Source: msn.com 1/22/23 Fairfax County Public Schools changed the bus stop location for students in Mount Vernon after a parent raised concerns over its proximity to a registered sex offender. The bus stop in question sits at the corner of Cedar Road and Black Alder Drive. FCPS announced that starting on Tuesday, the new pick-up and drop-off spot will be at the corner of Black Alder Drive and Teak Court, about a block away and out of view from the home. A father, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he recently…
Read MoreTag: Virginia
VA: ‘Enough is enough’: Rock Church pastor previously accused in prostitution case speaks out
Source: wric.com 12/6/22 A Virginia Beach pastor previously accused of soliciting sex from a minor says “enough is enough.” During a recent service, Rev. John Blanchard returned to the pulpit to address his congregation. Blanchard was among 17 men accused of solicitation of prostitution after an online sting operation by law enforcement. Blanchard was the senior pastor at Rock Church International in Virginia Beach at the time of his arrest. The Chesterfield County Police Special Victims Unit said the suspects believed they were soliciting sex from minors through online and…
Read MoreVA: Former Radford Police Captain arrested Courtesy: Carroll Co. Sheriff’s Office
Source: wdbj7.com 12/10/22 The Virginia State Police has charged a former Radford Police Captain with “one felony count of “use of communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children” in violation of Virginia Code 18.2-374.3. Christopher L. ____, 47, of Pulaski, Va. turned himself in on Saturday. The Pulaski Co. Sheriff’s Office had requested that State Police begin looking into an allegation against ____ in early September. The Radford City Police Department says they were made aware of this on September 4, 2022. ____ was informed on September 6 and…
Read MoreVA: Victory in Supreme Court of Virginia against out-of-control prosecution
Source: ajustfuture.org 9/20/22 Justices declare effort targeting leading advocate illegal, ending 5-year court battle On Thursday, the highest court in Virginia ended the Commonwealth’s 13-year campaign to indefinitely detain a prominent advocate on criminal justice matters, Galen Baughman. In a victory for justice the Supreme Court ruled that the petition filed against Baughman in 2017 was illegal. A Short History of Baughman’s Fight Baughman has been targeted by the Virginia attorney general’s office under the state’s civil confinement scheme since 2009 when prosecutors filed a petition to send him to…
Read MoreVA: Youthful offender law nixes sex assault prosecution
Source: rutlandherald.com 9/10/22 A man charged with sexual assault on a 14-year-old got the charges against him dismissed due to a gap in Vermont’s youthful offender law, prosecutors said this week. In a decision handed down Friday in a case that originated in Rutland County, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the state could not appeal the family court’s dismissal of a juvenile delinquency petition, overturning a precedent from 1991. “In crafting the juvenile-delinquency statutes, the Legislature explicitly intended to protect minors from the consequences associated with a criminal record,”…
Read MoreVA: Chiropractor accused of sex crimes against patients will be allowed to attend son’s graduation
Source: wtvr.com 5/16/22 RICHMOND, Va. — A chiropractor accused of sexually assaulting multiple patients went before a judge Monday morning for what was supposed to be a plea agreement hearing, but instead his attorneys asked that the hearing be pushed back so he can attend his son’s high school graduation. Dr. Michael ____ entered an Alford plea that will take affect June 10. Part of that plea requires him to register as a sex offender. Because of that, he would not have been allowed on school property for his son’s…
Read MoreVA: Convicted Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act
Source: justice.gov 5/5/22 BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A convicted West Virginia sex offender pleaded guilty today to failing to provide information related to foreign travel as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). According to court documents and statements made in court, Andrew Todd Smith, 32, of Peterstown, Monroe County, admitted that he traveled to South Africa in November 2021 without providing the required advanced notification. Smith was required to register as a sex offender under SORNA after he was convicted of three counts of third-degree sexual assault…
Read MoreVA: Chesterfield police arrest 16 in online operations involving sex solicitation of minors
Source: richmond.com 5/4/22 Chesterfield County police special victims’ detectives conducted two recent online sting operations involving sexual solicitation of minors that resulted in the arrest of 16 suspects on a total of 31 charges, many of them felonies, police announced Wednesday. The planned operations were the department’s seventh and eighth of this type since June 2020. As in past cases, detectives on March 31 and April 28 intercepted suspects who believed they were soliciting sex from minors through various social media platforms. The suspects communicated with people they believed to…
Read MoreVA: Former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned a state senator with a misdemeanor for his relationship with his 17-year-old assistant
Source: businessinsider.com 1/23/22 On his way out of office, former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned a state senator who was convicted in 2014 for dating his 17-year-old law firm assistant who would later become his wife and the mother of his children. Northam issued a simple pardon for State Sen. Joe Morrissey, a Democrat from Richmond, for a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. “To say that I was extremely pleased with what the governor did would be, perhaps for me, the…
Read MoreVA: Professor’s redefinition of pedophilia could help offenders demand rights
Source: nypost.com 1/1/22 On Nov. 8, Old Dominion sociology and criminology professor Allyn Walker gave an interview in which he asserted the need to destigmatize pedophiles by redefining them as “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs). Walker stated, “We have a tendency to want to categorize people with these attractions as evil or morally corrupt,” and that when people “hear the term ‘pedophile,’ they automatically assume that it means a sex offender, and that isn’t true.” Shortly after this interview, students at Old Dominion protested over the professor’s attempt to obfuscate the nature…
Read MoreVA: Virginia professor to step down after backlash to research on ‘minor-attracted’ people
Source: nbcnews.com 11/24/21 An academic in Virginia whose research on “minor-attracted people” sparked threats and a petition calling for their removal announced their resignation Wednesday, university officials and the scholar said in a joint statement. Allyn Walker will remain on leave until they step down as an assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology at Old Dominion University in May. “We have concluded that this outcome is the best way to move forward,” university President Brian Hemphill said in the statement. He added that he hoped the move will help…
Read MoreVA: ODU professor on leave amid protests over research on pedophilia
Source: axios.com 11/20/21 Old Dominion University put a professor on administrative leave following an uproar over their research into people who are sexually attracted to children. Driving the news: “Reactions to Dr. Walker’s research and book have led to concerns for their safety and that of the campus,” the public university wrote in a statement on Nov. 16, adding that Professor Allyn Walker’s leave is “effective immediately.” Walker, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, sparked controversy over the use of the term “minor-attracted people” in their academic research.…
Read MoreVA: Top Republican Donor Killed in Prison After Serving Nearly Two Decades for Sexually Assaulting His Own Children
Source: msn.com 8/8/21 A once-lauded Republican donor and former businessman was killed in prison late Tuesday by another inmate, the Associated Press and a collection of news organizations reported this week. According to the Virginia Department of Corrections, Mark A. Grethen, 63, who was initially not identified by name, died “following an apparent attack by another inmate inside the victim’s cell.” The attack occurred at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, a for-profit prison operated by The GEO Group, Inc., a news release indicated. “The victim was serving a 26-year sentence for…
Read MoreVA: Neighbors concerned about plans for a sanctuary for people listed on the registry in Wise County
Source: wcyb.com 7/5/21 WISE COUNTY, Va. —An East Stone Gap community is concerned after learning a sanctuary for people with a sex offense conviction in their past might be intentionally relocated to their neighborhood. Residents of the Inby Lane Mobile Home Park received this letter from their landlord. Image of letter Longtime resident Vernon Porch Jr. has an eight-year-old daughter. Porch says he plans to leave the mobile home park. “Most of the time we have eight kids here just playing at my house and we can’t live here anymore…
Read MoreVA: Virginia lawmakers squash repeal of civil commitment law
[13newsnow.com – 1/28/21] RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia lawmakers have squashed a proposal to repeal a decades-old Virginia law that allows the state to hold certain sex offenders at a psychiatric facility after they complete their criminal sentences. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted to send the bill to the Virginia State Crime Commission for a study, ending its chances of being passed this year. Democratic Sen. Joe Morrissey was the lead patron of the bill. He argued that the current system is unfair and punishes offenders twice…
Read MoreVA: Virginia bill would end civil commitment of sex offenders
[abcnews.go.com – 1/19/21] RICHMOND, Va. — Two Virginia Democratic lawmakers are spearheading a push to repeal a decades-old law that allows the state to hold certain sex offenders at psychiatric facilities indefinitely after their criminal sentences if they are deemed “sexually violent predators.” Critics say civil commitment laws are fundamentally unfair and violate the constitutional prohibition against punishing someone twice for the same crime. Supporters counter that the laws protect society from repeat offenders who are unable to control their behavior. Sen. Joe Morrissey and Del. Patrick Hope, both Democrats,…
Read MoreVA: Virginia Crime Commission recommends eliminating all mandatory minimum sentences
[virginiamercury.com – 1/7/21] Members of the Virginia Crime Commission voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to endorse legislation stripping all mandatory minimum sentences from state code. The sweeping proposal, which lawmakers plan to introduce when the General Assembly convenes later this month, would eliminate mandatory jail and prison terms attached to 224 offenses that range from drunken driving to child rape. Lawmakers on the commission who backed the proposal — all Democrats — called it an important step to restore sentencing discretion to local judges and juries. … Most of the mandatory minimum…
Read MoreVA: Shipyard superintendent, porn convict, seeks online access at work
[dailypress.com – 6/16/20] A superintendent at a local shipyard wants access to the internet at work despite being convicted of a child pornography charge 12 years ago. Willoughby Warren “Billy” Colonna IV, of Colonna’s shipyard in Norfolk, is asking that his prison release terms be amended to allow him to use the internet at his family’s Norfolk ship repair business. The Virginian-Pilot reported in 2008 that Colonna, now 40, is the grandson of the shipyard’s owner and an heir apparent at the company. “His responsibilities are limited because of the…
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