PA - Majority of minors engage in Sexting, unaware of harsh legal consequences

Original Article

06/18/2014

Sexting among youth is more prevalent than previously thought, according to a new study from Drexel University that was based on a survey of undergraduate students at a large northeastern university. More than 50 percent of those surveyed reported that they had exchanged sexually explicit text messages, with or without photographic images, as minors.

The study also found that the majority of young people are not aware of the legal ramifications of underage sexting. In fact, most respondents were unaware that many jurisdictions consider sexting among minors – particularly when it involves harassment or other aggravating factors – to be child pornography, a prosecutable offense. Convictions of these offenses carry steep punishments, including jail time and sex offender registration.

“This is a scary and disturbing combination,” said researcher David DeMatteo, JD, PhD. “Given the harsh legal penalties sometimes associated with youth sexting and the apparent frequency with which youth are engaging in it, the lack of comprehension regarding such penalties poses a significant problem.”

The study, entitled “Youth Sexting: Prevalence Rates, Driving Motivations, and the Deterrent Effect of Legal Consequences,” was published online in June 2014 by the journal entitled Sexuality Research and Social Policy. The full article is available here.

In addition to DeMatteo, an associate professor of psychology and law and director of Drexel’s joint JD/PhD program in psychology and law in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Law, the study was conducted by lead author Heidi Strohmaier, a PhD candidate in psychology, and Megan Murphy, a JD/PhD candidate. For a Q+A with the researchers, click here.

The study, in which undergraduate students from a large northeastern university completed an anonymous online survey concerning their engagement in sexting as minors, revealed a significant relationship between awareness of legal consequences and sexting behavior as minors.

Those who were aware of the potential legal consequences reported sexting as a minor significantly less than those who were not aware of the legal consequences. Additionally, most respondents who reported being unaware of the potential legal consequences of sexting expressed the belief that they may have been deterred from sexting as a minor if they had known.

The finding that legal consequences may deter youth from sexting has important policy implications, according to the researchers.

In many jurisdictions, the law has yet to catch up with youth sexting behavior and technological advances. Until recently, most states did not have a legal mechanism in place to handle cases of teenage sexting. Instead, they were required to fit this new teenage subculture into the existing legal framework. As a result, youth sexting was often subsumed under laws governing serious child pornography and child exploitation offenses. Convictions of these offenses carry steep punishments, including jail time and sex offender registration—punishments that many lawyers and legislatures have deemed too harsh for adolescent sexting.

Read the rest of the story

Research review II: Sexual predator controversies

Original Article

Excerpt:
Following up on last week’s research review, here are some new articles from the ever-controversial practice niche of sexually violent predator cases:

FACTS? WHO CARES ABOUT THE FACTS?!

Once a jury is empaneled to decide whether someone with a prior sex offense conviction is so dangerous to the public that he should be civilly detained, the verdict is a foregone conclusion. Dangerousness is presumed based on the prior conviction, rather than having to be proven.

Researchers Nicholas Scurich and Daniel Krauss confirmed this by giving jury-eligible citizens varying degrees of information in a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) case and asking them to vote. Some mock jurors were told only that the person had a prior conviction for a sex offense. Others were also given information that the person had a mental abnormality that made him likely to engage in future acts of sexual aggression.

It mattered not a whit. The mock jurors voted to civilly commit at the same rate, whether or not they had heard evidence of current dangerousness.

“The mere fact that a respondent had been referred for an SVP proceeding was sufficient for a majority of participants to authorize commitment,’ the researchers found. “These findings raise concerns about whether the constitutionally required due process occurs in SVP commitment proceedings.”

No surprise, really. In this practice niche more than others, fear and hype often overshadow reason. Sex offenders are not the most appealing human beings, and no one wants to shoulder the responsibility of voting to release someone who could go out and rape or molest again.

Read the rest of the article

Use of Social Networking Sites in Online Sex Crimes Against Minors: An Examination of National Incidence and Means of Utilization

View the PDF

01/2010

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.

CO - Audit criticizes Colorado's program for monitoring sex offenders

Original Article

01/28/2014

By David Olinger

Colorado is overtreating many low-risk sex offenders in the mistaken belief that they cannot be cured, an independent consultant has found.

As a result, the state's Sex Offender Management Board is wasting significant amounts of public money on supervision in the community, according to a report from Central Coast Clinical and Forensic Psychology Services.

The report, released earlier this month, also concluded that Colorado's system for classifying some offenders as sexually violent predators is hopelessly flawed and in urgent need of replacement. That means Colorado could be classifying the wrong people as sexually violent predators.

The findings were met with approval from advocates of reform for sex-offender treatment but with skepticism from a victims' group.

The report's recommendations, if adopted, could dramatically change the supervision of sex offenders, many of whom are now monitored for life.

There were 1,412 sex offenders under intensive supervision on probation in the state as of June 30, and 767 of those were under lifetime supervision, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

The consultant's analysis of the board, an arm of the state Department of Public Safety, commended Colorado for developing a model treatment program in the 1990s and for the thought and dedication put into its guidelines for managing sex offenders.

At the same time, it reported that Colorado has adhered stubbornly to the idea that sex offenders cannot be cured and must be managed for life despite abundant research to the contrary.

The board's guidelines "communicate a view of sex offenders' risk," the report said, that they have "a disorder which cannot be cured," that all sex offenders pose a "dangerously high risk," and that "the danger can only be managed by constant vigilance." As a result, "expending special and expensive resources on managing low-risk offenders wastes public money," the report said.

Its criticisms echo a scathing report from the same consultant last year that sex-offender programs in Colorado prisons have created a treatment backlog that leaves some inmates waiting for years for therapy.

"I thought it was fantastic. We're thrilled," said Susan Walker, director of the Coalition for Sexual Offense Restoration.

"Finally, somebody besides us is saying that under the no-cure philosophy, the (sex-offender management board) has not been functioning under appropriate standards and guidelines."

Erin Jemison, executive director of the Colorado Coalition Against Sex Assault, participated in the consultant's round of focus groups and found it unbalanced.

"While there were some good suggestions that the board needs to look at," Jemison said, "I think they did not include victim and victim- advocate voices to the same extent that they included offender voices. I think that's reflected in the report."

The report cited multiple problems with the risk scale that Colorado uses to identify sexually violent predators and concluded the state has "no credible data" to justify its use.

"There is an urgent need," the report said, to replace its method for calling someone a predator "with an instrument that is soundly developed."

The report also criticized treatment programs for relying too much on polygraph examinations as a means of measuring an offender's success.

Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky, the program manager for the board, said it has been working already on some of the changes recommended in the report.

See Also:

• Colorado sex offender says parole officer made threat after testimony

Female Offenders Driven by More Than Sex

Original Article

By Bryan Robinson

What would drive a woman to sexually abuse a child? Experts say it's not just sex.
- The same applies to sexual abuse by men.

According to the Justice Department's most recent statistics, sex offenses are still very much a man's crime. Female sex offenders are very rare: 96 percent of the sex assaults reported in 1999 involved male perpetrators.
- We doubt that!  Most men / boys who are sexually abused do not tell because it's seen as a "badge of honor" or they'd be seen as a wimp if they told.  We believe women commit many sexual assaults as well, they are just not reported, but that is just a guess.

Women were most commonly involved in sex abuse cases involving victims under age 6, making up 12 percent of those offenders. Women were involved in 3 percent of the sex cases involving victims age 6 through 12, and 3 percent for victims ages 13 through 17.
- Again, this is only for those reported cases.

Because they are so rare, experts are not able to draw an accurate profile of a typical female sex offender. However, some say loneliness drives female offenders more than sex.

"They don't seem to be pedophiles like men," said Hollida Wakefield, who has studied and treated sex offenders for more than 20 years at the Institute of Psychological Therapies in Minnesota.
- Most men who commit sexual assaults against children, based on the definition, are not "pedophiles" either, but they are continually portrayed as "pedophiles" by the media.

"There are some cases where some people are in bad relationships or marriages and are just really lonely, and they find themselves in a relationship with these children," she said. "It isn't so much that women are sexually aroused. Keep in mind that the definition of a pedophile is someone infatuated with the idea of being sexually aroused by someone who has not come of age."

"And I would think it would be really difficult for a woman to become aroused by a boy — a 6-, 7-, 8-year-old — just beginning to be a young man," she said.

"Not all pedophiles are sexual offenders and not all sexual offenders are pedophiles," Wakefield continued. "A female being aroused by a 6-year-old, that's got to be pretty rare — it's rare in males generally, but it's even more rare in females."

Teenage female offenders, Wakefield said, typically commit their crimes when they are experimenting or discovering their sexuality. Many cases tend to involve women who are in a position of power over children, such as teachers.

In Utah, a female gymnastics coach awaits trial for allegedly raping and sodomizing a 12-year-old male student. A 24-year-old New York teacher is charged with having a sexual relationship two 16-year-old male students at the high school where she worked. And this past August, a former Bentonville, Ark., special education teacher pleaded guilty to first-degree violation of a minor for having sex with one of her 16-year-old students.

Double Standards Facing Suspects

Women are not all
sugar and spice!

But shock does not necessarily mean outrage. Male and female sex offenders may experience a double standard in the social perceptions of men and women. Male offenders may receive less sympathy because their cases are more common. The public, some experts believe, is always more shocked — but perhaps not as outraged — by stories about female-on-male rape because of women's perceived traditional roles in society.

"I think the first reaction is denial," said Gail Ryan, who has studied hundreds of sex offender cases. "Then people think, 'She has to be crazy.' I think the public feels that a woman who does such things must be mentally ill, as opposed to the whole population of men [who are sex offenders]. That's because women are regarded as nurturers and mothers."

No wonder experts say that _____, the former school teacher serving time for having an affair with one of her students (and ultimately bearing him two children), never would have generated headlines and a made-for-TV movie, if she had been male and her victim female. No wonder the general public is shocked by the case of _____, a former Wisconsin social worker who goes on trial today of sexually abusing four boys over a 10-year period.

Male Victims' Quandary

Still, abuse cases involving male victims and female perpetrators may be underreported because of the societal attitudes and myths surrounding boys' sexual development. One girl's rape may be a boy's "rite of passage."
- Exactly!

"In society, it used to be that with a 13- or 14-year-old male, if his first sexual experience involved a 25-year-old girl who may well have taken advantage of him, his male counterparts may say, 'Hey, you lucked out,'" said Dr. Richard Gartner, who has treated male sex-abuse victims. "It was almost seen as a right of passage. That's the only group that later recalls such experiences as 'lucking out.' You don't find that in females. Today, that kind of behavior is regarded as sexual assault."

Male victims, some experts believe, can be more confused than females because of the myths. Because boys tend to be easily sexually aroused, Gartner said, adults can manipulate their victims into thinking they were equal and willing participants in sexual acts. Males can also believe that they allowed themselves to be abused and therefore are "sissies" or that they must be gay. Male victims may also believe they will be "turned gay," especially if the abuser is male.

Because of these various myths, male victims may not admit or even realize they've been abused until they reach adulthood.

"Adults can be very clever," said Gartner. "With female assault of boys, children, the abuse can often happen in the guise of something dealing with cleanliness, like during bathing. … There seems to be very little [in society] out there for a boy to feel like his betrayal is validated."

Prison staff responsible for half of reported inmate sexual abuse cases

Original Article

01/24/2014

Allegations of sexual abuse in US prisons are on the rise, and correctional staff are responsible for half of reported incidents, according to a new Department of Justice study (Here & Here). Meanwhile, prosecution for such abuse is very rare.

The report released Thursday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics deals with data collected and offered by administrators at federal, state, and many county adult prisons. From 2009 to 2011, administrators reported about 25,000 allegations “of sexual victimization in prisons, jails, and other adult correctional facilities,” the report states. Yearly totals in that time span gradually increased, reaching 8,763 in 2011.

The latest three-year count is up 11 percent from the Justice Department’s previous report, which included 2007 and 2008.

Prison staff were responsible for 49 percent of incidents reported from 2009 to 2011. These are classified as staff sexual misconduct (any sexual act aimed at an inmate from staff) or sexual harassment (verbal statements of a sexual nature meant to demean).

The other 51 percent of allegations of non-consensual sex acts (most serious) and abusive sexual contacts were those between inmates. Of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization, 18 percent of substantiated incidents resulted in physical injury. Less than one percent of staff-on-inmate victimization resulted in injury, the report said.

At the same time, the number of abuse allegations dismissed as “unfounded” or “unsubstantiated” by prison facility officials has increased. Only around 10 percent - or 902 - of incidents substantiated after investigation. This number has not significantly changed since 2005.

Prosecution for crimes committed by correctional staff are extremely rare, the report shows. Over three-quarters of prison staff responsible for sexual misconduct were allowed to resign before an investigation concluded - leaving no record of the offense - or were fired. Around 45 percent were referred for prosecution. Yet, only one percent of perpetrators were convicted.

“These findings point to a level of impunity in our prisons and jails that is simply unacceptable,” said Lovisa Stannow, executive director of prisoner advocacy group Just Detention International, according to ProPublica.

“When corrections agencies don’t punish or choose to ignore sexual abuse committed by staff members - people who are paid by our tax dollars to keep inmates safe - they support criminal behaviour,” Stannow added.

Whether sexual abuse in prisons is on the rise or there are simply more outlets for reporting victimization remains unclear. Justice Department statistician Allen Beck, who prepared the report, told ProPublica that the increase may be tied to awareness of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act.

“It’s a matter of speculation, but certainly there’s been a considerable effort to inform staff about the dangers of sexual misconduct, so we could be seeing the impact of that,” said Beck.

The Justice Department’s statistics - supplied by prison administrators - contrast starkly with a 2013 survey of inmates which showed that over 80,000 prisoners had been sexually victimized by other inmates or staff in a two-year period.
- And since the info was given to them by prison staff, it's probably a lot larger than this report states!

“Inmates don’t report because of the way the institution handles these complaints: they’re afraid if they do report, then the staff will retaliate,” Kim Shayo Buchanan, law professor at the University of Southern California, told ProPublica.

AL - Sex offender speaks out against Alabama bill that would regulate sex offender clusters

Community Notification Flyers

Original Article

10/28/2013

By Mike Cason

MONTGOMERY - A registered sex offender is doing what he says few other offenders will do, speaking out against a bill that would further restrict where they can live.

Derek Logue opposes a bill that would make it illegal for sex offenders to live at the same residence without a live-in monitor and a license from the sheriff. Legislators and a prosecutor in Autauga and Chilton counties say the licensing and monitoring are needed to protect the public from having large numbers of offenders in one place.
- If you want to prevent a large number of offenders from living near each other then remove the residency restrictions that are creating the clusters in the first place!

Logue says it’s already hard enough for them to rejoin society after leaving prison. They can’t live or work within 2,000 feet of a school or daycare.

“There’s not a lot of hope for us,” Logue said. “But transitional housing at least gives people some stability. What you want is to have a chance to reintegrate back into society.”

Logue said they need stability during the first couple of years after prison and said that's when they are more likely to commit another crime. He said the bill would effectively block halfway houses and group homes that could help offenders and reduce recidivism.

Officials in Chilton and Autauga counties say their priority is public safety.

C.J. Robinson, chief deputy district attorney for Autauga, Elmore and Chilton counties, said 49 sex offenders have lived at the same Chilton County address since 2010. An average of about 10 live there on most days, Sheriff Kevin Davis said. They live in trailers behind a small church. It’s not in a dense neighborhood, but there are houses scattered along the two-lane highway near Triumph Church, which is outside Clanton.
- And how many new sexual crimes have been committed by these folks?  Apparently none or we are sure they would have mentioned it!

Robinson said nothing in state law prohibits such a concentration of sex offenders. Laws pertaining only to Birmingham and Jefferson County restrict sex offenders from living together there.

Robinson compiled his numbers from notices the district attorney's office receives when a registered sex offender moves into the county. He points out that only two of the 49 men committed their crimes in Chilton County.

More than half of the 49 were convicted of rape. Most of their victims were minors, including many who were children.

Sheriff Davis said the men have not caused a problem. Robinson said he doesn't want to wait until they do.
- If you look at the facts and not your own emotions, you'd see the recidivism rate is already very low, so the chance of someone committing a new sex crime is very slim to none!

“I don't have the luxury to morally sit and wait until we have a child or a woman victimized by one of these men,” Robinson said in an email. “They have no ties to Chilton County and I would like to see them return to from where they came. We will take our troubled souls back, other counties should tend to their own as well. This community wants to send a message that we are not a landfill for the rest of the state to dump their sexual predators on.”
- We're sure if you had a large number in your own county you'd be saying you didn't want them either!

Ricky Martin, pastor of Triumph Church, declined an interview request from AL.com.

Logue said he doesn't know Martin or know about the program, but says the fact that the men haven't caused a problem seems noteworthy.

"Despite how they may feel about this group of people, it seems like the program is pretty successful," Logue said.

Bill pre-filed for January

Rep. Paul Beckman

Reps. Kurt Wallace, R-Maplesville and Paul Beckman, R-Prattville, are sponsoring House Bill 21, pre-filed for the legislative session that starts in January. It would define a lot where two or more unrelated sex offenders live as a “residential sex offender cluster.” It would make it illegal for a sex offender to live in a cluster that was not licensed by the sheriff. It would make it illegal for a person to own or operate an unlicensed cluster.
- And how much is the license going to cost?  Surely this will be knocked down by the courts?

In addition to the place in Chilton County, Beckman said multiple sex offenders live in trailers on a piece of land in Autauga County.

“We’re right now trying to protect the public,” Beckman said. “And the public is saying to us right now in Chilton County and in Autauga County, ‘We don’t want to take care of other people’s sex offenders.’”
- If no crimes are being committed, then how are you protecting the public?

Wallace proposed a similar bill during this year’s legislative session, but it failed.
- And surely this one will as well?

Logue spoke against that bill at a public hearing. He plans to return to speak against the new bill next year.

“Most registered citizens are too afraid to speak out,” Logue said. “Somebody has to be a voice because so few of us are willing to speak out.”

Logue pleaded guilty to first degree sexual abuse in 2001 in Franklin County. His victim was an 11-year-old girl. He was released from prison in 2003 and lives in Cincinnati.

Logue operates a website called Once Fallen.com and advocates for reforms of laws that limit where sex offenders can live and work. He supports punishment for sex crimes but says punishment should not continue after an offender has served his time.

Proponents of HB21 say sex offenders living together could negatively influence each other and make it more likely they will commit another crime.
- And that is strictly based on emotions and not facts.  Do they think ex-offenders are going to plan some mass molestation or something?  Give us a break!  Other offenders want to stay clean and so they keep each other in check, not the other way around.

"I don't like the idea that like minds are all together," Beckman said.
- Like in congress?

Logue takes issue with that and says sex offenders are not a homogeneous group.

“We’re not all pedophiles,” Logue said. “We’re not all rapists.”

Proponents of HB21 say they would not oppose sex offenders living in facilities that effectively counsel or treat them, although they say they know of no such program. The bill would authorize the Alabama Department of Mental Health to promulgate rules for residential sex offender clusters.
- Sounds like a conflict of interest to us.

David Jackson, chief operating officer for the department, said it does not certify treatment programs for sex offenders.

Concern about unintended consequences

A lawyer for a nonprofit organization that advocates for criminal justice reforms said there could be unintended consequences of restrictive laws that make it hard for sex offenders to find homes and jobs.

“First and foremost, I don’t think anyone disagrees that our first priority as a society should be to protect our children,” said Ateeyah Hollie, who works for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta. “While I appreciate the lawmakers attempt at doing so, my main concern is that they do so in a practical manner that won’t further endanger our community.”

"The more restrictive we get with these residency and employment restrictions, the more likely we’re going to increase recidivism, which I don’t think is the lawmakers’ intent.”
- Well we think that is their intent, so they can keep the prison system raking in the money!

Hollie said instability in residency and employment are key factors in recidivism.

Hollie spoke against the bill Wallace proposed during this year’s legislative session. She has not read the new bill.

Registration and residency restrictions on sex offenders gained national attention in the 1990s. Congress and states passed what were called Megan's Law, named after a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was assaulted and murdered by a neighbor who was a convicted sex offender.

A 2012 report funded by the National Institute of Justice, "Sex Offenders: Recidivism and Collateral Consequences," examined the effect of sex offender registration and notification laws on recidivism.

The researchers found that the laws had limited effect on recidivism. The report said sex offenders have an overall low rate of recidivism but that some are high-risk, and that laws would be more effective if they targeted the high-risk offenders instead of all sex offenders.

Logue said some of the restrictions on residency and work amount to continual punishment after a prison sentence ends.

“When a person has served his time and they get out they should be given an opportunity to become a productive member of society,” Logue said. “We don’t treat murderers the same way. We don’t say murderers can’t live within 2,000 feet of another human being. That would be silly.”

Logue said there are effective rehabilitation programs.

"If we're really serious about trying to prevent reoffending, we should be doing things that we know work," Logue said. "Rehabilitation is not popular, but it's the right thing to do."

Wallace and Beckman said their bill would allow Alabama counties flexibility on how to handle sex offender clusters because it would be up to sheriffs to decide whether to license them.
- And we are sure nobody would get a license also.

"Until somebody comes up with a program that can be sanctioned by the state that proves we can improve the frequency of these guys reoffending, I'm just going with what I say is common sense," Wallace said.
- You already have a ton of studies that show recidivism is low already, in the single digits, so what else do you want?  You are just exploiting the issue for your own political gain, in our opinion.

Halloween Sex Offender Hysteria Pure Horror Fiction

Original Article

10/28/2013

Focus should be on documented dangers, not myths

In the midst of nationwide coverage on Halloween safety tips, those who study sex offender laws are frustrated with what they call “a myth-based approach” on the supposed dangers posed by registered former sex offenders to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.

Many places have enacted bans and special requirements targeting former sex offenders. The laws vary from prohibiting registrants from decorating their homes or wearing costumes, to placing police-issued warning signs on their doors, to keeping all house lights off until 12 AM November 1.

Halloween Crime Statistics

“We agree that parents and children alike should exercise caution and be vigilant to potential threats on Halloween, just like any other day,” said Shana Rowan, Executive Director of USA Families Advocating an Intelligent Registry, a group founded by family members of sex offenders and promoting evidence-based policies. “However, disproportionate focus on sex offenders is unfounded. There is not a single record of a child being sexually abused by a registrant by means of a Halloween ritual, however other risks such as vehicle-pedestrian accidents are highly elevated on Halloween. In fact, Dr. Jill Levenson of Lynn University in Florida found in her 2009 study, “How Safe are Trick or Treaters?” that child sex abuse by a stranger accounted for less than 0.2% of all Halloween crimes, but theft, property damage, and assault were markedly higher than other days of the year.”

Ms. Rowan emphasized that most former sex offenders have families and children of their own, another reason she says Halloween laws increase the chance of violence on the offender’s family members. “Given the propensity for property and violent crimes on Halloween night, I can speak for many family members with a loved one on the registry when I say that we genuinely fear for our safety in our own homes.”

To help illustrate just how unlikely it is that a child will be victimized by a sex offender on Halloween, Ms. Rowan created the following graph using data from Dr. Levenson’s report (PDF).

FL - Audit finds low recidivism, critiques reliance on inflated Static-99 risk estimates

Fragile Flower

Original Article

10/27/2013

By Karen Franklin, Ph.D.

Dan Montaldi’s words were prophetic.

Speaking to Salon magazine last year, the former director of Florida's civil commitment program for sex offenders called innovative rehabilitation programs "fragile flowers." The backlash from one bad deed that makes the news can bring an otherwise successful enterprise crashing down.

Montaldi was referring to a community reintegration program in Arizona that was derailed by the escape of a single prisoner in 2010.

But he could have been talking about Florida where, just a year after his Salon interview, the highly publicized rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl is sending shock waves through the treatment community. Cherish Perrywinkle was abducted from a Walmart, raped and murdered, allegedly by a registered sex offender who had twice been evaluated and found not to meet criteria for commitment as a sexually violent predator (SVP).

Montaldi resigned amidst a witch hunt climate generated by the killing and a simultaneous investigative series in the Sun Sentinel headlined "Sex Predators Unleashed." His sin was daring to mention the moral dilemma of locking up people because they might commit a crime in the future, when recidivism rates are very low. Republican lawmakers called his statements supportive of "monsters" and said it made their "skin crawl."

Black Swan

Montaldi's comments were contained in an email to colleagues in the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, in response to the alarmist newspaper series. He observed that, as a group, sex offenders were "statistically unlikely to reoffend." In other words, Cherish Perrywinkle’s murder was a statistical anomaly (also known as a black swan, or something that is so rare that it is impossible to predict or prevent). He went on to say that in a free society, the civil rights of even "society's most feared and despised members" are an important moral concern. A subscriber to the private listserv apparently leaked the email to the news media.

The Sun Sentinel series had also criticized the decline in the proportion of paroled offenders who were recommended for civil commitment under Montaldi's directorship. "Florida's referral rate is the lowest of 17 states with comparable sex-offender programs and at least three times lower than that of such large states as California, New York and Illinois," the newspaper reported.

Audit finds very low recidivism rates

Fear Mongering?

In the wake of the Sun Sentinel investigation, the Florida agency that oversees the Sexually Violent Predator Program has released a comprehensive review of the accuracy of the civil commitment selection process. Since Florida enacted its Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) state in 1999, more than 40,000 paroling sex offenders have been reviewed for possible commitment. A private corporation, GEO Care, LLC, runs the state’s 720-bed civil detention facility in Arcadia for the state's Department of Children and Families.

Three independent auditors -- well known psychologists Chris Carr, Anita Schlank and Karen C. Parker -- reviewed data from both a 2011 state analysis and an internal recidivism study conducted by the SVP program. They also reviewed data on 31,626 referrals obtained by the Sun Sentinel newspaper for its Aug. 18 expose.

All of the data converged upon an inescapable conclusion: Current assessment procedures are systematically overestimating the risk that a paroling offender will commit another sex offense.

See Also:

• FL - Review of Florida’s Sexually Violent Predator Program (09-23-2013) (PDF)

Read the rest of the article

ME - Few sex offenders commit new crimes

Original Article

10/13/2013

By Keith Edwards

AUGUSTA - Sex offenders are the only type of criminal with their own registry so the public can keep an eye on them, so they must be the most likely to commit more crimes, right?

Wrong.

Contrary to the seemingly widespread public perception that sex offenders are more likely than other criminals to commit another crime, state and national statistics show that sex offenders are less likely to commit another criminal act than other criminals.

A 2010 study (PDF) by researchers at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service found “sex offenders had statistically significant lower rates of return to prison for a new crime than other offenders at one, two, and three years after release from prison.”

The study found that 4 percent of sex offenders were returned to prison within one year of their release for any new crime, compared to 7.1 percent of other offenders. Sex offenders were returned to prison for committing new crimes after two and three years at rates of 8.8 percent and 15 percent, respectively, compared to 15.1 percent and 21 percent for all other offenders.

However, the same study noted sex offenders were much more likely to end up back in prison than other criminals for committing, specifically, another sex offense.

“Sex offender return rates for sex offenses at one, two and three years were .7 percent, 1.8 percent, and 3.8 percent, which were 14, 18, and 38 times higher than the return rate of other offenders,” according to the report (PDF), “Sexual Assault Trends and Sex Offender Recidivism in Maine.”

Police Chief Robert Gregoire said he was not aware of any reoffenses by sex offenders in Augusta.

Nor was Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty aware of reoffenses by sex offenders in the county.

Mayor William Stokes, who is also deputy attorney general and head of the criminal division of the Maine attorney general’s office, said sex offenses tend to be of more concern than many other crimes because of the nature of the offense.

He noted he’s seen data indicating some sex offenders, specifically those who commit criminal acts against children, have a higher likelihood of engaging in such acts again than other criminals.

“That’s why they have the sex offender registry, and you don’t have a registry for burglars and other criminals,” Stokes said.
- And even though sex offenders have a lower recidivism rate of any other criminal, they continue to pass draconian laws to further punish those least likely to re-offend?  Yeah, that makes since... NOT!

Scott Landry, superintendent of Maine Correctional Center, said some sex offenders are at higher risk of offending, more so than both other sex offenders and other criminals. He said those higher-risk offenders are monitored more closely upon their release, and have more requirements to maintain close contact with their probation officer, and, often, a sex offender therapist.

“Not all sex offenders are of equal risk to reoffend,” Landry said, noting when someone who is 19 years-old and has a sexual relationship with someone who is 15, the act is still illegal, but the offender is likely less a risk to reoffend than more severe offenders.

Augusta landlord Larry Fleury, who owns 23 rental properties in Augusta with 170 units, rents to more than a dozen sex offenders in the city.

Fleury said in the 31 years he has rented out apartments in Augusta, he hasn’t had a tenant who was a sex offender commit another sex offense.

“We looked at recidivism rates and found they’re actually less likely to reoffend than people who’ve done other types of things,” Fleury said.

National data also appears to contradict public perception that sex offenders are more likely to commit new crimes than criminals who commit non-sex offenses.

A 2003 federal Bureau of Justice Statistics study of recidivism of more than 9,000 male sex offenders in 15 states released from prison in 1994 found they were less likely to commit new crimes than the 260,000 non-sex offenders released that same year, but more likely than them to commit new sex offenses.

Within the first three years of their release from prison, 24 percent of those sex offenders were reconvicted of a new criminal offense, versus 48 percent of other, non-sex offender criminals over that same time period.
- But that isn't new sexual crimes, it's any new crime, and most of the time it's a technical violation.

However sex offenders were four times more likely to be arrested for a sex crime than other offenders, according to the federal study. Within the first three years following their release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime, while only 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders were arrested for a sex crime.

Sexual violence common among teens. Feeling responsible isn't

Original Article

10/07/2013

By Melissa Healy

Nearly 1 in 10 young Americans between ages 14 and 21 acknowledges having perpetrated an act of sexual violence at least once, and 4% of a nationally representative sample of American kids reported attempting or completing rape, a new study finds.

While those most likely to report initiating unwanted sexual contact in their early to mid-teens were boys, girls were among the perpetrators as the age of respondents increased. Latino and African American youths, and those from low-income families, were less likely to have coerced another person to engage in sex than were whites and those from higher-income families, the study found.

And among perpetrators of sexual violence, consumption of X-rated materials -- specifically those depicting physical harm in the context of sex -- was notably more common than it was among youths who did not report efforts to coerce or force someone else to engage in sex.

The research, published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, appears to be first to gauge how widespread sexual violence is among Americans of high-school and college age. It was based on surveys conducted between October 2010 and March 2012 with 1,058 people ages 14 to 21 who participated in a broader longitudinal study called "Growing Up With Media."

Drawing upon the U.S. Justice Department definitions of sexual violence, the authors of the latest research asked participants whether they had ever engaged in a wide range of behaviors, including kissing, touching, making an unwilling partner do something sexual or coercing or forcing someone who did not want to have sex to do so. That range of behavior might range from sexual harassment to rape, but is generally all defined as sexual violence.

In all, 8% of those responding -- 84 of 1,058 respondents -- reported they had kissed, touched or made someone else do something sexual when they knew the person did not want to (characterized as "forced sexual contact"). About 3% reported they had gotten someone else to give in to sex when the perpetrator knew the other person did not want to (characterized as "coercive sex"). Also, 3% acknowledged attempting rape, meaning that he or she had been unable to force someone else to have sex. And 2% -- a total of 18 individuals -- said they had forced another person to have sex when they knew the person did not want to, a completed rape.

Coercive tactics, including arguing, pressuring, getting angry or making someone feel guilty, were most commonly reported by those who acknowledged attempted or completed rape. And the study found that 75% of the cases of sexual violence occurred in the context of a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Ten of the respondents -- just under 1% -- acknowledged having threatened or used physical force to get someone to engage in sex.

While vaginal sex was the most common form of forced or coerced sex sought, it was closely followed by oral sex.

The study also found that perpetrators of sexual violence of all types were unlikely to accept responsibility for their acts. One in seven believed that he or she was "not at all responsible for what happened," and almost 4 in 10 said they considered the victim somewhat or completely responsible for the reported incident. And only two of the respondents reported being arrested for the transgression.

The authors said that the rarity with which perpetrators either are caught or assume responsibility for their actions underscores the importance of "bystander" training and intervention in U.S. high schools and colleges. Such training emphasizes the responsibility of peers not only to discourage and prevent negative behavior within their group or community, but also to recognize, stop or report such behavior when they witness it. Widely used in anti-bullying campaigns, bystander intervention is now gaining ground on college campuses as a means of reducing sexual violence.

The study was conducted by Michele L. Ybarra of the Center for Innovative Public Health Research in San Clemente, CA, and Kimberly Mitchell of the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center.

[For the Record, 5:42 p.m. PDT Oct. 7: An earlier online version of this story said the study was based on survey results from 1,062 people; there were 1,058 people.]

NH - Local lawmaker proposes bill to study sex offender registry

Original Article

01/22/2013

By Danielle Rivard

A local lawmaker hopes to prompt a study of the state’s sex offender registry.

State Rep. Timothy N. Robertson, D-Keene, says each sex offender’s case should be treated individually instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.

There are different levels of punishment for different types of sex offenses, and Robertson says offenders should not automatically have to register at the level their crimes are associated with, for example if someone is convicted of a felony, they are at a different level of the registry than someone convicted of a lesser crime.

A 30-year-old man who sexually assaulted a 4-year-old child should not get the same punishment as a 20-year-old who was drunk and “seduced” by a 15-year-old girl who looks mature for her age, he said.

Robertson authored a bill this year to create a team of three state representatives and two senators to review and study the effects of the sex offender registry.

Federal law requires people convicted of sex crimes to register with the state as sex offenders; their names and addresses are publicly available.

There are three tiers of sex offender registration, based on the type of crime committed. One tier requires the offender to be on the registry for 10 years, while the other two require the offender to be on the registry for life.

The bill states as part of its study, the committee will evaluate whether any changes to the registry’s law should be made and to determine whether certain offenders should be allowed to ask the court to be removed from the registry after a period of time.

As a member of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, Robertson said he’s seen many different sex offender cases, such as the case of the 20-year-old man and the 15-year-old girl.

A few 20-year-old men were drinking together at a party and some girls who looked of age showed up. One of the men who never met one of the girls before had sex with her because she was willing, Robertson said in a recent interview.

It turns out the girl was 15, on probation, and told her probation officer what happened. The probation officer then had no choice but to have the man arrested, who then served four years in prison for it, Robertson said.

Since the man got out of prison he has never committed another crime and has been trying to make a living for himself. But he still has to report to police every few days and for the rest of his life he’s considered a child molester, Robertson said.

“There has to be a way to have (the man’s) punishment modified,” Robertson said. “I don’t believe in fixed sentences.”

Advocates for sexual assault victims at the Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention in Keene say they are in favor the committee’s creation because it will evaluate the sex offender registry laws.

From this, advocates hope to see more thorough assessments of offenders when their cases are reviewed.

But the bigger issue is the lack of prosecution on sexual assault cases and the safety of the public, advocates say.

Because there are too few prosecutions of sex assaults to begin with, the bill raises a different discussion “that is in favor of what we really need to be doing about sexual violence and sexual assaults on adults and children,” said Robin P. Christopherson, executive director of the center.

The sex offender registry is one tool meant to protect victims, Christopherson said. But the problem is that perpetrators often get charges reduced so they don’t have to register as a sex offender, and that protection is lost, she said.

Robertson’s bill will be assigned to a House committee, which will review the bill and hold a public hearing on it.

Ky. sex offenders win case

View the article here

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

04/21/2007

Judge says new rules don't apply retroactively

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fairness 2007 Legislative Summary (04/23/2007)

View the article here

Fairness for Prisoners’ Families

2007 Georgia General Assembly

Legislative Summary - April 23, 2007

The 2007 Georgia General Assembly came to a close on Friday night. The Governor is expected to announce details this week of a Special Session to address the budget for the last two months of 2007.

Fairness for Prisoners’ Families and the Southern Center for Human Rights owe a debt of gratitude to our friends and colleagues at the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the Georgia Innocence Project. To quote Mother Jones, “We do not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each other: ‘We must be together; our masters are joined together and we must do the same thing.’"

Thanks to all the members of Fairness and the readers of this bulletin who took action this session. Thank you for your solidarity!

Two victories this year addressed wrongful convictions. House Resolution 352 creates the House Study Committee on Eyewitness Identification Procedures. HR 352 was introduced by Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Dekalb) to allow for a process for the legislature to thoroughly explore Georgia's procedures for eyewitness identification. This comes in the wake of Willie O. "Pete" Williams' exoneration in January after more than 21 years in prison on a wrongful rape conviction has raised the issue of eyewitness error for the second year. All six of the men whose convictions have been thrown out by DNA evidence in Georgia were prosecuted based on eyewitness testimony. Additionally, House Resolution 102 gives $1.2 million compensation after being wrongfully incarcerated for 25 years to Robert Clark, exonerated by DNA evidence in 2005.

Sometimes the victories of a legislative session can be better measured by looking at the bad laws that did not pass. Below are some of these bad bills that we were able to stop this year:

HB 185 would have allowed death penalty verdicts to be handed down with only 9 of the 12 jury members in agreement. There was tremendous opposition to this legislation and compelling testimony presented in committee from attorneys (including former prosecutors) , faith-based organizations, and Georgia citizens. This bill was ultimately struck down unanimously by the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the last week of the session.

SB 129 would have allowed for the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) to charge people in prison co-payments for medication. However, we know that no one in Georgia prisons can earn money; so ultimately, SB 129 was ultimately an additional tax on the families who have a loved one in prison. Members of Fairness testified against this measure in a Senate committee and rather than passing the bill, the committee placed the bill in a subcommittee (that we’re happy to say never met) to be studied further.

HB 527 would have allowed for private probation companies to supervise people convicted on nonviolent felonies and charge them a minimum $50 monthly supervision fee. Currently, private probation companies supervise misdemeanors, charge “supervision” fees of around $30 per month that most people cannot afford, offer no actual supervision, and charge extra if the person is required to attend drug treatment or other counseling. We joined Judges, Sheriffs, and the GDC in opposition to this measure and succeeded in stopping the bill from expanding private probation.

SB 1 would have made it illegal for people on the sex offender registry to take photographs of minors. It allowed for no exceptions for parents on the registry taking pictures of their own children nor did it excuse unintentional photographing of children in public places. As this legislation made its way through the legislature, our allies succeeded in amending the language to allow for pictures to be taken if the child’s parent consents. Ultimately, the House did not take action on this bill.

Here is the list of bills that were still pending as the session came to an end along with their current status:

Corrections Bills

• HB 313: Moves the Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) Program under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Correctional Industries Administration. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
• SB 34: Prohibits a person in prison for a sex offense from possessing a photograph of the victim of the offense for which he or she is serving time. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
  

Sex Offense Bills

• HB 314: Requires that people convicted of certain sex offenses who receive a sentence of probation to provide DNA samples. Language from SB 1 and SB 249 was removed on the Senate floor. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
• SB 1: Prohibits people on the sex offender registry to take pictures of children. It does allow parents to consent to someone on the registry (including themselves) taking photos of their children. It also guards against the taking of pictures of children who might accidentally wander into a scene. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
• SB 54: Re-writes the incest statute to be gender neutral. Passed as included in HB 314.
• SB 249: Sheriff’s Association Legislation that clarifies and changes some registration requirements. Also includes a provision to allow for elderly and disabled people to petition the court to be exempt from residency restrictions. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
  

Criminal Procedure, Sentencing, and Death Penalty Bills

• HB 185: Allows a judge to impose a death sentence on a defendant even if two jurors vote against it. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
• HB 197: Abolishes Georgia’s Sentence Review Panel. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature. Now includes language from SB 97.
• HR 352: Creates the House Study Committee on Eyewitness Identification Procedures. Adopted by the House
• SB 97: Requires lawyers to state with specificity their objections to the jury charges prior to deliberations, or waive them. Passed as part of HB 197.
• SB 145: Allows for prosecutors to seek life without parole sentences for murder without having to seek the death penalty. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
  

Indigent Defense

• HB 586: Limits the amount of money that the state must pay for capital defense; the county must pay the balance. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
• SB 139: Transfers the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council from the judicial branch to the executive branch. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
  

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

With hope and solidarity,

Sara

Sara J. Totonchi
Public Policy Director
Southern Center for Human Rights
83 Poplar Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404/688-1202 voice
404/688-9440 fax
stotonchi@schr.org