Who is calling me?

2012-01-27T05:29:00.000-06:00

A quick and sincere message to my "Who is calling me?" visitors and subscribers. Thank you for your continued patience while I have been working to make waaaaay overdue changes. I would like to ask a favor please. If there is anything at all you see or would like to see that needs to be deleted, added, or changed please leave me a comment. I would be ever so grateful.

As a blogger, and you all know probably better than I do because most of you are bloggers too, that it is crucial your readers and subscribers are happy. Therefore please do not hesitate to give me feedback. All I ask is please be civil.. lol. Seriously, just be professional when giving feedback.

Thank you so much to everyone. New articles and all kinds of cool stuff to come soon, so please subscribe free, or check back soon.

Glen

Several warrants out for sex offender suspect that died in Northglenn standoff - Fox 31 KDVR.com

2011-01-04T21:01:00.001-06:00

NORTHGLENN, Colo. -- FOX31 News is learning more about Matthew Anderson, the man who allegedly killed himself after a stand-off with Northglenn Police Monday night.

Authorities say there were several warrants out for his arrest -- one of them was for violating his probation for a crime he pleaded guilty to last year – enticing and luring a child over the internet and the attempted sexual assault of that child.

It happened in Jefferson County on June 6, 2009. Anderson was sentenced to two years probation, but according to court documents, he violated that probation by failing to appear for his scheduled appointments, failing to contact the probation department and failing to submit to substance testing.

Here's a look at the online conversation Anderson had that day, with what he thought was a young girl, but turned out to be an undercover police officer with the Crimes Against Children's Unit for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The officer was portraying himself as a teenage girl under the age of fifteen.

Anderson used the screen name "Mattstr34."

He started the conversation like this:

"Too bad yur not 18huh" and "I neeed to find sum company lol."

He then goes on to say, "im kinda bored an lonely lol."

He stated his back hurt and he wanted the 'child' to walk on it. "Ya bet u taste yummy too" and "u can just say you're older lol." He then continues with "Let's party" and on being asked if he was serious he responded "why not".

Anderson then said, "u want me too be playin with ya…Could be fun to meet u…"

He then said "i like kissing an touching you all over"… "is kinda illegal for us u kno" ... "don't wanna get arrested u know." Anderson then told the 'child' to "get on the bus an come up here lol."

The undercover officer, posing as the child, finally says "Bye"... to which Anderson replies, "sorry sweety just dont' need trubble, u know"... "ok we can do this." Anderson then gave the 'child' his home address in Northglenn.

A few hours later he was arrested, when an undercover female police officer showed up at his home posing as the young girl.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Where to cut? State lawmakers target government workers, teachers - KENS 5 TV

2011-01-03T20:02:00.001-06:00

by Brian New / KENS 5

Bio | Email

kens5.com

Posted on January 3, 2011 at 5:55 PM

Updated today at 6:28 PM

The new year could bring big changes to state laws.

Fewer government workers, fewer teachers, and fewer registrations of sex offenders are all being proposed by state lawmakers.

With a projected state budget shortfall of $25 billion, one proposed solution is to get rid of the law that limits elementary class size to 22 students.

Proponents say the change would give local school district more flexibility and could save hundreds of millions of dollars

However, teacher groups say it could come at the expense of thousands of jobs and of a child's education.

"I think the class-size limits would be a terrible place to cut,” said Shelley Potter, president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel. “The biggest impact would be on the students, and that's the negative impact that we are concerned about."

With many local governments struggling financially as much as the state, Representative-elect Lyle Larson of San Antonio filed a bill that would allow the consolidation of the Bexar County and San Antonio governments.

Larson said it would save millions by eliminating duplicate services.

"It's just more efficient and more effective government, and I think that's what people are asking for," he said.

Not all the bills filed so far focus on cutting the budget.

Mary Sue Molnar of Texas Voices is pushing for a bill she says would turn her son’s life around.

She said her son has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life because, when he was 22 years old, he had consensual sex with a 16-year-old.

A new bill would allow such "Romeo and Juliet" sex offenders to petition to take their names off the registry.

"With so many thousands of people on the registry, we don't really know who possesses a threat and who doesn't," Molnar said.

Molnar said the bill is about having a more efficient sex offender registry and not just a large one.

Opponents argue Texas families deserve the right to know whether an individual who was convicted of a sex crime lives nearby regardless of the circumstances of their crime.

LINKS TO BILLS:

HJB 44 – City / County Consolidation:

HB 227 – Exempting Sex Offenders from Registry:

State Comptroller Susan Combs proposal to relax class size limit:

Share this article:

Print

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Convicted sex offender accused in Walgreens attack was just released from prison - WSBT-TV

2011-01-03T11:32:00.001-06:00

Kemp attempted to flee the scene, but about five bystanders actually chased him down and held him until police arrived.

He's being held at the St. Joseph County Jail on a rape charge.

Kemp, released from prison only two days before the attack, is listed on the Indiana Sex Offender registry as a Sexually Violent Predator. According to his parole officer, the state has done everything required after his release. He met with officers the day he was released and was scheduled to start treatment Monday.

Kemp served his time; it was a mandatory release. But after this accusation, he was back behind bars.

Kemp is behind bars for at least the third time. He was convicted in 2003 for criminal deviant conduct in Miami County. Kemp was released from prison in 2009. Only a couple of months later, he was back in jail for breaking into a home in Wabash County and was later convicted of intimidation in Wabash County as well.

Reaching his mandatory release date this Thursday, it only took Kemp a couple of days to violate parole, accused of a heinous act.

"It's quite rare for someone to come out and offend right out of the gate like this,” Charles Bowen, assistant district supervisor at the South Bend Parole Office.

Bowen says all violent sex offenders are kept on a short leash.

"I met with him on the day he got out, and we went over, laid out all of the rules. We had requested some additional stipulations to his parole based on his prior history," Bowen added.

Kemp was given a list of 25 rules to keep him away from potential victims, including refraining from "cruising" places he could find potential victims and mandatory psychiatric treatment that would have started Monday.

"He would have started his treatment this week, but obviously he's not going to get to that point," Bowen said.

That's also when he would have updated his Sex Offender Registration. That still shows Kemp as incarcerated.

"We can't control human behavior, that's what's frustrating about this," Bowen said.

There have been reports that there is an outstanding warrant for Kemp in Wabash County. According to the parole office, that warrant is not valid. It was dealt with in September 2009.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Sex offender registries ruin many lives - StandardNet

2011-01-02T22:02:00.001-06:00

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

YMCAs begin to screen for sex offenders - Boston Globe

2011-01-02T00:01:00.001-06:00

The YMCA of Greater Boston has begun screening all current and prospective members and guests against the state’s registered sex offender list, banning access to those classified as Level 2 or Level 3 offenders — those at moderate or high risk of reoffending.

The measure, which took effect yesterday, follows the recommendation of a statewide YMCA task force created to improve safety at the community centers after a former girls basketball coach at the Melrose YMCA, which is run independently of the Greater Boston organization, was arrested in early 2009 and pleaded guilty last summer to sexually assaulting girls at the club.

The incident “raised our own level of expectations to see what we can do to further minimize the risk for our members,’’ said Kelley Rice, spokeswoman for YMCA of Greater Boston, the largest Y organization in Massachusetts. It has 13 branches — nine in Boston and one each in Needham, Waltham, Reading, and Woburn.

Guests and members will be screened through the Y’s standard application process. Software will check applicant names for matches in the state sex offender registry. Rice said the system may at times be a “minor inconvenience’’ for patrons but should not cause significant delays.

Brad McDermott, a spokesman for YMCA of USA, the national resource organization that councils the independently run Ys, said such policies are a growing trend at Ys nationally, especially as technology has allowed screening to be done more efficiently.

“The safety and well-being of kids in our care has been and always will be our priority,’’ he said.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island Ys that don’t already screen for sex offenders are expected to implement similar policies in the coming months, Y officials said. That will allow for consistency as most, if not all, Ys in the two states participate in a program allowing members to use other Y facilities for free.

In Massachusetts, the Melrose Y; the Greater Lynn Ys in Peabody, Saugus, and Lynn; and the Hockomock Area Ys in North Attleborough, Franklin, Mansfield, and Foxborough already screen for sex offenders. YMCA Southcoast, with branches in New Bedford, Fall River, Mattapoisett, Wareham, Rochester, and Dartmouth, is pursuing a policy.

The Melrose Y began banning potential members and guests who are registered sex offenders even before the former coach was arrested, said executive director Diana Brennan.

“At Ys, there’s a unique mix of both adults and children . . . so doing this screening is so important for our members,’’ she said by phone. “It’s all the more important given what had happened.’’

Neither Brennan nor Bruce Macdonald, chief executive of the Greater Lynn Y, which began overseeing the Melrose branch earlier this year, knew when the policy took effect. Within the past year, around two or three new members in Melrose have been found to be registered sex offenders and subsequently banned, Macdonald said.

Some are concerned that the screenings add an unfair burden for those who have completed their sentences and already face barriers as they try to reintegrate into society. The Boston-based Reform Sex Offender Laws campaign says that such steps can further ostracize sex offenders, making them more susceptible to poverty, homelessness, depression, and substance abuse.

In Massachusetts, information on Level 1 sex offenders, considered at low risk of reoffending, is not public. According to the state database, there are 253 Level 2 and 245 Level 3 offenders in Boston.

Matt Rocheleau can be reached at mjrochele@gmail.com.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Mass. court to hear appeal in mom-daughter slaying - Boston Globe

2011-01-01T20:33:00.001-06:00

BOSTON—After Joanne Presti and her 12-year-old daughter were found dead in January 2004, police interviewed the fathers of Presti's three children, her landlord and other people she knew.

Police didn't begin to consider Michael Bizanowicz, a convicted child rapist who lived off-and-on just down the street with Presti's close friend, until they developed film discovered at Presti's house and found an image of Bizanowicz.

Bizanowicz was later convicted of raping Presti and stabbing Presti and her daughter, Alyssa, to death.

In an appeal filed with the state's highest court, Bizanowicz argues, among other things, that police never thoroughly investigated the killings and should have looked more carefully at Presti's landlord as a suspect.

The Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the appeal Friday.

Bizanowicz served prison time after a conviction for drugging and raping a Lawrence boy and had been classified as a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most dangerous and the most likely to re-offend. But his neighbors in Woburn, including Presti, had no idea about his past.

Under state law, Bizanowicz was required to register as a sex offender at his primary residence in Lowell. But he was not required to register in Woburn, where he sometimes stayed with his girlfriend, Bobbi Jo Miller, Presti's close friend.

After the murders, Presti's family pushed for changes they believe could have alerted her about Bizanowicz's history as a sex offender. The state Legislature later passed a law that requires sex offenders to list secondary addresses, defined as a places they live for 14 or more days in any given year.

In his appeal, Bizanowicz argues the trial judge should have allowed his lawyer to present evidence that Presti was having an affair with her landlord, Harinder Singh, and that police did not thoroughly investigate him as a suspect. The judge rejected the defense's request.

"Mr. Bizanowicz should have been permitted to show that police were informed that Mr. Singh and (Presti) were having a relationship that could have provided motive for Mr. Singh to commit the offenses," Bizanowicz's appellate attorney, Jeffrey L. Baler, wrote in a legal brief filed with the Supreme Judicial Court.

Baler declined to comment on the appeal.

A spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone also declined to comment.

In their legal brief, prosecutors said Bizanowicz's lawyer was allowed to present evidence at the trial that police had interviewed Singh and searched his basement. They said the judge was correct in ruling the defense couldn't question witnesses about what kind of relationship Presti had with Singh.

Singh told police he had a simple landlord-tenant relationship with Presti, and he reiterated that recently when asked about Bizanowicz's claim that he'd had an affair with Presti.

"That's totally not true. Her kids and my kids loved playing together," Singh said in a brief telephone interview.

"There was not an affair, nothing at all, it is totally wrong," he said.

Presti and her daughter were found on Jan. 7, 2004, after Miller didn't see Presti for several days and became concerned. Miller called Presti's parents, who discovered the bodies. Joanne Presti's 2-year-old son was found in his crib, dehydrated and hungry, but unharmed.

Police began investigating Bizanowicz after they developed film found in Presti's house and noticed him in a photo taken eight months earlier at a first birthday party for Miller's baby's. Bizanowicz was the baby's father.

DNA profiles from sperm found on Presti were matched to Bizanowicz's DNA. Police also found a suicide note written by Bizanowicz and a rope in his truck that matched fibers found on Presti's wrists.

Bizanowicz initially told police he knew Presti through his girlfriend, Miller, and had only been in her home a year earlier to hook up her cable television. He later claimed he had had consensual sex with Presti several days before the killings.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Mountain Home man arrested for failure to register as sex offender - Baxter Bulletin

2010-12-31T22:31:00.001-06:00

A Mountain Home man was arrested Thursday morning on a charge of failing to register as sex off-ender.

On Tuesday, the sheriff's office was notified by the Arkansas Crime Information Center that Christopher Quaile had moved from Groton, N.Y., to Baxter County, according to a Baxter County Sheriff's Office news release. An investigation revealed that the sex offender had failed to notify and register with the sheriff's office. The suspect, who is an over-the-road truck driver, was contacted by cell phone and told to report.

Quaile, 29, who lives at 255 Century Park Terrace, turned himself into the Baxter County Sheriff's Office and fulfilled his registration requirements, according to the release. He was convicted in October 1999 of second-degree sexual abuse involving a 12 year-old female. He will be ordered to complete state sex offender evaluation requirements, authorities said. Quaile was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center with $15,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court on Jan. 6.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Sex Offenders - Spooftimes.com (satire)

2010-12-30T07:33:00.001-06:00

Sex Offenders

Posted on: 12/30/2010 12:27:44 AM

More than a third of sex crimes against juveniles are committed by juveniles, according to new research commissioned by the Justice Department. Juveniles are 36% of all sex offenders who victimize children. Seven out of eight are at least 12 years old, and 93% are boys. The report comes as states toughen penalties for adult sex offenders and wrestle with a decission on how to handle juvenile offenders. What happens in lives of these children that turn them into little monsters? Were they abused themselves? Exposed to others being abused? A genetic defect? Or chemical imbalance? Too much TV or questionable music? Those are questions that I can not answer, but ones that NEED to be answered so we can understand this epidemic and fight it.

Contemporary cognitive behavioral treatment helps offenders learn to control their behavior. By recognizing and changing the thoughts that rationalize and justify sexually abusive behavior, sex offenders can become more aware of the harm caused to victims and view their own behavior differently. It is my opinion that a leopard can't change its spots, and neither can sex offenders. There are certain individuals who believe that the Sex Offender Registry is an unfair punishment and that offenders should not be stigmatized for the rest of their lives. It is estimated that whereas treatment of sex offenders costs about $5,000 per year, incarceration costs more than $20,000 per year per offender. As a tax payer, I am not comfortable with those numbers. How much does a bullet to the brain cost? Or a needle in the arm? Or to hang a rope from a tree?

There is a special circle of Dante's Hell for sex offenders. The 7th Circle is saved for crimes of violence. Anyone who can find a child sexually attractive deserves to be put to death. Allowing those sorts of "people" to continue to exist, to breathe our air, and walk our streets is a crime in itself. These individuals are not people. They are monsters. Monsters who should be exterminated. There is no room in society for monsters.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Convicted Sex Offender Arrested After Not Registering - NewsChannel5.com

2010-12-29T06:02:00.001-06:00

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Tenn. – A convicted sex offender living under the radar in Lawrence County is back behind bars.

Deputies said they'd been looking for Phillip Newbourn when they picked him up in Leoma.

The convicted sex offender said he had no idea he was supposed to register in each county where he stays.

Deputies said they also found a sawed-off shotgun and pot inside his house.

Newbourn is charged with violating the sex offender registry, along with drug and weapons possession.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Clearwater High teacher faces suspension in sex offender case - Tbo.com

2010-12-28T12:33:00.001-06:00

BY DENNIS JOYCE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 28, 2010

Updated: 10:21 am

TAMPA - A teacher who allowed her sex offender-boyfriend to volunteer with her students at Clearwater High has been recommended for a five-day suspension without pay.

The Pinellas school board will decide at its meeting Jan. 11 whether to approve the suspension for Roseann Sheppard, the school's chorus teacher.

"Ms. Sheppard permitted an unregistered volunteer to work at events both on and off campus," according to a memo to the school board from schools Superintendent Julie Janssen. "The volunteer had a criminal background that would have made him ineligible to volunteer in Pinellas County Schools."

Sheppard told News Channel 8 in October that she didn't know about the criminal past of Cliff Barrineau at the time she allowed him to volunteer with her students. But she said she should have had him register with the school, as required of all volunteers.

"I did the wrong thing by not filling out that form," Sheppard said then. "I admit I made a mistake."

Barrineau spent two years in jail awaiting trial on rape charges in Osceola County before he was judged guilty in 1995 of lewd assault on an 11-year-old girl. His name does not appear on the state's sex-offender registry because the registry wasn't created until 1997.

The memo from Janssen, provided to News Channel 8 following a request under Florida's public records law, caps an investigation by the school district's Office of Professional Standards.

The investigation found Sheppard's offenses included insubordination, defined as failure to obey a direct order, as well as conduct unbecoming a board employee "that brings the district disrepute or that disrupts the orderly process of the district."

A five-day suspension would cost Sheppard $1,050 in pay.

Janssen's memo does not specify how long Sheppard knew about Barrineau's record before she alerted her principal that a man with a criminal past had been working with students.

She told a reporter in October she had had nothing to do with Barrineau for several months, since some time after the couple visited his mother in New York.

"As soon as I found out about Cliff's past, I broke ties with him," Sheppard said then.

But Sheppard didn't tell her principal until after she was approached by News Channel 8.

Here's the sequence of events spelled out in the memo:

"A local television reporter contacted Ms. Sheppard and asked her about an individual that she permitted to volunteer at events held on and off the school campus.

"The reporter had informed Ms. Sheppard that he was familiar with the volunteer and his criminal background. The reporter informed Ms. Sheppard that he planned on running a story about the volunteer and suggested that if she had not informed her supervisor about the situation, she should do so.

"Ms. Sheppard did inform her supervisor and the supervisor immediately informed the Office of Professional Standards (OPS)."

School district officials said they believe no harm came to students through Barrineau's contact with them.

His volunteer work included serving as master of ceremonies for the chorus' medieval dinner in October 2009, helping with the chorus' school year finale, and taking part in a Clearwater High reunion performance.

News Channel 8 revealed in November that Barrineau had been moving freely among children in Pinellas County as a volunteer with Clearwater High and as a videographer working both at horse shows where young people compete and at a youth dance program's production of "Glee."

A prosecutor in Osceola County said Barrineau started working again with children as soon as he was released from jail 15 years ago, landing a job then at a local "Discovery Zone."

Based on the victim's account and the evidence in the Osceola County case, the prosecutor had filed charges including capital sexual battery, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison.

But the victim and her mother agreed to reduced charges on advice from a counselor after repeated trial delays in the case.

Barrineau has declined requests for interviews, but in an e-mail to News Channel 8 he said he never touched the girl or harmed any child. He said he is now the victim of a witch hunt by the girl's mother.

"I AM NOT A MONSTER," Barrineau wrote.

Contact Dennis Joyce at djoyce@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7604.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Deputies Look for Wanted Sex Offender - KEZI TV

2010-12-28T01:36:00.001-06:00

December 27, 2010

By Brandi Smith

MARION COUNTY, Ore.--The Marion County Sheriff's office needs help finding a wanted sex offender. Investigators say it's likely he'll offend again if he's not caught.

John Stafford, 47, is on parole for stealing a car and failing to register as a sex offender. He violated his parole and is now wanted for criminal trespassing and harassment.

If you know where Stafford is, call 911. He's considered dangerous, so do not approach him.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Civil commitment faces rocky legal terrain - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

2010-12-27T04:32:00.001-06:00

In 1988, Mustafa Rashid broke into a home in the Bronx, raped one woman, sodomized another, and stabbed a third person who tried to break up the home invasion. In 2000, less than a year after being released on parole, Rashid robbed three homes over four days. In a Queens robbery, he threatened a woman with an ice pick, took the woman’s 8-month-old daughter from her arms and allegedly fondled the child, then caressed the woman and masturbated at the home. He left after she gave him cash, court records say.

Last month, New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, decided Rashid could not be civilly committed as a dangerous sex offender.

The judges did not say that Rashid wasn’t dangerous. Nor did they rule that he didn’t suffer from the mental disorder required to commit a sex offender to a secure psychiatric facility in New York. Instead, the Court of Appeals based its decision on its interpretation of New York’s civil commitment statutes, which were enacted by the Legislature in 2007. And they weren’t alone: a regional appellate court had reached the same decision earlier with Rashid’s case, a ruling affirmed by the Court of Appeals with its Nov. 23 decision.

Questions raised

Offenders can only be civilly committed if they’re leaving prison or parole after conviction of a sexually motivated crime. Rashid, appellate judges ruled, was jailed on robbery and weapons charges that were not, under the law, sexually driven.

Rashid had been one of nearly 400 criminals who state mental health officials determined were so much of a risk that they should be confined in a psychiatric institution for sex offenders or placed in a strict community supervision program. But the case and its legal contortions reveal how the state’s civil commitment program will likely face numerous legal challenges.

In New York, more cases are wending their way through regional appellate divisions, and the Court of Appeals has only sounded off on a few cases thus far. Until rulings from the Court of Appeals help lower courts sort out the legal nuances of civil commitment, the program will continue to be the target of many legal challenges.

(2 of 4)

“I suspect it’s going to take a while for these cases to work their way through the (legal) system,” said local lawyer Mark Davison, who has handled several appeals of civil commitment decisions. “I think it’s going to take a while because the statute is so new.”

For years, civil libertarians have blasted civil commitment laws nationally, which typically lock away sex offenders in psychiatric facilities after their prison terms have ended. But the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently found that the programs are constitutional, as long as there is solid evidence that the offender has a mental defect making him likely to commit more crimes.

In New York, there have been questions by lawmakers and even judges about whether civil commitment is an apt use of courtroom resources. Each year, the demands will grow as more offenders are institutionalized.

Civilly committed offenders are evaluated each year, and, based on opinions from mental health experts, a judge has to determine annually whether the criminal should remain detained.

“It appears that both (political) parties wanted to pass a civil commitment statute in the worst way,” Onondaga County Court Judge Joseph Fahey wrote in a 2008 legal article. “And they did.”

In a recent interview, Fahey was not as tough on civil commitment. “I would say that it seems to be working reasonably well and has survived any legal challenges to the statute itself,” said Fahey, who has handled some civil commitment cases as an acting state Supreme Court justice.

But the challenges to the law are sure to mount in coming years.

Some defense lawyers who handle civil commitment cases are also questioning — though informally — whether offenders who were confined in the early months of the program received adequate representation from their attorneys.

Prompting those questions is the number of early cases in which offenders consented to confinement. State records show, for instance, that 32 sex offenders agreed to civil commitment in an institution — a possible life-long confinement under the law — in the first year of the program. That’s four times the number who consented during the past year and 45 percent of the total cases in which a criminal agreed to institutionalization, state records show.

(3 of 4)

Ripple effects

The case of rapist Rashid, now 54 and a free man, has already had ripple effects.

Rashid was on parole in 2008 when the state tried to civilly commit him as a dangerous sex offender. At a civil commitment hearing, a state psychologist alleged that Rashid had significant psychopathic traits and often used drugs when free to do so, leaving him unlikely to maintain “independent impulse control” over his sexual desires.

Read-only factbox_body
Findings
n A number of the earliest confined offenders consented to commitment, raising questions about their legal representation.
n A dearth of state Court of Appeals rulings makes the legal terrain for civil commitment murky.
n A Court of Appeals ruling about rapist Mustafa Rashid will make confinement for offenders unlikely in similar cases.

Read-only factbox_body
About this series
 Sunday: State’s civil commitment program facing space and budgetary constraints.
Today: The legal terrain.
Tuesday: The parole program.
Wednesday: The treatment, and the cost of expert advice.

Read-only factbox_body
About civil
commitment

New York’s civil commitment of sex offenders is a civil — not criminal — process.
This means attorneys for the accused can ask that files be sealed and courtrooms closed for confidentiality reasons, just as happens in numerous civil cases in which the mental stability of an individual is at question.
For this investigation, the Democrat and Chronicle secured hundreds of pages of civil commitment court documents before they were sealed, and also filed Freedom of Information requests with state agencies to obtain other reports from unresolved cases. The newspaper has reviewed nearly four dozen civil commitment cases.
Also, the Democrat and Chronicle has conducted multiple interviews with experts and officials and used reports and records from agencies across the country and New York, including the state’s Office of Mental Health, Attorney General’s Office, Office of Court Administration, Mental Hygiene Legal Services, the Division of Parole, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

(4 of 4)

Lawyers for Rashid argued, however, that he was not eligible for civil commitment. To be a candidate for civil commitment, a criminal has to have committed one of a number of sexually motivated crimes. Rashid’s attorneys maintained that he’d been released on the sex crimes and was actually paroled on an ineligible crime when the state sought to commit him.

Appellate judges agreed. They also noted that the Attorney General’s Office filed the petition to commit Rashid a day after his parole supervision ended. The Attorney General’s Office answered that the process formally started with an earlier notice to Rashid of the state’s plans to try to institutionalize him.

John Nuchereno, a Buffalo lawyer representing notorious sex offender Nushawn Williams, said he’ll use the November Court of Appeals ruling with Rashid to push for dismissal of the case against Williams. Williams is detained for a civil commitment decision after serving 12 years for having sex with women while knowing he had HIV. His criminal case spawned nationwide attention and prompted HIV notification laws.

One Rochester case has also been affected by the Rashid ruling.

Authorities alleged that Terry McFadden, 49, was a sexual predator. In the early 1990s he ran a Rochester clothing store, called “The Jiggy Shop,” and hired young women as salespeople.

“He used his position as their employer to seduce most of the victims for his own sexual gratification,” authorities alleged in a court record.

McFadden was charged with rape after police alleged he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old whom he’d given crack cocaine. A 15-year-old girl alleged that he fondled her against her wishes, records show.

He pleaded guilty to a rape count in 1999 and was sentenced to three to six years. He was paroled in 2003, then arrested for promoting prostitution the next year.

In June 2008, state authorities tried to declare him a predator deserving civil commitment. The rape conviction made him eligible for civil confinement, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Lawyers for McFadden answered that he was instead jailed for promotion of prostitution in the third degree, which is not on the list of eligible commitment offenses.

In April, state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Van Strydonck decided that he could not declare McFadden a candidate for civil commitment, as much as he wanted to do so.

“The court, while bound to follow Rashid, disagrees with its results here,” Van Strydonck wrote in April.

Van Strydonck’s ruling was based on the earlier regional appellate ruling with Rashid, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeals with its ruling last month.

Though ineligible for civil commitment, Terry McFadden is not a free man. He is now imprisoned on a drug charge, and likely to be released next year.

GCRAIG@DemocratandChronicle.com

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Civil confinement of sex offenders costs state $175000 apiece - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

2010-12-26T05:32:00.001-06:00

In New York, the end of a criminal sentence for a sex offender doesn't mean he's going free. In 2007, state lawmakers took steps to protect the public from sexual predators. That year they approved a civil commitment program designed to route dangerous sex offenders whose sentences are ending into treatment in secure state psychiatric facilities.

However, little thought was given to long-term costs or the likelihood that space for treatment could one day become an expensive dilemma.

That day has come.

Only in its fourth year, civil commitment is already coping with cost and space strains. Since many offenders who are locked away are unlikely to be released for years, if ever, the costs will continue to escalate.

The state Office of Mental Health, or OMH, is now transforming office space and storage areas into bedrooms at a Marcy psychiatric center to make room for the increasing number of sex offenders.

Before the program was even 2 years old, OMH officials warned in a report that "the population growth (of committed offenders) will continue unabated for many years and at costs that may well be unsustainable in an uncertain fiscal climate."

By 2012 OMH, which treats the offenders, will likely need more space for civil commitment, according to spokeswoman Jill Daniels.

Although Republican lawmakers pushed unsuccessfully for civil commitment for years, the program finally cleared its legislative hurdles in 2007 with the vigorous support of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat. Lawmakers hailed civil commitment as a way to keep New Yorkers safe from the worst sex offenders.

Civil commitment operates largely outside of public view and scrutiny. The cases are civil — not criminal — and courtrooms can be closed and records sealed because of confidential questions about an offender's mental stability.

Only the case of Nushawn Williams has garnered statewide attention. The state is trying to commit Williams, a drug-dealing drifter who was imprisoned for 12 years for having sex with women while knowing he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. He is being detained while the civil commitment case continues; the state can hold offenders through the commitment court proceedings.

(2 of 5)

The program is far costlier than imprisoning criminals: a civilly detained offender costs four times the spending for an inmate jailed in a state prison.

New York's average price tag to treat sex offenders in secured facilities — about $175,000 a person — makes it the costliest program of its kind in the country, slightly more than in California. Twenty states have civil commitment programs, but they vary in approach. Texas, for instance, only uses outpatient treatment.

Although only a small percentage of the pool of convicted sex offenders ends up civilly institutionalized in New York, the state still has one of the highest rates of civil confinement in the country, records show.

For New York lawmakers, this will create a demand for tens of millions of tax dollars in coming years at the same time that officials face dire budgetary constraints.

"We are facing capacity issues, census pressures," said Richard Miraglia, the OMH associate commissioner of forensic services.

The courtroom fights over civil commitment have their own costs, often outstripping the costs of criminal cases.

Civil commitment hearings and trials can become a duel between psychiatric experts warring over whether the offender has a "mental abnormality" that makes him unable to control criminal impulses — a legal requirement for confinement.

A 'sacred cow'?

In New York, a sex offender slated for release from prison or parole is evaluated to determine whether he suffers from a dangerous mental defect. During the year ending Oct. 31, only 4.3 percent of the offenders eligible for civil commitment — those who had committed sexually motivated crimes — were ultimately deemed by the state to meet the legal requirements. A trial determines whether the offender suffers from the mental ailment. If the accused is found to have the mental abnormality — there is no verdict of guilty or not guilty at the civil trial — a state Supreme Court justice then decides whether the offender is too dangerous to release. The criminal can either be confined in a state treatment facility or released to an intensive parole program.

(3 of 5)

Already, civil commitment has the earmarks of a political sacred cow.

Some lawmakers who once questioned the wisdom of civil commitment found themselves under attack during the recent election cycle. Attorney General-elect Eric Schneiderman, for one, voted against the 2007 bill for civil commitment because of concerns he had about the offenders' civil rights. During the 2010 election, he reversed field, saying the program had adequately resolved his fears.

"I don't know that there was a whole lot of thought (about the costs of the civil commitment program)," said Al O'Connor, a staff lawyer and civil commitment expert with the New York State Defenders Association. "Probably there were people who voted for this and knew better."

Some politicians likely feared that opposition to civil commitment could be used to paint them as soft on crime and an ally to sex offenders.

"It's a potent political weapon during an election," O'Connor said.

A Democrat and Chronicle review of dozens of civil commitment cases across New York shows that, as state officials contend, many of those targeted for the program committed serious and sometimes heinous sex-related crimes — offenses such as those committed by Williams, the HIV-infected man who once bragged he had sex with more than 200 women, and the case of a Rochester man, Frederick Peters, who used a gloved hand to sexually assault prostitutes in a manner too savage to describe.

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld civil commitment, allowing states to push sex offenders into locked-down treatment programs after their prison terms come to an end. Rarely, as the experience in other states demonstrates, are the committed offenders deemed safe for release. Minnesota, for instance, has had civil commitment since 1994 and has released one of the nearly 600 men who have been institutionalized.

Ongoing debate

New York lawmakers did provide extra funding for OMH when civil commitment started in 2007 but with little foresight on the escalating costs.

(4 of 5)

Other states provided plenty of evidence for New York to recognize the budgetary strains of civil commitment programs. Minnesota's program has tripled in cost over the past six years and a $62 million facility that opened in Virginia in 2008 is nearing capacity.

In New York, funding was based on an assumption that most offenders would be routed into the cheaper parole-supervised program and not institutionalized. Instead, more than two of every three offenders found to have a mental disorder have been sent into the state facilities instead of the parole option.

In 2007, even some anti-violence activists challenged whether the money for civil commitment could be better spent bolstering treatment for sex offenders in prison.

One state-sponsored committee of experts and advocates recommended many approaches to curb sex crimes that did not include civil commitment, recalled Anne Liske, who was then executive director of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

"There's a better use of money" to address sexual violence, Liske said.

However, those who'd seen the results of violence firsthand were powerful advocates.

Connie Russo-Carriero, for instance, was murdered in White Plains in 2005 by Phillip Grant, a homeless sex offender who was released after serving his sentence of 23 years for multiple rapes. Russo-Carriero's family became strong advocates for civil commitment, questioning how a man suffering from dangerous mental illnesses could be released from prison with no oversight.

"Maybe (Grant) would have been better off civilly committed," said Russo-Carriero's cousin, Vincent Scala. "The man who did this to Connie was almost a walking, talking poster child for it."

The facilities

New York operates two facilities where the detained sex offenders are treated — the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy near Rome and the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg. Both centers are now at capacity — 150 beds at Central and 80 at St. Lawrence.

An unused building at Marcy could be converted into space for 150 beds, but that transformation would come with costs that have not yet been determined.

(5 of 5)

"We would look to that as a full-fledged treatment facility," OMH's Miraglia said. Still, that measure would handle only about two years worth of new commitments.

OMH is talking with corrections officials about the conversion of some unused prison space, but those discussions are only in preliminary phases.

At the current rate of growth — about 70 newly confined offenders annually — treatment costs alone will grow by about $12 million a year. OMH has already trimmed its costs by reducing staff at facilities; originally the average cost per offender was $225,000 a year.

What's clear is that solutions to the space crunch, regardless of the cost, will be needed soon.

Lawmakers will find answers because civil commitment is a vital part of the state's public safety measures, said state Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, Seneca County. Senate Republicans "supported it aggressively," he said. "We believed it was an alternative that needed to be pursued."

Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn, supported civil commitment but admits that the costs are a concern.

"There is a real problem and 30 years from now we may be doing what we did with Rockefeller (drug laws) and repealing civil confinement because it's not working," Lentol said. "But we haven't reached that point yet."

GCRAIG@DemocratandChronicle.com

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Police verify most sex offenders - Arizona Daily Sun

2010-12-24T11:33:00.001-06:00

Flagstaff police and U.S. marshals located 65 of the 71 convicted sex offenders registered as living within the city during a sweep Wednesday evening.

According to a press release, the sweep had the following results:

-- 65 of 71 offenders were located and verified.

-- 4 residences had no response at the door.

-- 2 offenders are under investigation as absconders.

-- 29 offenders had registration violations.

-- 2 offenders were arrested for various registration violations:

Brandon Lewis, a level II sex offender. Lewis was arrested in 1992 for aggravated sexual abuse and sentenced to 135 months in federal prison.

Richard Moore, a level III sex offender. Moore was arrested in 1995 for sexual assault.

By law, the Flagstaff Police Department is required to verify compliance with the sex registration laws.

Additional participating agencies included Northern Arizona University Police Department and the FBI.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

US Marshals team with local law enforcement to track sex offenders - Mansfield News Journal

2010-12-22T07:34:00.001-06:00

MANSFIELD -- The U.S. Marshals Service teamed up with local authorities for a week-long compliance check of sex offenders.

During Operation Safeguard, 379 compliance checks were conducted. Forty-one offenders were found not to be in compliance, and 12 were arrested.

As a result of the compliance check, 243 offender profiles were updated with information such as work address, phone numbers, e-mail address, vehicle information and campus information.

"This was an extraordinary effort in seeking out nearly 400 sex offenders," said Connie Walls, sex offender registration officer for the county. "The Marshals Service supplied us with men and women and resources that made this operation a success, at no cost to the citizens of Richland County. I look forward to continue working with them in this great endeavor."

The sheriff's office has had trouble maintaining the registry because of budget constraints and layoffs. The following 13 agencies participated in Operation Safeguard: Plymouth, Ashland, Crestline, Galion, Lexington, Mansfield, Ontario and Shelby police departments; Mansfield Municipal Probation; Ashland County Sheriff's Office; Ohio Adult Parole Authority; Richland County probation and the county prosecutor's office.

"We appreciate the extra manpower, equipment and resources that the U.S. Marshals Service has provided us in tracking and ensuring compliance of our registered sex offenders," Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon said. "I am also extremely grateful to all the departments that supported this operation. This operation has shown that agencies from any facet of law enforcement can work together to ensure the safety of our children."

The U.S. Marshals Service has been the lead law enforcement agency responsible for investigating sex offender registration violations and related offenses since the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was enacted July 27, 2006.

"We will work with all members of the law enforcement community to ensure that the children in this country are safe from predators," U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said. "Law enforcement must work together to preserve the safety of our children, especially during these challenging financial times."

To search for sex offenders in Richland County, visit www.sheriffrichlandcounty.com and click on the "sex offenders" tab.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Oswego man accused of failing to report sex offender change of address - Syracuse.com

2010-12-19T04:04:00.001-06:00

Published: Friday, December 17, 2010, 8:53 AM Updated: Friday, December 17, 2010, 9:49 AM

Oswego, NY -- Oswego County Sheriff's deputies Thursday accused a registered sex offender of failing to report a change of address.

Matthew Wolfanger, 29, 192 Syracuse Ave., Building 2, Oswego,was accused of a sex offender registry violation and sex offender failure to report change of address, both are felonies. He was arrested in the Town of Schroeppel.

Matthew pleaded guilty in Oswego County Court 2002 to the second degree rape of an 11-year-old girl. The judge at the time rated him a Level 3 offender for the purposes of the state's sex offender registry.

Wolfanger admitted having sex with the girl at a Schroeppel home.

He was arraigned in Volney Town Court and sent to the Oswego County Correctional Facility in lieu of $2,500 cash or $5,000 bond.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Police pick up Oxford County sex offenders in compliance sweep - Lewiston Sun Journal

2010-12-09T20:57:00.001-06:00

PARIS — Police departments and the Oxford County Sheriff's Office arrested six men in the past week for violating the rules of their status as sex offenders.

The arrests were part of a compliance check in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service, according to Capt. Hart Daley of the Oxford County Sheriff's Office. Sex offenders are required to register with the state information including current addresses.

The U.S. Marshals Service has made similar sweeps in other counties this year. In August, seven offenders were found to be violating the rules.

Daley arrested James J. Shortsleeves, 31, of Hiram, on Dec. 6. Shortsleeves was charged failure to register as a sex offender and violating a protection order. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Shortsleeves was convicted of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact, both against victims under 14 years old, in Cumberland County Superior Court. His bail was set at $200 cash.

Tony L. Bean, 46, of Norway, was arrested Dec. 7 by the Norway police and charged with failure to register as a sex offender. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Bean was convicted of eight counts of unlawful sexual contact against a minor under 14 years in Cumberland County Superior Court and one count of gross sexual assault against a minor under 14 years in Oxford County Superior Court. Bean's bail was set at $500 unsecured.

Brian E. Foss, 32, of Oxford, was arrested Dec. 7 by the Oxford police and charged with his third offense of failure to comply with his conditions as a sex offender. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Foss was convicted of gross sexual assault against a victim under 14 years old in Cumberland County Superior Court. Foss' bail was set at $20,000 secured surety or $5,000 cash.

David F. Pike, 52, of Harrison, was arrested Dec. 7 by the Oxford County Sheriff's Office and charged with failure to register. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Pike was convicted of two counts of unlawful sexual contact against a victim under 14 years old in Oxford County Superior Court. His bail was set at $1,000 unsecured.

Mark A. Cole, 37, of Gilead, was arrested Dec. 8 by the Oxford County Sheriff's Office and charged with failure to register. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Cole was convicted of unlawful sexual contact in 11th District Court in South Paris.

Joseph Downs, 33, of Rumford, was arrested Dec. 8 by the Rumford Police and charged with failure to register as a sex offender and violation of bail conditions. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Downs was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor under 16 years old in 11th District Court in Rumford.

Source: "Sex Offender Registry" via Glen in Google Reader

Wireless Camera COLOR Pinhole Nanny Cam Spy cam HIDDEN

2010-11-07T02:13:00.001-06:00

US $25.95 (0 Bid)
End Date: Sunday Nov-07-2010 20:04:25 PST
Buy It Now for only: US $28.95
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader

Wireless Camera COLOR Pinhole Nanny Cam Spy cam HIDDEN

2010-11-06T16:13:00.001-05:00

US $25.95 (0 Bid)
End Date: Sunday Nov-07-2010 13:01:01 PST
Buy It Now for only: US $28.95
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader

WIRELESS NANNY PINHOLE CAMERA SPY CAM SURVEILLANCE 4 TV

2010-11-06T04:14:00.001-05:00

US $23.93 (0 Bid)
End Date: Saturday Nov-06-2010 20:26:31 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $26.93
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader

WIRELESS NANNY PINHOLE CAMERA SPY CAM SURVEILLANCE 4 TV

2010-11-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

US $23.93 (0 Bid)
End Date: Saturday Nov-06-2010 11:26:53 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $26.93
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader

Wireless Camera COLOR Pinhole Nanny Cam Spy cam HIDDEN

2010-11-05T04:13:00.001-05:00

US $25.75 (0 Bid)
End Date: Friday Nov-05-2010 21:02:18 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $28.73
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader

Wireless SPY Camera Pinhole Nanny CCTV surveillance CAM

2010-11-04T16:14:00.001-05:00

US $4.25 (3 Bids)
End Date: Sunday Nov-07-2010 11:22:48 PST
Bid now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader

WIRELESS CAMERA PINHOLE SPY CAM NANNY SURVEILLANCE CCTV

2010-11-04T04:15:00.001-05:00

US $32.99 (0 Bid)
End Date: Thursday Nov-04-2010 20:40:29 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $36.99
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Source: "Wireless Pinhole Nanny Cam" via Glen in Google Reader