MoreIN: Prison Sex Offender Treatment vs. The Fifth
Remember the Inquisition where you could either deny your guilt and get burned at the stake, or confess and get burned at the stake? The idea was that since confessing saves you from eternal damnation, the Inquisition was simply a strict and intensive rehabilitation program, enforcing “acceptance of responsibility” for the offender’s own good. Full Article Related IN: 7th Circuit rules DOC sex offender program violates Constitution
Read MoreIN: 7th Circuit rules DOC sex offender program violates Constitution
[theindianalawyer.com – 4/26/19] Finding the disclosures provide information that any law enforcement agent “would love to have,” the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled Indiana’s requirement that sex offender inmates give detailed accounts of their past actions violates the Constitution’s protections against self-incrimination. Donald Lacy, a sex offender inmate in the Indiana Department of Correction, filed a class action on behalf of all inmates who lost good-time credits and a demotion in credit class because they failed to meet the requirements of the Indiana Sex Offender Management and Monitoring…
Read MoreIN: Jackson County to begin charging sex offenders for registry
[wdrb.com – 4/22/19] For years, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has been behind the times when it comes to its sex offender registry. But it will now move ahead and collect some extra money in the process. Indiana law allows for sheriff’s offices to collect a fee from convicted sex offenders in order to maintain the sex offender registry. But, for years, Jackson County did collect any fee. Beginning in June, the JCSO will begin collecting $50 a year from sex offenders for the registry and $5 every time an…
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