KY - Two Kids Have Sex, The Boy Goes to Jail and Becomes a Sex Offender While the Girl Goes Free

Original Article

02/16/2015

FRANKFORT - An eighth grade boy and his seventh grade girlfriend engaged in voluntary sex at her house in Kentucky. After it was discovered, the boy was arrested and prosecuted. The girl walked free.

State Assistant Attorney General Gregory Fuchs said the boy initiated acts that were “within the parameters of the crime.” The boy pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for having sex with his girlfriend, as well as exchanging nude photos with her. He will be required to register as a sex offender.

The attorney for the boy, John Wampler, argued that voluntary sex between children should not be prosecuted as criminal. The boy was apparently too young to consent to sex, with the minimum age of consent in Kentucky set at 16, but he was prosecuted anyway.

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KY - Corrections officer (Samantha Verner) charged with rape, sodomy of parolee

Samantha Verner

Original Article

02/05/2014

By Laurel Mallory

LOUISVILLE (WAVE) - A Kentucky corrections officer was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a parolee she met during his incarceration.

The man, who was serving time at a halfway house, reported the relationship after the suspect "threatened to send him back to prison" if he didn't continue, according to an arrest warrant.

Police said the suspect, Samantha Verner, 39, is married and at the time of the crime was a corrections officer at the Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC), which supervises the halfway house. She has since been fired.

The warrant states the two met while the victim was incarcerated at the Kentucky State Reformatory (KSR), where Verner had worked since September 2013. The victim was paroled on January 2, 2014.

Police allege Verner engaged in a sexual relationship with the victim from January 5 to January 11, based on information from the man. On January 15, the victim notified internal affairs and provided police with nude pictures of the suspect sent to his phone along with threatening text messages to corroborate his accusations.

DOC officials said an investigation into the allegations was started by internal affairs at KSR and then turned over to the Jefferson County Attorney's Office for possible criminal charges, which they do with all cases of this nature.

"The Kentucky Department of Corrections does not tolerate this type of activity from our staff, in any form; it is a Class D felony," said DOC spokesperson Lisa Lamb.

According to police, they spoke with Verner and she gave a taped confession admitting to engaging in sexual intercourse and oral sex with the victim while he was a parolee.

On January 17, the DOC dismissed her from her position, which was still in the initial probationary stage.

She was arrested at her home on February 4 and charged with third degree rape, third degree sodomy and first degree official misconduct.

KY - Authorities warn parents about Internet predators

Original Article

Educating kids and parents is the key to helping put a dent in sexual abuse, not fear and bogus statistics, not the exploiting of ex-offenders and children for ones own personal gain.

We have no doubt that there are people who use the Internet to commit crimes, but show us the proof of where KNOWN sexual offenders are increasingly using the Internet to target children!

The very laws to "protect" children are ruining their lives!

01/22/2014

The Kentucky State Police used their latest episode of KSP-TV (video below) to warn parents about the dangers of Internet predators. The video shares an inside look at the agency’s Electronic Crimes Branch and the intricate work that takes place to protect children from online predators.

KSP spokesman Tpr. Paul Blanton says the Internet has become an important part of everyday life – for information, communication and entertainment.

“The most technology receptive segment of our population is young people,” says Blanton. “It’s an unfortunate fact of life that along with the many resources the Internet provides there are also online predators stalking our youth.”

Blanton says the problem with the Internet is that parents can’t see the predators that may be after children. That’s why he says it’s important for parents to talk to their children about what can happen with strangers on social media.

“Parents need to be open and honest with their teens. They need to tell them about the dangers that are out there. Sometimes we don’t think our teens listen to us, but they do,” he said.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), there are nearly 750,000 registered sex offenders in the United States. An increasing number of those individuals are utilizing the Internet to find their victims.
- Show us the proof of the statement!

KSP Detective Josh Lawson works in the Electronic Crimes Branch and says a majority of victims of Internet-initiated sex crimes are between the ages of 13 and 15 years old.
- And based on a huge study of this, most are propositioned by their own peers not known registrants or adults.

“The key to safeguarding your children is an open line of communication. You want to know who your children are talking to face to face. You wouldn’t let them talk to any stranger on the street, especially about intimate things,” says Lawson. “Why would you let them talk to someone on the Internet about even more intimate things?”

In 82 percent of online sex crimes predators used the victim’s social media site to gain information about the youth. Only 18 percent of youth use chat rooms but a majority of the Internet sex crimes are initiated in chat rooms.

Blanton says parents need to set ground rules with their children.

“Have the computer in a common room. Know your children’s passwords on social networking sites and talk to your children about what they are doing online,” adds Blanton. “If parents won’t, someone else will and that person could be a sexual predator hiding behind a computer.”

Blanton hopes the KSP-TV video segment will be a tool used by parents and teachers to create an open dialogue with young people about the dangers lurking beyond their computer screens.

The NCMEC recommends the website www.netsmartz.org as another valuable resource for parents and educators to utilize when talking to youth about Internet safety.

KY - Officer (Shane Mosley) arrested for sending female minor sexual text messages

Original Article

09/28/2012

By Charles Gazaway

LA GRANGE (WAVE) – An Oldham County police officer is facing both criminal and administrative charges after being accused of sending suggestive text messages to a juvenile.

According to a press release, Oldham County Police were contacted on September 26 by the juvenile, a female, who said she had received text messages from someone claiming to be an Oldham County officer.

The girl told police she was contacted again the next day by the same person, but this time the messages contained "specific, graphic sexual references" and other communications said to be illegal or inappropriate.

Oldham County Police said their investigation was able to identify the person sending the messages as Officer Shane Mosley.

An arrest warrant was issued for Mosley charging him with unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor or engage in sexual or other prohibited activities, official misconduct and unlawful transaction with a minor.

Mosley was arrested on Friday and booked into the Oldham County Jail. Officials said he immediately resigned from the department.

Ky. sex offenders win case

View the article here

Finally a judge who sees the BS for what it is, BS!! AMEN!!!

04/21/2007

Judge says new rules don't apply retroactively

COVINGTON - Eleven Kenton County residents have beaten charges that they violated Kentucky's new sex-offender law intended to prevent them from living within 1,000 feet of a playground, school or day care.

Kenton District Judge Martin Sheehan ruled Friday that the new restrictions do not apply to people convicted of their crimes before the amended law took effect last year.

"If what we seek is to protect children from sex offenders, how do we accomplish that aim by imposing a 1,000-foot residency restriction ...?" Sheehan wrote. "If the offender is still permitted to visit and linger in such areas for protracted periods, so long as he does not sleep there, what actual protection have we provided our children?

"In truth, residency restrictions appear to be little more than a political placebo, offering false comfort to pacify the public's fear of sex offenders."

Court observers said prosecutors would likely appeal. Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson did not return phone messages seeking comment.

"This is a ruling in the right direction," said Beth Wilson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. "We have long argued that the new law ... does nothing to enhance community safety. It effectively banishes people from their communities."

Registered sex offenders frustrated in finding an eligible place to live have found themselves fighting it in court across the state.

A Fleming County jury recently found a registered sex offender guilty but ordered no jail time or fine, said Tom Griffiths, regional manager for Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. In another incident, a charge was dropped against a Mason County sex offender when he agreed to move.

In reference to Sheehan's ruling, defense lawyer Don Nageleisen called the order "the most courageous judicial decision in the last 10 years." He said Sheehan followed the law even if it meant making a politically unpopular ruling.

Nageleisen, who represented one of the 11 men, challenged the misdemeanor charges against his client on several constitutional grounds.

Sheehan didn't strike down the statute. He ruled that legislators passed a punitive law after the fact - a violation of the state and federal constitutions. Prosecutors had argued that the restrictions were not further punishment, but a civil plan designed to protect children.

"The public both fears and hates sexual offenders, the political pariahs of our day," Sheehan wrote. "This prevailing public animus has resulted in the enactment of increasingly harsh measures. Our courts, the public's last line of defense for civil liberties, have been quick to join the mob, twisting and controlling prevailing case law with an eye on the ultimate goal of approving harsher and harsher laws, while simultaneously glossing over significant concerns and constitutional challenges."

Pointing out that someone could be placed on a sex offender registry for just possessing child porn, Sheehan even suggested an alternative system. He cited a plan used in Nebraska that evaluates each offender's risk of re-offending before deciding where he can live.

The judge also questioned a common belief that sex offenders are likely to exploit the children of the neighbors. The 36-page order cited numerous studies or recidivism rates of inmates.

Sheehan wrote that problems in Kentucky's law were exacerbated by the lack of a legal definition of a playground. He said Kenton County's patchwork of small cities could each strategically position a few swing sets throughout their borders to ban sex offenders from residing anywhere within their cities.

"An area within which sex offender residency is permitted today could be converted to an off-limits area tomorrow simply by the opening of a playground, school or day-care facility," Sheehan wrote, adding that the law has no grandfather clause.

"In fact, the harsh reality of a lack of legal housing available to sex offenders subject to residency restrictions is already striking home in at least one jurisdiction," Sheehan wrote.

He said less than two years after Miami enacted a 2,500-foot residency restriction, sex offenders are living under expressway overpasses because there is no other legal housing available.

Judge calls new sex offender law "a political placebo"

View the article here

Finally someone with the balls to call this what it is, useless.

04/21/2007

COVINGTON - A northern Kentucky judge has ruled that Kentucky's new sex offender law should not apply to criminals convicted before the new restrictions took effect.

Eleven Kenton County residents challenged the law that prevents them from living within 1,000 feet of a playground, school or day care.

Kenton District Judge Martin Sheehan was critical of state lawmakers in a ruling on Friday that said the law does not apply to people convicted of their crimes before enforcement began last year.

"If the offender is still permitted to visit and linger in such areas for protracted periods, so long as he does not sleep there, what actual protection have we provided our children?" Sheehan wrote. "In truth, residency restrictions appear to be little more than a political placebo, offering false comfort to pacify the publics fear of sex offenders."

Attorney Don Nageleisen called the order "the most courageous judicial decision in the last 10 years." Nageleisen, who represented one of the 11 men, challenged the misdemeanor charges on constitutional grounds.
- Amen! I second that vote. He is a true judge who knows BS when he sees it!

Registered sex offenders frustrated in finding an eligible place to live are fighting the law in court.

A Fleming County jury recently found a registered sex offender guilty but ordered no jail time or fine, said Tom Griffiths, regional manager for Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. In another incident, a charge was dropped against a Mason County sex offender when he agreed to move.

"This is a ruling in the right direction," said Beth Wilson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. "We have long argued that the new law ... does nothing to enhance community safety. It effectively banishes people from their communities."

Sheehan ruled that legislators passed a punitive law after the fact - a violation of the state and federal constitutions. Prosecutors had argued that the restrictions were not further punishment, but a civil plan designed to protect children.
- This is BS! This is punishment no question about it, and these idiotic politicians need to be FIRED for not upholding the constitution like they SWORE to uphold!