OTTAWA – The federal government plans to create a publicly accessible database of high-risk child sex offenders as part of a bill that takes aim at those who prey on young people. The legislation introduced Wednesday would also require registered sex offenders to provide more information when they travel abroad and permit more sharing of information between federal agencies. In addition, the bill proposes making those convicted of child sex crimes against multiple children to serve their sentences consecutively. “Make no mistake about it,” said Justice Minister Peter MacKay. “If you sexually…
Read MoreTag: Internet
Sexual Predators Online
Myth #4: Social media put teens at great risk from sexual predators. In a nationwide survey, boyd and her colleagues found that 93 percent of parents were concerned that their child might meet a stranger online who would hurt them, while only one percent of them indicated that any of their own children had ever had such an experience. By far the biggest fear expressed by parents was of “sexual predators,” “child molesters,” “pedophiles,” and “sex offenders” who might contact their child through their online participation. This mirrors the fears,…
Read MoreVA: Teen Girl Accused Of Posting Nude Selfies, Arrested For Child Porn
A 16-year-old Virginia girl is facing child pornography charges, after police say she posted photos of herself naked on Twitter. Authorities received an anonymous tip describing the photos, which were posted to Twitter around Jan. 30. The girl, a student in James City County, admitted to posting “multiple” lewd photos of herself to the social networking website last week, according to police. Full Article
Read MoreDennis Sobin Wins In Court – with Video Interview (from W.A.R.)
(WASHINGTON, DC, January 28, 2014) — Today the leaders of WAR and its members staged a protest rally today on the steps of the DC Superior Court in support of Dennis Sobin, a registered sex offender in DC who posted online pictures of the government employees who do the same to him. In a total victory for WAR, Dennis Sobin, and free speech, Judge Todd E. Edelman ruled that distributing and posting online pictures of court employees by registered sex offenders forced to interact with them is a form of…
Read MoreFL: law enforcement may have entrapped alleged sexual predators
PINELLAS COUNTY, Florida – A document obtained by 10 News indicates law enforcement may have crossed the line when trying to round up alleged sexual predators over the weekend — and defense attorneys say entrapment cases could be built around the evidence. The multi-agency sting, led by the Pinellas Co. Sheriff’s Office and Clearwater Police Department, netted 35 arrests in “Operation Home Alone.” The effort was coordinated by the region’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. ICAC guidelines instruct undercover officers to “allow the investigative target to set the tone, pace, and…
Read MoreSheriff Department Launches Sex Offender Watch System
STANISLAUS COUNTY – Sheriff Adam Christianson has announced the launch of a new service called OffenderWatch, a public notification system on sex offenders. The new service is a citizen-friendly, easy to use website that enables people to search for potentially dangerous sex offenders and predators, who may be in close proximity to their homes, places of work, schools, churches and day care centers. Full Article
Read MoreSex offender can continue to post photos, judge says
A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that a convicted sex offender can distribute and post photos of court employees online to protest the city’s sex offender registry. ____ ____, a former pornographer who served more than a decade in prison for a sexual performance using a minor, posted the photos of employees from D.C.’s Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) on idiotsregistry.info saying that sex-offender registries are unfair. A court employee filed for a civil protection order, accused him of stalking and asked the court to have ____…
Read MoreSex offender fights registry by registering his registerers [updated]
UPDATED with related story If nothing else, ____ ____ is not your typical ex-con. At first glance, he looks like the model returning citizen: After serving more than a decade in prison, ____, 70, returned to the District, started a gallery for prison art and ran for mayor. … So, for his latest act, ____ has decided to protest his treatment by creating his own online data base and registering the people who monitor him at the sex offender registry. Full Article Related: Dennis Sobin Has a Registery for People Who…
Read MorePetition: Pardon all people arrested and coviction of Internet Sex Stings
The internet sex stings concerning the solicitation of a minor are unconstitutional and do nothing more than test the will of average law-abiding males with consensual sex. These stings do not protect anyone because teens do not typically search for adults to have sex with on adult sites. These stings are nothing more than entrapment and the courts do not see the damage nor the rights of all involved. These stings are done on adult websites where age verification is required. Law enforcement posing as minors who are posing as…
Read MoreALERT: Serial killer targeting registered sex offenders in New Hampshire
There is a serial killer at large in Keene, New Hampshire. The killer is targeting individuals whose names and addresses appear on New Hampshire’s Registry of Criminal Offenders and whose residences are pinpointed on the Keene Police Department’s online “CrimeReports” map. This killer has struck twice in the past three months, killing one man and severely maiming another. Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform is asking the State of New Hampshire and the City of Keene to take immediate steps to prevent further tragedy by taking down the State’s online sex offender registry…
Read MoreWebsites will no longer bill to remove mug shots
TOLEDO, Ohio – Two Internet sites that make money by posting millions of mug shots of people who’ve been arrested have agreed to stop charging them to take down their photos as part of a settlement in a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit came about after a number of complaints from people who said the websites were charging hundreds of dollars to remove the mug shots even if the cases against those arrested had been dropped. The settlement in U.S. District Court in Toledo doesn’t apply to all of the mug…
Read MoreWA: Court postpones decision on releasing sex-offender registration forms [UPDATED]
UPDATE 1/30: Judge rules sex offender data in Benton County not public information YAKIMA, Wash. — A Columbia Basin woman seeking the names of all low-level sex offenders in Yakima County will have to wait another month to learn if she’ll get the list. A public records request by Mesa resident Donna Zink, who has sought similar lists in other counties in order to post the names on her website, has been on hold after a group of offenders last month obtained a temporary injunction against the release. On Wednesday, Yakima County…
Read MoreNV: New Law Puts More Sex Offenders on the Map
LAS VEGAS — People may soon find out there are more sex offenders living in their neighborhood than they thought. That is because a newly enforced state law is about to re-define who is considered a sex offender who must register. Judges and child welfare advocates say that it is going to be more difficult to tell who is a sexual predator because the sex offender map is now going to flag anyone who has committed a sexual offense, even those who teenagers at the time. The starting point for being…
Read MoreID: E-mail Notifications Feature Added to Idaho State Sex Offender Registry System
Citizens can now elect to receive e-mail notifications when a sex offender in their neighborhood moves to a new location. When interested persons register for this new service, they can specify the given radius of the area they desire to keep tabs on. Additionally, if a person is interested in being notified when a particular registrant moves, there is a link provided under the picture on each registrant’s page that reads, “Track Registrant.” When the user clicks on the link, they will be asked to provide the e-mail address where notifications…
Read MoreLawmakers, Credit Card Companies Take Aim at Mug Shot Websites
For people who find their faces splashed across mug shot websites, even if they were later found innocent of the crimes, it can haunt them for the rest of their lives. Now, lawmakers and even credit card companies are stepping in to help protect people from further humiliation. Owners of mug shot websites will post the photos released by police departments with the person’s name and information. Many then make money by charging people, sometimes hundreds of dollars, to have a mug shot removed. Dozens of these sites exist and can…
Read MoreO.C. supervisors reject Megan’s Law-style website for vicious dogs
Orange County won’t be creating a Megan’s Law-style website for dangerous dogs any time soon. The county Board of Supervisors had been considering creating an online database listing the addresses of homes where dangerous dogs are kept, but on Tuesday a majority of supervisors said they don’t support such a site. “I think that whole area needs a lot more study before we go in that direction,” said Supervisor Patricia Bates. … … Bates said she worried it might be difficult for owners to get their dogs removed from the site even…
Read MoreTX: Online solicitation statute ruled unconstitutional
In a surprising decision – both for its unanimous outcome and the unlikely reference to Miley Cyrus “twerking” in a Texas judicial opinion – the Court of Criminal Appeals today declared Texas Penal Code §33.021(b), criminalizing online solicitation of a minor, “facially unconstitutional” in a habeas corpus writ styled Ex Parte John Christopher Lo. See their unanimous opinion (pdf) written by Judge Cathy Cochran which ruled that the statute is “overbroad because it prohibits a wide array of constitutionally protected speech and is not narrowly drawn to achieve only the legitimate objective of…
Read MoreCanada: Op-Ed – The danger of the sex-offender database
Stephen Harper has announced that his government will create a database of sex offenders who target children in Canada that the public can search through, once Parliament returns on Oct. 16. The National Sex Offender Registry that the RCMP currently operates is not available to the public. While Harper did not give extensive details for implementing his scheme for a searchable database, it is cause for grave concern that it’s even under contemplation. “We do not understand why child predators do the heinous things they do, and in all frankness,…
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