Two high-risk sex offenders stopped in downtown Pasco’s Peanuts Park on the same day claimed they didn’t know the one-acre concrete plaza is a designated city park. Full Article Photo View of Peanuts Park
Read MoreTag: Washington
WA: Benton County judge bars county from providing sex offender data
KENNEWICK — A Benton County judge’s signature Friday on four separate orders cleared the way for Donna Zink to appeal in her pursuit to get information on low-level sex offenders. Superior Court Judge Bruce Spanner has barred the county from fulfilling the Mesa woman’s request for the names of more than 400 Level 1 sex offenders, their registration forms and letters sent to them after Zink first filed for the public records last year. Spanner ruled in January that the personal information is confidential and could cause irreparable harm to…
Read MoreWA: Woman says her husband is mistaken for a sex offender
A Rancho Reata woman claims that a recently released photo of a sex offender is causing trouble for her husband. The two men reportedly look alike, and neighbors are confusing Kristin Daniel’s husband for a convicted sex offender who lives about a mile away. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Yakima County judge blocks release of sex offender information
YAKIMA, Wash. — A Yakima County judge has blocked the release of names and addresses of low-level sex offenders to a Mesa woman who wants to post the information on a website. Ruling Friday, Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson permanently blocked Donna Zink’s request for low-level sex-offender registration forms from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office. The move had been sought by 22 low-level offenders who said releasing the information would subject them to public scorn and threaten their safety. The ruling covered all low-level offenders who comply with state law,…
Read MoreWA: Yakima County judge to hear arguments on request for sex-offender data
YAKIMA, Wash. — A Yakima County Superior Court judge will hear arguments today on whether to give a Mesa woman names and addresses of all low-level sex offenders in the county. Judge Blaine Gibson will also hear a request from attorney Greg Scott to certify his suit to block the release of the names as a class action on behalf of all 688 Level 1 sex offenders in Yakima County. Level 1 sex offenders are considered least likely to offend again, and their names are typically not posted by authorities.…
Read MoreWA: Exonerated Father Awarded $9 Million after 20 Years in Prison on False Sex Abuse Charges
A father who spent 20 years in prison based on sex abuse evidence fabricated by two former Clark County, WA, sheriff’s detectives was awarded $9 million by a federal court jury that ruled that the authorities violated his constitutional right to due process. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Problems plague GPS tracking of offenders
A Pierce County man had no trouble disabling the GPS tracking device that was bound to his ankle, even though it is supposed to send off an alert to law enforcement if it’s tampered with. “I got sick of this little bugger on my leg, it was beating my ankle into a bloody pulp,” said the 25 year old who asked to be called “Red.” “I’m not a tagged animal,” he added. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Court postpones decision on releasing sex-offender registration forms [UPDATED]
UPDATE 1/30: Judge rules sex offender data in Benton County not public information YAKIMA, Wash. — A Columbia Basin woman seeking the names of all low-level sex offenders in Yakima County will have to wait another month to learn if she’ll get the list. A public records request by Mesa resident Donna Zink, who has sought similar lists in other counties in order to post the names on her website, has been on hold after a group of offenders last month obtained a temporary injunction against the release. On Wednesday, Yakima County…
Read MoreWA: Sex offenders, ACLU sue to hide low-level offenders’ identities [updated]
“My family would lose everything.” That’s the argument made by a King County sex offender terrified his name will be publicized if the State Patrol releases the sex offender registry it maintains. A married father of two convicted of sex crimes in 2009, the man is one of two low-level sex offenders brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the state from releasing the names of 21,000 registered sex offenders residing in Washington. Full Article UPDATE (12/20): No Decisions Made on Sex Offender Information Request
Read MoreThe Vigilante of Clallam County
On a morning last fall, Patrick Drum sat quietly in his black and white striped uniform and handcuffs as he awaited his fate. The sleeves of his top were short enough to reveal a tattoo reading “Win Some” on his right forearm and one reading “Lose Sum” on the left. From the court’s gallery where dozens of reporters and community members sat, he seemed barely to move as the families of the two men he had killed four months before came forward to speak. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Michael’s Story of Neighborhood Action
I have an interesting tale to tell about how I brought my work home earlier this year. My next door neighbor told me she had learned from another neighbor there was a Level 2 and a Level 3 sex offender living in the neighborhood. In Washington, the registration and community notification system uses a three-level system, using an actuarial risk assessment measure. The lowest risk offenders, according to this instrument, are Level 1’s. The highest risks are Level 3’s. Seattle Police had printed up flyers about these two men and given them…
Read More