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 MoreTag: Indiana
IN: 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…
Read MoreIN: County considers sex offender fee
The Jackson County Commissioners plan to discuss creating an annual fee for work associated with maintaining the county’s sex offender registry. … Commissioners were receptive to the idea. Commissioner Drew Markel said he would like to see offenders pay their fees like those who serve sentences on probation. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Sex offender ban includes grandparents
A grandparent who has been convicted as a sexually violent predator would not be able to care for his or her grandchildren under the current version of a bill barring predators from serving as child care providers. That possible scenario is perhaps the last remaining concern among legislators who have so far been unanimous in passing Senate Bill 258, resulting from a loophole found when an Anderson sexual offender advertised as a babysitter. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Amendment bars sex offender from son’s school activities
A registered sex offender previously able to attend his son’s school activities per a trial court-granted request was denied that exception Monday when the Indiana Court of Appeals determined an amended statute barred him from entering school property. Full Article Article
Read MoreIN: Northwest Indiana legislators support bills closing loopholes in sex offender laws
[chicagotribune.com – 1/25/19] Northwest Indiana legislators said they are in support of bills looking to close some of the loopholes in the state’s sex offender laws. One of those bills would ban sexually violent predators or offenders against children from working as a child care provider or baby sitter, while the other prevents a convicted sex or violent offender from petitioning for a name change. “A lot of the issues that I’ve taken on are all things just like that, where there’s this loophole where it’s a small issue that…
Read MoreIN: Sex offender questions meaning of ‘obscene’
[tribstar.com – 11/25/18] When community corrections officers went to check on Nathaniel Bennett, who was serving an in-home sentence for sexual misconduct with a minor, they found a cellphone with videos of a couple having sex. The phone also had what was described as “selfies” of Bennett and about 10 pictures of a nude woman. The contents of the phone violated a court order which barred Bennett from possessing obscene material, prosecutors maintain. Bennett also reportedly failed to make court payments. Marion County Superior Court Judge Lisa Borges removed Bennett…
Read MoreIN: Sex offender’s rights not violated by registration extension
An Allen County sex offender’s constitutional rights were not violated when the period of time he was required to register as a sex offender was extended under a law amended after he was convicted of the sex crime, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Detectives track down unregistered sex offenders
In a subterranean office at the Charles “Bud” Meeks Center for Justice, a small band of Allen County Sheriff’s Department detectives spend hours tracking convicted sex offenders. Full Article
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