Judge: Ruling against sex offender stands

See earlier story.

1-7-2011 Wisconsin:

Burlington-area man took photos of children in '09 without parents' consent

RACINE - A Town of Burlington man unsuccessfully challenged a state law that prohibits sex offenders from photographing children without their parents' consent, after he was charged here for doing exactly that.

John Rindo, 64, of the 3000 block of Cottonwood Court, is on the sex offender registry for a 1991 conviction from Washburn County for sexual assault of a child. He was on a pontoon boat on Browns Lake on July 11, 2009, when he allegedly used a telephoto lens to photograph teen and preteen girls who were on a swim raft.

Other people on the lake that day reported his actions to law enforcement. When asked, the girls' parents told law enforcement they had not given Rindo permission to photograph their daughters.

Defense attorney John Birdsall filed several motions challenging the charges against his client. He argued the statute is too broad and infringes upon his client's right to free expression through photography, and that the statute enacted eight years after Rindo completed serving his sentence amounts to retroactive punishment for his crime.

But Circuit Court Judge Gene Gasiorkiewicz said legislators are able to pass laws restricting certain rights in the interest of protecting the public. Gasiorkiewicz said the statute appropriately puts the restriction on a small group of people - sex offenders on the registry - and gives them the ability to get around the restriction by getting permission from parents.

This is appropriate, Gasiorkiewicz said, in part because of the high re-offense rate for sex offenders. He read from several studies, and said those showed "the mere taking of photos of children in swimwear can serve as a source of arousal with respect to known sex offenders."

He said he believes the restriction also protects sex offenders. This kind of prohibition, he told Rindo, is also a treatment strategy "to help you by keeping yourself away from situations ... which will create you back into a situation where you may be aroused or get back into criminal activity," he said.

Taking pictures of children, Gasiorkiewicz said, even ones that are not suggestive, "may be a pretext to getting engaged with (the children), or getting them involved with the sex offender."

Birdsall said they intend to appeal the judge's decision. He believes this is the first time anyone has challenged this law in court. ..Source.. by Janine Anderson