State officials are considering changes to the sex offender registry, starting with deeper data gathering to determine whether it is safe for more offenders to be removed from the system after long-term treatment and no repeat crimes. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Utah
UT: Supreme Court strikes down law allowing sex abuse lawsuits
The Utah Supreme Court has struck down a state law that allowed victims of sexual abuse to sue decades later, siding against a woman who alleged a former federal judge raped her when she was a teenage witness and he an attorney prosecuting a white supremacist serial killer. The state’s high court ruled the 2016 law unconstitutional, finding the Utah Legislature did not have the authority to effectively erase statutes of limitation after they already timed out. “The problems presented in a case like this one are heart-wrenching. We have…
Read MoreUT: Topless Utah Stepmom Pleads Guilty To Avoid Sex Offender Registry
[reason.com – 2/26/20] Faced with the possibility of being placed on a sex offender registry for 10 years, Utah’s Tilli Buchanan has instead pleaded guilty to lesser charges after being prosecuted for appearing topless in front of her stepchildren. Read the full article
Read MoreUT: Utah man exonerated years after sexual assault conviction
[kutv.com – 9/10/19] A Utah man is free today, exonerated, after spending years behind bars for a sexual assault he did not commit, according to a judge. Christopher Wickham, 50, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault in Salt Lake City in 1997, each a first degree felony. He was imprisoned and placed on the sex offender registry. Utah Third District Court Judge Royal I. Hansen signed an order today exonerating Wickham, according to the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center. It said a post-conviction investigation showed “numerous pieces of…
Read MoreUT: ‘Conviction’ aside, Utah Supreme Court says sex offender must register
The Utah Supreme Court has ruled a man must register as a sex offender, despite his conviction ultimately being set aside in another state. Full Article
Read MoreUT: Lawmaker calls for study in taking some convicts off sex offender registry
It’s a sensitive issues at the Utah Capitol — maybe close to alcohol policy, marijuana and Medicaid expansion — who goes off Utah’s Sex Offender Registry. Depending on the sex crime, convicts now can stay on for ten years, or for the rest of their lives. “We tend to kind of group those sex offenders together in the same broad brush category,“ said Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Davis County, who maintained Wednesday during a legislative committee hearing, the circumstances of the criminal acts are often very different. “Sometimes with these controversial…
Read MoreUT: Social work expert disagrees with federal law enforcers about sex offender treatment
[deseretnews.com – 12/15/18] A University of Utah social work professor and therapist disagrees with the state’s top federal law enforcement officials’ assessment that treatment for child sex offenders doesn’t work. Rob Butters, who has also worked as a probation officer, said it’s unfortunate they made the statement in a public forum because “it’s simply not true.” “We know that treatment works a lot better than incarceration,” he said. “Prison doesn’t make people better. It just keeps them incapacitated.” U.S. Attorney John Huber and FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Barnhart…
Read MoreLauren McCluskey Murder: What’s the Point of the Sex Offender Registry?
At approximately 8:20 p.m. on Monday, October 22nd, University of Utah college student Lauren McCluskey, 21, was found shot to death inside a car parked on campus. Only a short time before, the star track-and-field athlete had been on the phone with her mother, Jill McCluskey, who reported hearing her daughter’s last words. “Suddenly, I heard her yell, ‘No, no, no!’ I thought she might have been in a car accident,” Jill McCluskey said in a statement to press. “That was the last I heard from her.” … Rowland’s status…
Read MoreUT: Sex offender treatment – Is it working?
If an individual is convicted of a sex offense, he or she is required to follow a number of rules, including registering as a sex offender, serving time in prison or on probation, and undergoing psychological treatment. Full Article
Read MoreUT: How plea deals are uniquely negotiated for sex offenders
Dressed in an ill-fitting jumpsuit and with hands in chains, ____ ____ stood on July 7 before Judge Darold McDade to be sentenced for his crimes. In late May, ____, 25, pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges: two first-degree felonies of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, one second-degree felony of enticing a minor by the internet, and one third-degree felony of dealing in materials harmful to a minor. Needless to say, prison was expected. Full Article
Read MoreSex offender won’t have to pay victim after Utah Supreme Court overturns order in 2003 crime
The Utah Supreme Court has overturned a judge’s order requiring a sex offender to pay his victim for the wages she lost as a result of his abuse in 2003. ____ ____, who sexually exploited a teenage girl, had been ordered by a judge to reimburse the victim almost $13,000 in wages she lost when depression caused by the offense led to problems at work and a reduction in her hours. Full Article
Read MoreUT: Audit slams Utah’s sex-offender treatment program in prison
Sex offenders in Utah often stay in prison months beyond their parole eligibility date because of a backlog of inmates awaiting treatment overseen by the Utah Department of Corrections, according to a state audit released Monday. Full Article
Read MoreUT: Wasatch prosecutor warns Utah senators he’s coming after them for sex-offender vote
The Utah Legislature approved a bill this past session giving judges more sentencing discretion in cases in which a defendant had consensual sex with a minor under age 14 if that defendant is under 21. The measure passed the House 42-31 and the Senate 15-11. Gov. Gary Herbert signed it into law. It changes slightly the mandatory-minimum requirement of 25 years to life and a lifetime listing on the sex-offender registry for having sex with a minor. But it now has a deputy in the Wasatch County attorney’s office gunning…
Read MoreUT: Sex offender doesn’t have to reveal sexual history, Utah Supreme Court rules
SALT LAKE CITY — A convicted sex offender does not have to reveal his complete sexual history as a condition of his parole, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled. Full Article
Read MoreUT: New Twist on the Sex-Offender Registry: Financial Crime
States have taken the idea of the sex-offender registry and applied it to everything from kidnapping to animal abuse. Utah is expanding it into new territory: financial crime. An early version of the White Collar Crime Offender Registry, which has been online since February, includes more than 100 people convicted of tax, credit-card or insurance fraud; thefts from employers or friends; and bilking investors. They include 41-year-old ____ ____ ____. “Eye Color: Blue. Hair Color: Blonde … Targets: Insurance company.” Full Article (WSJ – may be behind paywall)
Read MoreUT: Amendment to lower time on Sex Offender Registry on House floor
SALT LAKE CITY — Amendments to HB16 would allow those who have been charged with crimes like voyeurism or “enticing a minor” to be dropped from the Sex Offender Registry in five years instead of 10. “Almost everyone is the legislature knows someone in this situation and has been asked to please do something about it,” said Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan. For the past five years, Draxler has been trying to make amendments to get sex offenders charged with lesser crimes off the list quicker than other sex offenders…
Read MoreUT: Change in law may get some off Utah sex offender registry early
(KUTV) A new bill at the state Capitol could cut time on Utah’s Sex Offender Registry for some people convicted of misdemeanor crimes. “It really acts like a scarlet A, a label,” Angie Fenimore told 2News. The author who said she was abused as a child, testified in support of the measure Thursday — and cast the registry as doing more harm than good. “It’s a wide net that catches everybody, from a 19-year-old who smacks the rear end of a 16-year-old, to someone who is a violent, predatory offender,”…
Read MoreUT: Utah sex offender must pay victim for lost wages, appeals court says
A man who sexually exploited a Utah teen will have to reimburse her for the pay she lost when depression caused by the abuse led to problems at work and a reduction in her hours. In a 3-0 decision, the Utah Court of Appeals upheld a 3rd District judge’s order requiring Scott C. Wadsworth to pay restitution of nearly $13,000 in lost wages to his victim, who is now an adult. The ruling said the connection between the sex crimes and the victim’s economic injury is sufficient to support the…
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