OH: Sex-offender registry requires reboot in Ohio and the nation: editorial

Title 1 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 created an all-inclusive state-by-state registry of convicted sex offenders. Known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Title 1 also attempted the impossible: to protect the public, particularly children, from convicted sexual predators who had done their time and were now back on the street. Full Article

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OH: Supreme Court upholds sex offender registration laws, rejecting cruel and unusual punishment argument

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State laws requiring that certain sex offenders register with local authorities and verify their address every six months for 25 years do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The case involved a 21-year-old defendant, Travis Blankenship, who pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual conduct with a minor between 13 and 16 years old, a fourth-degree felony. He challenged the constitutionality of the sentence requirement that he register with the local sheriff and report every six months for the next 25 years. But…

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OH: Convicted sex offender seeks chance to take Ohio bar exam

The Ohio Supreme Court is debating whether a convicted sex offender who wants to be a lawyer should be allowed to take the state bar exam. The court scheduled a Tuesday hearing for the request by ____ ____, a former Army officer convicted in military court of sex-related offenses after his arrest in 1998 in an FBI sting operation in which he thought he was meeting a 15-year-old girl for sex. Full Article

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OH: Sex offender registries draw criticism from some unlikely sources

You might think that all advocates for rape victims would support the practice of forcing sex offenders to publicly register their addresses after their release from prison. But you would be mistaken. Growing numbers of victim advocates and criminal justice researchers are among those who have concluded that sex offender registries are too costly and provide little or no protection to the public. Full Article Also see: Sex offender says registry amounts to punishment for life Nearly three decades ago, ____ ____ was convicted of raping a 33-year-old woman. While…

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OH: Report – 1 in 5 Ohio inmates are current or former sex offenders

COLUMBUS (AP) —A legislative report says one in five current Ohio prison inmates is behind bars now for a sex offense or was in the past. The report released Wednesday says about 7,700 inmates are serving time for a sex offense, and an additional 2,415 inmates have a prior sex offense. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction houses about 50,000 inmates. Full Article Report Profile of Sex Offenders in Ohio Prisons (2015)

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OH: Pedophiles should not be allowed to mix with minors on college campus (Column)

Every parent’s nightmare is a reality in the classrooms of Cuyahoga Community College. Literally, as I type this article, blossoming teenage girls and budding teenage boys are schoolmates with adult registered sex offenders who have failed to report Tri-C as their school. Many have stipulations that prohibit unsupervised contact with minors. Full Column Response: Should former sex offenders be allowed on college campuses? 

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OH: Supreme Court – When Is a Sex Offender Not a Sex Offender?

Maybe Hollywood culture has impassioned us too much. We expect loud murmurings and banging from a gavel to restore order when we envision courtroom scenes. Largely, we expect drama, especially when it comes to sex crimes. The reality is that it is a subdued affair. At least it was this morning. There was a small and quiet crowd in the Supreme Court of Ohio this morning. Overall, it was a feeling of intrigue as the Court heard an important paradox of a question. When is a sex offender not a…

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OH: Public housing residents illegally allowed registered sex offenders to live with them

CLEVELAND, Ohio – More than two dozen men and women who illegally allowed registered sex offenders to live with them in federally subsidized housing have been charged with theft and tampering with records, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office said Monday. Each of the 27 defendants were charged with theft and the grand jury indictments also include 89 counts of tampering with records. Full Article

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OH: Cleveland Mayor seeks gun offender registry, firearms rationing as part of new city ordinances

Mayor Frank Jackson announced Tuesday a plan to combat gun violence in Cleveland that would include a gun offender registry, rationing purchases and other controversial measures. He stated in a press conference that the multi-tiered approach was designed with consultation from the city’s attorneys in an effort to overhaul existing gun regulations in the Forest City. “We’re not going to just sit around and be helpless. We’re not going to take on the victim mentality that there’s nothing we can do. There is something we can do,” said Mayor Frank…

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OH: 9-year-old boy charged with sex crime

CENTERVILLE, Ohio (WDTN) – Crimes are committed by the very young. Sometimes the child doesn’t realize he or she is crossing the line, but if a complaint is filed and an investigation produces evidence, a prosecutor has to begin legal action. They can be small and still be a criminal and end up in a juvenile facility. The case involving the 9-year old boy happened on Fernshire Drive in Centerville recently. He is now charged with gross sexual imposition, accused of pulling down the pants of another child and touching him inappropriately…

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OH: Ex-Sex Offender Comes in Solid Third Place in Cuyahoga County Executive Race

Tim Russo ran one hell of a race. A race worthy of a vote. I am not afraid to say that, yes, I voted for a sex offender to run Cuyahoga County. There were many more people out there who punched a ballot with Russo’s name on it. He gathered 9,171 votes in the race, well behind Armond Budish, who was pretty much anointed the new king of the Democratic Party at the county level before a ballot was even cast, and Shirley Smith who currently serves as a state…

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OH: Law would mandate sex-offender alerts at nursing homes

State lawmakers want to close a loophole that requires neighbors to be notified when a registered sex offender moves into a nursing home but not the people who live there or their families. “As it stands now, if I live next to a nursing home, I’m going to be notified if a sex offender moves in. But if I’m in the room with a sex offender, I probably won’t know it,” said Beverley Laubert, the state’s long-term-care ombudsman with the Ohio Department of Aging. Current law requires notification of anyone living…

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OH: ‘Let me live my life’: Registered sex offender shares his side of story

NEWARK — ____ ____ is a registered sex offender. He’ll admit to that, no problem. He is not, however, a pedophile. He is not a child molester, and he has no interest messing with anyone’s kids, he said. “A lot of people don’t know the story,” said ____, 44, from his West Main Street home. “They figure, because someone’s a sex offender, ‘Oh, he likes little kids.’ But that’s not always the case. “Before you go judge someone, do your homework.” Full Article

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OH: Sex offenders living in nursing homes

If you have a loved one in a nursing home, they may be living under the same roof as a sex offender — and have no idea that they do. An exclusive Channel 3 investigation found 29 sex offenders living in 16 nursing homes in Northeast Ohio. Two of those nursing homes — one in a small village in Summit County — had up to four convicted sex offenders living in them. “You would not want to live in a nursing home or have a loved one live in a nursing…

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OH: Councilman tables own proposed ordinance on sex offenders

AMHERST — A proposed ban which would have prevented registered sex offenders living within the city limits from participating in Halloween will have to wait.At a committee meeting Monday, Phil Van Treuren made a motion to table the ordinance which he promoted one week ago through a news release.Van Treuren said his proposed ordinance was recommended after seeing the Village of Orwell in Ashtabula County adopt a similar ordinance recently, prohibiting sex offenders from answering their door during and around Halloween. After getting feedback from council members and Law Director…

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