TX: Annual Sex Offenders Sweep begins Friday

[kristv.com – 10/24/19] CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Halloween naturally prompts youngsters to visit homes they aren’t familiar with. County law enforcement officials want them to be careful and are taking steps to make it safer for them. The Nueces County Community Supervision and Corrections Department will be conducting its 13th annual Sex Offender Sweep beginning Friday through Halloween Day. In conjunction with the approaching holiday, local law enforcement officials will be conducting home visits on registered sex offenders currently on probation within Nueces County. All District Judges have mandated that…

Read More

The sex offender registry should assess risk, otherwise it is purely punishment

A not-so-uncommon story: The sexual assault victim — a girl of 16. She’s now 37 years old, happily married to the love of her life, and the mother of three children. That’s right — the victim and her attacker got married soon after the girl’s mother, learning of the couple’s romance, reported the “assault” to prosecutors. Although he has a master’s degree, the attacker couldn’t find a teaching job because he was listed in the sex offender registry for life. His wife had to work multiple jobs to help support the…

Read More

TX: Judge’s campaign ‘team’ included convicted sex offender

[abc13.com – 3/20/19] HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A convicted sex offender had apparently worked for a newly-elected Harris County judge’s campaign, but wasn’t detected until he was handcuffed in a court room. ______, 36, appeared for an arraignment Wednesday, accused of failing to alert Houston Community College of his sex offender status while enrolled there. Deputies took ______ into custody while working for Harris County 270th Civil Court Judge Dedra Davis. Harris County has no record of ______ as an employee, and neither does the district court administrator. If they…

Read More

TX: Ex-Baylor frat president indicted on 4 counts of sex assault won’t go to prison

[cnn.com – 12/11/18] Even though Jacob Walter Anderson was indicted on four counts of sexual assault, the ex-fraternity president won’t spend a single day in prison. Instead, a plea agreement allowed the former Baylor University student to plead no contest to a lesser charge of unlawful restraint. That means if the 24-year-old successfully completes three years of deferred probation and pays a $400 fine, his criminal record will be wiped clean of the charge, CNN affiliate KWKT said. Anderson will have to complete alcohol, drug and psychological treatment plans. But…

Read More

TX: Inmate claims God, dead mom, gave him ‘go ahead’ to beat sex-offender cellmate to death: report

[foxnews.com – 11/17/18] An inmate who allegedly beat to death his cellmate, an accused child molester, earlier this month in a Texas jail said “God and his mother” told him to do it because the man was “Bin Laden,” authorities said. David Faustino Flores, 42, was charged earlier this month with the murder of 76-year-old kiddie-train operator Clinton Don Simpson. Flores allegedly bashed Simpson’s head with dozens of blows against the cell floor and with his fists, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. “My mom said, ‘That’s Bin Laden, so you…

Read More

TX: For some sex offenders, their deal with the state wasn’t really a deal

When the Beaumont police detective called him in 2014, Curtis wondered what the officer might want. His only run-in with the law had been half a lifetime ago. In 1985, he had been charged with indecency with a child, his stepdaughter. Curtis, then 34, struck a deal with prosecutors. He would plead guilty, but if after 10 years he kept out of trouble, the conviction would go away. He paid his fees, performed his community service and attended sex offender counseling. The charge was dismissed in 1996. He kept a…

Read More

TX: Pastor convicted of child porn gets probation, must post sex offender sign at his home

An associate pastor who told police he kept child porn on his computer as part of research for “a possible lesson involving Cupid, love and human trafficking” has been sentenced to eight years’ probation. ____ ____, 79, also was ordered by Judge Mollee B. Westfall to post a sign at his Hurst home that says, “A person on probation for a child sex offense lives here.” Full Article

Read More

TX: Something Is Wrong with the Sex Offender Registry, and Deregistration Is the Only Tool We Have to Fix It

Something is wrong with the sex offender registry. It is not working the way it was intended to work. Worse, the registry is causing innocent people to be harmed. Yet none of these innocent people harmed by the registry are convicted sex offenders. Before diving into a discussion regarding the public sex offender registry, it is important to note that this article is not a critique of those who created and implemented the registry. Nor is this article a critique of those who keep the registry functioning. Rather, this article…

Read More

TX: Commissioners call on state to strengthen sex offender laws

[cleburnetimesreview.com – 6/15/18]\ The problem warrants concern, and is growing, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King said. “We’re averaging two to four new sex offenders per week moving into the county as the cities continue to squeeze them out,” King said. And it’s not just the cities within Johnson County. “As a suburban county next door to a large urbanized county we’re getting a lot of sex offenders moving into the unincorporated portions of Johnson County,” Johnson County Commissioner Larry Woolley said. The problem, King and Woolley said, is the authority…

Read More

TX: Houston Is Forcing Its Parolees Out of City Center and into ‘the Boonies’

[injusticetoday.com 5/22/18] Houston has come up with a new way to make life harder for people leaving prison on parole: by forcing the programs that provide them with housing, often paired with job placement and other services, to move outside the city limits. At the end of March, the city council approved an ordinance that imposes new regulations and inspections designed to improve safety conditions in boarding houses and other facilities. But it also requires housing for people on parole — known as “alternative housing” — or correctional facilities to be located at least…

Read More

TX: Father of Texas Teen Doesn’t Want Son Labeled Sex Offender

[floridaactioncommittee.org 5/10/18] Richard Culley, a former Army sergeant plans to fight to prevent his son, Ryan, from being labeled as a “sex offender” for having sex with a 15-year old girl who lied about her age. He was convicted solely based on the age of the girl. In Court, it was stipulated that the sex between Ryan and the girl was consensual and there was no coercion, the girl claimed on Facebook that she was 18 years old, the girl was the one who initiated contact with Ryan. Ryan received…

Read More

TX: How a charity for disabled vets almost gave a sex offender a free home

____ ____, 37, a war veteran and double amputee, was receiving the home mortgage-free, courtesy of the Military Warriors Support Foundation’s “Homes 4 Wounded Heroes” program. The charity worked in conjunction with the home’s most recent owner, Wells Fargo bank. Getting a house is no small deal. Getting one for free, in a settled and safe neighborhood in small-town America, is even bigger. ____, 14 years after he was maimed by a landmine in Iraq, was ready to begin the next chapter of his life among the families of Stuarts…

Read More

TX: Texas’ anti-gay sex-ed laws hurt kids

[dailytexanonline.com] Texas Health and Safety Code Section 163.002 lays out the guidelines regarding the instructional elements related to sexual education and STDs in public schools within the state. Hidden under points regarding an emphasis on abstinence-based sex ed is a restriction profoundly damaging to LGBTQ kids throughout the state of Texas. Specifically, this law states that sex ed instruction should include an emphasis “ … that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense.” Read more    

Read More

TX: Registered sex offenders targets of latest phone scam

[ktsm.com] EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says a telephone scam is targeting registered sex offenders in the county, trying to scam them out of money According to EPCSO, registered people around the county have gotten calls from someone identifying themselves as employees of the Sheriff’s Office. The scammers tell the registered sex offender that they are non-compliant with their registration and have warrants which will result in their arrest if they don’t pay a specific fine. The victim is then told to buy Money…

Read More

TX: Tarrant County judge used electric shocks to punish sex offender, who is getting a new trial

[star-telegram.com] FORT WORTH State District Judge George Gallagher of Tarrant County told a bailiff on three occasions to punish an uncooperative defendant with electric shocks, and now the sex offender’s conviction has been overturned and a new trial ordered. Stun belts can be strapped around the legs of some defendants and used to deliver thousands of volts of electric shock in the instance a defendant turns violent or attempts to escape the courtroom. However, in the case of _______, who was convicted in 2014 of charges of soliciting sexual performance…

Read More