[richmond.com] High school seniors are in the process of making college selections. But before picking a school, investigate how prospective colleges handle sex-related offenses and talk with your child about this issue. This concerns the quality of due process on college campuses for students accused of sex-related offenses. “Due process” means the fairness to the accused of the process for adjudicating these charges. It would be easy but unwise to dismiss this issue by thinking your child wouldn’t rape anybody. Most cases involve situations where the male claims sex was…
Read MoreTag: Virginia
PA: Wolf signs bill to protect victims of sexual abuse crimes
[theprogressnews.com] HARRISBURG — Governor Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed House Bill 631 into law, now Act 10 of 2018, the primary intent of which is to provide for greater public safety by ensuring convicted sexual offenders remain subject to registration requirements in the wake of recent court decisions impacting Pennsylvania’s implementation of the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Ron Marsico, would ensure that as many as 12,000 sexual offenders remain on Pennsylvania’s registry and subject to the regulations in place at the time of…
Read MoreVA: It’s Time to Reduce, Reconstruct, Reclassify, Rethink and Reform the Virginia Sex Offender Registry
[restoringintegritytovirginiaregistry.blogspot.com] Action Item for EVRYONE! A Virginia Court of Appeals Ruling was Based on One Word in Virginia Code § 9.1-903. that Virginia Has Never Implemented, So the Ruling is Incorrect. Almost a week and a half ago the Court of Appeals of Virginia made a ruling that a Virginia Sex Offender Registry mandate/requirement is NOT punitive. I only learned of this ruling yesterday when I found an article on VA Lawyers Weekly that I was unable to read because I don’t have a subscription. Sex offender registry law not…
Read MoreVA: ‘Sexting’ teens could avoid felony charges under bill that clears Virginia Senate
[roanoke.com] RICHMOND — The Virginia Senate on Monday passed a bill intended to keep teenagers who willingly share sexually explicit images with each other from being branded felony sex offenders. The measure, which passed on a bipartisan 35-to-5 vote, would give prosecutors the option to charge “sexting” among minors as a misdemeanor. Read more
Read MoreVA: Lawmakers are unfair in targeting sex offenders (Guest Column)
Mary Davye Devoy: THE 2018 VIRGINIA General Assembly session is my 10th as a volunteer advocate for a smarter Virginia Sex Offender Registry. I use more than 20 years of data to support my work and offer fact-based recommendations for improving the laws. Full Column
Read MoreVA: It’s Time to Reduce, Reconstruct, Reclassify, Rethink and Reform the Virginia Sex Offender Registry
[restoringintegritytovirginiaregistry.blogspot.com] Virginia Bill HB144- Patroned by Delegate Mark Cole Would Allow RSO’s Convicted of a Misdemeanor to Petition for Removal from the VSP Registry After 7 Years Instead Having to Wait 15 Years A Bill has just posted in LIS (see below) and I am just dumbstruck. It’s a positive Bill that would only help a small percentage of Virginia RSO’s, but it actually helps instead of hurts and that’s why I’m shocked at the moment. I have no idea where this proposal came from as I have not been…
Read MoreVA: Action Item for Virginia 2018 Companion Bills, HB10 and SB112 to Expand the Victims Under a Hate Crime
[http://restoringintegritytovirginiaregistry.blogspot.com] A set of Companion Bills HB10/SB112 have been filed for the upcoming 2018 Virginia General Assembly session to expand the victims under a Hate Crime to also include disability, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of victims. The definition of a Hate Crime: Hate crime (also known as bias-motivated crime) is a usually violent, prejudice motivated crime that occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group. Examples of such groups include but are not limited…
Read MoreVA: Forcing kid to masturbate for cops in sexting case was wrong, court finds
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in favor of a Virginia man who, as a teen, was once ordered by a lower court to be photographed while masturbating in the presence of armed police officers. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Gillespie ad blasting McAuliffe rights restoration policy as soft on sex offenders draws outrage from Democrats
A marquee policy initiative of Gov. Terry McAuliffe took center stage in the Virginia governor’s race Monday as Republican Ed Gillespie attacked McAuliffe’s approach to felon rights restoration as charitable to the point of being dangerous and Democrat Ralph Northam pushed back by saying Gillespie should be “ashamed” over his “fearmongering campaign.” The Gillespie campaign rolled out an ad Monday highlighting the case of a sex offender whose rights were restored late last year, months after he was arrested for having a massive child pornography stash. Gillespie said the case…
Read MoreSex Offenders and Public Safety: A Four-Part Series
The public often hears news about sex offenders who commit the most serious crimes, but many of the sex offenses you don’t hear about – while disturbing – were not violent. In Virginia, for example, inappropriate touching, texting a lewd photo or using X-rated language in front of a minor can land people on Virginia’s sex offender registry. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Ex-con feels he’s being forced to re-offend, asks state to step in
Thousands of your tax dollars are being spent to help sex-offenders keep a roof over their heads. On Tuesday, a man called 12 On Your Side, saying he’s upset he’s being kicked out of the program just as he’s working to rebuild his life. Full Article
Read MoreU.S. Counter-Terrorism Unit Targets Virginia Prisoner for Writing About Prison
Free Speech vs. Incarceration Nation: In case no one noticed ICE and the Counter-terrorism Units have branched out thanks in part to Trumps insistence on ‘Mexican Rapists.’ ICE’ website keeps bragging about all the ‘sex offenders’ they’ve caught trolling the internet (never mind that the sex offenders are not ‘illegal’ its just easier to hook into long standing prejudices and pump up their statistics. Instead of actually going after dangerous people ICE (and now with the BAN) they are targeting the easiest most accessible people (like federal prisoners and the…
Read MoreEveryone Keeps Asking Me, Why Don’t You Take a Vacation?
Life as a U.S. Registered Sex Offender isn’t Just a Posting on the Internet, its One Arbitrary Misstep Away From a Felony. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Child porn producers should be “shot,” federal judge suggests in a Norfolk courtroom
From the bench this week, a federal judge unafraid of offering blunt opinions suggested anyone who produces child pornography should be shot. An exact quote of what Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar said Tuesday during a case involving the collection of child porn was not available, but in an interview Thursday, the octogenarian reiterated the comment multiple times. “I said it. I said that they should be shot,” said Doumar, whom President Ronald Reagan nominated to the bench more than 35 years ago. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Michael McAlister, exonerated of a 1986 sexual assault in South Richmond, dies in Florida
Michael Kenneth McAlister has died in Florida, less than two years after his exoneration and release from prison for a 1986 sexual assault he did not commit. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Teen Girl Sent Teen Boy 5 Inappropriate Pictures. He Faced Lifetime Registry as a ‘Violent Sex Offender’ or 350 Years in Jail.
Zachary, now 19, is in jail awaiting sentencing for five pictures his teenage girlfriend sent him of herself in her underwear. He faced a choice between a possible (though unlikely) maximum sentence of 350 years in prison, or lifetime on the sex offender registry as a “sexually violent offender”—even though he never met the girl in person. Here’s what happened. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Lawmakers say judges being too lenient on people possessing child porn
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Beginning July 1 last year, people convicted of possession of child porn were subject to more lenient punishments after sentencing guidelines for the charge were reduced. “We think that that decision is irresponsible; it affects public safety,” said Camille Cooper with the National Association to Protect Children. Cooper supports bills including SB 1278 that aim at making sentencing guidelines what they were prior to last year’s changes. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Lawmakers say judges being too lenient on people possessing child porn
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Beginning July 1 last year, people convicted of possession of child porn were subject to more lenient punishments after sentencing guidelines for the charge were reduced. “We think that that decision is irresponsible; it affects public safety,” said Camille Cooper with the National Association to Protect Children. Full Article
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