A Houston father shot and killed a teenage boy he found in the room of his 16-year-old daughter in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said. The father heard noises coming from the room and went to investigate. Upon finding the 17-year-old boy with his daughter, the father got into a fight with the boy, and “the homeowner, who was armed, shot the male once,” the office said. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Texas
TX: ‘Failure to register’ nets sex offender 60 years
A Willis man was convicted to 60 years in prison Tuesday for failure to register as a sex offender. A Montgomery County jury in the 435th District Court found ___ ___ ___, 59, guilty of failure to register as a sex offender Monday, and District Court Judge Michael T. Seiler sentenced ___ to 60 years in prison on Tuesday. “We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict and the judge’s sentence,” said assistant prosecutor Shanna Redwine. “Both the jury and the judge obviously appreciate the danger of having a convicted…
Read MoreTX: Registered sex offenders banned from San Antonio parks
SAN ANTONIO — More than 80 parks across San Antonio will turn into restricted zones for registered sex offenders. The new ordinance takes effect Saturday, March 1. City council unanimously approved it in December as the best interest of public safety. Texas Voices, a group which advocates for non-violent offenders, says analysis of similar ordinances in other states suggest restrictions do not create safer environments. The group said some registrants are on the list if they were charged for having a consensual relationship with a minor at 18-years-old. “The hardest part…
Read MoreTX: A teacher, sexting and the right to free speech
He was 30 and she was 13 — a teacher and his student — but their relationship went far beyond the classroom, authorities say. In six days in October 2012, they sent 688 text messages to each other, and the conversation became sexual, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The messages — known as “sexting” — included descriptions of sexual preferences and fantasies and discussions of dreams about each other, the affidavit says. ____ ____, now 31, who was a junior high school teacher in the Everman district, was eventually arrested on…
Read MoreTX: Constitutional or not, court allows registration requirement for sex-offenses predating registry law
The Texas District and County Attorneys Association’s weekly case summaries last week described a new Court of Criminal Appeals decision which required sex-offender registration for offenses committed before the creation of the registry. The decision, though, failed to address the question of whether the underlying statute is constitutional, an issue dissenters said they should have confronted. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Dallas man says he was wrongly included in sex offender database
DALLAS — ____ ____ says the City of Dallas wrongfully made him register as a sex offender for 13 years. Now he wants the city to pay up. “I just feel like I deserve to be recompensed for what’s done happen in all this,” said ____, 43. “I just feel like it’s wrong.” ____ filed a $3 million federal lawsuit early last month, saying police violated his civil rights by refusing to recognize that he did not have a legal obligation to register. He filed the lawsuit after the city ultimately agreed…
Read MoreTX: Grapevine Has Effectively Banned Child Molesters
For a portrait of the Kafkaesque nightmare criminal residency restrictions can create, go read about the permanent sex offender camp that took root several years ago beneath Miami’s Julia Tuttle Causeway. Thanks to a local ordinance barring them from living within 2,500 feet of any place that children congregate, there was quite literally nowhere else for them to go.It stands as an object lesson in how not to do public policy. It’s a lesson that Grapevine has yet to learn. Last week the Grapevine City Council, citing a “frightening and…
Read MoreTX: Sex offenders banned from S.A. parks, River Walk
SAN ANTONIO — City Council on Thursday unanimously approved an ordinance to restrict registered sex offenders from city parks and a portion of the River Walk. The ordinance creates park safety zones that registered sex offenders can’t enter. They can’t live within 1,000 feet or loiter, whether standing or in a car, within 300 feet of a park safety zone, the draft ordinance states. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Is the public sex offender registry fair?
Kids across Southeast Texas are gearing up for Halloween, and with the holiday season upon us, parents should be aware of who lives in the homes their children are visiting. As part of a special report, 12News has researched which cities in SETX have the most registered sex offenders per capita. According to city-data.com, Woodville has the highest percentage, with one in every 79 residents being a registered sex offender. Next is Kountze, with one in every 86 residents being an offender. Third is Buna, with one sex offender for…
Read MoreTX: Online solicitation statute ruled unconstitutional
In a surprising decision – both for its unanimous outcome and the unlikely reference to Miley Cyrus “twerking” in a Texas judicial opinion – the Court of Criminal Appeals today declared Texas Penal Code §33.021(b), criminalizing online solicitation of a minor, “facially unconstitutional” in a habeas corpus writ styled Ex Parte John Christopher Lo. See their unanimous opinion (pdf) written by Judge Cathy Cochran which ruled that the statute is “overbroad because it prohibits a wide array of constitutionally protected speech and is not narrowly drawn to achieve only the legitimate objective of…
Read MoreTX: Condo Association Fighting To Keep Sex Offender Out
A battle between a sex offender in Austin and a home owner’s association could set a precedent across the state if not the country. The association’s decision to ban sex offenders is now being challenged. A sleepy little community in South Austin is fighting what could be a major case. “I don’t know why this law firm has decided to mount a crusade in favor of pedophiles, but they have,” says Eleanor Rotthoff, a resident of Valley View Village Condominiums The condominium complex voted and amended their homeowner’s association bylaws.…
Read More