WA: Livid parent accuses police of using kids as ‘bait’ to catch sex offender near school

Source: aol.com 3/4/24 A convicted sex offender is accused of driving by a Tri-Cities middle school more than two dozen times over the course of a week and allegedly exposing himself to at least two children. And parents are furious that they weren’t notified until after he was arrested. Javier _____, 29, of Benton City, was arrested by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office last week and charged with indecent exposure and failure to register as a sex offender. On Feb. 22, a detective with a unit that specializes in violent…

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WA Dems propose adding sex offender to policy board: ‘They have invaluable information’

Source: cbs12.com 1/22/24 OLYMPIA, Wash. (TND) — A Democrat-backed bill would alter Washington State’s Sex Offender Policy Board (SOPB) to extend membership to individuals with previous jail time for sex offenses. The SOPB was formed in 2008 to “promote a coordinated and integrated response to sex offender management.” The group is responsible for creating policies regarding sex offenders and navigating state and federal laws regarding them.   Introduced this month, HB 2177 would increase the group’s members from 13 to 17 to include a member of a sex offender advocacy…

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WA: Washington panel recommended treatment over jail time for child porn

Source: thecentersquare.com 11/10/23 (The Center Square) – The Washington Sex Offender Policy Board last year recommended the Legislature consider treatment rather than imprisonment for those convicted of possessing or viewing child pornography or caught in an internet sting operation. The recommendations among several contained in a report to the House Public Safety Committee regarding “treatment alternatives for certain sex offenses; lifetime supervision; failure to register; washouts; and system improvements.” Read the full article  

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WA: Convicted Sex Offender Now a Licensed Attorney in Washington State

Source: prisonlegalnews.org 10/15/23 A divided Washington Supreme Court beat back prejudice with a November 2022 decision admitting a convicted sex offender to the state bar. Zachary LeRoy Stevens was charged as a teenager with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for sending child pornography to a detective posing as a 14-year-old online. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges of voyeurism in 2012, serving less than a year in jail and on home detention. He was also required to register as a sex offender. Stevens had previously been convicted…

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WA: Portland man arrested in Clark County sting acquitted of child sex abuse in new trial

Source: columbian.com 10/2/23 A Portland man was acquitted last month after being granted a new trial on appeal, nearly five years after he was convicted in connection with an undercover child sex sting. A Clark County Superior Court jury Sept. 8 acquitted Jace Hambrick, 27, of attempted second-degree rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He was one of several people arrested in February 2017 after responding to an advertisement posted by an interagency task force posing as minors online. In Hambrick’s case, he responded…

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WA: State panel in damage control after confusion about eliminating sex offender notifications

Source: komonews.com 10/2/23 KING COUNTY, Wash. — A state advisory panel is doing damage control after recommendations regarding sex offenders stirred outrage in the community. The recommendations are for community notifications to be eliminated when convicted sex offenders are released from prison and return to society.  … The MPC has found that community notification actually undermines public safety. It also recommends that sex offender registries should be reserved for law enforcement and not be made available to the public. The reasoning is that the attention notifications and registries bring can…

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WA: Washington panel considers outlawing community notification of sex offenders

Source: thecentersquare.com 9/28/23 (The Center Square) – Earlier this year, a decision to house convicted sex offenders in cities such as Enumclaw without notifying the community drew outrage from local residents. Now, the State Sex Offender Policy Board is considering recommendations to the Legislature that could include making it illegal to notify communities when a sex offender moves into the area on the grounds that such policies undermine public safety. Created in 2008, the Sex Offender Policy Board is composed of 13 members appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee. Its role…

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OR, WA: Housing restrictions are leaving more PNW sex offenders homeless

Source: crosscut.com 5/25/23 In his 15 years housing people coming out of prison, Mike Cross has had to turn many people away. Cross, director of Oregon City-based nonprofit Free on the Outside, which provides housing and recovery for formerly incarcerated individuals, knows what strings to pull to get people housed. While working in Hillsboro west of Portland, he successfully sheltered people of all criminal backgrounds. But those he turns away often have one thing in common: Their names are on Oregon’s Sex Offender Registry. “I got housing for guys that…

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Action Alert for Washington Residents: Write Today to Support Youth Offenders Bill ESHB1394

Source: Washington Voices Washington residents, this is our last chance support bill ESHB1394, which regards Sexual offenses by youth! It will be heard 3/30/23 at 12:30 PM Pacific in the Senate Hearing Rm 4 and Virtual, so we must write before then. Please click here to write your message today on the Washington State Legislature website feedback form! Every bill that becomes law has between 2 to 4 opportunities for the public to weigh in on whether they like the bill or not.  If you have taken the time to SIGN…

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WA: Supreme Living Backs Off Plans for Sex Offender Housing Near Tenino

Source: chronline.com 2/28/23 Supreme Living announced on its website Tuesday that it no longer plans to house sex offenders at a housing facility in south Thurston County near Tenino. The decision came after outcry and outrage from residents and government officials caught off guard by the plans.  “Supreme Living announced today that due to resources and expenses associated with land use requirements, it will not proceed with providing supportive housing services at its Tenino property,” Supreme Living Management wrote. “Supreme Living values its relationship with the Department of Social and…

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WA: ‘Worst of the worst:’ Washingtonians fighting to stop sex offender transfers off McNeil Island

Source: q13fox.com 2/27/23 People are rallying, hoping to put a stop to sex offender transfers off of McNeil Island. The Department of Health and Human Services said five of the “worst of the worst” sexually violent predators would be moving to Tenino, Washington. The home in Tenino is sitting empty for now, but as The Spotlight learned, these sorts of facilities are already found all over the state. And nearby residents are not always told who is going to be living inside. Watch the video

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WA: ‘End SVP releases into our communities’: Residents push for new legislation regarding sex-offender housing

Source: q13fox.com 2/11/23 OLYMPIA, WASH. – Residents say they are being blindsided by the locations and sudden pop-up of facilities that will house the highest level of sex offenders. Now state lawmakers are pushing new bills to clear up the situation. Residents in Tenino have been pushing against a Less Restrictive Alternative (LRA) facility since Jan.11. On Friday, several gathered outside a facility in Olympia lining the street with signs saying “Keep Tenino Safe”, “Our community is not your guinea pig” and “Community over profit”. The facility off Martin Way…

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WA: Officials back out of Tenino town hall on sex offender housing after threats

Source: amp.theolympian.com 1/29/23 State officials backed out of a Tenino town hall about a planned sex offender housing facility due to safety concerns. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office organized the town hall last week in response to public uproar over the planned facility at 2813 140th Ave. Southwest. Sheriff Derek Sanders notified the public of the state officials’ decision on Saturday. “To say I’m infuriated and embarrassed is an understatement,” Sanders said in a Facebook post. “The public deserves to hear answers directly, and in a meaningful, engaging way, from…

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WA: Amid Uproar Over Tenino Sex Offender Housing, Lawmakers Work on Bill to Prevent Similar Situations

Source: chronline.com 1/22/23 State lawmakers are working on a bill to prevent situations similar to the opening of a new home for individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses in Tenino that has surprised, worried and angered many area residents.  State Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, and state Reps. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, and Travis Couture, R-Allyn, are writing legislation that would close a public notice loophole allowing private operators to house violent offenders in low-security adult group homes with minimal notice and assurance of adequate community protection, according to a news release. …

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WA: Washington high court says convicted sex offender can practice law

Source: reuters.com 11/3/22 A sharply divided Washington Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a man who was previously convicted of a sex offense and other crimes can be licensed as an attorney. The 5-4 decision clears the way for Zachary LeRoy Stevens, who graduated from Arizona State University’s law school in 2018, to practice law in Washington. The opinion said Stevens had a difficult childhood in Utah and sought refuge online, where in 2006 he sent pornographic images of minors to a detective posing as a 14-year-old. He was charged…

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WA: U Washington students defend themselves from potential sex offender threat following assaults near campus

Source: foxnews 10/13/22 Students at the University of Washington are sounding the alarm on the handful of registered sex offenders who live near the Seattle campus, which has recently been plagued by crime.  “I ordered two things of pepper spray, and my parents keep texting me asking about how my individual room locks, and if there is bars on my basement window,” student Jacqueline Niles told Fox 13.    The University District of Seattle, which surrounds UW’s campus, has seen repeated instances of crime in recent weeks, including a shooting…

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WA: Dogs trained to sniff out electronic devices help catch child predators

Source: katv.com 8/22/22 WASHINGTON (TND) — Chewie is one of this country’s most highly-trained work dogs. He works on the front lines in the fight to track down child predators by detecting and locating electronic storage devices. There are less than 100 canines certified to do this type of work. and Todd Jordan has trained nearly 70 of them. The dogs are trained to indicate on things such as thumb drives, SD cards, microSD cards, anything they can hold or store images that can be used in child sexual abuse…

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