Minnesota’s sentencing practices for sexual offenders is coming into question by several groups, each taking up different issues with the status quo. As Alpha News reported the national pro-child, anti-crime group PROTECT is calling for tougher sentences in child pornography cases in Minnesota. The organization released a report titled “Children Betrayed.” It calls Minnesota’s sentencing practices “shocking and dramatically out of step with national and state trends,” and found that Minnesota judges award probation for possession and distribution of child pornography in roughly 90% of all cases. The report states…
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MN: Patty Wetterling Speaks at Birchwood City Council Meeting
Submitted by “Robert” – Like most of us registrants here, I come here daily and a select few other websites in the country for my daily news and updates. Yesterday, Florida Action Committee posted (November 10, 2016): Must Watch: Patty Wetterling Speaks at Birchwood City Council Meeting with the comment “It’s incredible to hear Patty Wetterling speak with such tremendous insight and empathy for human-kind (victims and offenders).” This is an incredible video clip because there is so much going on here. As noted by FAC, Patty Wetterling is an…
Read MoreMN: Well-meaning family takes in sex offender, inciting fear and outrage
The debate in Birchwood Village shows a problem that state leaders still have not figured out how to address: How to integrate sex offenders into a community. Full Article
Read MoreMN: South St. Paul set to dramatically restrict where sex offenders can live
Eyebrows also raised when ____ ____ moved to the inner-ring suburb. ____ was busted for criminal sexual conduct in 2011 after repeated contact with a 10-year-old girl. But it was ____ ____’s arrival that caused South St. Paul, population 20,000, to go on the offensive. ____ is a convicted sex offender whose past includes repeated attempts at accosting females with a weapon. The City Council is in the process of deciding whether to implement one of the strictest residency restrictions for sex offenders anywhere in Minnesota. Full Article
Read MoreMN: What is deserved for a sex offender?
Two painful, recent stories illuminate complex controversies that surround Minnesota’s practice of locking up certain sex offenders in a “treatment program” after they’ve served prison sentences for their crimes. Full Article
Read MoreAfter Jacob, work harder to prevent child sexual abuse [Commentary]
This week, the nation finally learned the truth of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Jacob Wetterling at the hands of ____ ____ (“Jacob’s killer gives detailed confession,” Sept 7). Upon hearing the harrowing details, we wept, knowing Jacob’s final moments were filled with fear, pain and pleading. We learned that the man who killed Jacob had previously kidnapped and assaulted another boy, Jared Scheierl. We raged, knowing that for 27 years ____ enjoyed a freedom he did not deserve and, we hope, will never again possess. Full Commentary
Read MoreJacob Wetterling, Found at Last – R.I.P.
The remains of Jacob Wetterling have been found in Minnesota. Jacob was abducted in 1989 at age 11 in a case that scared, scarred and deeply saddened people around the globe. As his mother Patty texted to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Saturday: “Our hearts are broken. We have no words.” Full Article
Read MoreMN: 26-year-old is cleared for unconditional release from MSOP
A Minnesota court has ordered the first-ever full and unconditional discharge from Minnesota’s sex offender treatment program, choosing a young man who has spent the past six years in state confinement solely for sexual acts he committed as a child. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Appeals Court overturns conviction of man accused of soliciting a minor for sex over the internet
In a decision unique to the digital era, a man’s conviction for soliciting a minor for sex over the internet was overturned because he wasn’t allowed to claim the child lied about her age. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Appeals court hears challenge to constitutionality of Minnesota Sex Offender Program
A federal appeals court in St. Louis heard oral arguments Tuesday about whether the state of Minnesota’s sex offender treatment program violates the Constitution with its practice of indefinite detention. The case before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals could force the state to make a series of politically unpopular reforms to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), which has come under fire for its failure to release more offenders into the community. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Vindictive Sex Offender Policies Do Little Good
In Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill which would expand restrictions on where people listed as sex offenders can live, and allow local communities to add even more restrictions. According to this report, the restrictions are so severe that in some of Minnesota’s largest communities there would be essentially no place for these people to live at all. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreMN: Former sex offenders left out in the cold by city residency restrictions
A City of Milwaukee ordinance passed by the Common Council in July 2014 is making it nearly impossible for former sex offenders to find housing. The ordinance restricts these ex-offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school, licensed day care center, park, recreation trail or playground. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Order Halts Changes to Minnesota Sex Offender Program
A federal appeals court has granted a full stay of a judge’s order requiring changes to Minnesota’s sex offender program. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Reforms to state sex offender program suspended by appeals court
The state of Minnesota won a round in court Thursday, when a federal appeals panel suspended a judge’s order that would have required prompt changes to the state’s troubled sex offender program. In October U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ordered the state to revamp the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), including changes that could lead to the accelerated release of sex offenders. On Thursday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative stay of Frank’s order; it remains in effect while the appellate panel considers the state’s request…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota House panel votes to back governor sex offender stance
A Minnesota House committee unanimously voted Tuesday to support the position Gov. Mark Dayton and Attorney General Lori Swanson are taking in appealing a federal judge’s decision that a state sex offender program is unconstitutional. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Judge rejects Minnesota’s bid to delay reforms in sex offender program
A federal judge has rejected a request by the state of Minnesota to delay dramatic court-ordered reforms to Minnesota’s controversial sex offender program. The decision, handed down Monday by U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank, means the state must promptly evaluate hundreds of sex offenders who are detained at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) and release those who no longer meet the legal criteria for confinement. Full Article
Read MoreMN: States Struggle With What to Do With Sex Offenders After Prison
MOOSE LAKE, Minn. — Behind razor wire and locked metal doors, hundreds of men waited on a recent morning to be counted, part of the daily routine inside a remote facility here that was built based on a design for a prison. But this is not a prison, and most of these men — rapists, child abusers and other sex offenders — have completed their sentences. They are being held here indefinitely under a policy known as civil commitment, having been deemed “sexually dangerous” or “sexual psychopathic personalities” by courts.…
Read More‘Person of interest’ named in 1989 Jacob Wetterling disappearance
The boy was 11 when he was abducted while riding home on his bike. An Annandale man charged with possessing child pornography is a person of interest in the case, authorities said. Full Article Related Wetterling Family Statement
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