A convicted sex offender in Wisconsin seemed to believe he was off the hook when police learned that he allegedly committed a sexual assault at the age of 9. Full Article Decision Related In Wisconsin, we can send people to prison for things they did when they were 5
Read MoreTag: Juveniles
NJ: After state Supreme Court ruling, few sex offenders likely get reprieve from Megan’s Law
A New Jersey Supreme Court ruling exempting certain sex offenders from Megan’s Law registration requirements isn’t likely to apply to more than a few dozen people, state officials said Wednesday, as the public defender’s office began contacting people who now may be eligible to be taken off the list. Full Article
Read MoreOH: Convicted ex-high school athlete wants off sex offender list
[fox19.com 4/16/18] By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A judge is deciding whether a man convicted as a juvenile of raping a 16-year-old girl should be removed from Ohio’s sex offender listings. Judge Thomas Lipps has scheduled a hearing Thursday in juvenile court in Steubenville in the case of former high school football player Ma’Lik Richmond. Richmond was convicted in 2013 of raping the West Virginia girl during a drunken party following a football scrimmage the previous year. Lipps ordered Richmond as a sex offender to register…
Read MoreThere Are Too Many Kids on the Sex Offender Registry
Both the boys admit they did it. Horsing around, two New Jersey 14-year-olds pulled down their pants and sat on the faces of two 12-year-old boys. As one of them later explained, “I thought it was funny and I was trying to get my friends to laugh.” For that act, he and his buddy are on the sex offender registry for life. This was, after all, “sexual contact done for sexual gratification or to degrade or humiliate the victim.” The boys lost an appeal in 2011, with a three-judge panel…
Read MoreThe Boy On The Bus: When Sex Offender Registries Aren’t Enough
My husband carries a photo of me in his wallet tucked behind credit cards, his driver’s license and carefully folded bills. I ask him to give it to me as we stand in the reception area of the jail in Tama County, Iowa, in December 2015. He looks ready to ask: Why? Then, he silently pulls it from his wallet. Full Essay
Read MoreWhen The Abuser Is A Child, Too
In 2005, a 17-year-old, Amie Zyla, made a plea to members of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. Zyla had been sexually assaulted at age 8 by a 14-year-old friend of the family. Nine years after was convicted in juvenile court, Zyla was horrified to see him on the local news. He had been arrested for luring children into his apartment and videotaping dozens of them in his shower. “We cannot sit back and allow kids to continue to be hurt,” she told the subcommittee. “The…
Read More‘Living beyond the label’
____ ____ ____, 29, is a married father of two. He’s enrolled in Peninsula College’s Composites Recycling program, and is a member of the school’s Carbon Club. He’s also a level-three sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreYoung Sex Offenders Shouldn’t Have to Register; It’s Ineffective and Hurts Everyone Around Them
Sex offender registration policies were initially developed for adults with sexual offenses, but have recently been extended to include youth with sexual offenses as well. At first glance, sex offender registration and notification (hereafter referred to as SORN) may make us feel safer, produce relief knowing that these individuals are being punished. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreNE: Class action lawsuit filed on behalf of juveniles placed on sex offender list
The attorney who successfully sued to keep a 15-year-old boy’s name off the state’s Sex Offender Registry now is seeking to file a class-action lawsuit for those who the Nebraska State Patrol did list. Attorney Joshua Weir said it ruined the lives of the seven — listed only as Johnny Doe I through VII — and dozens of others. Full Article
Read MoreIreland: Teenage sex offenders a growing challenge for social workers
In world of online porn, more than 25% of sex offenders found by Garda are teenagers. What’s the best way to deal with sex offenders? Most people would probably answer they should be locked up, ideally for a long time. But what if the offender in question is a 17-year-old? Or as young as 12? This is where Joan Cherry comes in. She is one of a small number of social workers who have worked with young sexual offenders – or as she prefers to refer to them, “young people in…
Read MoreYoung Sex Offenders Shouldn’t Have to Register; It’s Ineffective and Hurts Everyone Around Them
Sex offender registration policies were initially developed for adults with sexual offenses, but have recently been extended to include youth with sexual offenses as well. At first glance, sex offender registration and notification (hereafter referred to as SORN) may make us feel safer, produce relief knowing that these individuals are being punished. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Forcing kid to masturbate for cops in sexting case was wrong, court finds
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in favor of a Virginia man who, as a teen, was once ordered by a lower court to be photographed while masturbating in the presence of armed police officers. Full Article
Read MoreChildren on Sex Offender Registries at Greater Risk for Suicide Attempts, Study Suggests
A new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that children who were legally required to register as sex offenders were at greater risk for harm, including suicide attempts and sexual assault, compared to a group of children who engaged in harmful or illegal sexual behavior but who were not required to register. Full Article
Read MoreConcerns with adding juveniles to sex registry lists
A national practice since the late 1990s, sex offender registration and community notification for adult offenders has correlated with significant drops in the rates of sex offenses. Nevertheless, there remains significant debate over its actual social benefits. The same cannot be said, however, for juvenile sex offender registration, which is both economically disastrous and causes incredible hardships for children raised on the registry. This is because registration brings with it a number of disabilities both legal (e.g., exclusion from certain jobs, professional licenses or places of residence, and a requirement to…
Read MoreSexting creating legal minefield for teenagers — and the Australian courts system
[Australian ABC News] When young people find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system on serious charges relating to sexting practices, it’s often a conundrum for sentencing judges. In some cases judges have expressed concern about the trend, and have exercised their discretion not to record convictions against young people charged with serious child pornography offences, for sharing sexually explicit photos of themselves. A South Australian Youth Court judge last week spared a 16-year-old boy a conviction for producing child pornography for taking a photo of his own genitals…
Read MoreCO: U.S. court ruling sparks debate over Colorado’s sex offender registry
When David sifted through the mail the morning of his 18th birthday, he hoped to find cards with money. Instead, he received a warrant for his arrest. The charge: statutory rape. It was 2007, and the 17-year-old junior basketball star had recently moved to a small Missouri town, population less than 500, and almost immediately started dating a girl who was one month shy of her 14th birthday. They were intimately involved for nearly three months before David ended the relationship. Full Article
Read MoreEnd Juvenile Sex-Offender Registration: It’s Ineffective and Based on Rare Cases
U.S. sex-offender registration laws for both adults and juveniles have largely been knee-jerk reactions to horrific incidents of child abductions that ended in sexual abuse and murder or near-deaths. Captured by images of innocent children and moved by national news stories of sexual offenses committed by strangers, the public responded with grassroots efforts demanding that “something be done” to prevent the victimization of more children. Full Editorial
Read MoreWA: Juvenile sex crimes can be basis of civil commitment
Civil commitment of offenders who have been designated as sexually violent predators can be indefinitely extended for those whose crimes occurred when they were juveniles, the Washington Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday. Full Article
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