[abcnews.go.com – 1/28/20] After spending a full 25-year sentence in prison for a crime he did not commit, a Bronx, New York, man was exonerated by the first prosecutorial conviction review unit on the East Coast. Rafael Ruiz was convicted in 1985 for sexually assaulting a girl in East Harlem. Ruiz, then 25, was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison and was released on parole in 2009 after serving the entire stint. Now, at the age of 60, Ruiz had his felony conviction wiped off his criminal…
Read MoreTag: New York
NY: Why Keeping People With Sex Offense Convictions Off Social Media Sites Does Little To Make Those Sites Safe
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal purports to take sexual violence seriously, but it aggressively ignores reality in favor of lazy solutions. Full Opinion Piece By Guy Hamilton-Smith, ACSOL Board Member
Read MoreNY: Cuomo plans to ban sex offenders from MTA transit system
[pix11.com – 1/7/20] Repeat and high-risk sex offenders would be banned from the MTA tranist system under a new law proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The NYPD announced support for the ban when Cuomo suggested it in March of 2019. The ban would apply to offenders for three years and blocks them from the subway, bus and rail systems. “MTA riders deserve to feel safe, and we have an obligation to ensure they will not be targeted by sex offenders,” Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday. “Enough is enough. If we want…
Read MoreNY: Make Plea Bargains In Felony Sex Abuse Cases More Difficult
[post-journal.com – 12/20/19] New York state doesn’t want to be too harsh on those convicted of crimes. That thought applies to the intransigence of state Democrats to broach the idea of tweaking their much-criticized criminal justice reforms just as it does to a piece of common-sense legislation that has been introduced for the past six years in the state Legislature without ever becoming law. Past history didn’t stop Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr., R-Sag Harbor, from reintroducing legislation that would make it harder for prosecutors and defense attorneys from making plea…
Read MoreNY: Cuomo: Make Sex Offenders Disclose Dating, Gaming User Names
[nbcnewyork.com – 12/22/19] New York’s governor says convicted sex offenders should be required to disclose their social media screen names to prevent them from using apps to exploit children. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that existing laws targeting online predation don’t account for new technology. His proposal, unveiled as part of his State of the State agenda, would require sex offenders to hand over screen names for dating and gaming apps, as well. The Democrat’s proposed legislation would also make it a crime for convicted sex offenders to misrepresent themselves…
Read MoreNY: Town adopts hotel/motel, special events laws
[uticaod.com – 12/11/19] New law sets limit on number of registered sex offenders who can stay at a hotel or motel HERKIMER — The Herkimer town board adopted a pair of local laws Monday — one dealing with hotels and motels and the other with special events. The local law requiring the licensing of hotels and motels in the town of Herkimer was adopted in response to residents’ complaints about the Glen Ridge Motel on state Route 5 and was based on local laws adopted by the town of Brighton,…
Read MoreNY: Pushed Out and Locked In – The Catch-22 for Disabled, Homeless, Sex-Offender Registrants
Across New York, people are incarcerated for weeks, months, and even years after their prison release dates. These individuals are not confined for violating prison disciplinary rules or committing new crimes. New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) detains them, instead, because they are homeless. DOCCS refuses to release prisoners to community supervision without an approved address. But for prisoners required to register as “sex offenders,” finding housing means navigating a web of restrictions that are levied exclusively on people convicted of sex crimes and that dramatically constrain…
Read MoreNY: Sex offender rules an inconsistent maze
[timesunion.com – 11/9/19] ALBANY — A New York law that is intended to protect children from convicted sex offenders has created a maze of contradictory policies and regulations, leading to inconsistent enforcement and confusing online tracking systems. The disparities have also resulted in sharply different residency requirements for offenders convicted of similar crimes and an increasingly perplexing system that makes it difficult for the public to confirm whether offenders in their area are in compliance, according to a Times Union review of public databases, court records, an internal state memorandum…
Read MoreNY: Church pulls plug on sex offender’s wedding
[poststar.com – 10/22/19] …when word got out on social media in recent days that ______ was planning to get married days after his sentencing, and the invitation that was posted on Facebook talked of the “fairytale” relationship, the you-know-what hit the proverbial fan. The wedding was to be held Saturday at South Granville Congregational Church. Pastor Rick Backus said that he was aware _____ had been accused of child sexual abuse after the wedding was booked, but in light of the fact he hadn’t been convicted the wedding was going…
Read MoreNY: Sex offenders form PAC to try and gain political voice
[timesunion.com – 10/14/19] Voting blocs, where people support candidates on specific issues, have long played an outsized role in New York politics – from labor unions that focus on workplace rules, to environmentalists who place clean air and water at the top of the list. But now an unusual bloc is emerging from an unexpected place: the locked sex offenders unit at one of the state’s major psychiatric hospitals. Convicted sex offenders at Central New York Psychiatric Center are joining a PAC, or political action committee, which could conceivably raise…
Read MoreNY: Legislators OK revised animal-abuse registry
[romesentinel.com – 9/19/19] Oneida County legislators approved a law setting up a public registry of convicted animal abusers but only after tweaking it to make it less worrisome to farmers. The Board of Legislators approved the law by acclimation Wednesday, Sept. 11 at the regular September meeting, shortly after the Ways and Means Committee gave its approval. Its central part is setting up an online registry, to be maintained by the Sheriff’s Office, of people convicted of animal abuse in the county. The measure would establish a website similar to…
Read MoreNY: Second Circuit Backs Home Checks for Sex Offenders
A Long Island sex offender who faced home visits from a private nonprofit contracted by his county did not endure an unconstitutional search, the Second Circuit affirmed Wednesday. Writing for a three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Christopher Droney noted in the ruling that in this case, public-safety interests outweigh the offenders’ rights. “In sum, the program advances the government’s substantial interest in reducing sex offender recidivism by improving the accuracy of the registry,” the 29-page opinion states. “Thus, the program serves a special need ‘beyond the normal need for law…
Read MoreNY: Revised animal-abuser registry going to lawmakers
[romesentinel.com – 8/20/19] [This is a continuation of the story we reported here] A revised version of a local law on animal abuse in Oneida County would remove the proposed penalty against someone who sells an animal to a convicted abuser, and would specifically exempt farms where an abuser works or shares the business with other people. … Support for the registry approach is not universal among animal advocates. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does not endorse them, instead favoring stronger penalties for abuse and…
Read MoreNY: Cops Gave ____ A Pass While Making More Than 7,000 Arrests For Similar Offenses
The New York Police Department allowed wealthy financier and convicted sex offender ____ ____ to skip dozens of court-mandated check-ins with law enforcement for more than eight years before he was arrested and charged with the sex trafficking of minors, the Washington Post reported earlier this year. During roughly that same period, cops in New York state made at least 7,061 arrests for similar violations of the state’s complicated sex offender registration law, according to data obtained by HuffPost. Several of those arrests include people who committed minor violations, like…
Read MoreNY: NY Sex Offenders Don’t Have To Disclose Facebook Accounts To Law Enforcement, Court Says
[dailyvoice.com – 7/8/19] People convicted of sexual offenses in New York will not have to disclose their status and will be permitted to use their Facebook accounts provided they don’t use a false name. The New York State Supreme Court unanimously made the ruling on Thursday, June 27, after a man from Ticonderoga was charged for failing to disclose to state officials that he used the social media website. His case has since been dismissed. Read more Related links: Where sex offenders don’t socially register [observertoday.com – 7/7/19]
Read MoreNY: Bill preventing minors from living under same roof as sex offenders awaits Cuomo’s OK
Minors will no longer be able to live under the same roof as sex offenders who have committed violent sexual crimes thanks to a bill from Island Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore) that made it out of the State Legislature before the 2019 legislative session ended Friday. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Social media accounts raise complexities for sex offender registry
The law that went on the books 24 years ago has had updates and spawned a number of requirements for sex offenders. One of them is that they must disclose to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services the “internet identifiers” that they use when they go online. The rationale for that is simple to understand since it is so easy for people to use social media accounts to pretend they are someone they are not and attempt to initiate communications with an unsuspecting person. But how much information must…
Read MoreNY: Registered sex offender living at Newfane nursing facility
[wkbw.com – 6/6/19] 7 Eyewitness News has learned a registered sex offender is living at the Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. But he had been quietly living in a local nursing home for months without any residents knowing. What’s even more concerning is how close this facility is to three schools. The registered sex offender has been living at the Newfane nursing center since January, but the state has not notified anyone until Thursday. This is the same center where the state attorney general’s office is also investigating an…
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