I wonder what a video like this would look like for ex-offenders and their families?
NOTE: The above are from the video with the text modified, just as an example.
NOTE: The above are from the video with the text modified, just as an example.
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Monday, April 1, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Labels: Holiday , International , National , Video
Have a Guinness on us, but don't get to hammered! And remember, if you are on probation / parole, then don't drink any alcohol!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
IL - Sex Offender, Child Luring Laws to Take Effect Jan. 1
12/26/2012
An Illinois law that takes effect Jan. 1 will officially prohibit convicted sex offenders from participating in holiday events—from dressing up as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny to handing out candy on Halloween.
Offenders who break this law (SB 3579/PA 97-0699) could be subject to fines or revocation of their parole or probation, and could face additional jail time, according to a press release from Senator Kirk Dillard's office.
“I do not believe child sex offenders should be given the opportunity to dress up and participate in a holiday event that caters directly to young children,” Dillard said in a statement.
He said he sponsored the law in response to real incidents that occurred in Illinois where child sex offenders used holiday events as a way to inappropriately interact with children.
Dillard also sponsored House Bill 5265/PA 97-0998, allowing for felony prosecution of people who attempt to lure older children into their car while the child is traveling to or from school, according to the release.
“Obviously, there are 16- and 17-year-olds who are juniors and seniors in high school. They are still children, and they should not be excluded from this type of protection,” said Dillard.
The Senator said the new law was introduced in response to a case in DuPage County, where a 17-year-old was on her way to school, and was approached by a sex offender who tried to lure her into his van. Though the van was stopped by police, law enforcement officials could only charge the individual with disorderly conduct because the state’s current child luring law only applies to minors who are younger than 16 years of age.
“After Jan. 1, any individual caught preying on children walking to school will be punished appropriately,” Dillard said.
Dillard also sent a list of legislation that will be effective Jan. 1. Related laws include:
- Sex Offender Evaluations (SB 3638/PA 97‐ 1098): Establishes three new professional licenses for sex offender evaluators. Also requires that juveniles who seek to be taken off the sex offender registry receive a risk assessment.
- Sex Predators (HB 5280/PA 97‐1073): Provides that any person who is convicted of luring a minor is considered a sexual predator. Currently, persons must be convicted twice before being declared a sexual predator.
- Sex Trafficking (HB 5278/PA 97‐897): Allows prosecution for sexual trafficking and sexual servitude for a minimum of one year after the victim turns 18, but not less than three years after the offense occurred. This is designed to make it more likely that underage victims of sexual trafficking will report the crime after they turn 18.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Going after Christmas
11/13/2012
By Sandy Rozek
Sex offenders are a topic guaranteed to push the limits of any discussion. The range of those limits tops out with feelings, usually worded with as many expletives as possible, that anyone who is on a sex offender registry should be taken out and shot. The fact that this has actually occurred (Video, Posts), and more than once, is proof that at least some of those advocates aren’t just swaggering verbal bullies but are willing to follow through with actual murder.
More and more, however, discussions on the topic reveal that a large segment of society is questioning a registry that grows disproportionately larger and registers children as young as nine and offenses as benign as childish play and as common though ill-advised as consensual teen sex.
Adding to the level of intensity are studies and reports from government bodies and academics alike showing a number of findings that contradict the value of a public registry and call into serious question the wisdom of maintaining it at staggering costs that are bankrupting state after state. These findings include such things as recidivism rates for former offenders that are remarkably low, the fact that roughly 95 percent of new sex offenses are committed by first time offenders, and, most tragically, the fact that virtually all sexual crime against children is committed, not by some stranger already registered for a previous sexual offense, but by family members, peers, and others who are well known to their young victims and have relationships with them.
All of these issues are brought to the forefront when jurisdictions across the nation are making headlines for their efforts in keeping children safe from registered sex offenders on Halloween. Halloween has come and gone, and no children anywhere were harmed or, as far as anyone knows, even approached by such an offender. This includes the thirteen states in which there are no mandates in place regarding sex offenders and Halloween; it includes the many jurisdictions and counties where no such mandates exist even though others in the same state have them. And it includes going back as many years as records have been kept. Even though there is no police report of a child being attacked on Halloween by a registrant, ever, some states and counties choose to dedicate great resources to protecting children at Halloween from them. And the result is their success rate is exactly the same as it is in the counties and states that spent not a penny: 100 percent success rate for all.
Encouraged by such a victory, one state at least, Louisiana, has extended the Halloween ban for registered offenders to encompass other holidays in which children can be involved. One fact of note is that these bans, like the Halloween ban, target everyone on the registry even though many of those offenses were non-child related. And even more disturbing because it appears to be in serious violation of our Constitution, the bans apply to everyone required to register even though many are no longer under supervision such as parole or probation.
The state law on holiday restrictions for sex offenders states: “Every person currently required to register who has been convicted of or who pleads guilty to a sex offense is prohibited from using or wearing a hood, mask or disguise of any kind with the intent to hide, conceal or disguise his identity on or concerning Halloween, Mardi Gras, Easter, Christmas, or any other recognized holiday for which hoods, masks, or disguises are generally used. It shall also be unlawful to distribute candy or other gifts on or concerning Halloween, Mardi Gras, Easter, Christmas, or any other recognized holiday for which generally candy is distributed or other gifts given to persons under eighteen years of age.”
Every registrant who gives an Easter basket or a candy egg, a Santa cookie or a Christmas present of any sort to his own minor children or grandchildren, or to nieces or nephews, will be in violation of the law.
I find that extremely disturbing. I know many registrants with young children, several of whom are on the registry for having sex, back in high school, with the girlfriend who for years now has been wife and mother of those children. Thankfully, none of them lives in Louisiana, but I am certain there must be similar situations there.
It is abhorrent that, in an effort guaranteed to grab headlines and votes, the protection of children is used in a situation where there is no risk to them to begin with, and even more abhorrent that it is done to the detriment of other children who suffer the negative consequences of daddy or mommy not being allowed in family participation of those holidays that make the memories that help shape children’s lives.
I only hope that in Louisiana this year no child’s memory includes the reality of Daddy being arrested and taken to jail because he was seen buying his child a Christmas present or giving him or her a candy cane.
Sandy Rozek works with Reform Sex Offender Laws, a group based in Cambridge, Mass., that lobbies for reform of the nation’s sex-offender laws. More information at www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
IL - Myths of Halloween Danger Expand to Include Sex Offenders
Labels: Halloween , Holiday , Illinois , MassHysteria
10/21/2012
Illinois Voices for Reform, Inc. seeks to counter popular myths of Halloween danger reported by local media outlets, points to research that shows no correlation between Halloween and sex offenses
It’s that time of year again – the days are getting shorter, the leaves are turning colors, homes are getting decorated for Halloween, and stories about where registered sex offenders live in your neighborhood are popping up in the media.
For the past few years, this has been a popular news topic, not only in Illinois but around the country. News sources have pounced on Halloween as an opportunity to post interactive maps on their websites showing where registered sex offenders live in their communities. These articles often highlight restrictions that registered sex offenders have on Halloween, including having their porch lights turned off and not being allowed to hand out candy. Patch.com, a New York based news organization with branches throughout Illinois, claims that it is “helping parents…keep their kids safe this Halloween by providing a map of the area's registered sex offenders” (from Oak Park-River Forest Patch, October 4, 2012).
Others, however, argue that the hype surrounding registered sex offenders at Halloween time is not only inaccurate, it could also divert resources away from the real dangers that kids face this time of year. Tonia Maloney, President and Founder of Illinois Voices for Reform, Inc., an Illinois-based advocacy group, says the whole thing is blown way out of proportion: “There is simply no evidence that the restriction of registered sex offenders from these types of activities reduces sexually based crime. Seriously, should law enforcement resources be taken away from legitimate dangers to monitor the whereabouts of thousands of registered offenders in the state on Halloween?”
Maloney points to an article published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment in 2009, entitled “How Safe are Trick-or-Treaters?” The article examined sex offenses occurring outside the family around Halloween and concluded that there is no relationship between Halloween and any sort of increase in sex crimes. The article found that children are in much greater danger of being struck by a car or being harmed as the result of juvenile mischief than they are of being sexually assaulted. The authors also concluded that “the wide net cast by Halloween laws places some degree of burden on law enforcement officers whose time would otherwise be allocated to addressing more probable dangerous events.”
While scare tactics surrounding sex offenders at Halloween may be a relatively new phenomena, occurring mostly within the past decade, frightening parents at Halloween is an age-old tradition. In 1985, researchers at California State University examined what they described as Halloween Sadism, best exemplified by the “razor blade in the apple” story. They concluded that stories of Halloween Sadism are greatly exaggerated and are simply a form of urban legend. Where previous generations warned parents to check children’s candy for signs of tampering, today’s generation is warned to check the sex offender registry before sending children out to trick-or-treat.
“No one is saying that parents should not be cautious on Halloween,” Maloney states. She concurs with researchers who argue that parents and law enforcement should focus on protecting children from dangers that evidence has shown is real and prevalent. “The chances of a kid being struck by a car are four times higher on Halloween than on any other night. The police should be making sure children are safe from cars and from bullies, rather than watching to make sure some sex offender has his porch light off,” says Maloney.
The authors of “How Safe are Trick-or-Treaters?” seem to agree, stating: “Nor do we suggest that parents should abandon caution and reasonable supervision of their children. But there does not appear to be need for alarm concerning sexual abuse on these particular days. In short, Halloween appears to be just another autumn day where rates of sex crimes against children are concerned.”
Current Illinois law prohibits sex offenders who are on parole or probation from participating in Halloween activities, including handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. A new law signed by the Governor this year goes into effect on January 1, 2013, that will extend these restrictions to most registered sex offenders in Illinois. Maloney, speaking on behalf of Illinois Voices for Reform, Inc., testified at congressional hearings opposing the new law. “Many sex offenders have families. Should the spouses and children also pay the price because their family member is on the registry? If a house is decorated for Halloween, has the lights on, and someone other than the offender wants to hand out candy, why should they not be allowed to? With their addresses highlighted on a publication’s website, whole families, especially the children, lose out on a traditional seasonal activity.”
Maloney notes that highlighting the addresses of sex offenders at Halloween not only puts the offender in danger of vigilantism or vandalism, but it also puts their family members in danger as well.
Friday, October 5, 2012
CA - Sex Offenders Sue to Overturn Simi Valley Halloween Restrictions
Labels: California , Halloween , Holiday , JaniceBellucci , lawSuit , Video
Notice the parts we've highlighted about all ex-sex offenders, not just pedophiles? But the reporter (in the video) seems to think all ex-sex offenders are pedophiles, but they are not!
10/03/2012
By Melissa Pamer
The ordinance requires convicted sex offenders to display a sign that says "No candy or treats at this residence"
An attorney representing five Simi Valley sex offenders who sued the city over limits to their Halloween activities said the lawsuit will be the first of several she expects to file over such restrictions.
Lawyer Janice Bellucci heads the 18-month-old advocacy group California Reform Sex Offender Laws. On Friday, she filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that Simi Valley's ordinance violates her clients' First Amendment rights.
The suit seeks a judge's order prohibiting enforcement of the ordinance in Simi Valley, which has 119 registered sex offenders, according to a city report. Bellucci is representing five unnamed sex offenders, three of their spouses and two minor children, she said.
The ordinance, adopted Sept. 10, prohibits registered sex offenders in the Ventura County city of about 125,000 from displaying Halloween decorations, answering the door to trick-or-treaters or having outside lighting after dark on Oct. 31.
Simi Valley councilman and LAPD officer Mike Judge said the law is modeled after similar Halloween laws enforced in other California cities, and is meant to protect children.
- Just because others pass laws doesn't mean it's okay, besides, how many children can you point to who have been sexually assaulted by anybody, sex offender or not, on Halloween?
"This law was generated by citizens asking the City Council to do something," Judge said. "And it didn’t seem unreasonable for the City Council to take it up."
- Well the public has been filled with disinformation and fear, so of course they are going to want the placebos.
"As far as I’m concerned, our law doesn’t go as far as other laws in the state of California and it still, in our opinion, protects our children a little bit better than not having it."
- What a crock! All cities are passing the same restrictions on Halloween, not more.
- Exactly, everybody, not just pedophiles. They might as well have to post a huge sign in their front yard that says "SEX OFFENDER LIVES HERE, GO AWAY!!!"
Sixty-seven of the city's offenders are listed on the website, according to a city report; the rest are convicted of misdemeanors and don't have their names on the public list.
- So what, all ex-sex offenders still have to post the sign.
Bellucci said the sign-posting requirement was "particularly egregious."
"We consider that to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution," Bellucci said Tuesday.
The ordinance both imposes "forced speech" – the sign – and restricts speech by prohibiting Halloween celebrations, she said.
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| Nazi Badges |
The Simi Valley measure is part of a trend of increasing strict restrictions on the activities of convicted sex offenders who have "paid their debt to society," Bellucci said.
Her organization intends to begin filing lawsuits to challenge other statutes, she said.
The office of Simi Valley City Attorney Marjorie Baxter said the city had not been served with Bellucci's complaint, so it had no comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Baxter was quoted in the Ventura County Star, which first reported on the lawsuit, as saying: "We thoroughly researched the ordinance and I don't feel the lawsuit has any merit, and we will defend it vigorously."
At an Aug. 20 initial City Council hearing on the ordinance, a deputy city attorney told council members that "traditional trick or treat activities associated with Halloween have the potential to provide significant opportunities for sex offenders to victimize minors."
- Sure it does, but how many kids have every been sexually harmed on this day? ZERO! And if parents are going a long with their kids, then what is the problem?
Council members at that time expressed some concern about legal repercussions, as well as worries that residents who decide not to decorate will be thought by neighbors to be sex offenders.
The police chief told the council that he could find no records of a sex crime against a child on Halloween in Simi Valley.
Those who are convicted of violating the ordinance would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to six months in county jail, according to a city staff report.
California residents who have been convicted of or pleaded no contest or guilty to a sex-related offense must register with local public safety authorities. Offenders are listed on the registry for life.
Friday, September 28, 2012
CA - Lawsuit seeks to block Simi Valley's Halloween sex offender ordinance
Labels: California , Halloween , Holiday , JaniceBellucci , lawSuit
09/28/2012
By Mike Harris
A federal lawsuit filed Friday seeks to block enforcement of Simi Valley's new Halloween sex offender ordinance, contending it is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit alleges that the ordinance violates the First and 14th Amendments because it "suppresses and unduly chills protected speech and expression."
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by five registered sex offenders, three of their spouses and two of their children, all Simi Valley residents. They are identified only as John and Jane Does.
It's the first time one of the Halloween sex offender laws passed by a number of California cities, including Ontario and Orange, has been challenged in court, said Santa Maria attorney Janice Bellucci (Video).
Bellucci, president of the board of a group called California Reform Sex Offender Laws, filed the suit, which also seeks unspecified financial damages, on behalf of the plaintiffs.
Simi Valley City Attorney Marjorie Baxter said the lawsuit is groundless.
"We thoroughly researched the ordinance and I don't feel the lawsuit has any merit, and we will defend it vigorously," she said.
The Simi Valley City Council adopted the law — the only one of its kind in Ventura County — to prevent sex offenders from having contact with trick-or-treating children on Halloween. Championed by Mayor Bob Huber, a lawyer who is seeking re-election in November, the measure applies to the several dozen convicted child sex offenders who live in the city and are listed on the Megan's Law website.
- So what is wrong with the sex offender hit-list? Guess you're saying it doesn't work like intended, and also, what about holding parents accountable and having them go along with their children?
The ordinance requires the offenders to post signs on their front doors saying, "No candy or treats at this residence." It also bars them from opening their doors to children on the holiday, displaying Halloween decorations or having exterior lighting on their property from 5 p.m. to midnight on Oct. 31.
When voting for the measure on Sept. 10, Councilman Steve Sojka expressed concerns that the city could be exposing itself to a lawsuit by passing the law.
The measure is scheduled to take effect in time for Halloween.
The lawsuit argues that the ordinance prohibits "a discrete and socially outcast minority from expressing any publicly viewable celebration of Halloween" and "forces this group to impose a burden on their own safety and that of any person who resides with them by requiring them to turn off all exterior lighting at their residences on Oct. 31 every year."
The ordinance also publicly shames the sex offenders "by mandating that they place a large content-specific sign on their door every year," the lawsuit contends.
But Councilman Mike Judge noted at the council's Aug. 20 meeting that the ordinance was limited to registered sex offenders on the Megan's Law website, which publicly lists their identities.
"We're not branding them," Judge, a Los Angeles police officer, said. "They're already branded."
Bellucci argues that there are no reported instances of a child being molested while trick-or-treating.
According to her group's website, the organization is "dedicated to restoring civil rights for those accused and/or convicted of sex crimes."
The City Council adopted the ordinance on a 4-1 vote with Councilwoman Barbra Williamson dissenting. She and Sojka are also running for re-election in November.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
NM - Repeat Sex Offender Numbers Low in County
Labels: ComplianceCheck , Halloween , Holiday , NewMexico , Recidivism
09/19/2012
By Patrick Lohmann
Every Halloween night, between 30 and 50 Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies spread out all over the county and knock on the doors of registered sex offenders, as a reminder that the county knows where they are and what they’re doing.
The Halloween blitz is just one of the tactics the Sheriff’s Department says could be behind the county’s remarkably low sex offender re-offense, or recidivism, rate.
- Come on, you are taking credit for something that is already low, recidivism.
Of more than 1,200 registered offenders that include sex offenders as far back as the 1970s, the sex offender registry unit has identified only seven who have re-committed a sex crime since 2009 – or 0.6 percent who re-offended over that three-year period.
Fourteen Bernalillo County sex offenders released in 2010 did end up back in prison within 18 months of their release dates, but they were there for such things as failing to register as an offender or for probation violations, according to data from the New Mexico Department of Corrections.
“We do have a very low recidivism rate in Bernalillo County,” Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Sam White said. “We believe part of that is our proactive stance.”
- There is a low recidivism rate across the county, not just New Mexico.
Data regarding sex offender recidivism rates are hard to come by.
A New Mexico Sentencing Commission study followed 126 sex offenders released from state prisons in 2004.
The study is still only in draft form and has not yet been reviewed by the Department of Corrections, but according to the draft, 5.6 percent of offenders went back to prison after committing a new sex offense between 2004 and when the study began earlier this year. More than 35 percent of the total number of sex offenders were sent back to prison, but largely for probation violations.
A national Bureau of Justice Statistics study is in the works that will look at sex offender recidivism for offenders released in 2005. The bureau’s last study found that 5.3 percent of almost 1,000 sex offenders released in 1994 re-committed a sex offense within three years.
That rate is considerably lower than for violent offenders, 61 percent of whom were arrested for similar crimes within three years, and for property offenders, who had a recidivism rate of almost 74 percent, according to the same BJS study.
White said he doesn’t know what his department might be doing differently than other counties, but it does make prevention of sex crimes a high priority. He said deputies use their spare time to check up on sex offenders at their homes.
“Any rate is not low enough,” he added.
Registry effective?
Whether the sex offender registry is effective in preventing sex crimes depends on whom you ask.
Gov. Susana Martinez, who specialized in prosecuting sex crimes during her career as a district attorney, said Bernalillo County’s low recidivism rate doesn’t necessarily mean offenders aren’t re-offending, just that they’re not being caught.
- And your statement doesn't mean it's true either, you could say that about any crime!
“The vast majority of my cases involved delayed reporting by the children (victims) because they are afraid, they are threatened that something bad will happen if they tell,” Martinez told the Journal. “That allows an offender to re-offend many times.”
That’s why Martinez said the registries are so effective, because they allow parents to monitor offenders who might be re-offending without punishment in their neighborhood. Martinez has also pressured the state Legislature during her time as governor to become fully compliant with the Adam Walsh Act, a 2006 federal sex offender registration law.
The state’s sex offender laws do not require offenders to scan palm prints in addition to fingerprints, which is out of compliance with the federal act, nor do they have a juvenile sex offender registration, GPS monitoring or email notifications for when an offender moves into a neighborhood, said Regina Chacon, the state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
Despite this, New Mexico has so far avoided fines of between $100,000 and $250,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice, since it is one of many noncompliant states, Chacon said
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Bernalillo, voted against the Adam Walsh Act each time it came before the Legislature, and received a standing ovation after speaking at the national Reform Sex Offender Laws conference in Albuquerque.
McSorley said the Adam Walsh Act is a politicized, unfunded mandate that doesn’t differentiate between the worst predators and offenders convicted of milder crimes. As a result, he said, law enforcement and parents are unable to zero in on who poses the greatest threat.
“New Mexico citizens are less safe today because politicians have been trying to prove how strong they are against sex crimes,” McSorley said. “They’re diluting our efforts at getting the most serious predators.”
The national conference for Reform Sex Offender Laws, an organization that claims sex offender registries are ineffective and unjust, was held at an Albuquerque hotel earlier this month to the dismay of some residents and law enforcement officials who were concerned about the conference’s proximity to schools.
Lloyd Swartz, the organization’s New Mexico branch president and a registered sex offender who was convicted of sexual assault in Texas in 1987, said the response to the conference by the city and residents underscores the need to have a conversation about sex offender laws, which he said are bad policy written out of emotion, not data.
“How do we put this hysteria aside, put all these misconceptions aside, and sit down and have an honest conversation?” Swartz said. “We need to acknowledge that what we’re doing may make us warm and fuzzy inside, but it’s not working.”
Swartz said the registry misinforms parents about who threatens their kids, and parents should instead learn to identify signs of a possible sex offender within their homes or neighborhoods.
“It’s telling people to look the wrong places, so they can’t protect themselves,” Swartz said during the conference at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center on Sept. 7.
Both Martinez and Swartz said the vast majority of sex crimes are committed by perpetrators who know the victim – as relatives, neighbors, coaches or through other means.
While Swartz argues that’s a reason the registry is not effective, Martinez said that fact makes the registry all the more important, because parents need to be able to find out if their acquaintances or family friends pose a threat to their children.
“If you are a convicted sex offender, I as a parent have a right to know,” she said. ” … You can’t teach a parent what to look for.”
- The only reason you have that right, is because of the law, you really aren't entitled to know who lives around you, and yes you can teach parents what to look for.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Happy Fourth of July!
Labels: Holiday , Merchandise
Show your love for this country and those who have defended us, so that we may be "free" with these cool designs from our Zazzle store.
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| Click the image for more info |
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| Click the image for more info |
Saturday, June 9, 2012
IL - Bill Will Further Limit Registered Child Sex Offenders in Illinois
06/08/2012
A bill that recently passed both legislative houses in Illinois will prohibit convicted child sex offenders from participating in holiday activities involving children, if signed by the Governor. While this bill is very specific, it adds further requirements for registered sex offenders in Illinois, and puts additional limits on how they must live following a criminal conviction.
Illinois Sex Offender Bill
The recent bill, SB3579 (PDF), was introduced in February of this year and sponsored by Senator Kirk Dillard. If signed, it will amend the Illinois Criminal Code by making it a Class 4 felony for child sex offenders to participate in holiday events that involve children under 18-years-old. Limitations on activities include giving out candy on Halloween, dressing up as Santa Claus on or around Christmas and wearing an Easter Bunny costume on or before Easter Sunday. Exemptions from the law would include some statutory rape convictions and sex offenders who are parents or guardians of minors, as long as no other children are present in the home.In addition to having to register with their local law enforcement agency and being added to the state's Sex Offender Database for a period of 10 years, child sex offenders in Illinois are also subject to residence and work restrictions. It is generally a violation of law for those convicted of child sex offenses to live with other sex offenders, live within 500 feet of a school, park or daycare center or work with children or in youth-related programs. Child sex offenders are also banned from visiting parks, being present on school grounds and using social networking websites during certain periods following a conviction.
Debate Continues
As legislatures in Illinois and across the nation continue to pass bills to further restrict and monitor convicted child sex offenders, critics wonder whether these types of laws actually help to protect children. A majority of sex crimes where children are the victims are committed by a family member or someone they know, so residential and work limitations do not always prevent these types of offenses. In addition, opponents of laws that seek to isolate child sex offenders say this can actually cause more problems and crimes than they solve or prevent.Legal Help
People convicted of child sex offenses are already subject to a host of legal restrictions, and the list continues to grow with each newly enacted child sex offender law. Once someone is convicted and required to register as a sex offender in Illinois, the public embarrassment and other consequences will lasts for a minimum of 10 years. In the meantime, the bill to limit child sex offenders from participating in holiday events may soon become law, and another bill that would extend the registration requirement to 15 years is currently pending. These possible upcoming changes make it important for people charged with or convicted of sexual crimes to consult with an experienced criminal law attorney about their case.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Merry CHRISTmas Everybody!
Video Description:
Feliz Navidad using borrowed iPhones and iPads at North Point Community Church.
Feliz Navidad using borrowed iPhones and iPads at North Point Community Church.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
CA - Should Sex Offenders be able to Decorate for Halloween?
Labels: California , Halloween , Holiday , MassHysteria
Should idiots be allowed to pass feel good laws that are not based on facts but their own emotions, and also violating their oath of office? There has been one, maybe two accounts of a child being sexually harmed on Halloween, the one I know of was back in 1975 by a man called "The Halloween Killer!" The Halloween restrictions are pure hysteria!
12/02/2011
By Sadie West
Supervisor Jeff Stone of Riverside County introduced an ordinance that would ban sex offenders from putting up Halloween decorations and passing out candy to children.
This is unjust to many of the registered sex offenders, taking away more of their constitutional rights.
According to the article in the Los Angeles Times, "the measure would bar registered sex offenders from answering the door to trick-or-treating children or decorating their homes with Halloween decorations between 12 A.M. and 11:59 P.M. on October 31 each year.
Beyond that, they would be prohibited from leaving any external lights on between 5 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Halloween night." When the term sex offender is first heard, one usually thinks that the person must have molested a child or shown off their genitals to a child, but this is not necessarily true.
The dictionary definition of a sex offender is a person who has committed a crime involving a sexual act.
Nowhere does it say that the person committed a sex crime against a child, just a sex crime.
Sex offenses come in many different types.
In order for a person to be registered in the federal system as a sex offender, one must have committed rape or other forms of sexual assault and sexual abuse, obscenity, human trafficking, incest, inappropriate phone calls/sexting, sex with animals, and public order crimes (i.e. public urination, streaking, stealing underwear, etc.).
Of course, what was afore mentioned crimes all can be committed with or against children.
Like any other crime, there are serious and minor differentiations between the many committed.
It is unjust to punish and treat all registered sex offenders the same, when not all of their crimes are the same.
A more serious offense that deserves a more serious punishment is child molestation.
Streaking, or public urination, is a minor offense that does not need a serious course of action.
The registering of sex offenders provides a sense of (false) security and protection for parents in all neighborhoods.
Parents can look up the locations and names of sex offenders in their neighborhoods, which help to prevent and avoid such houses.
Sex offenders should have the right to actively participate in the traditions of Halloween.
Parents should especially be cautious on such a night, taking extra precautions to make sure that nothing happens.
Just because sex offenders decorate their houses or purchase candy to pass out, doesn't mean that their houses will be visited.
Sex offenders are people too, people with sexual deviant behavior, but people nonetheless.
Crimes committed by the offenders are already taken care of and regulated by the government, as unjustly as it is.
It's unnecessary and cruel for more rules and regulations to be implemented.
Although sex offenders are definitely to blame for their actions, it's not right for even more rules to be added.
Halloween has been celebrated for many, many years.
The government has no place in regulating who gets to celebrate a famous and treasured holiday and who doesn't.
Everyone should be wary of sex offenders in their neighborhoods (and those nearby) and should take precautionary measure, but sex offenders don't need any more punishments added on either.
Halloween is a time of tricks, treats, and costumes, not a time of limitation and punishment.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving To All!
I hope everyone, this year, has a great Thanksgiving day, and that the Lord blesses you all beyond your wildest dreams.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
MD - Sex Offender List & Halloween
This just shows how ignorant the general public is. Once someone is off probation and/or parole, you cannot force them to do certain stuff, it's how we've always done it, and any thing that is done, is unconstitutional ex post facto punishment, period, and the residency laws and forcing people onto the registry who were sentenced before the laws came into being, IS PUNISHMENT!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
AL - Sex offenders attend meeting Halloween night
Labels: Alabama , FearMongering , Halloween , Holiday , MassHysteria
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| Tony Logan |
I sure hope Mr. Logan was made to stay home on Halloween night, you see, this idiotic police chief, was arrested for DUI. I wonder how many times he has been arrested for DUI? He could have killed people, even children.
10/29/2011
By Tom Smith
All sex offenders in Alabama will be required to attend an educational program on sex offender laws for four hours on Halloween night.
- Misleading as usual. No, it's not ALL, it's only those on probation/parole.
The Alabama State Probation and Parole Office and the U.S. Probation Office are joining together to provide the program on state and federal sex offender laws to all felony sex offenders under supervision of state and federal probation and parole offices in Huntsville.
U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance’s office requires felony sex offenders to attend the educational program, which also will provide training on employment and other community support topics. It will be 5:30-9:30 p.m. Monday at an undisclosed location.
The timing of the program coincides with trick-or-treaters taking to the streets Halloween night and going door to door.
“I know parents are concerned and it’s a concern for law enforcement,” Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan said. “There are a couple of times a year I refer to as a pedophile’s dream come true. This is one of those times.”
- What an a--hole. This is his own personal opinion, and how many kids can he show us, that have been sexually abused on Halloween night?
Supervisory U.S. Probation Officer Jeffrey Purcell said the operation is a pro-active venture to provide education and training to sex offenders, and improve accountability and behavior change.
“As well as safeguard the community, in that these offenders will not be participating in Halloween activities,” he said.
Deputy Florence Police Chief Tim Shaddix backs the program.
“I know parents who have already gotten on the Internet to find where the registered sex offenders live to make sure they don’t take their children into those neighborhoods,” he said.
Logan said knowing that sex offenders will not be around on Halloween night will give parents and law enforcement some peace of mind.
“This is brilliant. I love it,” Logan said. “It will help provide a safe environment for the hundreds of kids out Halloween night and their parents.”
- Well, did they also make you stay home and not drinking on Halloween, so you'd not run over any kids while intoxicated?
In Tennessee, state probation and parole officers will be making announced and unannounced visits to make sure convicted sex offenders are complying with restrictions during Halloween.
- Again, it's only for those on probation/parole.
They cannot answer the door to trick-or-treaters, pass out candy, decorate their homes, host Halloween parties or wear costumes, state officials said. Local law enforcement officers will be going with probation and parole officers on many of the visits.
“I know this is a concern for the public and for parents, but hopefully these measures will ease their concerns,” Shaddix said.
SC - Swedish filmmakers look at sex offenders and Halloween in Anderson
Labels: Halloween , Holiday , SouthCarolina
10/31/2011
By Mike Ellis
ANDERSON — There is no such thing as sex offender registries in Sweden, although there is public pressure to create such lists, said Magnus Arvidson.
Arvidson is a Swedish journalist who was in Anderson on Halloween to film sex offenders who were required to gather in an Anderson County auditorium during trick-or-treating hours.
He and photographer Mikaela Krestesen, who are engaged, are working on a documentary film project for Sveriges Television, the Swedish national network, about sex offender registries in the United States.
“We don’t have sex offender registries,” Arvidson said. He said that a private citizen had posted sex offender information but Swedish courts shut the site down, which helped to spark a national conversation about the possible creation of sex offender lists in the European country.
“We stumbled on what they do for Halloween here,” Arvidson said. “It is so far away from how we do it in Sweden.”
He said that many in his country are now pushing for sex offender lists and the film he and Krestesen are creating aims to illustrate how sex offender lists work, for good and bad, in the United States.
Two years ago they were in Anderson for Halloween but did not have enough clearance to shoot video footage of the rounded-up sex offenders. They had permission Monday, taking video shots of the back of offenders’ heads so as not to identify the offenders.
Arvidson said that they have also done work this week in Georgia, were heading out to go trick-or-treating with a family later Monday night in Anderson and also had interviewed sex offenders and their families.
“We have one mother whose son was 16; he was looking at pictures of girls his age and was put on the list,” Arvidson said. “So it definitely is interesting.”
He said he does not yet have an opinion on creation of sex offender lists but wants to share the documentary with a national audience in Sweden.
Monday, October 31, 2011
CA - Sex offenders: Halloween’s boogeyman
Labels: California , Halloween , Holiday , MassHysteria
10/31/2011
By Tracy Clark-Flory
Registered abusers are being rounded up tonight to protect trick-or-treaters. How real is the threat, though?
As costumed kiddies take to the streets tonight, thousands of sex offenders across the country will be forced to turn off their lights and refuse to answer the door. Some will be required to also post “no candy” signs and refrain from decorating their yards. Some counties round them up for a mandatory movie night or an evening in jail. In some areas with prohibitively strict residency requirements, police will be rounding up several hundred transient sex offenders.
Year after year, new measures are introduced to keep registered sex offenders of all stripes from coming into contact with trick-or-treaters — and yet there is zero evidence to support the legislative trend. In fact, the available data suggest it’s a useless diversion of resources that creates a false sense of security. Just take a look at this absurdly misleading headline from a Fox News affiliate: “Police Work to Keep Halloween Free From Sexual Predators.” (Because all sex offenders faithfully register and offenses are only committed by those with previous records?) Meanwhile, other outlets are playing up the danger: Albuquerque’s KRQE advises readers to “beware of real monsters on Halloween,” and talks to a 12-year-old girl who is “excited to go Trick-or-Treating” — but only because her family has no idea that they live “in a neighborhood full of secrets.” Dun-dun-dun.
It isn’t just law enforcement that is joining in the Halloween paranoia: Tech entrepreneurs are hyping new smartphone apps — including a brand-new one for Facebook — as tools to steer kids clear of sex offenders’ homes and even allow parents to track their kids by GPS, instead of actually accompanying them in person. (Why parent in person when you can do so virtually!)
Here’s the truth: There are no documented cases where a registered sex offender abused a trick-or-treater on Halloween. The truth is that kids are most likely to be abused at home and by adults they know, not strangers — and even less so by strangers handing out mini-Milky Ways. A whopping 90 percent of child victims of sexual abuse are targeted by someone they know; nearly half of those cases involve a relative. It’s also the case that the recidivism rate among sex offenders is roughly 9 percent, according to the Department of Justice.
The urban legend of poisoned candy perfectly illustrates the misplaced and outsize concern: As Benjamin Radford of the Skeptical Enquirer pointed out several years ago, there are only two known instances where children died from tainted Halloween candy, and in both cases the child’s own parent was responsible for the intentional poisoning.
As I’ve written about in the past, a 2009 study (PDF) that looked at nearly a decade of data found “no significant increase in risk for nonfamilial child sexual abuse on or just prior to Halloween.” It’s no surprise then that the data remained unchanged after the emergence of measures to keep sex offenders away from kids on Halloween. The common argument is that all this legal effort is worth it even if it only saves one child from being victimized. But, as the authors of the study noted, these initiatives cost money and take up resources that could be directed toward much greater risks. “For example, a particularly salient threat to children on Halloween comes from motor vehicle accidents,” according to the report. “Children aged 5 to 14 years are four times more likely to be killed in a pedestrian–motor vehicle accident on Halloween than on any other day of the year.”
Karen Franklin, a forensic psychologist who has long railed against the Halloween crackdown, calls it “security theater” and “the Halloween boogeyman.” She says “the scare feeds into a deep-rooted cultural fear of the boogeyman stranger.” Just as with scary movies, this holiday allows us the thrill of confronting our fears in a controlled manner. Similarly, the inevitable spate of stories about stranger danger each October both exploit and assuage parental nightmares. Canny entrepreneurs sell parents ways to protect their kids from “real monsters” – as though safety and control were but an app away — while local politicians and sheriff’s departments circulate press releases to celebrate their own valiant efforts fighting, in the words of the study mentioned above, “a problem that does not appear to exist.” All of which is to say: Kids aren’t the only ones who get caught up in the illusions of the holiday.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
NY - Sex offender defends his right to run free haunted house
10/29/2011
By Thomas J. Prohaska
But notoriety prompts him to cancel event
About 350 children showed up last year for Halloween at [name withheld]'s house on Washburn Street in Lockport, where the 39-year-old man and some friends put on a show called "Night Terrors," a temporarily constructed haunted house.
[name withheld] had expected an even larger cast to put on the free show again Monday.
But that was before parents in the community realized that [name withheld] is a registered sex offender.
The resulting attention prompted him to cancel the event Friday night. [name withheld] could not be reached late Friday to talk about his decision.
[name withheld] was convicted in 1998 of having sexual contact with an 8-year-old boy in Buffalo and is rated as a Level 1 sex offender -- the least severe category.
His sentence of three years' probation has long since been served, and [name withheld] had said there was no need for worry for any parent whose child attended his fourth annual backyard fright show with its 17-member cast.
"There is absolutely nothing to be concerned about," he said.
Lockport police weren't thrilled about [name withheld]'s show, but they said they would not have been able to do anything to prevent it. He is no longer under any sort of supervision from parole or probation officers.
"I have absolutely no restrictions on what I can or can't do," [name withheld] said earlier this week.
Officer Thomas Gmerek, who monitors sex offenders for the Lockport Police Department, said he isn't allowed to talk about any specific case, but he confirmed that a registered sex offender who's not on probation or parole can do whatever he wants.
That's as it should be, in [name withheld]'s opinion.
"I'm known around Lockport as an all-right guy," said [name withheld], who has lived in Niagara County for 13 years.
A clergyman who helps reformed sex offenders agrees.
"Every Halloween needs a monster, and registered sex offenders seem to be it," said the Rev. David Hess, pastor of West Henrietta Baptist Church in suburban Rochester, who works with convicted sex offenders.
"As far as I know, there hasn't been a story anywhere in the United States of a registered sex offender attacking a trick-or-treater. It's like the old poisoned candy myth."
[name withheld] pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, second-degree sexual abuse, after he was indicted on a felony charge of first-degree sexual abuse.
In June 1999, State Supreme Court Justice Penny Wolfgang placed [name withheld] on three years' probation, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.
A report by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows only 6 percent of Level 1 offenders like [name withheld] are arrested for another sex crime within eight years of registering.
But the clergyman isn't sure that [name withheld]'s Halloween activity is wise.
"I would question the guy's wisdom in doing this," Hess said. "He calls attention to himself."
[name withheld]'s partner in Night Terrors also insists parents need not worry.
"We're trying to reach the levels of Fright World [in Amherst] and Haunted Catacombs [in Cheektowaga]," said Brian Maloney.
The pair have worked on "hauntings" together for 10 years, having met when they worked on Lockport's now-defunct Haunted Trolley.
[name withheld] said he works at the Lockport Cave and took part in its Haunted Cave Halloween show for four years.
[name withheld] approached Mayor Michael W. Tucker about advertising Night Terrors in August at the Molson Canal Concert Series.
"The last concert, he was there in costume handing out cards," Tucker said. "That [sex offender] stuff always concerns me, but if the police can't do anything about it, I can't do anything about it, either."
As long as Night Terrors is in a temporary structure and doesn't charge admission, Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool said, [name withheld] doesn't need any type of city permit for his show.
Facts about [name withheld]'s status are available to anyone with a computer. Even though the state Division of Criminal Justice Services doesn't post Level 1 sex offenders on its website, restricting such coverage to the more serious Level 2 and 3 cases, the Lockport Police Department does include Level 1 offenders on its own website.
[name withheld] complained that's illegal, but a spokeswoman for Criminal Justice Services said local police agencies can publicize local sex offenders any way they see fit.
The state does offer information about Level 1 offenders via a toll-free phone number.
"When it comes up, I don't let it faze me. I know it's going to come up," [name withheld] said. "What screwed me over was when they changed the legislation. I was only supposed to be on the registry for 10 years. Now it's 20 years. I have to be on it until 2019."
[name withheld] wasn't the only registered sex offender involved in Night Terrors last year. [name withheld #2] played a small role in the cast at the 2010 show and also helped with security, [name withheld] said.
[name withheld #2], 41, of Washburn Street, was classified as a Level 3 sex offender, the most serious classification, by Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza on Oct. 5.
[name withheld #2] pleaded guilty in April of this year to possessing child pornography on his personal computer in 2009.
In July, [name withheld #2] was placed on probation for 10 years. Sperrazza ordered that he start that sentence by serving the first six months in the county jail.
Between his April guilty plea and his July sentencing, [name withheld #2] was arrested for allegedly asking a 9-year-old girl to tell him the color of her underwear and threatening to kill her if she told her father what he asked.
"He's not welcome here anymore," [name withheld] said.
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