California RSOL will lead a peaceful protest in the City of Carson on Saturday, March 7, in order to highlight the harm done by the city’s sex offender ordinance. That ordinance bans registered citizens from being present in or within 300 feet of public places including the library, parks and swimming pools as well as private places including fast food restaurants that have a children’s playground.
The peaceful protest will begin at Carson City Hall at 10 a.m. near the water fountain. Registered citizens, family members, and all who support them are invited to join the event. Refreshments will be served.
“This is a unique opportunity for registered citizens and those who support them to show up, stand up and speak up,” stated California RSOL vice president Chance Oberstein.
The event will include a march to John D. Calas Sr. Park near the intersection of 223rd and Cluff Streets. The current city law prohibits registered citizens from visiting this park, however, family members and supporters are welcome there. Registered citizens will be served lunch at a distance outside the 300-foot limit.
The city may limit where ex-offenders can live, because many surrounding communities have done so, resulting in a high rate of placement in the city.
When sex offenders leave prison, state law demands that they return to the county where they had lived prior to incarceration. Nearly 90 percent of the sex offenders who came from Milwaukee County, now live in the City of Milwaukee, because of restrictions suburbs enacted.
Ald. Michael Murphy says the city asked the state to intervene, but because it has not, leaders here may also limit the neighborhoods where ex-offenders can live.
“You will have 117 locations to consider for your future placement, and in reality it will be more like 15 or less and what that impact will be to your operations,” Murphy says.
Under legislation a Common Council committee advanced Thursday, sex offenders could not live within 2,000 feet of a daycare, school, playground and other places where children congregate.
Murphy says if the full council agrees, there will only be one square mile within city limits where sex offenders could live.
Ald. Bob Bauman says while he has opposed residency limits in the past, they will now get his full support, for one reason.
“It increases the perception of Milwaukee as a crime infested second rate place to live and the suburbs are great and look, we can keep out all the undesirable people. And I’m just sick and tired of that paradigm being in place. And the state seems unconcerned because these are Republican suburbs by in large, and heaven forbid those representatives are going to take on these uniform residency rules. So enough is enough the city is going to join the party and it’s your problem now,” Bauman says.
The state Department of Corrections had a representative on hand at Thursday’s hearing, Melissa Roberts. She says if the map for placements changes, authorities could lose track of sex offenders. Right now, many do reside in the city, and police know where.
“The intent of the sex offender registry is to know where sex offenders live and to be able to provide that information to the general public and to law enforcement. Where there are registry restrictions in place and sex offenders don’t have a place to live we obviously have increased homelessness. So we do not know where they live and cannot follow them,” Roberts says.
Roberts says sex offenders are more of a danger to the public when they’re off the grid versus being monitored. When it comes to complaints about the high concentration of sex offenders placed in Milwaukee, Roberts says the majority are from the city.
The issue will come before the full board on July 22.
Early last year, Los Angeles set aside a sliver of land in its Harbor Gateway neighborhood for the city’s newest and smallest park: two jungle gyms on a fifth of an acre.
The project was more than just an effort to increase the city’s green space. City Council members made clear that one of the park’s principal reasons for existence was to force 33 people on the California sex offender registry who were living in a nearby apartment building to move out. State law bars those on its registry from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school.
“We came together, working with the police department, to problem-solve, to send a message that Harbor Gateway cannot be dumped upon with a high number of registered sex offenders,” councilman Joe Buscaino said (Video) at the park’s opening. - Just imaging how much money would be wasted if all grandstanding politician were to put pocket parks all over the state just so they can "look tough" on ex-sex offenders? That is all this is, grandstanding!
But the state ban itself already clusters registrants into a limited number of areas, according to a September 2011 report by the California Sex Offender Management Board, which was created by the state legislature to advise it on sex offender policies.
California hasn’t been alone in its tough approach to ensuring that formerly incarcerated sex offenders pose no danger after they are released. As part of a wave of new sex offender laws starting in the mid-1990s, about 30 states and thousands of cities and towns passed such residency restrictions—prompting in turn a pushback from civil liberties advocates, state legislators and registrants themselves who argued the restrictions were not only unduly harsh but counterproductive.
But a court decision in Colorado last year could mark a shift in momentum.
In the Colorado case, _____, a high school soccer coach convicted in 2001 for a consensual sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student, was sentenced to seven years’ probation and put on the state sex offender registry.
Eleven years later, in 2012, he and his wife bought a house in the city of Englewood. But the police department told him he couldn’t live there because of a city ordinance prohibiting sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks and playgrounds—a law that effectively made 99 percent of its homes and rentals off limits to offenders.
Englewood police also warned offenders that even in the open one percent, if they contacted a homeowner whose property wasn’t for rent or for sale, they could be charged with trespassing.
_____ sued, and last August a federal court concluded that the city’s ban went too far.
The judge ruled that it conflicted with the state’s existing system for managing and reintegrating sex offenders and could encourage other towns and cities to do the same, effectively barring offenders from the entire state. Englewood has appealed, but two of the state’s five other cities that have residence bans have softened their restrictions since the decision.
The other three are awaiting the outcome of the appeal, according to John Krieger of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado, which represented Ryals.
A new law took thousands off the sex offender registry.
Exposing yourself near a playground, urinating in public or peeping in a bathroom stall are just some of the actions that have landed thousands of people on the sex offender registry.
Now many of those names are disappearing from the list.
“If you were to slap a woman on the behind, that would be sexual battery and you would have to register for 15 years and that has nothing to do with children on the playground,” said attorney David Slane. “People who urinated in public or fall under what we call the Romeo and Juliet situation, where the young man may have been just a little bit older than the girl or vice versa. They’re the ones typically being removed.”
Slane said he’s taken on over 400 sex offender cases, more than anyone else in the state.
In many situations the offenders were on the list way past their punishment because the laws kept changing.
“They’ve had a number of changes or revisions of sex offender registration act over the last ten or 15 years and the court said those later laws could not apply retroactively,” said Jerry Massey spokesperson for the Department of Corrections (DOC).
Out of the 2,400 now off the list, Slane said most are level one or level two offenders which does not include those who committed violent and heinous sex crimes.
He also said under the new law a judge is able to decide a punishment on a case by case basis and not paint all offenders with a wide brush.
Slane said, “The more serious cases are the one we should spend our resources on, not someone who urinated in public.”
DOC officials say they still have another 2,700 cases to review to see if there are more offenders who are eligible to come off the list based on the new law.
Just another politician exploiting ex-offenders, fear, families and children to make a name for himself (See this video)? This is just a placebo to pacify people and lull them into a false sense of security. The city won't be any more safe. Not all ex-offenders harm children, and this is another blanket law that treats all ex-offenders as if they do. If a person is intent on committing a crime, this won't stop them, but the fact is, most sexual crimes occur in the victims own home and family, not at some park or school.
02/08/2014
In an effort to crack down on some of New York’s worst sex offenders, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) said he will introduce legislation that would restrict them from residing within 500 feet or less from any public park with a playground.
“As a parent of two young children, I understand how critical it is that we create stronger laws to keep sexual predators out of areas where our children congregate and play,” Goldfeder said. “I drafted this new legislation to ensure that sex offenders stay out of our public parks and away from our children.”
The bill would fine tune current laws by forbidding level two and three sex offenders – which, according to the state, means individuals at a medium or high risk of re-offense – from living within 500 feet of a public park that has playground. The legislation, Goldfeder said, would close the offender loophole that currently exists and ensure that all parks where children commonly play remain off limits to those convicted of sex crimes.
Current state regulations restrict sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of parks that are attached to school buildings, but no regulation exists for parks that are not aligned with schools.
The legislation comes on the heels of Rockaway parents being outraged last month upon learning two convicted sex offenders moved into the same building on Beach 116th Street – which is situated further than 1,000 feet from the nearest school but is within a few hundred feet of the beach and public parks.
“On behalf of Rockaway parents, I applaud Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder for his quick action and response to our genuine concerns about the safety and wellbeing of our children,” said Irene Dougherty, Parent Teacher Association co-president of the belle Harbor School.
Dorothy McCloskey, director of the Friends of Charles Park, too threw her support behind Goldfeder’s legislation.
“As an advocate for the rebuilding and development of Frank Charles Park, as well as a mother and grandmother living in the community, I believe it is not only important to make our parks beautiful, but also to make them safe and secure from adults who prey upon our defenseless children,” McCloskey said.
Goldfeder has sponsored sex offender legislation in the past, including a bill signed in 2012 that requires registered high-level sex offenders to keep their photos for the online offender registry up to date by having their photo taken every 90 days.
“I will fight to ensure our families and children live in a safe community and that parents have the peace of mind they deserve,” Goldfeder said.
MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS WONDER WHETHER COUNTYWIDE ORDINANCE WOULD WORK
RACINE COUNTY - With restrictions on where sex offenders can live in place in some Racine County communities but not in others, county officials have begun discussions on a residency ordinance that would apply to the entire county.
A few challenges emerged in initial talks, including the fact that every Racine County municipality would have to agree to the ordinance — no easy task if the proposed county restrictions differed with local ordinances already in place.
The county also needs to address who would enforce the ordinance — whether it would be the Sheriff’s Office or local police departments — and the state Department of Corrections has raised concerns that it would drive sex offenders to homelessness, making them more difficult to track.
But Mount Pleasant Village President Mark Gleason, who also serves on the County Board and has pushed for a countywide ordinance, said passing the law would ensure no community becomes a “dumping ground” for sex offenders.
The idea has generated interest among Racine County community leaders, Gleason said, as it would create a “level playing field” across the county.
He and other Mount Pleasant officials spoke Tuesday to the county Government Services Committee. No action was taken as the county’s corporation counsel and other departments continue to examine the issue and compare local ordinances.
“We’re at that first stage of finding out whether or not this is an option for the county,” Gleason said.
Mount Pleasant passed an ordinance last month prohibiting sex offenders from living near any place children gather, including schools, parks, day care centers, athletic fields, playgrounds and churches. The minimum distance they must live away from those places is 1,000 feet or 2,500 feet, depending on the category of the offender.
The village approved its rules mostly because Racine, Caledonia and Sturtevant put restrictions in place that were driving sex offenders to Mount Pleasant, police Capt. Brian Smith told the committee.
“What we were seeing in Mount Pleasant was the fact that these men, who were sexual predators preying on young kids, all of a sudden being dumped in our community,” Smith said.
Whether a countywide ordinance would prevent that from happening in other communities is still to be determined.
Burlington Mayor Bob Miller said he is leery about countywide restrictions. The city enacted an ordinance a few years ago restricting sex offenders from living near places such as parks, schools and churches, but it would be moot if a countywide ordinance is passed.
“I would have to see what the proposal ends up being or somehow be involved. Sometimes these one-size-fits-all laws don’t really work that well for everybody,” Miller said. “If Racine has a lot of offenders and we don’t have that many and we end up with their offenders coming here, I got an issue with something like that.”
Waterford, meanwhile, does not have an ordinance on the books. The village researched and reviewed the issue several years ago, but the Village Board decided not to move forward.
Waterford is only 2-1/2 square miles, which makes it challenging to find parameters for restrictions, Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald said.
She said she couldn’t comment on a possible countywide ordinance until seeing it.
SPRINGFIELD - Illinois legislators are looking to fill in some gaps in the state's sex offender laws.
Two proposals have been introduced this spring that would broaden rules for Illinois' registered sex offenders after two separate incidents revealed holes in existing state law.
One of the plans would require that sex offenders update their registration with the Illinois State Police if they lose their job.
"We're trying to clarify that an update is required when you lose a job, just as it is when you change jobs," said state Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, who is sponsoring the plan. "This law says that the change in employment would include the loss of a job as a reportable event."
Barickman and state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, introduced the proposal after a court case in McLean County revealed a problem with the language in existing state law.
"In this case, someone had not updated their registration status after they lost their job," he said. "The state's attorney's office filed charges saying they had failed to update their status."
"The judge dismissed that case, I believe, because the statute says 'change in employment,' rather than 'loss of employment,' so we're trying to clean that up," he added
Barickman said the change would reflect the original goals of the registry.
"I think it was likely that the original intent was the people who drafted this sex offender registration process to include the loss of a job as an event that should be reported," he said.
Another proposal would ban sex offenders from attending county fairs.
"The law states right now that they're unable to work for a county fair and they're unable to be a vendor at a county fair because of the different children's activities there," he said. "But it doesn't say that they're unable to attend a county fair."
Smiddy said that officials from Whiteside County asked him to look into changing the law after a problem arose at a county fair there.
"They had an incident last summer when a registered sex offender was at a fair around children," he said. "It was an issue for them, and when a state's attorney comes to me with this type of issue, it's something we need to act on." - Okay so an ex-offender was at a fair having fun like everybody else, so did he commit a crime?
The new law would not restrict sex offenders from attending state fairs. - So which is it? Above you say it will ban them, then here you say it won't?
Last summer, legislators passed a law banning sex offenders from playgrounds in fast-food restaurants. As the list of restricted areas for sex offenders continues to grow, Smiddy said he doesn't have a problem adding a new one. - Yeah he doesn't have a problem with violating someone's rights, as long as it's not his. Most sexual crimes occur in the victims own home and by their own family, not at a state fair or other park.
"Attending the county fair is geared more toward families," he said. "A lot of children are there. They have a lot of children's events, like tractor pulls and stuff, attached to these things."
"I just don't believe that a registered sex offender should be allowed to go to those areas where children are present. It was something that we needed to address." - We're confused. So can they or can't they go to a state fair?
In 2012 a law was passed that prohibited registered sex offenders from entering areas where children would likely be present. This in includes parks, playgrounds and beaches. However, according to ABC News the law was overturned in an appeals court in January 2014 because it was said to violate California’s state law.
It is clear the state of California and its cities are not doing all they can to protect the families and children of California by leaving them vulnerable to dangerous criminals. - Most sexual crimes occur at the victims own home and by their own family, not at a park, playground or beach. If you wanted to protect the children then you'd watch your own family! Ex-offenders also pay taxes on these places and have just as much a right to be there as you do. If they cannot visit these places then they should not have to pay taxes on them!
In May 2012, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas released a statement explaining the conditions of the law that would be put into effect within 30 days. Under this law, if a sex offender entered one of these restricted areas, they would have been charged with a misdemeanor, facing six months of jail time and/or a $500 fine for each separate facility entered. Santa Ana was one of the first cities to pass their new ordinance laws and since then dozens of cities have followed.
However, now with the overturn of this law, registered sex offenders will be allowed in areas with a high population of children. Sex offenders have committed heinous acts and they should not be allowed into parks or beaches. - So why don't you be a parent and watch your kids? And not all "sex offenders" have committed "heinous" acts, so stop lumping them all into one group!
Many Americans will argue that there are different types of sex offenders and different degrees of their offenses. - You are right there.
There are seemingly light hearted stories such as a 21-year-old man getting caught having sex with his underage girlfriend or the drunken person who urinated in public. However according to the law they may still have to register as a sex offender.
These individuals are the severe minority of sex offenders. According to list of offenders that provided by Megan’s Law, most offenders are the ones who have a sick and extremely dangerous attraction to little children. - That is simply not true. True pedophiles account for 10% or less of all the ex-offenders in this country.
Although it is obvious some offenders are more severe and violent than others, all restrictions should be the same whether it is putting their address and picture online or preventing them from entering certain areas if it means protection for the children. - So then why don't we also treat all other ex-felons the same as well? Put them all on an online hit-list so everybody who lives around them can know their past sins? What sins have you committed you wouldn't want the world to know about?
Megan’s Law was started after 7-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and brutally murdered by her neighbor. - True and we already have laws for murderers, so why do we need more laws named after dead children?
“The purpose of the law was to provide an awareness to parents,” Megan Kanka’s mother said. “We never said it was going to stop them from reoffending or wandering to another town.” - And banning someone from a park or beach won't stop them from committing a crime at a park or beach, if that is their intention!
Although Megan’s Law was not necessarily intended to put restrictions on these offenders other than providing a map of their residences, allowing the sex offenders into tempting areas such as parks or beaches is simply not worth the risk involved. - You are assuming children are "tempting" to all ex-offenders which is simply BS!
Allowing a registered sex offender to go to a park or the beach is similar, although more severe, to bringing an alcoholic to a bar. For a sex offender, the temptation would be a young child in a bathing suit at the beach. There is an undeniable temptation that arises within these individuals. If it can be avoided then it should be avoided at all costs meaning that the law needs to be put back into effect immediately. - What a load of BS! To some this may be true, but you are putting all ex-offenders into one group!
A camp hidden off Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard is the only place in area some sex offenders have to go
_____ unzipped his pup tent, his abode in a patch of wilderness off Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard in Fort Myers.
He grabbed a flashlight and his ID and stowed them in a book bag hitched over his shoulders.
He was a Boy Scout, he said, but that did not prepare him for this.
“It’s survival of the fittest,” said _____. He is 46, but looks older.
A hammock stretched between melaleuca trees is the most comfy spot for his 250-pound frame. His kitchen is an upside-down grocery cart fashioned into a grill for coffee and soup. A wooden palette is his coffee table.
On this afternoon last month, _____ was in pursuit of a hot meal. He stepped onto a worn path hemmed by slash pine trees. He passed the camps of his neighbors, who reside under makeshift hovels of tarps and tents in this small colony of homeless people.
But this camp is unique: its inhabitants include sex offenders, who said the Lee County Sheriff’s Office directed them to this hidden spot about a quarter mile east into woods that run along a trail. The woods sit across from the city’s Trailhead Neighborhood Park and abut the Sienna at Vista Lake complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments, where on this afternoon young men played football in the parking lot.
_____ had lived there since October. He had struggled to find someone to hire him after five years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. And it was difficult for him to retain jobs because of mental illness.
He said the sheriff’s office showed him the camp location.
“They’re trying to give us a safe haven,” _____ said. “They keep a close eye on us.”
The sheriff’s office refused to comment on the assertions.
Sheriff Mike Scott has directed his personnel not to answer questions from this newspaper. “As you know, we don’t entertain interviews or answer questions with The News-Press,” spokeswoman Tiffany Wood wrote in an email. - Except if it suits them! Police are always having press conferences, etc. But this makes them look bad, so of course they aren't going to speak with the news media.
But Fort Myers police and social service providers said they’ve also been told it was the sheriff’s office that sent them there.
This much is for sure: Law enforcement knows about the camp. Last year, the sheriff’s office tallied about 120 routine calls checking on sex offenders near the intersection where the camp is located, mostly occurring after another camp of sex offenders off Ortiz Avenue was disbanded by city police at the property owner’s request. Since May, at least 10 transient sex offenders and one sexual predator have registered to the camp, records show. Six are currently registered there with convictions that range from sexual battery to lewd behavior toward children, according to a check Friday of Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s sex offender public registry. - So I guess Florida is still playing the sex offender shuffle (Here & Here)?
Offenders can register as homeless without a precise address. The camp meets state requirements, which say that sex offenders can’t live within 1,000 feet from a park, playground, child care facility or school, though last week Fort Myers police said they found a few people living too close to the trail, which qualifies as a park. The sheriff’s office told the police they would move them, police said. - Come on, a trail is not a park!
Over the past years, residency restrictions for sex offenders have grown increasingly harsh across the nation. But the question of where they can live is less easily answered. Yet, it’s one that more Florida cities will have to confront as some experts expect the number of homeless sex offenders to multiply.
“It’s in their best interest to escape scrutiny and go to a place where they have less probability of being identified,” said Duane Dobbert, an FGCU professor in the department of justice studies and author of “Halting the Sexual Predators among Us: Preventing Attack, Rape, and Lust Homicide.” “You can live outside here and you can avoid and evade public scrutiny because we’re a warm climate.”
A 2013 study by four university researchers, “Transient Sex Offenders and Residence Restrictions in Florida,” called for reconsideration of such restrictions. They cited them as a factor in contributing to higher rates of homelessness in sex offenders. It pointed to housing instability as a risk factor for recidivism, which is lower for sex offenses than other types of crimes.
Hop on the Merry-go-round
“When someone has stable housing and a good relationship where they’re with family and supported by the community, recidivism drops dramatically,” said Gail Colletta, president of Florida Action Committee, a nonprofit that advocates for reform of sex offender laws. “We make it difficult for them to get a job and find a place to live. We do everything we can to keep them from being productive citizens.” - Well they need ex-offenders in the merry-go-round prison system so they can continue to rake in the money to keep the prison injustice system alive, and so politicians / organizations can exploit the issue for their own gain as well.
In Lee County, no homeless shelters will accept sex offenders because of children on their properties. But who wants a homeless sex offender in the woods near their home or the park where their kids play? Where can they go and who decides where to put them? - Apparently the sheriff departments decide where to start homeless camps?
“There’s always a solution,” said Dennis Fahey, a criminal justice professor at Edison State College. “But the question is is anybody interested in finding a solution.” - Sure there is, eliminate the residency restrictions, and no, they don't want a solution!
Must report
By law, sex offenders must report to their local sheriff’s office either twice or four times a year. If they don’t have a place to stay, they must report within 48 hours. The Lee sheriff’s six-person sexual offender and predator unit regularly checks to make sure offenders are living where they register. In Lee County, there are about 625 sex offenders compared to 74 sexual predators. Sexual predators have been convicted of a sexually violent offense. There are more than 200 sex offenders in Collier and 25 predators.
The city doesn’t have a specific sex offender ordinance, so Fort Myers Police Lt. Randy Jelks said the police enforce the 1,000-foot restriction.
The camp origins are a mystery to police, who discovered it in the city late last year. - We doubt this, but when you are in the spotlight, play dumb.
“It did raise our concern given the proximity to a park and the proximity to an apartment building,” said Capt. Jim Mulligan of the Fort Myers Police, who has been monitoring it. - So now, just wait and see, since the media has done this report, the Gestapo will come out in force to shut down the camp, and thus the shuffling will continue! Another homeless camp will pop up elsewhere, until the fire gets hot again. Florida has been doing this for years now.
Sgt. Tracey Booth, who is in charge of the sheriff’s sex offender and predator unit, told city police no one in her office has directed the homeless sex offenders to the location, city records show. - We also doubt this. Some ex-offender needs to get this on audio recording to show they know all about this, but we are not sure about the laws on recording someone without their knowledge in this state, but like we said, play dumb when the fire gets hot!
Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Misty Cash said her agency played no role. She declined to facilitate interviews on the matter but responded to written questions.
“We don’t know how these offenders came to know about this camp. They reported to us their address, which did not violate any local ordinances, Florida Statutes or the conditions of their court ordered supervision,” she wrote. - Didn't you know that ex-offenders are all knowing? They know everything, especially where homeless camps are. Come on, you expect us to believe this? We are not sheeple!
A review of Booth’s emails shows she did wish to keep the location quiet from the city. - You just got burned!
On May 28, Sgt. Booth wrote Sgt. Roger Valdivia of the Fort Myers Police about a Fort Myers lieutenant ordering sex offenders off Ortiz to relocate.
“Its (sic) incidents like this that is the reason I want to work together,” Valdivia responded.
The next day, Booth sent an email to a detective in her unit, Stuart Foreman, asking if everyone had been relocated. - Yep they are still shufflin'!
“City will be having Code Enforcement, enforcing a ‘no camping within the city limits’ ordinance. So we will have to see what happens to the new location,” she wrote. “I will not be advising the city of the new location.”
Her email included a list of four offenders at the camp with this description: “living in the wooded area approximately ¼ East of the Trailhead fire station on Veronica Shoemaker.”
Foreman replied: “I’d hate to move these guys again, it’s a real pain in the $%^.”
In a later email, she instructed her unit to “show” a soon-to-be transient offender to his new address in the woods, which later appears as the camp off Veronica Shoemaker.
Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson called on law enforcement agencies and city and county leaders to cooperate on a better resolution than using a specific area as a “dumping ground.”
“That’s a bigger issue we need to come together and solve,” he said. “It’s impossible to overdo oversight on this.” - It's real easy to solve.... Get rid of residency restrictions!
“What’s not an option is moving them around like a checkerboard.”
Prison release
_____ emerged from the camp onto a trail frequented by bikers and walkers. He crossed the street toward the park he steers clear of because it’s against the law for him to enter and headed south to catch the bus to the Salvation Army for a meal.
After his April prison release, _____ stayed at Char Ann-Juanita apartments in south Fort Myers, one of the few places that accepts sex offenders, according to social service providers. But he could no longer pay the rent. One October morning, he remembers visiting the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to inform the sex offender unit he was going to be homeless. He was ready with a tent, tarp and few bags of clothes.
They told him he could go to the camp off Veronica Shoemaker, he said, and escorted him to an opening in the brush.
“Probation office isn’t really thrilled about this but that’s where the sheriff’s office put me so it legally allows me to be here,” _____ said.
No matter how people feel about sex offenders, he pointed out that they still need housing and services to help them rebuild productive lives after their convictions. - Then like we said, exterminate the residency restrictions!
“How strenuous do you have to make something before a person just wants to climb in a box and put the nails in themselves?”
(Earlier this week, _____ was arrested for violating his probation, which called for him to find work, a stable home and show up to regular appointments.) - How can you find work when you are homeless and do not have transportation? This just shows how the merry-go-round system works, they need people in and out of prison to keep the money flow going!
There’s no extra state requirements for homeless sex offenders, according to FDLE. The sheriff’s office does have homeless sex offenders sign a letter saying Lee County has no designated land for them and that sex offenders and predators living on undeveloped private property have 45 days to obtain a certified letter stating that they have permission to be there. But some guys have been on the spot longer.
Trespassing signs
Around December, Fort Myers police began contacting property owners of the wooded area about erecting no-trespassing signs, which they need before they can permanently oust the offenders. The bulk of the land belongs to a land-holding company, Serena Park LLC, which was contacted by the city. Mike Kerver, the company’s vice president, expected to have the signs up soon.
Once the signs are up, police plan to give the offenders a few days to pack and will work in tandem with an advocate for the homeless to try to help them. - So the police put them there, fires get hot, now they are going to kick them out? Stay tuned for encampment #2 coming soon....
“We’re trying to balance everybody in this,” said Mulligan. “I know people don’t like sex offenders in their neighborhoods. They’re not anybody’s favorite.” - You are just trying to put out the fire. If the media never said anything about this, then this homeless camp would still be there, but that's just our opinion of course.
But, then what happens? There are scant places for sex offenders to legally live apart from the woods, the south Fort Myers apartments that accept sex offenders and pockets of Lehigh Acres, the local administrator for the Department of Corrections told The News-Press in 2012. The department declined a recent interview request. Mapping of sex offenders’ locations show they reside in pockets throughout Lee County. - They live in the woods and in clusters due to the residency restrictions! Eliminate that and the problem will surely vanish, or a huge dent put into it! But hey, we can't look "soft" on sex offenders now can we?
Local social service providers could not offer housing options for homeless sex offenders and neither could the state’s homelessness director.
“It’s hard to get people to come forward to help that group of people and want to establish housing, but it is a public safety concern,” said Janet Bartos, executive director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition.
Nonprofit organizations do provide food, counseling and outreach to homeless sex offenders.
“There’s not an easy answer because of the background that they have,” said Ann Arnall, director of Lee County human services. - So why don't you hire a night guard to watch the place while everybody sleeps?
“There’s not a high level of sympathy either. If somebody is going to start a program, who is going to support it?”
This week, on an afternoon of welcome sunshine, Priscilla Morley flipped through a magazine at a Trailhead Park picnic shelter. Morley was unaware of the camp just a walk away.
“It’s a concern because this is a park for kids,” said Morley, 40, a nurse. “As long as they don’t come into the park, I’m OK. You just have to watch your kids from anybody.” - You should do that in the first place!
A House committee easily passed a bill, 18-1, prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live yesterday, noting that judges have twice ruled residency restrictions unconstitutional. Still, lawmakers predicted a tough fight in the Senate, which has rejected similar bills before.
“There is a perception that this bill is being soft on crime,” said Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, a Manchester Republican who voted for the bill. “All of us who have heard (this debate) know the benefits of the bill. But we’re going to need to explain it.”
Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Londonderry Republican, cast the lone vote against the bill, saying he didn’t want to tell his constituents they couldn't determine where sex offenders could and could not live.
As many as 11 communities have residency restrictions for sex offenders, said Rep. Renny Cushing, a Hampton Democrat. Londonderry is not one of them, according to the town’s website. Locally, Tilton, Northfield and Boscawen have such restrictions. Both Northfield’s and Tilton’s ordinances prohibit people convicted of sex crimes against children from living within 2,500 feet of schools, child-care centers and playgrounds. Boscawen’s ordinance was not available yesterday.
Tilton adopted its ordinance in 2007 and added this explanation to it: “Acknowledging that sex offenders who prey on children are at a higher risk of re-offending, the town of Tilton has a compelling interest and responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its children by restricting access to areas where there (is) a high concentration of children.” - Once again a law passed based on lies and not the facts. Recidivism among sex offenders is lower than any other criminal, except murderers.
However, two judges have found otherwise. In 2009, a district court judge in Dover ruled that city’s residency restriction invalid because the city had not shown a “substantial relationship” between the ordinance and the protection of children. In 2012, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler came to the same conclusion when the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union appealed Franklin’s ordinance.
Cushing, a member of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, said the bill prohibiting residency restrictions is necessary because it will take costly legal fights to undo the 11 ordinances still in place across the state. “The simple thing that can be done is to pass a bill that incorporates the . . . courts’ decisions.”
Cushing also argued that restricting housing for sex offenders pushes them “underground,” in campgrounds, under bridges and to other places the police cannot monitor. He said communities are safer if the police know where sex offenders live and require yearly registration with the local police.
Baldasaro said he was concerned that if a sex offender moved into a Londonderry neighborhood, “everyone else wants to move out.” He added, “I want to support this bill, but I have to go back to neighborhoods in my district. Who is going to protect the neighbors?” - It is not up to the government or police to "protect" anybody, it's their job to enforce laws and respect the Constitution and the rights of others, not pass unconstitutional laws to help themselves look tough!
Rep. Larry Gagne, a Manchester Republican, responded to Baldasaro.
“My first term, I was pretty much a hard-liner,” he said. “I said, ‘Put (sex offenders) in outer space. Put them all on an island.’ But I changed my mind after a (police) sergeant came in and said, ‘If they go underground, we can’t find them.’ ”
Rep. Roger Berube, a Somersworth Democrat, questioned why the state Senate has rejected several similar bills from the House in previous years. “How can they get away with that?” he asked. “It doesn't appear the Senate is actually listening to the . . . court.” - And it appears you are not obeying your oath to defend the Constitution and the rights of others!
To that, Rep. Laura Pantelakos, chairwoman of the committee said, “Sometimes the Senate doesn't listen to anybody.”
Please click the link above and take the poll as well.
11/06/2013
LITTLE ROCK - After serving their time, some sex offenders can be on another list for the rest of their lives.
Convicted sex offenders are required to register with their local law enforcement office for at least 15 years, often much longer than that.
Now some registered sex offenders and their families are saying this branding is doing more harm than good.
"Sam," a registered sex offender who asked to have his identity concealed, calls every day a battle.
"No sooner did we move and the house was getting egged," he says. "They spray-painted on the porch that I need to move. Why keep attacking me?"
Another registered sex offender we'll refer to as "C," says he sees the same struggles.
"Two kids in the area accused me of fondling them," C says. "You want to crawl into a hole and you're afraid."
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed legislation earlier this year prohibiting level three and four sex offenders, considered the most likely to re-offend, from swimming areas and playgrounds in state parks.
They also can't live within 2,000 feet of any school, day care, public park or youth center.
These men say the restrictions, along with the sex-offender stigma, make it nearly impossible to find a steady job and safe place to live.
"Sir, many of our employees are going to be uncomfortable with your working here, so we're not going to be able to hire you," C recalls hearing from a prospective employer.
Spouses of sex offenders say these restrictions also tear apart their families, frequently hurting the most vulnerable.
"I can't tell you how many times my daughter has come home crying because children told her she shouldn't be allowed to live with her dad because he's a rapist," says Carrie Moore, who is married to a registered sex offender.
"It's been really hard. We live in a mobile home," Lynn Gilmore says. "We will never have the American Dream."
Lora Morgan, Director of Arkansas Time After Time, works with legislators to change sex-offender laws, saying current laws can force an offender to commit other crimes just to stay on their feet.
"So a sex offender, they might have done 5, 10, 15 years in prison, then once they got out, the day they're released, that's when their 15 years starts on the public registry," Morgan says. - We are not sure, but we believe the 15 years starts once the person is off probation / parole, not once they get out of prison.
University of Arkansas-Little Rock professor Dr. Tusty ten-Besel says there are some misconceptions about sex offenders.
"Previous research has shown us that less than 10 percent will actually commit another sex crime," she says. - Recidivism studies.
Dr. ten-Bensel is interviewing registered sex offenders to also find out if current law and rehabilitation programs are working effectively.
"If these laws are helping, 'Wonderful,' that's what we'll say. If it's not, then maybe we need to go back and revisit these laws to make it more effective," she says.
It may be years before all the information for her research is gathered, but the offenders we talked to say whatever it shows, life on the list will likely never change.
"We are the low-hanging fruit on the trees," C says. - Sex offenders are today's scapegoat! No other ex-felon has to register for life and told where they can and cannot live.
Are sex offender laws prohibiting convicted men and women from becoming a productive part of society? - Take the poll at the link at the top of this article. Our opinion, YES!
Advocates say living restrictions could keep communities safer
COLCHESTER - Sex offender laws do not do enough to protect our families, say advocates for both victims and sex offenders.
Vermont's laws governing convicted sex offenders are more lenient than neighboring states, including New Hampshire and New York.
Offenders can pretty much live wherever they want as long as they're not on probation or parole: that includes next to schools, playgrounds and day cares. - And that is how it should be! Residency laws do nothing to prevent crime or protect anybody and study after study has been done to show it does basically nothing except prevent registrants from getting homes, jobs, support, etc, which could put people in potentially more danger from those who are prone to committing new crimes.
They're required to register, but only for a set amount of time, and even then the public doesn't know exactly where they are.
The Chittenden Unit for Special Investigation is out in Essex, hunting down addresses and knocking on doors, for their yearly sex offender registry checks.
Their stops take them past schools, parks and other areas specially designed for children. - But not all registrants have harmed a child, so the one-size-fits-all law is unconstitutional, in our opinion.
“A sex offender should stay away from areas where there are children if he's attracted to children. They should stay away,” Pastor Pete Fiske said. - Registrants who are attracted to children (pedophilia) are rare, not the norm!
Fiske runs the church at prison and a religious treatment and reintegration program for all types of convicted criminals, sex offenders included.
He's working with recently released sex offender _____ -- imprisoned for handcuffing and sexually assaulting a young boy he met on the banks of a river in Southern Vermont.
After public outcry in Vermont, _____ tried to live in California, but the move sparked outrage from the mayor of San Francisco.
In a letter to Gov. Peter Shumlin, Mayor Edwin Lee says he's writing about a matter of "deep concern" and accuses the Vermont Department of Corrections of not notifying authorities of _____'s move, something Shumlin disputes.
Now _____ is back in Vermont, living in Hyde Park, just a mile or two from local schools.
“I think that if there are ways that we can help make the community aware, and if we can help protect the community, that we should take any steps possible,” Hope Works Executive Director Cathleen Wilson said.
Wilson works with sexual assault victims and agrees with Fiske, restricted living on a case-by-case basis, particularly when the crimes involve children.
“I think that would make a lot of sense. I think that would be a good step, quite honestly,” Wilson said.
It's something the city of Rutland already has: sex offender dwelling restrictions but only for those with crimes against children.
Despite those recommendations, Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito still says enforcing zoning limits isn't the right move for sex offenders, arguing they'd be pushed out into rural areas without any treatment programs or law enforcement.
“When you start to enact sex offender zoning regulations, you start to drive people who have high risk out into areas where you really can't keep an eye on them,” Pallito said.
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras says that's not the case.
He says the guidelines help make his community safer and that sex offenders don't have a problem finding a home.
It's a similar system to the one Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon tried to put in place in his city, too, but the measure was stopped by a judge.
“As we sit here talking today, there are extremely high-risk offenders who have simply served their time and maxed. So they're no longer required to have treatment and they're no longer supervised by the Department of Corrections, and in those cases, I do think it's important to place restrictions, if you're on the registry,” Lauzen said.
The state of Vermont has considered creating statewide restrictions, but in the end, Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) and other lawmakers decided against housing guidelines in favor of creating tougher penalties and the possibility of lifetime probation for sex offenders.
“We made a lot of steps to try to keep, particularly, kids safe, but Vermonters in general, safer from sex offenders, and I think as we worked on the bill it was general agreement based on what other states had experienced with residency requirements, that that would not help,” Sears said.
Right now there are only four sex offenders who will be monitored for life. They were initially sentenced to a maximum of life in prison and were released.
As for those sentenced to probation for life, the Department of Corrections doesn't track that information, but the director of field services said he believes there are likely "not many" on that list.
Leaders in the south-central Nebraska village of Alexandria let die an ordinance that would have restricted where sex offenders can live.
A motion to send the ordinance to a full vote of the Alexandria Village Board failed to win a second on Wednesday, said board member Mark Anderson, declining to comment further.
The board gave initial approval to the ordinance Sept. 11, but it needed to survive two more readings.
As written, it would have forbidden registered sex offenders from living within 500 feet of schools, village-owned and maintained parks, licensed day-care centers and any school bus stops on village property. The ordinance also would have levied fines of $500 per day to landlords who rented to sex offenders.
As of Thursday, one registered sex offender was living in the town of 177, according to the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry. _____, 40, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault 14 years ago and served more than two years in prison.
Nebraska ACLU opposed the proposed ordinance (PDF), saying it went beyond what state law allows. The group’s legal director, Amy Miller, sent a letter to the village board in September calling on it to reject the proposal.
She said it restricted locations state law doesn’t allow, including village-owned playgrounds or parks and school bus stops on village property. And, Miller said, the ordinance lacked a proper grandfather clause (Wikipedia) and created a new crime — renting to sex offenders — that state law doesn't permit.
Nebraska ACLU Executive Director Becki Brenner said Thursday the ordinance would have done little to prevent sexual violence because research shows residency restrictions don’t lead to significant reductions in offenses.
“By deciding not to move forward with an unconstitutional ordinance, the Village of Alexandria can now spend their resources on practices that will actually make the community safer,” she said in a news release.
They're destitute, without jobs or much hope of securing one. They're homeless and without much hope of finding one.
They're the people no one wants to employ or live near: level 2 and level 3 sex offenders — men and women who are legally required to report their presence to local authorities for the rest of their lives.
When they're released from prison, or move from another area, it falls to county Social Services departments to place them. Frequently, they wind up in small, family-run motels and boarding houses. And they have to report that address to authorities or face penalties, including arrest.
In the past year alone, 14 sex offenders — including 10 in Liberty in July — have been picked up for failing to register where they live, as required.
Their sometimes-clustered presence in some of the region's motels and boarding homes has prompted fear, anger and lawsuits in communities across the region, the state and the country.
And nowhere in the mid-Hudson has the outcry of late been louder than in the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County.
Emotional, legal issues tangle
Wawarsing comprises five hamlets and the Village of Ellenville. According to the latest figures available from the state's Public Registry of Sex Offenders, there are currently 29 level 2 and level 3 sex offenders living in those communities. Only the City of Kingston, with 37, has more registered sex offenders in Ulster County.
The tiny and very rural hamlet of Kerhonkson is home to 17 sex offenders, according to the registry. Six of those offenders now reside at the Colonial Motel on Route 209.
To town Supervisor Scott Carlsen, those numbers strongly suggest that something's out of whack with the way indigent sex offenders are housed in the county.
Carlsen is recently retired from a career as an administrator in the state's correctional system, including years as a counselor in several sexual offender programs.
Housing sexual offenders in rural communities like Kerhonkson, he said, isn't good for offenders nor the community.
"They (sexual offenders) don't have cars. In order to get the services they need, they have to bike or hitchhike. Even from a therapeutic model, it makes no sense to me."
And, he says, the situation only gets worse when sex offenders are allowed to congregate. - Worse how? Due to new crimes being committed (doubtful) or public hysteria?
"I'm unaware of any study of any treatment that it's a good thing to stick a dozen of these guys together in a single facility." - And there is no study to show it's a bad thing either! People think that ex-offenders living together that they are going to devise a mass molestation plan or something, which is so ridiculous.
But there is little legal recourse available. Some, like the Town of Wallkill, or Middletown or Village of Ellenville, have passed laws that limit sex offenders from living near schools, playgrounds and parks.
Following the village's lead, the Wawarsing Town Board implemented a statute a couple of years ago that limits to 30 the number of days a person may reside at a town motel. Three of the town's motels, Carlsen said, have abided by the law. But not, he said, the Colonial.
After the motel's compliance became a campaign issue in 2011, with Republican candidates claiming that 12 sex offenders were residing at the Colonial, owner Shahida Rizvi filed suit in federal court contending the statute prevents her from operating her business. - You'd think people would see politicians for what they are by now. Fear, children and ex-sex offenders are their scapegoats! They will use and exploit any issue to get elected or to look good to the sheeple of the country.
In a 31-page brief, Rizvi's lawyer Mark Stern argued that the town "fully intends to prevent (Rizvi) from operating her business through the mechanism of fines, criminal charges and criminal penalties."
Carlsen's anger only worsened when a convicted criminal — who was not a registered sex offender — was placed by county Social Services at the Colonial and arrested and charged with raping a woman last August.
Carlsen called the incident "nothing short of an outrage and criminal" on the part of Ulster County Social Services.
He accused the departments of violating the town's statute.
Michael Iapoce, director of the county's Social Services Department, sees the situation very differently.
Homelessness a key problem
Every county in the state must find housing for any individual, regardless of their criminal history, if they say they are homeless.
As far as Iapoce is concerned, that's the bottom line when his Social Services Department deals with homeless people.
And while his department has taken a lot of heat for housing indigent sex offenders, he said there's a public "misperception" that Social Services has more authority and responsibility than it actually does. - If you stop the insanity then maybe ex-offenders can get a job and live somewhere else, but the very laws the idiotic politicians are passing is what is causing all these problems, not the ex-offenders!
Sex offenders are emerging from a highly structured prison environment, he said; the services they require are determined by the county's Probation Department and state Department of Corrections.
Marijane Knudsen, the department's director of economic support, said that prisoners being released into communities — especially sex offenders — need better discharge plans to guide their re-introduction to society.
She also said there are larger issues, including the need for better housing for anyone who needs it.
"No one deserves to live in a hotel. Everyone should have access to permanent, safe housing," she said.
That need, said Nancy Schmidt, can be a pivotal aspect of what she called "an age-old problem."
Lack of jobs compounds issue
Schmidt is deputy director of the county's probation department. The lack of stable housing and job opportunities for sex offenders, she said, are the two biggest factors affecting the successful integration of an indigent offender into society.
Housing availability are sometimes prohibited by the very laws that are aimed at protecting children from predators, such as laws that restrict sex offenders from living near schools, playgrounds and parks.
In a city like Kingston, Schmidt said, that reduces the potential housing choices considerably. Rural, isolated locations like Kerhonkson are at least less likely to pose a threat to children living nearby.
And yes, she said, while Social Services is responsible for housing homeless sex offenders, there are times when the department will allow housing sex offenders in a facility with other offenders.
Sometimes, it's a better choice than having an offender move from "couch to couch" or live in a car or a tent, where supervision is more difficult and the threat of a recurrence could be increased.
"Without employment or stable housing, there's a higher risk of a return," she said.
And with a sigh, she summarized the situation in two words:
"It's tough." - Not really! Get rid of the residency restrictions and take the registry offline, then many can integrate back into society, get a job, home and move on with their lives.
When it comes to treatment of convicted sex offenders, Americans and the American justice system are very concerned. Sex offenders are seen as targeting the most vulnerable populations, especially women and children. They are often subject to longer prison terms and closer supervision once released than other kinds of offenders.
Currently, there are about 747,500 registered sex offenders in the United States. About one-third of these individuals are currently under close supervision, in prison or jail, in halfway houses or on probation. The rest have returned, unsupervised, to the community.
Low Rate of Recidivism
While in the criminal justice system, convicted sex offenders are required to undergo an array of treatments intended to deter them from re-offending. As a result of incarceration and treatment, only 5.3 percent of all sex offenders re-offend upon release (although those convicted of violent offenses re-offend more often). This rate is much lower than the rate for all other categories of convicts. - Many more recidivism (re-offense) studies here.
Nonetheless, citizens want to make sure that they and their children are protected against the perceived danger of convicted sex offenders. Offenders who have exited the criminal justice system want to return to a normal life. These goals are starkly opposed.
Sex Offenders Must Register
In the United States, there are a variety of sex offender registration and notification systems. Generally, sex offenders are required to register with law enforcement of any state, locality, territory or tribe within which they reside, work and attend school.
Registration ranges from 10 years to the convicted sex offender’s lifetime. Recent legislation in some states requires that offenders also reveal their email addresses, chat room IDs and instant-messaging aliases. In some states, offenders must wear ankle bracelets as long as they are registered.
Communities Must Notify
“Megan’s Law” in 1996 amended the Wetterling Act to allow for community notification. This mandated that law enforcement personnel proactively disclose registry information to neighborhood residents about sex offenders who live in close proximity. Landlords must include information about how to use the registry in their lease documents.
Some states notify the public only about sex offenders who pose a high risk to the community, but others employ broad notification practices and distribute information about all registered sex offenders. Community notification strategies can include press releases, flyers and door-to-door warnings about the presence of sex offenders.
Recent developments include the mandate that states sponsor Internet websites listing convicted sex offenders and, via the 2007 Adam Walsh Act, the establishment of a national online sex offender registry that allows a search beyond state borders.
Under the Adam Walsh Act, registered sex offenders must avoid by 500 to 2,500 feet all schools, bus stops, gyms, recreation centers, playgrounds, parks, swimming pools, libraries, nursing homes and places of worship.
HURRICANE - A 2012 Hurricane city ordinance prohibiting registered sex offenders from being within 500 feet of designated "child safety zones" is still in place, despite questions about whether part of it would have to be repealed for violating constitutional rights.
"There were absolutely no changes made. We feel it is within our right, and the citizens are 100 percent behind it," said Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards.
The ordinance bars those convicted of sex crimes from entering a number of places in the city, including parks, playgrounds, schools, public pools, skate parks, movie theaters and bowling alleys. Parts of it, including barring sex offenders from public libraries, might infringe on offenders' rights, according to Sarah Rogers, staff attorney for the West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union.
"They could definitely face a civil lawsuit or challenge," Rogers said.
The ordinance also bans sex offenders from entering "recreational areas," which include conservation areas, jogging trails, hiking trails, bicycle trails, recreation centers, water parks, swimming pools, soccer fields, baseball fields and football fields. It also includes "child day-care centers," which it defines as "a day-care center or home which provides regular care to any number of children."
"I think the ACLU is concerned about this ordinance because it's so unclear," Rogers said. "People and their families may be unsure of how to comply. The ordinance's definition of 'child-care facility,' for example, could be any home."
According to Rogers, the ex post facto clause (Wikipedia) of the U.S. Constitution prohibits governing bodies from enacting laws that punish people "after the fact" -- meaning beyond what their conviction and sentence has required.
"For example, someone who may have served his sentence for an act could go for many years as a productive citizen, and 30 or 40 years later, suddenly they have to abide by these restrictions," Rogers said. "Many courts have found these laws violate the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment (Wikipedia)."
The ordinance also might infringe on Fifth Amendment rights, Rogers said. The double-jeopardy clause (Wikipedia) of the Fifth Amendment states, ". . . nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb."
According to news reports, the first person to be cited under the Hurricane ordinance was given a ticket last week for entering Hurricane City Park.
Edwards said the ordinance was designed to protect children as broadly as possible, and said he introduced the city law after hearing that sex offenders had been watching kids at local parks and pools.
"School grounds and public parks are the two big ones where kids would gather," he said. "The reason, of course, is that we had a sex offender continually hanging around Valley Park, at the Wave Pool, watching little kids with binoculars."
According to Edwards, the ordinance applies to all registered sex offenders in Hurricane, regardless of whether they have children of their own or were convicted of crimes that did not involve minors. The ordinance, however, defines a sex offender as "an individual who has been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for a sexual offense involving a person under eighteen (18) years of age for which the individual is required to register as a sex offender under West Virginia Code."
"It's legal in other states, as well," Edwards said. "Other states have very similar ordinances logged. I would actually hope that our Legislature would consider making this a state law."
Twenty-seven registered sex offenders live in Hurricane, and three more are employed in Hurricane but are not residents of Putnam County, according to the West Virginia State Police website. Of the 27 offenders registered in the city, all but one were charged with crimes involving a person under age 18.
Another issue that could be created by an ordinance like this is that it has the potential to create "a false sense of security," Rogers said.
"It could take sex offenders from supportive environments, where there is a likelihood they might rehabilitate, and put them in a place where they don't have any support," she said. "We understand that there are dangerous predators, and we don't want them roaming around, but we're not sure this does anything to target people who are actually dangerous."
"These crimes are generally not crimes of proximity, but crimes of relationship."
BIRMINGHAM (WBRC) - A federal appeals court has ruled that an Indiana law banning registered sex offenders from Facebook is unconstitutional.
The ruling won't affect us in Alabama, because we take an entirely different approach when it comes to social media.
Alabama has one of the strongest laws in the country when it comes to sex offenders. And while the state does not ban sex offenders from using social media sites they regulating what they can do. These laws so far haven't been seen as unconstitutional and haven't been challenged.
The Internet can be a sexual predator's playground.
"We think about our children and restricting their access to computers, however now with technology and phones out there it's in the palm of their hand," Sgt. Jacob Reach with the Jefferson County Sex Offender Unit said. - Well, get rid of the phone! Be a parent, stop letting the government babysit you and your children!
Reach helps monitor the more than seven hundred sex offenders in Jefferson County and he will be the first to tell you, convicted sex offenders are drawn to social media. - What a crock! This is fear mongering BS! Ex-offenders use social media for the same reasons you do. Some may be using it for what you mentioned, but it's rare!
"They are going to find a way to access children and social media is easy access," Reach said. - Not all ex-sex offenders are out looking for kids to molest. Clearly this man is biased in his personal opinions, which aren't based on the facts. A study was done awhile back (here) which shows that most children are approached by their peers, not some stranger.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all ways for a predator to reach children. But here in Alabama there are strict laws in place protecting potential victims. On top of sex offenders having to register where they live or work, they also have to notify law enforcement of social media sites they belong to and share email accounts.
"For example, if they have a Facebook account we'd have access to it to look at the account to make sure [an offender is] not posting pictures of himself with children sitting in his lap and he's not allowed to reside with children and that would allow us to investigate further to ensure their safety," Reach said. - This is not exactly true. You may have their account name, but you don't (I don't think) have their passwords. If you do, then that is clearly a violation of their rights, and if they have the profile non-public, then you cannot see anything they say or do.
Jefferson County issues close to 250 warrants a year for sex offenders who aren't in compliance with the law.
"These offenders know we stay on top of them," Reach said.
Reach says parents need to talk to their children about the danger of sexual predators. If someone, your child doesn't know sends them a request on Facebook Reach says do not accept that request and to tell your parents at once.
