JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — A Missouri ballot measure that would allow allegations of past actions to be used against people facing child sexual abuse charges could lead to more wrongful convictions of the falsely accused, a prominent defense attorney said Wednesday. The proposed constitutional amendment is backed by prosecutors, sheriffs and police chiefs’ groups. It would allow past criminal acts — even alleged crimes that didn’t result in convictions — to be used to corroborate victim testimony or demonstrate a defendant’s propensity to commit such crimes when people face sex-related…
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MO: No place for sex offenders to go
Ol’ Chaplain Farris Robertson is at it again — housing multiple registered sex offenders in a residential Springfield neighborhood despite a city order to vacate. Attorneys with the city of Springfield, busy defending the city’s position in federal court, have decided to leave the residents of 1809 E. Crestview St. alone, for now. City officials are hopeful a court hearing, expected in early September, will put an end to the discussion and finally force the residents to disband. The city says, among other complaints, that far too many of the…
Read MoreMO: Springfield sued over order to close group home
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri nonprofit has filed a lawsuit contending that the city of Springfield violated federal and city laws when it ordered the closure of a group home for recovering alcoholics, drug addicts and sex offenders. Recovery Chapel and its executive director, Farris Robertson, said in the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday against the city and its Board of Adjustment that the city’s refusal to allow the group home violates the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as local zoning codes. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Sex offender presses for chance to be off registry
JEFFERSON CITY — Miniature hockey skates slide across the ice, scarring the surface. A boy jerks his hips back and forth, his eyes trained on his dad who is skating backward smoothly. Six-year-old Julian does his best to imitate the movements. Full Article
Read MoreMO: My Son, the Sex Offender: One Mother’s Mission to Fight the Law
In the run up to Halloween one year, Sharie Keil saw something that really made her jump: Missouri governor Jay Nixon, then the attorney general. He was on television to announce that registered sex offenders were hereby banned from participating in her favorite holiday. On threat of a year in jail, they had to stay inside and display a sign saying they had no candy. The goal was “to protect our children,” as Nixon put it, but Keil heard only a peal of political hysteria. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Area Counties to Charge for Sex Offender Registration
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Sheriff’s departments from nine counties across northwest Missouri will be taking advantage of a law allowing them to charge sex offenders for maintaining the Sex Offender Registry program. Representatives from four of those counties met at the Buchanan County Sheriff’s office Monday to talk about the charges. Full Article
Read MoreMO: How robbing a pot dealer puts you on the sex offender list
On a January evening in 2004, four young men were visiting an acquaintance who lived in an apartment in Maplewood. Also living in the apartment was a 17-year-old who attended an alternative high school. His name was Eddie. Word was that Eddie sold pot. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Students to be charged with distributing child porn
ST. CHARLES COUNTY – St. Peters police say some St. Charles County students are likely to be charged with distributing child pornography. NewsChannel 5 has exclusively learned the case involves nude selfies taken and texted out by students at Fort Zumwalt East High School. Full Article / Video
Read MoreMO: Gladstone woman on a crusade for change following Hailey Owens’ death
GLADSTONE, Mo. — Donna Roesle is a mother of three adult kids. Hours after the murder of Hailey Owens, she organized an online petition in hopes of getting a law passed that will get tougher on criminals who commit crimes against children. “It’s just awful that somebody can go out there and grab an innocent baby and do this,” Roesle said. Roesle has a daughter who is expecting her first child. The outrage she felt after Owens’ sudden death has left a hole in her heart and pushed her into action.…
Read MoreMO: Sex offender from Ballwin area faces legal limbo
STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY • There is a special wing here at the county jail that holds nine detainees who were convicted long ago for sex crimes. They already served their time in prison. Still, they wear bright orange jumpsuits as they await another kind of trial. Flagged as possible sexually violent predators, the Missouri attorney general’s office wants them held indefinitely at a secure state mental institution called Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Services, or SORTS. But first, in most of their cases, juries will be asked to make a rare decision in…
Read MoreMO: Mom tells of teen’s life on the sex-offender registry
The Missouri Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation last year that would remove many juvenile offenders from the public sex offender registry, which is posted on the Internet. It would not have lessened the punishment for any offender. Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the legislation and then launched a misleading campaign in which he highlighted some of the worst offenders on the registry. Let me tell you my son Zach’s story, as it gives a very different perspective. It shows how harmful the sex offender registry can be for juveniles who should not…
Read More2014 Women Against Registry’s Operation Push Back
This Press Release was just sent out to all Missouri Media and Legislators: As Director of Women Against Registry, I am contacting your agency on behalf of over two million women, family members and those affected by the public sex offender registry. We have grown tired of the continued penalties registrants and their FAMILY members increasingly face. We have begun “Pushing Back” on legislation and false media representation. For too long we have heard heart-breaking stories from families being destroyed, children beaten, passed over for higher education opportunities, family homes/property…
Read MoreMO: Missouri Supreme Court rules against sex offenders
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sided against three men previously convicted of a sex crime and facing a new criminal charge under a law making it illegal for them to be near certain parks. The cases are the most recent to focus on a portion of the Missouri Constitution barring retrospective and ex post facto laws. The high court ruled last month the ban on retrospective laws does not apply to criminal statutes. A divided Missouri Supreme Court concluded Tuesday the parks restriction is a…
Read MoreMO: Sex offender registry – Find better way for offenders
It’s rare to find a progressive trend in our Republican-dominated legislature, but their recent effort (House Bill 301) to downsize Missouri’s “sex offender registry” is laudable, even as Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto is perplexing. Registering “sex offenders” (far too broadly defined) is based on the questionable idea that they are more likely to offend once released — even though a U.S. Department of Justice study of criminal recidivism rates showed many convicted of sex-related offenses had lower rates of re-arrest compared to other criminals. We don’t require armed robbers or other felons…
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