Tag: New York

NY: People are using a new app to report sex assault anonymously

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[nypost.com – 9/21/18] In the wake of #MeToo, more than 1,000 people have downloaded an app aimed at rooting out repeat sex offenders by allowing victims and witnesses to report the crimes anonymously and join forces against the sickos. Called JDoe, the free app launched on the Apple and Android app store in April. It works by prompting users to report when and where an incident took place, along with the name of the perpetrator and any details of the crime. The information is then stored in an encrypted database.…

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NY: Banished from New York City [audio]: The Legality, Policy Considerations, and Practical Implications of the Housing Restrictions Faced by People on the Sex Offender Registry

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[nycbar.org – 9/11/18] In New York City, there are hundreds of men and women on the sex offender registry who are subject to the Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA) residency restriction, which prevents them from living within 1,000 feet of a school. This little-known restriction has created enormous constitutional problems. Because our densely-populated city contains virtually no residences that comply with this restriction, prisons are holding these people past the length of their prison sentences if there is no SARA-compliant housing available – a time period that usually extends longer…

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NY: Sex offender gets jail for not reporting social media password

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A Level 1 sex offender from the Tuscarora Indian Reservation was sentenced Thursday to a year in the Niagara County Jail for not telling authorities one of his social media passwords. ____ ____, 48, of Susie’s Lane, must register because of a misdemeanor sex conviction in 2004, defense attorney David J. Mansour said. In April, ____ pleaded guilty to a felony count of failure to register. He reported two social media accounts last year, but only one password. Mansour said ____ thought the accounts were linked. Full Article

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NY: Educators, officials seek more housing limits on sex offenders

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With classes across Long Island set to resume in the coming weeks, some Suffolk education leaders and elected officials are raising concerns that nearly two dozen of the highest-risk sex offenders are living close to schools. The officials are pushing for passage of legislation that would empower county officials to regulate where sex offenders live. Full Article

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NY: Couple raises concerns about 5 sex offenders living in nearby home

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[news12.com – 8/4/18] SHIRLEY – A Shirley couple says five sex offenders are living together in their community nearly 80 feet from their home. Jennifer and Thomas Gritz, who have lived in their home for the past 14 years, say they no longer allow their 10-year-old son to play outside. “I want my son to go outside and be a kid – play in the backyard, ride his bike up and down the street. He doesn’t even do that unless one of us is with him,” says Jennifer Gritz. Laura…

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NY: Critics say pardons will give sex offenders access to schools

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[timesunion.com – 7/24/18] ALBANY — Schools are generally off-limits for sex offenders, but not when it comes times to vote. A carveout in the state’s criminal trespass laws allows sex offenders to enter a school for the specific purpose of voting, including school district votes and other government elections, where the school is the polling site. The issue has jumped into the public’s consciousness as the result of outcry by some Republicans about conditional pardons recently issued by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that could speed up the restoration of voting…

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NY: Ortt criticizes Cuomo’s parolee voting plan – does not bar sex offenders from entering schools to vote

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[niagara-gazette.com – 6/20/18] The restoration of voting rights for more than 24,000 paroled felons has triggered concerns that dangerous sex offenders will be entering schools to cast their ballots on election day. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat seeking a third term this year, issued an executive order in April that made parolees eligible for conditional pardons for the intention of allowing them to participate in elections. By using his executive powers, the governor was able to bypass the Legislature. State Sen. Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, argued Wednesday that Cuomo’s move…

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NY: ‘We Just Want Our Community Back:’ Long Islanders Upset Over ‘Clustering’ Of Ex-Cons In Residential Neighborhoods

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[newyork.cbslocal.com 5/21/18] GORDON HEIGHTS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Just how much can one community take? There are multiple neighborhoods in New York where the state has clustered paroled ex-cons, and innocent families are paying the price. A 26-year-old mother accused of trying to kill her baby earlier this month created anguish in her Suffolk County community. Her lawyer claims she was mentally ill and a victim of human trafficking, while others say she was an interloper moving from house to house on a notorious street in a hamlet that borders Coram…

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NY: A Jury Rejected the Charges, but He Still Has to Register As a Sex Offender for Life

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[reason.com 4/30/18] New York’s highest court says accusations can be considered for registration purposes even when the defendant was acquitted. In New York a defendant can be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life based on accusations a jury rejected. So the state’s highest court ruled last week in a case that illustrates how fear and loathing of sex offenders lead to results that would be recognized as unjust and illogical in any other context. __________’s 13-year-old niece, identified in court documents as A.B.,…

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NY: Prosecutors Aren’t Just Enforcing the Law — They’re Making It

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[injusticetoday.com 4/20/18] Just a few months ago, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo seemed sure that criminal justice reform was imminent. During his annual State of the State address in January, he called for a legislative package that would limit civil asset forfeiture, reform discovery, reduce trial delays, and most notably, significantly reduce the use of cash bail. “For far too long, our antiquated criminal justice system has created a two-tier system where outcomes depend purely on economic status — undermining the bedrock principle that one is innocent until proven guilty,” Cuomo said.…

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NY: Congress passes bill giving NY youth groups access to FBI sex offender database

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[syracuse.com] WASHINGTON — Sex offenders who move to New York state will no longer be able to exploit an FBI loophole when they apply for jobs at summer camps and other organizations that work with children, according to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. A bill passed by Congress authorizes the FBI to make its full database available for employer background checks, regardless of where an individual had to register as a sex offender. Schumer, D-N.Y., had tried for almost eight years to pass legislation that allows the FBI to release all…

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NY: State police: Sex offender’s death accidental at Central New York Psychiatric Center

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[lohud.com] State police have ruled that a sex offender’s death inside Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy was accidental. Investigators determined Philip Barbato, 47, accidentally hanged himself with string while alone inside a shower room, Trooper Jack Kelly said. Barbato had been locked up under the state’s Sex Offender Treatment Program, part of the civil-commitment law that allows for confining sex offenders who completed their criminal sentence, according to Kelly. Nursing staff tried to resuscitate Barbato and an ambulance responded Monday at 3:05 a.m. He was pronounced dead at…

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NY: Outdated Ideas About Violent Crime Hurt Victims and Trap Offenders

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[citylimits.org] On August 21st, 1979, two girls aged 17 and 21 entered Rose and Louis Feit’s apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn and demanded money. Rose refused, so the girls grabbed a knife and a potato peeler out of the kitchen drawer. Rose Feit, who was 73, was left with 28 stab wounds, according to court records. Louis, who was 80, had 59. Both died of their injuries. Valerie Gaiter, the 21-year-old, was convicted of two counts of robbery and two counts of second-degree murder. Almost 40 years later, she’s still technically…

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