Damages of £20,000 have been awarded to a convicted sex offender who sued Facebook, the operator of a page called Keeping our Kids Safe from Predators 2.
Facebook Ireland Limited, hosted the page, operated by Joseph McCloskey.
The High Court in Belfast said the information published by Mr McCloskey "harmed the public interest, creating a risk of reoffending".
The plaintiff, CG, was convicted in 2007 of a number of sex offences.
He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and released on licence in 2012.
'Harassment'
CG brought an action seeking damages and an injunction on the basis that Facebook and Mr McCloskey misused private information, are in breach of Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, and are guilty of actionable negligence.
He also sued Facebook over separate postings by the father of one of his victims.
The judge found that Mr McCloskey was liable to CG for misuse of private information and for unlawful harassment.
The judge also made an injunction against Mr McCloskey preventing him from harassing, pestering, annoying or molesting CG whether by publishing, distributing, broadcasting or transmitting any information on Facebook or otherwise.
He also ordered Facebook to close the profile/page Keeping our Kids Safe from Predators 2. - Well, if they closed it, a new page has popped up. Not sure if it's ran by the same person or not though.
The judge awarded CG damages of £20,000.
This relates to £15,000 against Facebook and Mr McCloskey in respect of the postings by Mr McCloskey.
The judge also awarded £5,000 against Facebook over the postings by the father of one of CG's victims, who operated a separate page.
Lawyers for the sex offender who issued proceedings have predicted it could pave the way for compensation claims by many others who feel similarly aggrieved.
A Bothell police detective faces charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.
The Bothell Police Department confirms that recently Det. Dione Thompson was responsible for keeping the public informed of sex offender notifications. Before that she was assigned to the Bothell High School campus as a school resource officer.
During her time there, in 2010, a female student, age 17, says she was befriended by Thompson. They began to message each other on Facebook and eventually engaged in a sexual relationship with one of their encounters happening in a marked police car in a library parking lot, according to court documents.
The documents also said the student, who was dealing with turmoil in her personal life, even moved in with Thompson for a period of time.
A man who denies running a Facebook witch-hunt against paedophiles is to be asked to reveal whether he posted a rapist's exact address, the High Court heard today.
Counsel for Joe McCloskey confirmed he will seek to provide any un-redacted version of new evidence in a potential landmark civil action.
A judge also heard claims that the campaigner was hiding material that could aid the lawsuit brought against him by a convicted child molester.
Mr McCloskey and Facebook are being jointly sued for damages by the sex offender.
The man, who cannot be identified, is claiming misuse of private information, harassment and breaches of the data protection act.
Proceedings were launched after his photograph and details appeared last year on 'Keeping our kids safe from predators II', a Facebook page administrated by Mr McCloskey.
MUSCATINE - When a 23-year-old Muscatine man convicted of lascivious acts with a child was released from prison after serving four years of a 15-year sentence, the People of Muscatine exploded.
The outrage began after a July 30 post that appeared on the People of Muscatine Facebook page began taking on a life of its own. The post by the page's administrator was asking about the release of _____ from prison. Howard was sentenced to prison in 2010 after being found guilty of sexually abusing his girlfriend's baby son.
It didn't take long before responses to the post included death threats, graphic descriptions of bodily mutilation, and even jokes about _____'s arrest. The anger wasn't directed entirely at _____. One post said that the child's mother should be "stomped." Another person, who posted a defense of _____, was the target of outrage: "I guess Jessica needs to have her baby molested by this [man] to feel different."
The original post, and others after it, generated several hundred comments, nearly 50,000 views, and attracted the attention of KWQC-TV, who reported on _____'s release under the headline, "Child sex offender released early from prison."
What got lost in the public's outcry was the fact that _____'s release wasn't really early. He was released exactly when the law allowed.
A Seminole County deputy was arrested Thursday after investigators accused him of soliciting sex from a 17-year-old girl through a series of Facebook messages.
David Rodriguez, a 28-year-old patrol deputy, recently received recognition from Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger for saving a man after a boating accident earlier this year.
Rodriguez now accused of using a computer to solicit sex from a child.
He and the girl both participated in martial arts tournaments. When they met, she was 6 and he was about 17. The two kept in touch over the years, his arrest report stated.
The girl told deputies that she and Rodriguez, who is married and has a newborn, started out with friendly text messages.
Eventually the two became Facebook friends and would send private messages back and forth.
After the girl's 17th birthday, the conversations became sexual, the report stated.
Rodriguez admitted to soliciting sex from the girl but said the two never actually met for sex.
"Rodriguez stated that he was going to keep trying to put off meeting with [the girl] for sex until she was 18 years old," the report stated. The detective "confronted Rodriguez that on several occasions that they arranged to meet for sex, it was [the girl] who had to cancel and Rodriguez did not respond."
The Facebook exchange was discovered because the girl's father saw the messages when she left her social-media profile open on a home computer.
The father did not confront his daughter because he was concerned she would not be cooperative.
When she was interviewed, the girl told officials she had a crush on Rodriguez for years and said when his child was born on July 9, she realized that Rodriguez was trying to take advantage of her.
She said she wanted the sexual conversations to stop but didn't know how to end the relationship.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office is in the process of firing Rodriguez. He had been a patrol deputy since February 2010.
Rodriguez received a Life Saving Award in May from Eslinger. According to the Sheriff's Office, Rodriguez helped save a man who capsized his kayak.
According to investigators, Rodriguez admitted to the crime and turned himself into the Seminole County jail.
Draconian restrictions on the activities and privacy of convicted sex offenders are a new, and troublesome, trend. In 1994 and 2006, following a national dialogue about crimes against children sparked by several high-profile incidents, Congress passed two laws requiring states to register and regulate sex offenders residing within their borders. States and municipalities soon caught on, and deepened restrictions. In the last five years alone, local governments have forbidden sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet of schools; “be” within 500 feet of parks or movie theaters; enter public libraries; drive buses or taxis; photograph or film minors; and use social networking websites like Facebook. Others have required sex offenders to advertise their status on driver’s licenses or social networking profiles; wear GPS bracelets at their own expense; notify local police when present in any county within the state for longer than ten days; provide notice to all new neighbors within a roughly quarter-mile radius when they move; and pay up to $100 annually to maintain sex offender registries. These burdens typically last for a decade or for life, depending on the jurisdiction and the type of crime committed.
McALLEN - A man set to begin work as a county detention officer lost his job and faces felony charges after police said Friday that he used social media to solicit underage girls for sex.
On Friday, Rolan Ray Mata went before a McAllen municipal judge who formally charged him with one count of online solicitation of a minor and set his bond at $75,000 before sending him to the Hidalgo County Jail.
Detectives arrested Mata, 24, Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into online child predators, said Lt. Joel Morales, a department spokesman.
Using social media websites, undercover officers posed as a 14-year-old girl who interacted with Mata and was solicited to have sex with him, Morales said.
Mata told McAllen police investigators that he worked at the Hidalgo County jail as a detention officer, but Sheriff Lupe Treviño said that he was not yet an employee.
Mata had been offered a job as a detention officer and was scheduled to begin working on Monday. But upon being notified of his arrest, Treviño rescinded the offer.
A settlement may be coming in the case against a former Minneapolis police officer accused of soliciting young girls on the Internet for sex.
After meeting Friday in Anoka County District Court, both Bradley Schnickel's defense attorney and the prosecution said the two sides are close to reaching a resolution.
They will meet in a settlement hearing Monday, the same day the trial against the 33-year-old father of two was set to begin.
"We are working it out... We're getting close," said Fred Bruno, Schnickel's attorney. "This will most likely be resolved Monday."
Schnickel faces more than 21 criminal counts alleging criminal sexual misconduct, lewd exhibition, furnishing alcohol to a minor and other accusations.
Using various aliases, Schnickel is accused of logging on to Facebook and other social networking sites and engaging in sexually charged conversations with more than a dozen young girls. In some cases, he exchanged naked pictures with the minors. In a couple instances, he allegedly met them in person and had sex.
The youngest alleged victim was 11. Several others were 12 to 14.
None of the conduct took place while Schnickel was working as a cop.
The Minneapolis patrol officer since 2008 received a medal of commendation for his work in 2011. He was placed on "home assignment" last January after the allegations surfaced.
He was fired the following month.
Monday's hearing comes just over three months since he pleaded guilty in Hennepin County Court to two counts of Internet solicitation of children for similar crimes.
Schnickel was sentenced to a year at the Hennepin County Adult Corrections Facility in Plymouth and mandated to undergo therapy.
He is already enrolled in a sex offender treatment program at Alpha Human Services in Minneapolis.
Schnickel's hearing Monday will take place at 2 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The city of San Francisco on Monday sued a popular social-networking website, claiming it enables sexual predators to target minors. - A person intent on harming someone can use ANY website to do their crime, so how is this different than MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or any other website? If they sue and win, then who is next?
City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed the lawsuit against MeetMe.com saying that the site violates California laws by unlawfully publishing personal information such as profiles, photos and real-time locations that enable sexual predators to target children as young as 13. - Doesn't Facebook and a ton of other sites do this as well? This just seems to us like someone trying to make a name (and money) for themselves. You could also say the same for the online sex offender hit-list.
The lawsuit said dozens of minors nationwide have been victimized in sex crimes by predators who relied on information obtained through the website of the New Hope, Pa.-based company.
The prosecutor said that about a quarter of MeetMe.com's 40 million users are under the age of 18. - Okay. So why are they talking to adults and other people they do not know? Doesn't the site have the option to block people?
"MeetMe has become a tool of choice for sexual predators to target underage victims, and the company's irresponsible privacy policies and practices are to blame for it," Herrera said in a statement.
MeetMe CEO Geoff Cook said the company cannot comment on the pending litigation. But he noted the company has online safety programs and works with law enforcement.
"We care deeply about the safety of all of MeetMe's users. We review hundreds of thousands of photos posted to our services every day, and we compare the information provided by our users to a sex-offender registry," Cook said in a statement. "We employ a 24-7 team that responds to reports from our users and work closely with law enforcement when appropriate to assist in their investigations."
The site has been implicated in several crimes involving sexual assault and sex with minors in California, Herrera said in his complaint.
The lawsuit cited the case of a 29-year-old Citrus Heights man who was charged with multiple counts of sexual acts with a minor in August. Authorities said the man used the site to send sexually explicit photographs and text messages to teenage girls to begin a "sexting" relationship that led to a sexual encounter. - So why did the teenage girls go meet someone they don't know? That is dangerous for anybody!
Also, a 23-year-old Fresno man was arrested in October on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor he met on MeetMe.com, and a 21-year-old Fair Oaks man was charged in July after he allegedly pretended to be a 16-year-old boy on the site and had sex with two girls, ages 12 and 15, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit is seeking to stop MeetMe from promoting underage users' information and to refrain from practices considered deceptive.
New Jersey has become the latest state to try to regulate how (and if) sex offenders can use social media, an increasingly tricky problem facing legislators around the country. But privacy experts say the laws are problematic, and probably unconstitutional.
The proposed bill would require all sex offenders in New Jersey to disclose the fact on all of their social media accounts.
A similar measure was introduced, but not passed, last year. The measure has been pre-filed for the 2014 legislative session. Donna Simon, an assemblywoman who sponsored the bill, said anyone caught violating the law, if passed, could face a $10,000 fine and 18 months in prison.
“Sex offenders are very sneaky and despicable,” she said. “What they will do is they will have a myriad of screen names and other identities to use for communicating to children.” - Underage children are not suppose to be on Facebook based on their terms of service. Why don't you teach kids in school, or better yet, the parents be parents and teach their own children about the sharing of personal information online or talking to people they do not know? A major study was done years ago that shows most children are approached by their peers about sex, not a stranger, although that does happen.
Of course, stopping even a small number of sexual assaults is a laudable goal, but in many cases, laws that limit social media access are quickly struck down in court, making the whole exercise nothing more than a waste of time and money. A year ago, a federal appeals judge ruled that an Indiana law that banned sex offenders from using instant messaging, social networking sites, and chat programs was unconstitutional. In that decision, a federal judge wrote that the law “targets substantially more activity than the evil it seeks to redress.”
Nathan Wessler, an attorney with the ACLU, says that New Jersey’s proposed law is a similar overreach. The law would require sex offenders to disclose all of their online accounts to law enforcement, including E-mail addresses, screen names, social media accounts, message board handles, and more. Similar provisions in laws passed in Indiana, Nebraska, Georgia, Utah, California, and Louisiana have been struck down. A law banning sex offenders from social media was struck down in North Carolina last year, but a New Jersey ban on social media for sex offenders that are out on parole was upheld.
“The reporting requirement is particularly problematic, because you have a right to engage in anonymous debate online,” Wessler said. “You have the right to ask about embarrassing medical matters online to write on the Facebook page of the Mayo Clinic or post on message boards. The government is requiring people to turn over these anonymous identities so they can watch what they’re doing online even when it’s protected anonymous political speech.”
Wessler says that besides being unconstitutional, the requirement is “onerous and impractical,” because it requires disclosure of things such as randomly-generated email addresses from Craiglist and disclosure of accounts that may have long-since been forgotten about.
The New Jersey law is modeled on a law passed in 2012 in Louisiana and goes a step further, too. It “requires person who are required to register as a sex offender to provide notification of that fact on social networking sites” and also has to include “notice of the crime for which he was convicted, the jurisdiction of conviction, a description of his physical characteristics, and his residential address.” The offender must also link to their sex offender profile on a social networking site.
That’s a lot of information, and a lot of it is impossible, logistically, to follow through with, Wessler says.
“It is literally impossible to include all that information in 140 characters, so anyone on the registry who wanted to use Twitter would be automatically violating the law,” he said, forcing people to “choose between complying with this restriction or giving up the ability to engage in conversation in what has become the new town square.”
Some social media networks, such as Facebook and Match.com, already ask that sex offenders not register for their sites in their terms of service.
All of this may sound overly sympathetic towards sex offenders, but laws that do mainly superficial things such as trying to ban sex offenders from social media run the risk of diverting attention from other prevention efforts. The stereotypical image of a creepy old man preying on unknowing children is a popular—and certainly scary—one, but in reality, few sex offenders use social media to perpetrate their crimes.
“Numbers suggest that Internet-initiated sex crimes account for a salient but small proportion of all statutory rape offenses and a relatively low number of sexual offenses committed against minors overall,” according to a 2008 study published in American Psychologist (PDF).
More than 90 percent of sex offenders personally know their child victims, and in over 50 percent of cases, the perpetrator is a family member—far from a creepy stranger they met online.
“These laws end up being counterproductive,” Wessler said. “They’re not tailored at all to addressing the harm the state should be concerned about. Anytime a legislature relies on inaccurate stereotypes of the problem, they’re diverting attention away from ways to address the real problem. It can create a false sense of security and divert law enforcement resources.”
And, if the goal is to rehabilitate sex offenders who have served their time in jail, requiring them to abstain from social media can seriously hinder that. Because sex offenders often have a difficult time finding jobs, many are self-employed and start their own businesses. If they want to start a social media page for their business, they’d be required to comply with the law.
“A lot of times, they’ll try to make their own goods and sell them online or start a business that you can’t successfully do without marketing online,” Wessler said. “Complying with this is probably going to completely destroy their ability to promote that business online.”
Abstract: Purpose: To describe the variety of ways social networking sites (SNSs) are used to facilitate the sexual exploitation of youth, as well as identify victim, offender, and case differences between arrests, with and without a SNS nexus.
Methods: Mail surveys were sent to a nationally representative sample of over 2,500 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. Follow-up detailed telephone interviews were conducted for 1,051 individual cases ending in an arrest for Internet-related sex crimes against minors in 2006.
Results: In the United States, an estimated 2,322 arrests (unweighted n ¼ 291) for Internet sex crimes against minors involved SNSs in some way, including an estimated 503 arrests (unweighted n ¼ 93) in cases involving identified victims and the use of SNSs by offenders (the majority of arrests involved undercover operations undertaken by police). SNSs were used to initiate sexual relationships, to provide a means of communication between victim and offender, to access information about the victim, to disseminate information or pictures about the victim, and to get in touch with victim’s friends.
Conclusions: A considerable number of arrests for Internet sex crimes against minors have a SNS nexus to them. The findings support previous claims that prevention messages should target youth behaviors rather than specific online locations where these crimes occur. In targeting behaviors, youth can take this knowledge with them online, regardless of whether they are using SNSs, chat rooms, or instant messaging. 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine.
Do you know who else is on most of the social media sites your children are using?
Convicted sex offenders are and one New Jersey lawmaker wants force everyone required to register under Megan’s Law to provide notification of that important fact on social networking websites. - And so are murderers, identity thieves, bullies, drug dealers, gang members, racist groups and others, so are they going to have to register their criminal pasts on social networks as well?
“Sex offenders are very sneaky and despicable,” says Assemblywoman Donna Simon who sponsors the measure. “What they will do is they will have a myriad of screen names and other identities to use for communicating to children.” - Some do this, but putting all ex-offenders into one group is wrong, but it's typical for ignorant politicians and the media to do so, and it's usually done, in our opinion, to help further ones own career or reputation.
The bill, which is modeled on recently enacted Louisiana legislation, expands sex offender registration requirements to include this disclosure on the offender’s profile on any social networking sites.
“It’s very similar to Megan’s Law,” explains Simon. “It protects children on the Internet. Anybody caught violating this could face a fine up to $10,000 and also jail time up to 18 months.” - How is it similar to Megan's Law?
Also under Simon’s measure, any person required to register as a sex offender must also provide the appropriate law enforcement agency with a list of e-mail addresses, screen names, or other identities used for web-based chats, instant messaging, or a social networking website.
“This is a total bi-partisan measure,” says Simon. “This is something that benefits everyone and I expect it to pass quickly.” - And we expect it to be shot down for constitutional issues!
The legislation also requires registered sex offenders to provide a list of any social networking websites of which they are a member.
The Assemblywoman hopes the bill will become law before the calendar flips to 2014.
“That’s something we’re pushing for,” explains Simon. “This is very important and one of the bills that should be part of the spotlight for the lame duck session.”
Several social networking sites, like Facebook and Match.com, already prohibit sex offenders from using their sites in their terms of service. - Doesn't make it right! And why don't they also prohibit all other ex-felons? Because it's against their constitutional rights, and the same applies to ex-sex offenders!
TAMPA - Parents teach children at a young age to not talk to strangers, but it's a lesson that seems lost when it applies to the Internet, a place cyber crimes experts call a playground for predators. - The term "predator" covers more than just sexual crimes! The Internet is also a "playground" for many other criminals as well, like identity thieves, spammers, hackers, hate groups, etc, but those don't stir up emotions like the sex offender hysteria. Technology is always exploited by people and always will. If someone is intent on committing a crime they will. Parents and schools should be teaching kids common sense and educating them on sexual abuse, privacy, security, etc, not fear mongering BS!
Every time a teenager turns on their smart phone, computer, iPod, Xbox, or any electronic device with Internet access, there are countless of places to travel to and meet people.
"All the bad people in the world have access to you if you have access to them ... With technology, it's becoming a target-rich environment for pedophiles, for people preying on children," says Detective Bill Lindsey with the Cyber Crimes Unit at the Pasco Sheriff's Office. - Based on the true definition of pedophile, pedophiles are rare and not the norm like the media continually tries to make it seem. Just because someone molests a child, that doesn't mean they are a pedophile!
Lindsey says one popular site is Meetme.com. It claims to have 90 million members as young as 13 years old. Until last year, users knew it as Myyearbook.com, described on Facebook as "a social networking site for teens." Members have live webcams, where Lindsey says predators solicit videos and pictures.
Lindsey says, "The kinds of adults that are getting on Meetme.com and meeting children are doing that with malicious intent."
Unlike sites such as Facebook that will match one up with mutual friends or interests, sites such as Meetme.com will recommend people based on where one lives. 10 News checked for sexual offenders and predators and found 314 within a 5-mile radius.
Lindsey says, "It's terrifying. Parents don't know how much danger their children are in." - If the parents and schools were educating their children, then this wouldn't be much of an issue, now would it?
Lindsey says teens often give away too much information online, listing schools, interests, and hangouts, providing predators with a road map to them and to trouble.
"We've had juveniles who have met adults online because they were their suggested friends, and adults take advantage of that online relationship, set up meetings in person, and engage in unlawful sex with minors," says Lindsey.
"In my situation, he wasn't a predator. He was a normal guy who swept me off my feet. I fell in love with him," says 18 year old Alexis Carrascos. Her nightmare began when she is 16 years old. She says, "To think all this started online from me posting a little too much information."
When Alexis met her ex-boyfriend, she thought it was a chance encounter. Later in the relationship, she learned he stalked her on Facebook first through mutual friends and pictures she'd tag online while out with those friends.
Alexis says, "If I could go back and un-tag myself in all those locations I would. It could have saved me a lot of trouble, a lot of heartache, a lot of lessons I think I learned too early in life." - You can as far as we know.
Alexis says three months into the relationship she learned her 17-year-old boyfriend was really 18, and she says he became aggressive. Alexis says, "He started being very pushy, very jealous, very controlling."
And she says he became very violent, from grabbing her to punching walls. The break up included a restraining order against him. "He would stalk me," she says.
Alexis says she needed therapy plus extra protection. Alexis started carrying a taser and a trained dog for protection. Six months after the relationship ended, she's learning to trust again. "I'm still very alert with who sees my things, who likes my things, who's my friend on Facebook or Instagram or whatever." - This is how everybody should be. Don't post personal information at all.
Her advice to teens is to use caution online. She says, "If you don't know them, don't friend them. You don't need to necessarily tell people where you are because it's so easy for a predator, anybody that looks like a normal person, to become a stalker, to become possessive or abusive, lead to something that you don't want."
Meetme.com says it has "zero tolerance for abuse" and has staff to monitor images posted 24/7, Lindsey says, "Meetme.com is the most proactive of the social media online at policing their own website. They make an incredible amount of complaints to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."
Detective Lindsey and Alexis say that doesn't replace parents from keeping an eye on their kids' online activities.
Alexis says, "This generation, we're too friendly. We think no one is going to cause us harm."
Detective Lindsey advises parents to know their child's passwords and frequently review each account with them. Also, make sure each friend is someone they know. And don't stop at Facebook; he suggests checking all their online accounts, including messaging sites such as kik, Twitter and Instagram.
Our Comments: The law is lumping all ex-sex offenders into one group, the worst of the worse, and that is why it's unconstitutional. Probation / parole can already set guidelines on who can do what, so this is just another un-needed law made by some politician who is exploiting fear, children and ex-sex offenders to help their own careers.
It is time for the people who took oaths to defend the Constitution, to do so!!!!!
And we are also sick and tired of the biased media, who are suppose to report all the facts, and not their own personal hate and biasness, using the term sex offender, child molester, pedophile and predator as if they are all the same. THEY ARE NOT! So stop misusing the terms. It's reporting like this why the hysteria is still going strong, but maybe that is your goal in the first place?
Video Description: Criminal Defense Attorney Thomas Carr of Albany, NY discusses New York State laws pertaining to Sex Offenders and Social Media.
A federal judge in Chicago said it is unconstitutional for states to ban all sex offenders from social media sites. The ruling came after an Indiana sex offender who was no longer on probation challenged a state law.
It was a very, very broad ban, if you were a sex offender you couldnt register and you couldn't be on Facebook, said Thomas Carr, a partner with Tully Rinkey PLLC.
In 2008, New York enacted the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP). Authorities have since used provisions to take thousands of sex offenders offline. E-STOP requires offenders to register their email addresses, screen names and social media accounts with the state. The information is then provided to social media sites that request the data. New York only prohibits some sex offenders from using the websites as part of probation requirements.
More than two dozen social media websites, including Facebook, ban sex offenders as part of their Terms of Service. The federal ruling does not apply to the sites because they are private companies.
Some sites do not have an outright ban on sex offenders and do not cross-check the information on the state database with their usernames, which is why experts continually suggest parents take steps at home to monitor computer, gaming and smartphone use.
Were always concerned about safety for kids and this is concerning. it really highlights and makes it more important for a parent to be involved with the kid's online presence, said Andy Gliplin, Director of Program Services at CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services. Really take advantage of the parental controls that are out there with a lot of the sites, gaming consoles, and different access points to the internet.
LAFAYETTE (WLFI) - An Indiana law banning registered sex offenders from using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter was found unconstitutional by a federal judge.
"I think a lot of that falls into the parents responsibilities, but then what do you do for those children that don't have parents involved. I think it is wise for the community to try and protect them," Rochelle Jones of Lafayette said.
Last June U.S.. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt upheld the law saying the state has a strong interest in doing just that, protecting children. Pratt said social networking provides sexual predators the ability to prey on children. - It also provides a way for scammers to target victims and ruin their lives as well, or gang members to recruit new children into their gangs, or thieves to find when you are or aren't home, but we don't see you passing laws to prevent that.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of a man who served three years for child exploitation. They appealed the June ruling and agree with the most recent ruling that the law was too broad.
"Indiana has already made it a crime to engage in, as I said, not only solicitation just sort of succeeding in doing something horrible but even inappropriate communication with children that's already illegal, so what you're asking is that we are going to make any contact with social media illegal and that's just too broad," Indiana ACLU Legal Director Ken Faulk said.
Just last week a Crawfordsville man was arrested for seven felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor after using social media to make contact with the minor. According to court documents, 53-year-old [name withheld] met a 15-year-old boy on Facebook. He committed sexual acts at least 6 times with the boy over a span of 18 months. [name withheld]was not a registered sex offender. - So punish the individual not an entire group!
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.
If you are not on probation or parole, then you don't have to answer the door or any of their questions, and we'd recommend you don't either. Just show them your ID, and leave it at that, don't answer any questions.
01/24/2013
By Alicia Banks
SHELBY — A Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office SUV followed close behind an unmarked law enforcement vehicle. Both navigated the tight streets behind Holly Oak Park in Shelby.
Four men emerged from the two vehicles. They walked to the front door of a brick home on Osborne Street. A woman answered the door and spoke briefly to Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman.
“I spoke with the registered sex offender’s mom who told us where her son worked,” Norman said. “That information was consistent with our last visit.”
Sheriff’s office deputies conducted surprise “knock-and-talks knock-and-harass” across the county Wednesday. They visited about 104 homes.
The unannounced checks by the sheriff’s office are an effort to make sure registered sex offenders are staying in compliance with state laws.
“We want to ensure more safety from these individuals,” Norman said.
The county has 236 registered sex offenders. Some are currently detained in the county jail or in N.C. Department of Correction facilities in the state.
Multiple visits each year
The sheriff’s office is required, by law, to check on registered sex offenders at least once a year. - Yes, once a year, after they register, to check that they are living where they say, but that is it, and anything more is harassment.
Deputies focused on three categories of convicted sex offenders during the two-day operation this week: aggravated, those who engaged in violent or forced sexual acts with someone of any age or younger than 12 years old; recidivists, or repeat offenders; and sexually violent predators, persons convicted of violent sexual offense with a mental abnormality or personality disorder.
“We do it multiple times per year,” Norman said. - Which is basically harassment!
The department conducted a similar operation on Halloween, when sheriff’s deputies visited about 60 registered sex offenders across the county.
There isn’t a specific time when the knock-and-talks knock-and-harass happen, Norman said.
Protecting children
Deputies from various divisions, including community-oriented policing, school resource and patrol officers, assist with the operations.
“We haven’t had an increase in personnel in more than 10 years,” he said. “We can put these operations together in as short as a day and half’s notice.”
Norman said it’s “absolutely necessary” for his department to routinely check on sex offenders living in Cleveland County. He stressed the importance of protecting children through all means possible. - Whatever you say! If you really wanted to "protect" children through "all means possible," then you'd be taking the kids away from their parents, since most sexual abuse happens by those the child knows.
A N.C. General Assembly law bans sex offenders from using social networking sites such as Facebook because children are permitted to use them. - Which is also unconstitutional!
But the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled Wednesday that an Indiana law banning sex offenders from using social networking sites is unconstitutional, noting it restricted free speech.
“I absolutely don’t agree with it,” Norman said. “Once you commit a crime and are on the registry, you give up your rights and any others that put you in contact with juveniles.” - As long as you are on probation or parole, we would agree, but after that, you get those rights back, and it's unconstitutional, period, doesn't matter what you think, and just because someone is on the registry and lost some rights, doesn't give you the right to do anything you wish to those people, that is called harassment and corruption!
Twenty registered offenders will likely have follow-up visits in the coming days. Norman said fewer restrictions on offenders could cause them to recommit similar crimes. - It could, that is a no-brainer, but does it? Not based on the many studies out there which you all are ignoring!
Most of those who are busted in these online stings are not known sex offenders, so forcing them to wear a digital scarlet letter would do nothing to prevent this, and it's just another blanket law that puts all ex-sex offenders into the worst of the worse group, which most are not like this, but hey, she's a politician, so what do you expect?
01/23/2013
State Assemblywoman Donna Simon wants the state to create a law that would force sex offenders to identify their status on social networking profiles like Facebook.
“Anyone who remembers the TV show `To Catch a Predator’ knows they don’t just knock on the door anymore. We can bring a some of the landmark Megan’s Law protects to the Internet,“ Simon said. “It’s almost impossible to open a newspaper these days without seeing another example of a depraved predator hiding his past to victimize another innocent child. Any bit of knowledge that might prevent a tragic crime is essential.”
Simon, a Republican representing parts of Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties, says three recent crimes in New Jersey show the need for the legislation and illustrate how dangerous the Internet remains for children. - The world is a dangerous place to children, and adults, but do I see you banning people from driving cars because alcoholics drive drunk and kill people? Or gang members who kill innocent kids from drive by shootings, to name a couple scenarios?
Last year a Bound Brook man who had been convicted of exposing himself to teenage girls was caught responding to personal ads on an online dating site. Earlier this month, a Robbinsville man recently was arrested after flying to Colorado to engage in sexual activity with an investigator he believed was a teenage girl he met on Facebook. And a Pemberton man previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13 was sentenced to life this month after traveling to Rhode Island to have sex with an investigator he believed was an 8-year-old girl he met online.
“These horrific, stomach-turning examples show how important it is for parents and children to know whether the person they’re chatting with is capable of committing atrocious acts,” Simon said. “My plan would give one more tool to the law enforcement officers who work around the clock to protect children from sex offenders.” - It's idiotic thinking like this is why American's continue to lose their rights. Let's force all gun owners to publish on Facebook that they own a gun, post their address, photo, etc, because a couple people who own guns have killed people! Makes just as much sense, and yeah, it's the same logic.
Simon is sponsoring legislation, modeled after a law enacted in Louisiana last year, that would force anyone required to register under Megan’s Law to identify themselves as a sex offender on social networking profiles. Anyone caught violating that provision could face 18 months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
INDIANAPOLIS - An Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from using Facebook and other social networking sites that can be accessed by children is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Chicago overturned a federal judge's decision upholding the law, saying the state was justified in trying to protect children but that the "blanket ban" went too far by restricting free speech.
The 2008 law "broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to minors," the judges wrote.
"The goal of deterrence does not license the state to restrict far more speech than necessary to target the prospective harm," they said in a 20-page decision (PDF).
The judges noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has also struck down laws that restricted the constitutional right to freedom of expression, such as one that sought to ban leafleting on the premise that it would prevent the dropping of litter.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in June that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and found that social networking had created a "virtual playground for sexual predators to lurk." She noted that everything else on the Internet remained open to those who have been convicted of sex offenses.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the class-action suit on behalf of a man who served three years for child exploitation and other sex offenders who are restricted by the ban even though they are no longer on probation.
Courts have long allowed states to place restrictions on convicted sex offenders who have completed their sentences, controlling where many live and work and requiring them to register with police. But the ACLU contended that even though the Indiana law is only intended to protect children from online sexual predators, social media websites are virtually indispensable. The group said the ban prevents sex offenders from using the websites for legitimate political, business and religious purposes.
The ACLU applauded the decision.
"Indiana already has a law on the books that prohibits inappropriate sexual contacts with children," including penalties for online activities, ACLU legal director Ken Falk said. "This law sought to criminalize completely innocent conduct that has nothing to do with children."
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said his office would review the ruling before deciding on the next step.
Federal judges have barred similar laws in Nebraska and Louisiana. Louisiana legislators passed a new, narrower law last year that requires sex offenders to identify themselves on Facebook and similar sites. A federal judge struck down part of Nebraska's law last October.
We've installed and tested this application, and it doesn't work! Since ex-offenders are discriminated against on Facebook (See section 4, item 6), and elsewhere, many do not use their real names, and to be honest, neither should you! Even for those who do, it doesn't spot them, so this is another application which has good intentions, but is flawed and provides people with a false sense of security. We noticed they have other services, where you must pay, so, this is probably their way of getting to you, so you will use their other paid services, by exploiting the sex offender hysteria. When you allow the government to put criminal records online, it's only a matter of time before your personal records are also online. That is our opinion of course.
We posted a comment on their Facebook page, with a link to this post, and as expected, they posted the usual lies and slander, as seen in the photo below. This just shows the type of ignorance and biased people we are up against.
Click the image to enlarge, if needed
Video Description: Friend Verifier is a Facebook App powered by Verify Anybody that allows you to scan your friends and pending friend requests on Facebook against the United States Sex Offender Registry. - So what about all other criminal records? Wouldn't you like to know if one of your "friends" is a serial killer or thief?
