Sex Offender News And Research

Commission undecided on sex offender proposal

2012-02-09T08:32:00.000-05:00

2-9-2012 Texas:

A more focused proposal for regulating where some registered sex offenders can live in Amarillo didn’t clear up questions two Amarillo city commissioners have about whether such a law would make children here safer.

“I just honestly can’t find any clear and existing and compelling evidence that an ordinance of this sort will do what you think it will,” Commissioner Brian Eades said during a work session discussion about the proposal.

Commissioners began discussing residency restrictions for sex offenders registered on a statewide law enforcement database in late 2011 but slowed the debate to collect more research.

The proposed ordinance would bar convicted sex offenders from living near public or private schools, state-licensed day cares, and public parks and pools. The measure would make it illegal for offenders to live within 1,000 feet of those places, plus public recreational areas, youth centers and video arcades.

State law prohibits certain convicted sex offenders required to register on a Texas Department of Public Safety database from living within 1,000 feet of schools and other locations where children gather. But while they still must register their residences once their supervised release ends, the state-mandated residency restriction does not continue, police officials said in November.

The draft ordinance presented to commissioners Tuesday addresses concerns about which offenders would be subject to the ordinance, by defining the affected group as graded as high- or moderate-risk offenders and those listed as “nonreported,” City Manager Jarrett Atkinson said.

The nonreported category takes into account offenders whose crimes occurred before state law enforcement began using a rating system or offenders whose rating determination is in process, Atkinson said.

The city has no involvement in the ratings, which are determined by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice with input from law enforcement, rehabilitation or treatment counselors and others, Atkinson said.

The draft ordinance further defines registered offenders who would be subject to the residency restrictions as those convicted of crimes involving victims age 16 or younger, Atkinson said.

A Tuesday report to the commission showed 312 of 491 registered sex offenders living within its limits would be subject to the updated proposal.

The revised draft ordinance also spells out more clearly the definitions of some crimes that can make a registered offender subject to the law. Definitions of kidnapping and burglary of a habitation have been amended so the ordinance refers to them as crimes committed “with an intent, attempt or actual commission of a sex-
related offense.”

The updated draft also addresses concerns that offenders have a means of seeking a waiver from the restrictions. An offender could apply for a waiver, for example, if he has been away and is returning to a home he owns that sits too close to a school, or if he is hospitalized and the medical facility is too close to a park.

Eades and Commissioner Ellen Robertson Green continued to raise questions Tuesday about whether the ordinance would actually accomplish the intent of protecting children from predators. Eades has cited research that shows a majority of victims are abused by people they know. Experts who work with abused children also raised that point during a November public hearing about the proposal.

Barring sex offenders from living near a park or school doesn’t keep them from actually being within 1,000 feet of those places, Green said.

Police Chief Robert Taylor and Mayor Paul Harpole argued the ordinance would keep a sex offender from having the kind of access to children needed to establish trust and groom potential victims.

Harpole suggested the ordinance be placed on the commission’s agenda for a first vote next Tuesday. Ordinances must be passed in two separate votes by the commission to become law.

During the commission’s regular meeting Tuesday, the panel unanimously approved the first reading of a proposal that would significantly speed up the condemnation process and reduce the chances of owners avoiding making repairs on decaying structures. It must be approved in a second reading by the commission, set for next Tuesday, in order to become law.

“We have done a great service to the community by speeding up the process,” Commissioner Lilia Escajeda said. “The current ordinance is pretty burdensome … so, if there are unsafe structures, we’ll be able to move quickly on them.”

Harpole said the proposed process would allow decaying properties to be addressed within about 88 days.

“We’ve had delays that have kept us from taking action on property,” he said. “It’s hurting neighborhoods with kids getting there and drugs being sold.”

In addition to exposing the public to danger, the decaying properties have made it tough to revitalize older neighborhoods, Atkinson said.

The ordinance includes a provision for regulation of properties with decaying structures, accumulated junk and debris or excess vegetation in a buffer zone of 1,000 feet outside the Amarillo city limits. The state grants cities such authority, Atkinson said.

Atkinson said city inspectors will focus first on property within the city limits, but will address complaints about property outside the city. The law leaves room for the city to prioritize those problems it opts to address, City Attorney Marcus Norris said. ..Source.. by KAREN SMITH WELCH

State cuts $8.5M to L.A. County for services like sex offender registry

2012-02-09T07:44:00.000-05:00

2-9-2012 California:

California is withholding the money it used to give Los Angeles County to provide services like issuing absentee ballots and maintaining a sex offender registry, forcing the Board of Supervisors to choose between canceling those services or coming up with the money itself.

In a report released this week, county Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka warned the state does not intend to reimburse the county for $8.5 million in expenses projected for the rest of the fiscal year.

If the county wants to continue providing the services associated with those expenses, it would have to dip into its own strained coffers.

"This is an example of the state's dysfunction and their bait-and-switch tactics of unfunded mandates," said Tony Bell, spokesman for Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

"The state forces counties to implement programs, promises to pay for them, and then pulls the rug out from under counties by denying further funding."

Fujioka said California is avoiding financial obligation by suspending various laws that had required the county to provide services funded by the state.

He was particularly concerned about the state withholding $4.3 million for absentee ballots and voter registration.

"Discontinuance of this program will result in a significant service reduction to voters throughout the county who exercise their voting rights and voter registration privileges by mail," he said.

Other cuts include $2.5 million for the Sheriff's Department, which pays for, among other things, the maintenance of a public website that lists sex offenders, and the testing of jail inmates for HIV.

The Public Defender's Office, meanwhile, stands to lose $630,000, most of it for the protection of developmentally disabled and/or mentally ill adults on trial.

The Department of Animal Care and Control could lose $300,000 that helps extend the length of time that stray/abandoned dogs and cats can be offered for adoption before being euthanized.

State Finance Department spokesman H.D. Palmer said the cuts would save the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to decide within the next several weeks whether to pay for the services itself. ..Source.. by DailyNews.com

Sex offender bill introduced

2012-02-09T07:23:00.000-05:00

2-9-2012 Rhode Island:

Comprehensive bill introduced in the House

PROVIDENCE, RI (WPRI) - Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to set sex offender registration and notification requirements in Rhode Island.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Peter Palumbo (D-Dist. 16, Cranston).

"Across the nation, there are nearly a half million registered sex offenders and at any time many of them are unaccounted for," says Rep. Palumbo.

Under the legislation, the responsibility of the sex offender registry would move to the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety (State Police).

It also calls to remove the subjectivity of the current offender tier assessment system and replace it with an offense-based tier system.

The legislation complies with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which was named after the son of 'America's Most Wanted' host John Walsh. 6 year old Adam Walsh was abducted in 1981 at a Florida mall and later found murdered. (There is no proof that any former sex offender was involved in his murder.) ..Source.. by WPRI.com

Hundreds Kept Imprisoned In Georgia Despite Serving Their Sentences

2012-02-08T23:15:00.000-05:00

If this is happening in Georgia, how many other states have the same circumstances and we have not heard about them?

2-8-2012 Georgia:

Georgia penitentiaries continue to feed, clothe and pay medical expenses for hundreds of inmates who were approved for parole but cannot be released because they have nowhere to live. About two-thirds are convicted sex offenders. About one-third require mental illness treatment but otherwise they are not considered a threat to public safety.

“We have got to do something about the housing situation, about the need for these individuals to have stable housing in order to be able to assimilate back into communities,” state Rep. Jay Neal said during a recent hearing in which testimony was heard from officials at the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, State Department of Community Affairs, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, and Support Housing Atlanta.

Having nowhere to go means inmates approved for parole have no family able or willing to take them, and no publicly supported housing facility willing to accept them. One of the challenges associated with Georgia corrections reform is, where will released inmates go when they leave prisons?

The 2011 state Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform delivered its report before Thanksgiving. The emphasis was on establishing alternatives to incarceration to reduce budget devouring prison system costs. The new Legislature has been in town since January. The committee that will turn the special council recommendations into a bill is currently drafting the legislation.

More Millions for Prison Beds

Governor Nathan Deal’s (R) criminal justice reform cards are on the table: $35.2 million for additional prison beds, $10 million for accountability courts expansion, $5.7 million to convert three pre-release centers to residential substance abuse treatment centers, and $1.4 million to fund additional parole officers. Those priorities were named in his State of the State address and also in his proposed FY 2013 budget.

Moving away from a strategy that emphasized incarceration to one focused on alternative treatment for non-violent persons who do not pose any public safety threat means the state criminal justice system must change the tools it needs. Beds would be reserved for bad guys. Other people who need treatment more than incarceration would be placed into community settings.

A House committee met for 90 minutes during the week of Jan. 30 to discuss the lack of available housing statewide for paroled inmates. State Parole Director Michael Nail told the committee Georgia currently has 367 former sex offenders and 147 people with treatable mental illness needs who are still locked up even though they served all required time and were approved for release from the prison system.

‘Two Years Beyond Parole Date’

How long might they stay locked up? Most inmates are freed within 30-to-45 days after the parole board grants release. That is not the case for hard-to-release inmates.

Nail said, “We’ve had inmates (who) have been there two years beyond their parole date simply because they have nowhere to go.”

Patients who require mental health treatment are a special challenge. The systemic approach to help them is a larger question than the impact it has on criminal justice reform. Georgia and the federal government entered into an October, 2010 consent decree that requires the state to transfer mental illness patients out of hospitals and into community settings. The state must be able to serve 9,000 persons on a strict timetable that concludes not later than July 1, 2015.

20% Immediately Homeless

Paul Bolster is Director of Support Housing Atlanta. Support Housing conducted a survey of mental health patients being held in several metropolitan area county jails. Bolster said inmates were asked where they would live if they were released. Twenty percent said they would be immediately homeless and 12 percent more said they did not know.

“Thirty-five hundred people with serious mental illness will be discharged from metro jails within a year’s time to, probably, homelessness,” Bolster told the House committee. “This explains why you have recidivism.”

The survey was conducted in Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb County jails, and statistics were incorporated from Fulton County.

Clayton County’s Millions for Medicine

Clayton is Georgia’s third-smallest county by land mass, but it has the state’s fifth largest population. Last year the county processed 26,000 prisoners. Those inmates consume between $7 million to $8 million annually in medicine and other health care expenses. About 900 of the jail’s 1,700 capacity prisoners require mental health services and between 300 to 400 require intensive mental health treatment.

Sheriff Kemuel Kimbrough said those services could be provided at less expense outside a jail setting.

Kimbrough’s varied assignments have included work on the implementation of mental health community service boards and he holds an Emory University law degree.

“We’re spending god-awful amounts of money to keep them behind bars when the reality is we could probably spend less to support them in treatment, support them in housing, get them back out into the community and maybe even rehabilitate them into quality citizens,” said Kimbrough.

“We could have up to 300 folks that would meet drug court parameters but for one component, one very key factor, that they have stable residential housing outside the jail,” Kimbrough said. “That is the number one thing that gets them knocked out. If they don’t have a place to stay that is stable then they are not eligible for the drug court program.” ..Source.. by Mike Klein

Assembly rejects 3-tier plan for sex offenders

2012-02-08T07:03:00.000-05:00

2-8-2012 California:

Legislation to create a tiered sex-offender registration system designed to focus attention on violent criminals was killed Monday by the Assembly.

Assembly Bill 625 died by a vote of 19-41. Its author, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, said he will propose a similar measure later this year.

California law currently requires people convicted of various sex offenses to register with the state for life.

AB 625 would have created three tiers of sex registration, with offenders in the first two tiers allowed to drop off into an inactive status after 10 or 20 years, respectively.

The most lenient tier would have applied to sex offenders who did not use violence, did not molest a minor, and maintained a clean record during the 10 years they were on the active registry.

Opponents of the bill claimed that allowing some sex registrants to be placed on an inactive status would weaken current law and make communities less safe. ..Source.. by Jim Sanders

Editorial: Keep politics out of sex offender release

2012-02-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

2-8-2012 Minnesota:

A workable strategy is needed -- not partisan point-scoring.

It's no surprise that the state's first judicial discharge of a civilly committed sex offender would prompt questions about the decisionmaking behind the man's upcoming release.

But it's critical that Minnesota politicians keep the rhetoric under control and the volume of debate at a reasonable level.

Otherwise the state will never be able to responsibly change course on its costly and potentially unconstitutional policy of locking up some sex offenders for treatment years after they've served their sentences.

A troubling Feb. 6 letter signed by two Republican legislative leaders suggests that the fragile political "no-fly" zone reached on this toxic topic after years of demagoguery -- from politicians in both parties -- could be breached.

The letter to Gov. Mark Dayton from House Speaker Kurt Zellers and House Majority leader Matt Dean demanded further details about the official determination that Clarence Opheim, a 64-year-old convicted pedophile, is fit for supervised release.

Those are fair questions. Opheim has been civilly committed since the controversial program's beginning in 1994. His release, expected in about two months, would mark the first time that Minnesota has successfully treated a patient.

Zellers and Dean also note that Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson recently changed her opinion on Opheim's fitness for release. Jesson, who recently went from opposing the release to not opposing it, said Tuesday that she made her decision based on additional information from outside experts.

While Jesson appears to have done her due diligence on this, and has previously rejected another offender's release, more details about her decision wouldn't hurt.

But the letter from Zellers and Dean also needlessly attempts to score political points. It breathlessly states that releasing Opheim in a "densely populated urban area" is "reckless." It also unfairly implies that this was Jesson's decision to make.

The reality: A three-judge panel made the decision after weighing various expert analyses and recommendations. In addition, the state is not simply going to dump Opheim on a St. Paul sidewalk and drive off without even a look in the rear-view mirror.

Opheim would live in a St. Paul halfway house that is staffed 24 hours a day and licensed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, according to a Feb. 3 Star Tribune story. He would also wear an electronic ankle bracelet for monitoring, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and continue to receive outpatient treatment at St. Paul's respected Project Pathfinder program.

Is there risk with Opheim's release? Absolutely.

While he has hit all the treatment benchmarks required for patients in Minnesota's program, according to his attorney, no one can guarantee that he won't offend again. The Editorial Board shares the unease that comes with his release, but there are no guarantees that any criminal let out of prison will forever be crime-free.

Still, Opheim's looming release is an attempt to balance public safety with the growing concerns about the civil-commitment program's unsustainable costs and suspect constitutionality. Minnesota, which has not successfully released a patient until this point, is an outlier even among the limited number of states with these programs.

In addition, it now costs the state about $120,000 a year to house and treat each offender -- a much higher price tag than imprisonment. With the number of offenders in the program predicted to nearly double by 2020 to more 1,100, the program is a serious financial burden on the state.

Moreover, there are rising concerns about a legal challenge to the program -- a concern highlighted by a respected law professor less than three weeks ago at a William Mitchell College of Law symposium.

That gathering of experts and politicians from both parties was notable for its constructive discussion. Other states, including Texas, have found more cost-efficient and constitutionally solid ways to protect the public from sex offenders.

Minnesota needs cool, collaborative leadership to find a workable resolution. The Zellers and Dean letter is an unfortunate reminder of the politics that helped create this policy quagmire. ..Source.. by StarTribune Editorial

Lake County toughens restrictions on sex offenders

2012-02-07T20:10:00.000-05:00

I guess Lake County has not heard of the constitutional "Right of Association," as to offenders living close to each other, possibly in the same apartment building. However, Florida has been out of control for years now, so this is another nonsensical unconstitutional restriction.

2-7-2012 Florida:

AVARES, Fla. — Sex offenders who live in Lake County now have to follow some of the strictest rules in Central Florida.

On Tuesday, Lake County commissioners passed a new set of rules detailing where sex offenders can live. The push comes after the commission denied a proposed sex offender village.

The new ordinance contains six pages of restrictions. One of them not only forbids offenders from entering a public park, but they also have to stay back at least 300 feet from the entrance.

Some believe every Lake County park is safer today than it was yesterday.

"It does give us a level of protection we didn't have before," said Leslie Campione, parent.

At the meeting of the county commission, members approved a tough new ordinance that restricts registered sex offenders. Those on the state registry can no longer come within 300 feet of any park, playground, school, or daycare. And they are not allowed to live within 2,500 feet of those places.

"I think what Lake County is trying to do is based on fear," said Gail Colletta of the Florida Action Committee.

Colletta leads a group trying to protect the rights of registered offenders.

Colletta said Lake County's residence restrictions, which also stipulate that offenders cannot live within 500 feet of one another, may be unconstitutional and will only make matters worse.

"But if we keep pushing people to live in the woods, what do we expect?" asked Colletta.

County leaders drafted an ordinance after stopping a proposed sex offender village in the community of Sorrento. But commissioners say the new rules can only go so far.

"So, don't get a false sense of security because we adopted this ordinance, (and) that we don't need to still be diligent as parents," said Campione.

The new rules apply only to unincorporated Lake County. The commission is now hoping to get all the cities onboard to have the same stricter ordinance countywide. ..Source.. by WFTV.com

Hurricane bans registered sex offenders from parks

2012-02-07T19:41:00.002-05:00

Allowing for the possibility that the police claims are true, the proposed resolution is absolute nonsense. Does any one think there are NO binoculars that can see more than 500 feet?

2-7-2012 West Virginia:

HURRICANE - The city of Hurricane now has an ordinance banning registered sex offenders from city parks.

Mayor Scott Edwards said there were complaints that sex offenders were watching kids through binoculars at city parks. Police had no law to stop them from doing it, but Tuesday that all changed.

The ordinance creates a Child Safety Zone of 500 feet around parks, schools and other areas where young people get together. Mayor Scott Edwards remembers talking with a city officer about the problem of sex offenders.

"Sex offenders could pull into a park and watch a bunch of little kids play on the playground equipment. I asked him if it happened regular and he said al the time in the summer. He said they sit with binoculars and watch the kids," said Edwards

"It makes me feel safer taking the kids to the park," said Chris Workman of Hurricane.

She and her two kids visit Valley Park in Hurricane on a regular basis. She welcomes the new ordinance

"When I go to the park I don't think there may be someone out there that could be watching my kids, but now with the bill if that were to happen I would feel safer," said Workman.

"I think it's a good idea. I have a grandchild," said Sheila Stewart of Hurricane.

City council unanimously passed the ordinance Monday night and it immediately became law. Now city leaders are looking into the possibility of notifying registered sex offenders of the new ordinance, although they believe they don't have to.

"Many criminals slip through the crack everyday. We catch the ones we can and I will do everything I can to protect the kids," said Edwards.

Penalties for violating the ordinance are a $2,000 fine or 30 days in jail. We asked some area defense attorneys what they thought of the ordinance. Attorney Tom Peyton said the law seems like good public policy but enforcing it may be a different story. ..Source.. by Gil McClanahan, Reporter

Utah House OKs changes to sex-offender registry

2012-02-07T17:44:00.000-05:00

2-7-2012 Utah:

The Utah House on Tuesday unanimously passed a measure Tuesday that would allow some people stuck on the sex-offender registry for the least egregious crimes to petition their way off the list.

Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, proposed HB13 as a way to provide hope for those seeking a chance at redemption for a past mistake. Several lawmakers emphasized, however, that the change would include a variety of safeguards for victims and that it would apply only to a narrow list of those on the registry.

It would apply only to sex offenses when the minor is 16 or 17 years old and the criminal could not be more than 10 years older than the victim. Five years would have had to pass since the original offense. The bill also would require that the person couldn’t have committed a crime — excluding traffic offenses — and victims would have the right to object to the request from removal.

Draxler used an example of a couple who had engaged in sex when the man was 19 and the girl was 15. He said they are now married and have four children, but because the man was convicted of having sex with a minor, he’s unable to attend parent-teacher conferences and cannot go to the park to watch his kids play.

“I’m not trying to say every one of the violations are of this nature,” Draxler said. “But this is the kind of thing this bill is trying to address.”

The measure had been worked for more than a year, eventually winning endorsements from several victims’ rights groups and prosecutorial groups.

Rep. Kay McIff, R-Richfield, said the bill was “one of the most important” ones he would vote on this session.

“What do we do with these folks for the rest of their lives?” McIff asked. “If they’re a threat, we want that known. But if not, we end up with people who have a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, and we have no ability to reabsorb them.”

Rep. Tim Cosgrove, D-Murray, expressed fear about some offenders who deserve to remain on the registry slipping through the cracks and getting off the list.

He ultimately supported the bill, but offered a cautionary note for fellow lawmakers.

“We, as representatives, make these decisions up here and it’s the kid, the child that suffers the consequences if the system fails,” he said. “Or if we’ve erred in a way where we haven’t been able to capture everything we think we’ve seen.”

The bill now goes to the Senate. ..Source.. by David Montero

ABC 24 Reporter Mistakenly Listed as Possible Sex Offender

2012-02-04T13:51:00.008-05:00

While there is likely no problem with the license plate scanning portion of this software, that cannot be said of this tagging of "Possible Sex Offender" feature. That feature causes this software to be one of the worst ever. To tag everyone living in a building as "Possible Sex Offender" because one person in the building is, is absolute foolishness. Buildings that contain apartments, always have apartment designations in their respective address. How this software, with this feature, was ever purchased and allowed to operate, is beyond me.

UPDATE: Lets see, when police do home address checks on sex offenders, do they also BANG on doors of possible sex offenders, tagged by this dumb system feature?

2-4-2012 Tennessee:

MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - An ABC 24 reporter and an entire Memphis apartment complex is flagged as possible sex offenders, all because of one North Carolina man.

Tennessee residents can trace sex offenders through the TBI website; just put in an address and see if there are any close by. However, Memphis police know if there are any close by simply by scanning license plates. But if you live in an apartment complex, or if you share the same street name as an offender, police officers could think you're an offender too.

ABC 24's Joy Lambert was shocked when she found out her car registration was flagged as a possible sex offender. The License Plate Reader system manager for the Memphis Police Department, John Harvey, said the sex offender is a man named Carlton Wood from North Carolina. He's the reason Lambert, and her entire apartment complex, are red flagged. Harvey said, "It has to do with the possibility that a sex offender lives in a certain address or within an address. Since you live in apartments, the program is designed to look for matches on the street number and street name." Wood's last reported address has the same street name and numbers as Lambert's complex.

That's how all the matches come up with MPD's license plate reader and matches happen all the time. Warrants, felons, even gang members pop up the same way, helping police to identify a threat or a criminal. But innocent people, if they have similar addresses, are flagged as well.

If an officer saw the "possible sex offender" flag, Harvey said, "Typically they wouldn't do anything if you were just out in the public, unless you were in a school zone, or near a park or something where sex offenders are not supposed to be. Then if they were to do something they would click on the alert and it would tell them who that sex offender is." He told Lambert, "In your case that sex offender was a male; they wouldn't do anything most likely." However, if a male from the same complex was caught near a school, "They would probably stop and check them," Harvey said.

MPD said license plate readers work the way they want them too, which means if your address is flagged it will stay that way. "There's really nothing you can do," Harvey said, "because the officers need to know there's a possible sex offender there."

MPD stresses to its officers, when a flag comes up they are just possibilities - they still have to go through police protocol to determine a threat or violation. Police have made thousands of arrests because of the license plate readers. Even though it makes flagged citizens uncomfortable, MPD said the system is keeping Memphis safer. ..Source.. by Joy Lambert

South Florida a gateway for child sex trafficking

2012-02-03T23:34:00.000-05:00

2-3-2012 National:

FORT LAUDERDALE — As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, police are sounding the alarms about the problem of children being sold to partiers for sex.

South Florida is a gateway for human trafficking, three of the region's top law enforcers say, ranking just behind New York and Los Angeles.

Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said international access through the airports and Port Everglades contributes to the problem, as does a 49 percent immigrant population and high homeless rate.

"Kids do get trafficked into high profile areas where there are major sporting events, major music events or even the Academy Awards...because of the crowds that come in and the money involved," said John V. Gillies, FBI special agent in charge in Miami. "I'm not going to tell you there are tens of thousands of children trafficked into these areas. But there are enough that if we can save just one, it makes a huge difference."

Since 2003, more than 1,900 child sex trade victims have been rescued in the U.S., Gillies said. In South Florida, the FBI has 31 open cases where children were victims of sex trafficking, he said.

Gillies along with Lamberti and Carmen Pino, of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, spoke Thursday to Broward County business leaders to raise awareness about trafficking, both in child sex and illegal labor.

In 2010, when the Super Bowl was played in South Florida, a multi-agency task force arrested a Hawaiian man at a Miami Beach hotel after he brought a minor to engage in prostitution, among other charges. He was later sentenced for 21 years.

Pino said part of raising awareness about the crime is to explain the difference between the sex trade and trafficking.

"A 13-year-old is not a willing participant in prostitution," said Pino. "That's a victim."

Trafficking can begin when a homeless, runaway or kidnapped child who is already being sold for sex asks a friend to join her. Or a foreign victim could be recruited for modeling and is then forced into sex work, domestic servitude or restaurant, janitorial, sweatshop or farm labor to pay back the travel debt.

Victims can't simply flee. Gillies said traffickers will brand them with curling irons, lock them up or will isolate them from the public and family. They will also withhold passports, visas, or driver's licenses, threaten violence against victims or relatives and will not pay wages.

Last year, a federal and local police task force busted an Oakland Park bordello called the Boom Boom Room, where women and high school age girls would dance for male customers and were sold for sex.

Customers were given a 30-minute timer and a condom. One teenager told investigators she was paid $240 for the night, after she performed sex first with one man, then with another man and her cousin in the private home, according to a court document.

In December, James"Red"Mozie, was found guilty in federal court of 8 counts of child sex trafficking. He faces life in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 28.

Not all trafficking involves sex.

Two owners of a Boca Raton staffing company pled guilty in 2010 for the forced labor of 39 Filipino nationals in country clubs and hotels. Federal prosecutors said once the victims arrived at the defendants' home, their passports were confiscated and they lived in crowded conditions without adequate food or drinking water or pay.

The workers were ordered not to leave the premises without permission or an escort, according to court records. If they complained, they were threatened with arrest and deportation, prosecutors said.

The company owners were each sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Lamberti wants residents to call law enforcement if they see signs of potential abuse, perhaps a young teen with a man's name tattooed on her neck, or a boy at a hotel with an adult and no luggage.

The law enforcers' talk was also a plea for continued help from lawyers to represent victims pro bono at court, doctors to provide care and churches and corporations to aid with shelter, jobs and support for groups like the Broward Human Trafficking Coalition, which works out of the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is supporting separate enforcement and safe harbor bills moving through both houses of the state legislature. The issue is a hot topic with other attorneys general, said Bondi, who became involved after visting a recovery center at Kristi House in Miami.

"When I learned how many girls they help heal from the devastating effects of human trafficking, I recognized the need for stronger laws to stop human trafficking in Florida," Bondi said by email.

If passed, new state laws would lengthen prison sentences for traffickers or smugglers to match federal guidelines and would expand police authority for surveillance and property seizure. It would also provide more training for police, judges and prosecutors.

Other proposed laws would require treatment and housing for victims and give police discretion over arrests of child sex trafficking victims. ..Source.. by Linda Trischitta, Sun Sentinel

Teacher sexual abuse: How to catch a predator in school

2012-02-03T23:17:00.001-05:00

2-3-2012 Alaska:

Shocking charges that surfaced this week against Mark Berndt raise questions about how long teachers may be able get away with sexually abusing their students before the law catches up with them.

Students are often afraid to report incidents of abuse, victim advocates say, and when they do, too often their stories are dismissed or don’t lead to officials stopping the educator from abusing again.

“That message can never stop, that children need to be believed,” says Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct, and Exploitation, based in Las Vegas. School staff sometimes ignore warning signs or reports “because they don’t want to deal with the … cloud of shame that hangs over a school when these cases come to light,” she says.

Mr. Berndt taught at Miramonte Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District for more than 30 years. He was suspended and resigned in early 2011 when the county sheriff's department began investigating charges that led recently to his arrest on 23 counts of committing lewd acts on children.

Those charges date back to 2005. But the alleged troubling behavior may have started much earlier, authorities say.

In 1994, Berndt was investigated by the sheriff's department, but not prosecuted, for allegedly trying to fondle a 10-year-old girl, the Associated Press reported Thursday afternoon.

Two women also said this week that when they were students of Berndt’s in 1990-91, they told a counselor of behavior in the classroom that implied that he was fondling himself, the Los Angeles Times reports. One of the women said the counselor “told us it’s not very good to make stories up. She said it was our imagination.”

The school district is launching its own investigation into how Berndt’s alleged behavior could have gone on undetected for years. The case came to light when a photo developer called law enforcement officials in late 2010 about incriminating photos, the LA Times reports.

Berndt is accused of blindfolding and gagging students, and making them play a “game” of tasting strange things, including spoonfuls of a substance that police say was his semen.

Berndt was removed from the classroom as soon as the criminal investigation started. But the school district was asked to hold its own investigation only after the criminal probe was complete.

In a Feb. 1 letter, L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy wrote: “The District takes each and every reported act of criminal and administrative misconduct seriously, and we will continue to aggressively pursue each case … and initiate the appropriate disciplinary measures.”

While abusers often select and “groom” a young target to trust them until they can get him or her in a private setting, there have been cases of abuse in front of other students. A 2004 report for the US Department of Education mentions a case in which a teacher would call boys up to his desk one at a time to discuss homework, and then would fondle them.

“Every child in the room knew what was happening and students talked about it among themselves. The teacher repeated this behavior for 15 years before one student finally reported to an official who would act,” says the report, prepared by Charol Shakeshaft, now a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond.

In 2010, a report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed cases of abusive educators moving from state to state and committing new offenses – even sometimes after being convicted of sexual abuse. State laws requiring background checks or reporting of sexual misconduct in schools vary widely.

There have been some small signs of progress. A 2011 law in Missouri may be the first to really try to stop the phenomenon. Known as the Amy Hester Student Protection Act, it “requires school districts to report substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct by educators to another school district that seeks a reference for that educator,” according to Courthouse News Service.

On the federal level, no laws regulate the employment of sex offenders in schools, the GAO noted.

But Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R) of Pennsylvania is trying to change that. In December he introduced the Jeremy Bell Act of 2011 (HR 3766). The bill would bring fines or prison time to a school employer who facilitates a former employee getting a job in another state if he or she has engaged in sexual misconduct with someone under age 18.

The bill would also tie federal funding to requirements that states have laws mandating reporting by school employees of suspected abuse, and give other educators in the state access to such reports. And it would require schools to check employee fingerprints against national databases.

In the late 1990s, Jeremy Bell was sexually assaulted by his school principal and at one point was given a chemical to render him defenseless, which turned out to be lethal. Parents and teachers had reported the principal to the school board, and he had moved across state lines multiple times for jobs.

Under California rules, Berndt will qualify for pension benefits even if he is convicted, Superintendent Deasy noted in his Feb. 1 letter. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System did not respond to the Monitor’s request for comment. ..Source.. by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo

In rare ruling, Ramsey County court allows release of Minnesota sex offender

2012-02-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

2-3-2012 Minnesota:

A Ramsey County District Court panel made a rare ruling Friday to discharge a Minnesota sex offender who has been incarcerated in a state treatment facility for nearly two decades.

Clarence Opheim, 64, was "provisionally discharged" from the state's Minnesota Sex Offender Program by the three-judge appeal panel's bench ruling. Once the bench ruling is formalized into a written opinion, likely next week, the state may take steps to release Opheim from the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter to a metro-area halfway house.

Offenders in the program have no set release date but may petition at any time for their release.

Opheim is not the first to be discharged from the program, which began in 1994 and included 635 offenders as of January 2011. In 2000, state officials noted, a man was similarly discharged but violated the terms of his discharge and was pulled back in the program in 2003.

Opheim was originally admitted to St. Peter in 1993 and entered the sex offender program in 1998. Originally of Northeast Minneapolis, Opheim was convicted in the 1980s of two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and a single count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Last May, a special review board reporting to the state's Department of Human Services, which oversees the sex offender program, recommended Opheim's petition for discharge be denied, saying he "is at high risk to commit a future serious sexual offense."

In the board's findings of fact,
it stated Opheim "reported 29 victims of his sexual crimes and a total of approximately 100 separate incidences of sexual offenses" against children ranging in age from 8 to 17. Some of the incidents "involved physical harm, threats of bodily harm, the use of weapons, and the use of alcohol," the findings stated.

The findings added that Opheim had made "significant progress" in treatment, and his assessment "did not determine if Mr. Opheim presents an insurmountable danger to the public and fits or does not fit the statutory criteria for provisional discharge."

Friday's ruling came after DHS commissioner Lucinda Jesson wrote a letter to the court stating she did not oppose the release.

Jesson, who noted that she originally opposed Opheim's release, told the Pioneer Press she had spoken with the chair of the review board, attorney Fabian Hoffner, to see whether his concerns had subsequently been addressed.

Jesson said the board's primary concern, based on her discussion with Hoffner, was not Opheim's risk to reoffend -- which she described as "kind of standard stuff they (the review board) put in. Anyone they put in is going to be listed under those factors, because they haven't been out."

Rather, Jesson said, the board was more concerned about Opheim's chemical dependency issues. The board findings stated Opheim had "struggled mightily with alcohol," and Jesson said Opheim had successfully started chemical dependency treatment.

Hoffner did not return a call placed late Friday for comment.

Jesson added that Ramsey County District Court's independent examiner, a licensed psychologist, had also supported the release.

Opheim currently lives on the hospital campus but outside its security fence. Once the ruling is written, the department has 15 days to comply with the court ruling. Those on provisional discharge must wear a GPS tracker, undergo regular chemical dependency testing and therapy, and notify staff of their location at all times. ..Source.. by Tad Vezner

Fifth-graders get caught playing ‘rape tag’

2012-02-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

2-3-2012 Minnesota:

Our increasingly disturbing youth culture hit a new low point this month when some fifth-graders at a Minnesota elementary school were caught playing “rape tag.”

The game is similar to freeze tag except a person has to be humped to be unfrozen, according to MSNBC.

A concerned parent brought the activity to the attention of the principal of Washington Elementary School in New Ulm, and Bill Sprung quickly addressed the matter by sending a letter home to all families. False rumors about the game were popping up on Facebook and principal Sprung wanted to get the facts in parents’ hands to stop the spreading of misinformation.

And then an incident that happened a couple times on one elementary school playground became national news…

Is it really that big of a deal? While the idea of rape tag is morally wrong and entirely disgusting was the kids’ behavior out of character? Children are notorious for pushing the “offensiveness envelope,” Anna North at Jezebel puts so perfectly, and I’m sure we can all look back on our elementary years and recall shockingly inappropriate things that occurred on the schoolyard. Kids are masters at taking sensitive subjects such as gay and retarded and sex and using them in the most shameful ways imaginable. Anyone remember singing the song: “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family…but we’re really lesbians.” I recall shouting this out with a group of friends on the playground when I didn’t even know what the word lesbian means.

But rape, rape. There’s absolutely nothing funny about rape. Even the most talented comedian struggles to make rape funny. That’s what makes this story so unsettling—and leads you to think that children have pushed the envelope way too far this time. This is unacceptable.

Likely the children at this school didn’t even understand what rape means. Some kid picked up the word from television or the Internet and knew that it was related to sex. Kids think humping and sex is weird and silly and enjoy joking about it. It’s just upsetting that kids are familiar with the word rape at such an early age, whether they understand the meaning or not. ..Source.. by Amy Graff

Suit: CLTV broadcasts pic of wrong man as sexual assault suspect

2012-02-03T18:25:00.000-05:00

2-3-2012 Illinois:

CHICAGO (WLS) - A Chicago area television news station broadcasted the wrong picture of a man with the same name in connection with a sexual assault of a boy last year, a defamation lawsuit filed Wednesday claims.

Christopher Buchanan claims a picture of his face was shown, Feb. 5, 2011, on Chicagoland Television News, Inc. (CLTV) with a caption stating the he was a suspect in the sexual assault of a boy on or near CTA property, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The Christopher Buchanan involved in the sexual assault was an independent contractor for a company providing security for the CTA and not the plaintiff, the suit said.

The suit claims that Buchanan was never a suspect, person of interest, witness, or otherwise involved in the sexual assault.

The broadcast was shown to a wide audience of television viewers in the Chicagoland area, including Buchanan’s mother and friends of the family, the suit said.

The suit claims CLTV improperly fact-checked the story and failed to ensure the story was true and accurate, including the identity of the crime’s alleged perpetrator.

Due to the station’s negligent conduct, Buchanan’s reputation in the community and that of his family was injured, the suit said. He suffered severe emotional distress including fear and intimidation from community members. Buchanan also changed homes twice to protect the physical and emotional well-being of his family.

The suit also claims that Buchanan’s attorney told CLTV that there was a possibility for a defamation suit and the station removed and destroyed the defamatory statements from its online archives and broadcast news programs.

The four-count suit claims defamation, false light invasion of privacy and negligent spoliation of evidence. It seeks unspecified damages.

A spokesperson for CLTV was unavailable for comment Wednesday evening. ..Source.. by Archivist

Attorney claims Madison sex abuse suspect has alibi

2012-02-03T04:27:00.000-05:00

2-3-2012 Alabama:

MADISON, AL (WAFF) - WAFF is uncovering new information about a Madison County attempted rape suspect.

The attorney for a man accused of sexually assaulting a teen outside her workplace in Madison claims he has an alibi. He claims when the attempted rapist attacked the teen he was at work.

But Madison County investigators said his story doesn't add up.

Michael Garza's attorney filed a motion to reduce his bond. The motion claims Garza's employer has video of him working at the time of the attack.

The state obtained the video yesterday. It also says there's a minor issue with the time stamp on the video.

But Garza's attorney argues it's still strong evidence that his client is not who investigators say he is.

Garza's accused of choking a teenager as she closed up a Madison County coffee stand. Authorities say he then sexually assaulted the girl.

She tried to fight off her attacker and escaped further injury when she ran to a nearby business and called police.

The Madison County Sheriff's Department picked up Garza after several tips came in.

There's a lot of confusion over why Garza is charged with attempted rape and sex abuse and not rape.

WAFF's legal analyst, Mark McDaniel, said that's right in line with what he'd expect. He said both parties' sexual organs need to touch to bring on a rape charge. Allegations have never gone that far.

Investigators do say Garza sexually assaulted the teenage girl.

McDaniel says that can mean a variety of things, but in the end attempted rape and rape are both Class A felonies. Both carry the same penalties.

McDaniel said this case also caught his attention for another reason.

"A lot of sex offenses people know each other. What makes this case so sinister and so dangerous is that this is a person that did not know this victim. That makes this person a predator - a person lying in wait if you will. These are the people that are the most dangerous," he said.

Garza remains in custody on a $60,000 bond, though his attorney filed a motion to reduce it.

As soon as the judge makes a ruling on that we'll pass it along both on-air and online. ..Source.. by Nick Lough

Over 1000 email addresses exposed by Metropolitan Police blunder

2012-02-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

2-2-2012 Scotland Yard:

1136 victims of crime have had their email addresses inadvertently shared with one another, according to reports.

The victims - mostly of theft and criminal damage - were emailed on Monday as part of a survey into whether victims felt they were receiving a better service after the introduction of a single telephone number for an investigation unit in London .

The emails were sent in seven batches, meaning between 118 and 197 other people saw each email address, when "human error" left addresses entered in the wrong field.

In a nutshell, people should have been contacted via "bcc:" (blind carbon copy) rather than "cc:"

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said:

No other personal details were revealed and we are contacting everyone affected to explain what happened and to apologise.

Scotland Yard said they were now reviewing their processes in relation to email surveys and had referred the case to the Information Commissioner's Office as a matter of course. ..For the remainder of this story: by Anna Brading

A Blog as Therapy for Teenagers

2012-02-02T05:05:00.001-05:00

2-2-2012 National:

THE SOURCE “The Therapeutic Value of Adolescents’ Blogging About Social-Emotional Difficulties,” by Meyran Boniel-Nissim and Azy Barak.

IN the days before the instantly pinged “OMG Where R U?,” the first words many teenagers composed during their fretful moments were “Dear Diary.” After several paragraphs of spewing onto paper adolescent angst about cafeteria slights, unreciprocated crushes and oversize thighs, the diarist often felt better.

Research has long backed the therapeutic value of diary-keeping for teenage girls and boys. But according to a new study, when teenagers detail their woes onto a blog, the therapeutic value is even greater. Blogging, it seems, can be good for you.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Services and conducted by Meyran Boniel-Nissim and Azy Barak, psychology professors at the University of Haifa, Israel, found the engagement with an online community allowed by the blog format made it more effective in relieving the writer’s social distress than a private diary would be.

To track teenagers’ experiences with blogging, the researchers randomly surveyed high school students in Israel and selected 161 of them (124 girls and 37 boys, a significant gender skew) who exhibited some level of social anxiety or stress. The teenagers, who averaged 15 years old, said they had difficult making new friends or relating to their existing friends.

And so to the Internet. The teenagers were divided into six groups. The first two groups were asked to blog about their social difficulties, with one group asked to open their posts to comments. The second two groups were asked to blog about whatever struck their adolescent fancy; again, with one group allowing comments. All four groups were told to write in their blogs at least twice a week. As a control, two more groups were told to keep either an old-fashioned print diary or to do nothing at all.

All of their blog entries were then pored over by four psychologists to determine the authors’ relative social and emotional state. In all the groups, the greatest improvement in mood occurred among those bloggers who wrote about their problems and allowed commenters to respond.

Interestingly, the commenters on the blogs were overwhelmingly supportive. “The only kind of surprise we had was that almost all comments made by readers were very positive and constructive in trying to offer support for distressed bloggers,” Dr. Barak wrote in an e-mail.

The findings may hold in the real virtual world as well. “I definitely write posts in which I talk about being overwhelmed, and it helps me to relax,” said Royar Loflin, a 17-year-old blogger from Norfolk, Va., who did not participate in the study. Though her blog, “My Life as a Young Southern Prep,” includes everything from fashion to book reviews, Royar also writes about the stress of her junior year.

“People will write in the comments, ‘I remember when I was in your shoes’ ” and ‘Don’t worry — you’ll get through the SATs!’ and it’s wonderful,” she said. “It really helps put everything into perspective.” ..Source.. by PAMELA PAUL, The New York Times

GINATTA: Give child offenders chance at rehabilitation

2012-02-02T04:33:00.001-05:00

2-2-2012 Virginia:

Last summer, Andrew, a 14-year-old boy from Pennsylvania, engaged in inappropriate behavior that put him before a juvenile court judge. Andrew (a pseudonym) pressed his bare buttocks against the face of a 12-year-old boy, against the 12-year-old's will. In juvenile court, the judge decided that Andrew's actions qualified as aggravated indecent assault, a sexually violent offense.

If the Virginia General Assembly passes Senate Bill 127 or House Bill 624 as either bill looks today, a Virginia child in Andrew's shoes would probably be required to register as a sex offender and remain on the registry for at least 15 years — possibly for the rest of his life. The child would be required to reregister every 90 days and to be photographed every two years. If he failed to re-register, he would be committing a felony. The only significant difference between the bills is that the Senate bill allows for the juvenile to be listed on a private, law-enforcement-only registry.

Both of these bills are intended to bring Virginia into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act (AWA) and its section on sex-offender registration, known as SORNA (Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act).

Virginia should not move in the direction of treating child offenders the same as adult offenders. Instead, the state should stand by its commitment to offer young offenders a chance at rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The Virginia Rules website hosted by the Office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli describes this commitment well: "There is a juvenile justice system that treats juveniles differently than adults because our society believes juveniles are different from adults, both in terms of level of responsibility and potential for rehabilitation. Although there is concern with public safety and holding juvenile offenders accountable for their actions, there is greater emphasis on rehabilitation than on punishment in the juvenile justice system. 'Rehabilitation' means to restore someone to a useful life through therapy and education."

Current law in Virginia related to juvenile sex offenders recognizes that young offenders should be treated differently than adults. Judges already have the discretion to place a young offender over age 13 on a registry, but only after taking into account things such as the age and maturity of the young offender, the degree of use of force, prior criminal history, and other aggravating and mitigating factors. SB127 and HB624 take away that discretion.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently discussed the difference between adults and young offenders in the case of Graham v. Florida . The court found that the sentence of life without parole for young offenders who have committed non-homicide-related offenses violates the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment. In its decision, the court noted the "fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds" and that the actions of a juvenile are less likely to be caused by an "irretrievably depraved character." While young offenders, the court noted, are not necessarily absolved of responsibility for their actions, their acts were simply not as "morally reprehensible as that of an adult."

Internationally, the distinction between punishing adults and children is also well established. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty ratified by every country in the world save the United States and Somalia, states that every child accused, brought before a judge, or convicted of an offense should be "treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth," taking into account "the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society."

Other U.S. states have rejected the idea of prolonged or lifetime registration for young offenders. Both Texas and New York have chosen not to comply with the registration provisions of the Adam Walsh Act. In its letter to the Justice Department explaining why, Risa Sugarman of New York's Office of Sex Offender Management wrote: "New York has a long-standing public policy of treating juvenile offenders differently from adult offenders so that juveniles have the best opportunity of rehabilitation and reintegration. The federal requirement that juveniles be placed on the Sex Offender Registry under AWA is in direct conflict with that public policy."

Also, certain states have achieved compliance with SORNA without requiring prolonged or lifetime registration. Maryland, for example, has created a system of registration for young offenders that sets time limits, allows them to petition for removal from the registry, and automatically removes them from any registries at the age of 21. This system, according to the Justice Department, complies with the AWA.

Virginia legislators shouldn't turn away from the state's sensible policies. They should closely study the issue of AWA compliance and the effect it would have on the young offender and on society as well. Legislators should not pass any law that would hold a 14-year-old to the same level of culpability and stigma as an adult. ..Source.. by ANTONIO M. GINATTA

Witness recants evidence that would exonerate Missoula man of rape

2012-02-02T04:27:00.001-05:00

2-2-2012 Missouri:

The Innocence Project-assisted efforts of a Missoula man to overturn his 2002 rape conviction should be rejected, prosecutors said Wednesday, for the alleged victim said last week under oath that the jailhouse rape occurred and that a statement he signed to the contrary is false.

The victim - a 23-year-old man now in prison on an unrelated rape charge - also said last week that Montana Innocence Project officials "badgered" him into signing a statement in July 2010 recanting his 2002 trial testimony that he'd been raped by Cody Marble.

"Because they didn't believe me, (they) kept calling back, talking to me, calling me a liar when I told them the truth," he said during a deposition last Thursday at the Missoula County Detention Facility, according to a transcript. "So I just told them what they wanted to hear. ... They just kept coming to me until they heard what they wanted to hear."

Chief Deputy Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst LaCroix said the victim's sworn statements last Thursday make his July 2010 unsworn recantation statement inadmissible as evidence, and undercut any argument Marble must make to show his innocence and earn a new trial.

"In short, (Marble) has no witness and lacks reliable evidence to substantiate his claim," LaCroix wrote, saying his year-old petition for a new trial should be dismissed.

The victim's about-face led to cancellation of a District Court hearing scheduled Wednesday in Missoula on whether Marble should be granted a new trial on the rape charge.

Marble, 27, was convicted in November 2002 of raping a fellow inmate at Missoula County's juvenile jail, when he was 17 and the alleged victim was 13.

Marble has maintained his innocence from the beginning, saying the victim and other juvenile inmates concocted the story about a sexual assault to get back at him for perceived slights, or to attempt to get more favorable treatment in their own criminal cases.

Marble's attorney, Colin Stephens of Missoula, who also attended the victim's deposition last week, will file a response in two weeks to LaCroix's motion to dismiss Marble's petition for a new trial.

Stephens said Wednesday he'll argue that Marble should still get a new trial, because the victim's ever-changing statements make it likely a new jury would doubt his credibility and come to a different verdict on the rape charge.

"Ultimately, a new trial is appropriate, and a jury should get to sort out whether (the victim) is a reformed liar or still a liar," Stephens said.

Marble's earlier attempts to overturn his conviction on various grounds have been rejected by Montana courts.

In late 2009, the Montana Innocence Project - a group that attempts to exonerate inmates it believes are wrongly convicted - got involved with Marble's case.

Innocence Project officials, including its clinical director, Larry Mansch, met with the victim in prison once in 2009 and twice in 2010, attempting to get him to sign a sworn statement that the rape never occurred and that he lied at the 2002 trial, LaCroix wrote in her motion Wednesday.

LaCroix said the victim initially thought Mansch and the Innocence Project were there to help him overturn his own rape conviction, and that they didn't mention Marble's case until later, and that the victim refused to sign a sworn statement or any statement initially.

He finally agreed to write out a "recantation letter" in July 2010, but wouldn't make it a sworn statement, and the letter was attached to Marble's petition for a new trial, filed in December 2010, she said.

LaCroix said Innocence Project staff also contacted some of the other juvenile inmates who testified against Marble at the 2002 trial, but have refused to provide documentation of those interviews - and that Mansch said the other inmates stood by their original testimony.

The prosecution also attached as an exhibit a Jan. 21 letter from the victim's aunt, Susan Vardakis of Danville, Calif.

Vardakis, writing to a Missoula County sheriff's detective investigating the case, said she believes her nephew was raped by Marble, that he signed the recantation statement "under duress and/or deceit," and that he believed the Innocence Project initially contacted him to help him with his own case. ..Source.. by MIKE DENNISON Missoulian State Burea

Most Kansas sexual predators don't leave program

2012-01-31T06:41:00.003-05:00

1-30-2012 Kansas:

Sexually violent predators who are ordered to a state hospital for treatment after serving prison sentences are almost never released, and Kansas officials say they expect the overcrowded program to continue expanding.

The Sexual Predator Treatment Program, which began in 1994, gave prosecutors a place to indefinitely hold convicted sex offenders who are considered too dangerous to release from prison. Instead, prisoners are sent to Larned State Hospital for treatment with the goal of being released back into society.

But data from the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services shows that only three have been released since 1994, The Lawrence Journal-World reported (http://bit.ly/wzHrHX ). In the same time period, 17 have died, according to the SRS.

"You don't get out of here," said Mark Brull, a convicted sex offender confined to the program.

Since 2009, about 16 offenders have been committed to the program each year. Current projections predict the program will grow to more than 370 residents by 2020, said SRS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha.

The program currently costs the state $13 million a year, and the social services department asked the Kansas Legislature in September for another $2 million for facility upgrades to accommodate the anticipated growth.

Treatment for Brull, who was convicted of aggravated sexual battery and indecent solicitation of a child in 1997, costs Kansas about $60,000 per year.

"It's a very expensive warehouse," Brull said.

Treating violent sexual predators can take a significant amount of time, said Larned State Hospital Superintendent Christopher Burke.

"By the nature of their designation, they tend to have more entrenched behaviors," Burke said.

Kansas' treatment program has seven phases, starting with orientation at Larned and ending with a court-approved release and transition back to society. Before being released, offenders progress to closely supervised reintegration at Osawatomie State Hospital and then to conditional release at a residential facility in Miami County, where there are currently seven offenders from the program, Burke said.

Kansas is one of 20 states with sexually violent predator laws, and the growth caused by few releases is "not unique to Kansas," said W.L. Fitch, who teaches mental health law at the University of Maryland.

States that have such laws are in a bind, he said, because the programs become overcrowded or those who are released possibly repeat the offense.

"Politically, it's a huge risk," Fitch said. "You have some folks no one is going to take a chance on."

Critics of involuntary commitment of sex offenders argue that such programs are actually designed to keep offenders locked away with little hope of treatment, Fitch said.

Brull agrees, saying he's "100 times worse" than he was when he entered the program.

"Any kind of carnal knowledge under the sun you're exposed to here," said Brull, who has reached phase three of the program but has given up on progressing.

"I'll either die here or die in prison," he said. ..Source.. by The Washington Examiner

Colorado Animal Abuse Registry Would Require Convicted Abusers To Register In Database Similar To Sex Offenders

2012-01-31T06:36:00.001-05:00

1-30-2012 Colorado:

Animal abusers over the age of 18 in Colorado may soon find themselves treated like sex offenders if a bill seeking to create an animal registry passes.

House Bill 1087, scheduled for a hearing in the Colorado House Committee today, calls for adults convicted of animal cruelty to register their address, name and photo for police and public records.

Sponsored by State Rep. Jeanne Labuda, (D-District-1), the bill would keep offenders in the database for five years. The Department of Public Safety would incur a one-time cost of $160,000 though it's expected to generate less than $5,000 per year.

According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the first such registry was created in Suffolk County, N.Y. just two years ago. Similar to websites for convicted sex offenders, the list of animal abusers would be open to the public. Supporters argue for publicity as animal abusers are at a higher risk of committing violence against people.

ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells explains:

"Animal abuse is not only a danger to our cats, dogs, horses, and other animals, but also to people ... Many animal abusers have a history of domestic violence or other criminal activity, and there is a disturbing trend of animal abuse among our country's most notorious serial killers."

Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, David Berkowtiz ("The Son of Sam"), Albert DeSalvo ("The Boston Strangler") and Dennis Rader (Kansas' "BTK killer") all abused animals before their other crimes, as did many of the teenagers who went on shooting rampages at their high schools: Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris (Columbine, CO), Luke Woodham (Pearl, MS) and Kip Kinkel (Springfield, OR).

"But it's not just about how animal abusers end up also hurting or killing humans," said Wells. "It should be motivation enough to protect our animals from repeat offenders--and any abuse of any kind."

Other states that have considered an online animal abuse registry include Rhode Island, California, Tennessee, Arizona and Maryland.

In Maryland, the bill under discussion is called "Heidi's Law," after a seven-month-old Golden Retriever puppy who was shot four times while playing on her farm in Frederick County.

"I'm not trying to brand someone for life, just to put the warning flag up and keep pets away from them," said Maryland State Senator Ron Young of Heidi's Law. ..Source.. by HUFFPOST Denver

Juvenile penalties would go too far

2012-01-31T06:25:00.000-05:00

1-30-2012 Virginia:

Inmates preparing to return to their communities have a better chance of getting help rather than going back to prison because of attention by Gov. Bob McDonnell. He has pushed for coordinated services and better access to programs. Now he wants to give some offenders a second chance if they violate probation.

Sadly, he's going the opposite direction with teenagers, supporting legislation that will make it harder for troubled youngsters to get past their records and have a chance to start over.

Two bills would allow prosecutors to bypass juvenile court judges and send more teens to adult court, where sanctions are more punitive, public and permanent. The House bill, which passed Monday in a subcommittee, expands the list of offenses for which prosecutors can send juveniles directly to Circuit Court. Among them: participating in or recruiting for a gang. The Senate version is scheduled for a committee hearing today.

Another bill, which passed a Senate committee, would require teens older than 13 to be listed on the sex offender registry if they've been found delinquent in juvenile court - not even adult court - for rape or two other sex offenses.

Already, if a juvenile court judge finds that a teen should be on the registry, he can require it. Between 2009 and 2011, according to the bill analysis, 98 juveniles 13 or older in Virginia were judged delinquent for a sexually violent offense, and judges required 12 of the those to register as a sex offender.

Now, because the federal government is threatening to yank $600,000 a year from the state if it doesn't require registration for juvenile sex offenders, lawmakers will comply.

Sens. Tommy Norment and Bill Stanley each sponsored a version that would place teens on the registry - a permanent list - without considering any circumstances. It would take away any discretion.

The Senate committee combined the two bills and made them less egregious, deleting one requirement that registration be retroactive to 2005 and allowing youths to be placed on the non-public registry available only to law enforcement agencies and other authorized officials. The House bill does not contain those provisions.

No one is arguing that kids who commit horrendous crimes should be coddled or go free. Virginia's laws already allow prosecutors to seek lengthy prison terms in many cases.

But many other teens are on the brink, capable of learning from mistakes with help, direction and supervision. Rather than searching for ways to look tough on crime - and cutting the very education and mental health services that could help troubled kids - Virginia's leaders should insist on coordinated services that can give children a second chance.

McDonnell has repeatedly pointed out that two-thirds of the inmates being released from prison are re-arrested within three years. It was his argument for establishing a prisoner re-entry strategy.

He needs an equally strong strategy for youngsters, one that will reduce, not increase, the likelihood that troubled children will become adult criminals. ..Source.. by The Virginian-Pilot

When a 6-Year-Old Is Accused of 'Sexual Assault'

2012-01-30T06:21:00.000-05:00

1-31-2012 California:

A case in Hercules has ignited parents' outrage, but experts say it is not isolated

It started as schoolyard roughhousing during recess, with one boy’s hand allegedly touching the upper thigh, or perhaps the groin, of another. There were no reported witnesses, and it remains unclear if anyone complained, but the principal immediately suspended the student, placing the incident on the boy’s record as a case of “sexual assault.” The children involved were first graders — the purported assailant just 6.

“It’s really overzealous,” Levina Subrata, the accused boy’s mother (they do not share the same last name), said of the incident last month at Lupine Hills Elementary, a public school in Hercules. “They were playing tag. There’s no intent to do any sort of sexual assault.”

The school’s principal, Cynthia Taylor, did not respond to an interview request. Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, which includes Hercules, said officials were barred from speaking about student and personnel matters. However, he added, “We must take any allegation of assault involving a child very seriously.”

Subrata provided a copy of the suspension notice, which shows what appears to be the principal’s signature and the conclusion: “Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault or sexual battery.”

That such adult criminal intent was applied to a matter involving young children has caused a stir in this tidy East Bay suburb, a place so orderly that traffic signals halt every car at every light.

Subrata, fearful that being branded with a sex offense could ruin her son’s future, sought advice via the Berkeley Parents Network, a popular online forum for area families. An avalanche of vitriol followed.

“That principal and school is so insanely out of line,” said one comment. “This kind of thing makes me livid,” said another. Other parents said their children had faced similar trouble, including one suspended for “hugging.”

Experts said such incidents are not isolated, but rather part of an emerging national trend. A similar case caused a sensation in Boston in November when a 7-year-old faced sexual harassment charges for kicking another boy his age in the groin during a fight.

Due to heightened concerns over bullying in recent years — spurred by a public awareness campaign following several child suicides — school administrators now feel pressure to act boldly in cases where students might face harassment.

Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy institute, said the antibullying efforts are well intentioned, but, “the policies being adopted set forth pretty strong rules regarding categories of behavior,” he said. “This means there’s less room, and more risk, for principals who would make sensible accommodations based on student age and the circumstances in question.”

Indeed, calling a matter “sexual” when a first-grader is involved seems at odds with California statutes that indicate that such intent can only be applied to children who are in fourth grade or older.

Stuart Lustig, a board-certified child psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, said that in general it is quite common, normal even, for young children to touch each other’s genital areas. “It’s curiosity,” he said. “It’s not sexual in the adult sense.”

Lustig added that it would only become a concern if a young child does not stop when told the behavior is inappropriate. However, he said he had heard of cases where schools have acted immediately to discipline youngsters, even over a single schoolyard kiss. “Schools can sometimes respond very strongly because of the legal environment,” he said.

Hess predicted that questionable actions by schools in such cases would soon become a significant education concern. “We’re putting educators in an untenable position,” he said. “They’re being asked to squelch out every iota of bad behavior, but without overreacting or stomping on childhood.”

Subrata, the Hercules mother, hired a lawyer and threatened legal action against the school district, demanding that her son be moved to a different school, that his record be expunged and that the principal be disciplined.

The district would not say if any action had been taken, but Subrata said she has been assured that her son’s records have now been cleared of any wrongdoing. And he was recently transferred to a new elementary school where he’s adjusting to the change, although he is a bit confused by all the fuss.

“He doesn’t know what he did wrong,” Subrata said. “I mean, he had just received an award from the school for being a good citizen.” ..Source.. by Scott James is a columnist for The Bay Citizen and The New York Times. He has been telling the stories of San Francisco and the Bay Area for nearly 15 years.

Texas Court Voids Conviction in Child Death Case

2012-01-28T15:31:00.001-05:00

Sifting through the 23 cases, at the link, a few are cases also involving sexual assault, and were ruled bad evidence too.

1-28-2012 Texas:

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today set aside the conviction of Ernie Lopez, an Amarillo man found guilty in 2003 of sexually assaulting six-month-old Isis Vas. The baby died shortly after the purported attack.

Lopez has been serving a term of 60 years in Texas prison for the crime. But a joint reporting effort by ProPublica, NPR, and PBS "Frontline" last year explored the possibility that Lopez might be innocent.

In the years since Lopez's trial, a host of physicians have reviewed the medical evidence in the case, raising questions about the soundness of his conviction. Many of these specialists have come to believe that Vas actually died of natural causes, and that Lopez never assaulted the child at all.

During a tearful prison interview, the inmate insisted he wasn’t a sex offender and killer. "That's not my character," he said. "That's not who I am."

"We are very pleased with the Court of Criminal Appeals' decision to set aside Ernie’s conviction," said one of Lopez’s attorneys, Heather Kirkwood, in an email. "The Texas courts deserve ample recognition for the careful review of the record that led to today’s decision."

The Lopez case highlights the growing international controversy about the reliability of the science used to prosecute cases of fatal child abuse and sexual assault. In Canada and the U.S. at least 23 people have been wrongly accused of killing children based on questionable medical evidence, and California Gov. Jerry Brown is currently considering commuting the sentence of a grandmother convicted of fatally shaking her 7-week-old grandson.

The Texas court didn’t rule on Lopez’s culpability and did not set him free. Instead, the court concluded that Lopez received ineffective legal representation during his trial because his lawyers failed to challenge the prosecution’s medical evidence.

The ruling, which affirms the findings of a lower court, calls for Lopez to be returned to Amarillo, where local prosecutors will have the option to try him a second time or simply let him go.

In August 2010, Potter County Judge Dick Alcala recommended that Lopez's conviction be overturned, stating that Lopez's original attorneys had failed to "fully investigate the medical issues of whether a sexual assault had occurred" and "the cause of death of the child."

Kirkwood, who began representing Lopez after he’d been sent to prison, said she was hopeful that her client would be released on bond while District Attorney Randall Sims decides whether or not to retry Lopez.

During the appeals process, the prosecutor’s office tapped a number of medical experts who supported the conclusion that Vas had been sexually assaulted and abused.

A phone call to Sims was not immediately returned. ..Source.. by A.C. Thompson