[baltimoresun.com – 2/10/20] A Baltimore County state senator is drafting a proposal to prohibit student sex offenders from school campuses statewide. Baltimore County state Sen. Kathy Klausmeier on Monday said the bill would apply to registered sex offenders regardless of their age — prekindergarten through high school. The state already has laws prohibiting other sex offenders from school campuses, she said. The proposal comes after Santino E. Sudano, a 21-year-old Parkville High School student, was charged in December with second degree rape, according to court documents. Sudano had pleaded guilty…
Read MoreTag: Maryland
MD: The Absurdity Of Charging 10-Year-Olds As Sex Offenders
A ten-year boy has just been charged as a sex offender as a result of a schoolyard game of tag that got out of control. As reported by the local CBS news affiliate: “the fourth-grade students were playing a game of tag that escalated when a boy began making inappropriate comments and movements toward the girls. One of the boys also wrapped his arms around one of the girls.” Full Article Related https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/11/22/10-year-old-boy-charged-sex-offense-marbury-maryland-school/
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Child Pornography Laws Should Protect, Not Prosecute Children
The highest state court in Maryland ruled yesterday that a teenage girl could be prosecuted for distributing “child pornography” because she shared a one-minute video in which she was engaged in a consensual sexual act. Has the world gone crazy? “Child pornography” laws have been passed in every state in the nation. And in each of those states the purpose of the laws is to protect children from abuse and exploitation. Protecting children from abuse and exploitation is a noble cause. However, it is not noble to prosecute children who…
Read MoreMD: A teenage girl texted her friends a graphic video of herself. A court said she’d shared child pornography
[washingtonpost.com – 5/23/19] The three teenagers regularly shared silly videos, trying to one-up each other and trusting the group text messages would remain private. But one especially sensitive text did not stay among them — landing the teen who first sent it at the center of a novel court case over a sexually explicit video she made and shared of herself. Maryland’s highest court will soon decide whether state laws intended to stop child pornography apply when the child is both the subject and the sender of the graphic material.…
Read MoreMD: Maryland House GOP to push for state income tax cut, violent offender registry
[baltimoresun.com – 1/25/19] Republican leaders in Maryland’s House of Delegates on Friday released their legislative priorities for 2019, including a state income tax cut, a registry for violent repeat offenders, and single-member districts in the General Assembly. Flanked by fellow Republicans, Anne Arundel Del. Nic Kipke, the House’s minority leader, and Baltimore County Del. Kathy Szeliga, the minority whip, also said they would push for authority for greater use of so-called “special police” in Maryland in an effort to try to keep schools safer. Kipke said that Republican delegates represent…
Read MoreMD: Maryland joins sex-offender registry program
[washingtonpost.com – 8/26/18] HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Maryland is joining a sex-offender registry program that law enforcement officials say will make it more efficient to share records. The Herald-Mail reported Sunday that Maryland became the 17th state to join OffenderWatch last week. A statewide contract will allow every sheriff’s office, participating police departments and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to use the technology. Maryland residents will also be able to register online to receive alerts and updates at no cost when offenders register within a specific radius of…
Read MoreMD: State funding to go toward ensuring sex offender compliance
The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office will soon receive over $24,000 from the state to help enforce Maryland sex offender registry and compliance laws. The Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that it is giving about $700,000 to help local law enforcement agencies in their sex offender registration, compliance and enforcement efforts. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Theater cancels ‘A Christmas Carol’ after revelation that Scrooge actor is convicted sex offender
Faced with the revelation that their lead actor was a convicted sex offender and fearing the possibility of protests, the Fells Point Corner Theatre and the Collaborative Theatre Company have canceled their production of “A Christmas Carol,” which was scheduled to open Friday. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Protest on sex offender’s involvement in Havre de Grace Seafood Festival stops council vote
The fate of next year’s Havre de Grace Seafood Festival is up in the air after residents complained to the City Council Monday about ____ and ____ ____’s involvement with the event. The City Council refused to entertain a motion to approve the festival for 2016, leaving the festival’s future in limbo. Full Article Related MD: In Havre de Grace, festival sees protest against former councilman convicted of sex offense
Read MoreMD: Retroactive registration of juvenile sex offenders OK’d
A juvenile court did not violate a convicted teenager’s constitutional rights by requiring him to register as a sex offender, though he committed the sexual assault before the registry’s enactment, a Maryland appeals court held Tuesday. Article with Paywall Appeals Court Decision
Read MoreMD: Boy Faces Assault Charges For Kiss Made On A Dare
PIKESVILLE, Md. (WBFF) — Baltimore County Police and Baltimore County school officials responded to a report of assault involving two eighth-grade students at Pikesville Middle School on Wednesday. School officials took a report regarding a 13-year-old boy who kissed a 14-year-old girl during school hours. The unwanted kiss was allegedly the result of a dare made by students. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Study of Balto. Co. – Fewer sex offenses reported in neighborhoods with more registered sex offenders
Amid a growing national debate over sex offender registries, researchers who studied years of crime data from Baltimore County have released a new finding: Neighborhoods with more registered sex offenders experienced fewer reported sex offenses. The researchers from Princeton University and the University of Michigan, who chose Baltimore County because it was the first place they found where they could get all the data they sought, say the finding underscores misconceptions about where and how sex crimes are most likely to occur. Full Article
Read MoreMD: In Havre de Grace, festival sees protest against former councilman convicted of sex offense
As families browsed the selection of seafood and frozen treats at the Havre de Grace Seafood Festival on Friday, protesters circulated fliers cautioning attendees about one of the event’s vendors. More than a dozen people handed out literature about ____ ____ _____, a 58-year-old food and ice cream truck operator who was convicted in 1999 of child sex abuse. Kayli Veres, a 28-year-old mother of five, said she organized the event to inform attendees who aren’t familiar with _____, ‘s past. She said she’s concerned because Maslin has been removed…
Read MoreMD: Lawsuit – Sex offender requirements applied retroactively
BALTIMORE — A class-action lawsuit claims the rights of at least 800 people listed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry have been violated. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, says the state retroactively increased the length of time certain sex offenders had to remain on the registry. The Maryland Declaration of Rights prohibits laws that retroactively criminalize an act or impose a more severe penalty than was set when the act was committed. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Court ruling upends Maryland’s sex offender registry
___ is among 1,155 sex offenders who have been removed from the registry since February. … Most have been stripped out because of a decision by Maryland’s highest court. That ruling handed a victory to advocates who said the registries were unfairly punitive, but has troubled legislators and upset victims. Full Article
Read MoreMD: ‘Vigilante justice’ leads to prison time in fatal beating of sex offender
A 20-year-old Reservoir Hill woman was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for what prosecutors called an act of vigilante justice when she led a group beating of a sex offender that turned fatal. Her father was also sentenced to jail time for his role. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Weakening the Shield: Reforming Sex Offender Registry Laws for the Worse?
The sex offender registry has long been a system relied upon by the government to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including ones who have completed their court-ordered sentences. It is also a shield designed to protect the public; however, the shield could soon be weakened when at least 1,200 names disappear from the State of Maryland’s registry. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Court Rules Sex Offenders Who Committed Crimes Before 1995 Removed From Registry
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — A major and controversial court ruling could strike a quarter of all names off Maryland’s sex offender registry. It’s now just a question of when. Full Article
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