Convicted Pedophile Appeals Life Sentences

2-13-2013 Oregon:

A convicted serial pedophile filed an appeal on the multiple life sentences handed down by a Jackson County Circuit Court judge months before the Oregon Supreme Court sanctioned the judge over comments he made at the man’s sentencing, court records show.

In October 2011, a jury found Richard Lee Taylor, 60, of Medford, guilty of five counts each of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree sodomy; and three counts each of first- and second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. The jury found each count to be a separate and distinct incident of abuse, which laid out the foundation for the life sentences, said Jackson County prosecutor Adam Peterson.

In January 2012, Judge Tim Barnack sentenced Taylor, who had two previous convictions in Oregon and California for sexually abusing children, to 21 life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Barnack said Tuesday that Taylor had received due process during his trial, and that he had sentenced Taylor based on statutory requirements. Barnack declined further comment, noting he still has jurisdiction in the case.

Peterson said filing an appeal is “standard practice in all criminal cases of this sort.” A notice of appeals must be filed within 30 days, Peterson said, stressing he has received no notice that Taylor has been granted a retrial or a resentencing.

“I absolutely agree with the jury’s verdicts in this case, And I feel justice was done for the victims,” Peterson said.

Barnack was sanctioned by the state Supreme Court for berating Taylor during the sentencing. Barnack, a former Jackson County prosecutor, called Taylor a “piece of s—-” when he declined to comment or apologize at the sentencing. Barnack then continued to excoriate Taylor, telling him he didn’t belong outside a prison cell, and community members would wonder why he wasn’t hanging from a tree.

Barnack’s comments resulted in a sanction from the Supreme Court. The court said his behavior violated the Oregon Code of Judicial Conduct which requires a judge to “observe high standards of conduct so that integrity, impartiality, and independence of the judiciary are preserved.” Barnack has since apologized to the court, and has taken steps to prevent a recurrence, the court stated in its censure.

Taylor previously served a short prison term after pleading guilty to lesser charges in the same case, but Barnack said significant new evidence made it possible to reopen the case. Taylor also has a past conviction for sexual abuse in California, prosecutors said in asking for a life sentence.

Taylor’s public defender, Andy Vandergaw, objected to the life sentences, saying the particulars of his client’s California conviction were not fully known to the court. Vandergaw in January requested a lesser sentence for Taylor. He did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

At the sentencing, Peterson described Taylor as “nothing short of a sexual predator.” Saying Taylor was “a danger to any community,” Peterson asked for the life sentences under an Oregon sentencing guideline that allows prosecutors to seek a life sentence if a person is convicted of a third felony sex crime.

The case began in October 2009 when word reached a local school official that Taylor had sexually abused two 12-year-old boys. The boys were not fully cooperative with police in the initial investigation, so Taylor pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse and escaped a long prison sentence. He was sentenced to one year in jail and released in October 2010.

But while cleaning out Taylor’s apartment following his release, his brother-in-law found about 30 videos that included child pornography. The recordings showed Taylor sexually abusing the victims in the previous case, who this time fully cooperated with investigators, leading to the new trial and the life sentences imposed by Barnack. ..Source.. by Sanne Specht

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

E-mail Notifications Feature Added to Idaho State Sex Offender Registry System

12-27-2013 Idaho:

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 can be sent.

The link to subscribe to the service is located on the Idaho State Police website.

The sex offender website already allows people to look up neighbors in their area who are on the Idaho Sex Offender Registry list. Their address and criminal convictions can also be viewed.

The upgrade to the system that includes e-mail notifications was made possible due funding from federal grants.

The Bureau of Criminal Identification has been responsible for Idaho's sex offender registration since it began operation on July 1, 1993.

The Idaho Legislature expanded the public's right to access the information on the registry in 1998 with the passage of the "Sexual Offenders Registration Notification and Community Right-to-Know Act."

Users of the information in the Idaho Sex Offender Registry are reminded that the information is provided only for the purpose of protecting the public. It is not to be used for the purpose of harassing or intimidating anyone.

A person who uses registry information to commit a criminal act against another person is subject to arrest and prosecution under sections 18-8326 or 18-8413, Idaho Code. ..Source.. by Journal Staff

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Missouri Supreme Court overturns dismissal of charge against Springfield sex offender

12-27-2013 Missouri:

A Springfield sex offender who had a charge thrown out three years ago can now be prosecuted.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Edwin F. Carey, 51, and two other defendants can be prosecuted under a law barring convicted sex offenders from being within 500 feet of public parks that have swimming pools or playground equipment.

At issue was whether the law violated a ban in the state Constitution against retrospective laws. All three men had been convicted of a sexual offense before the statute was adopted.

Carey was convicted of second-degree statutory sodomy in Scott County in 1997. In 2010, he was charged in Greene County with being a sex offender within 500 feet of a park.

Carey’s charge was initially dismissed because the law making it illegal for a sex offender to be that close to a park was enacted in 2002, long after his 1997 conviction.

The attorney for Carey, and for the others, had argued that the rule on retrospective laws applied to both civil issues and criminal penalties.

The divided Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the prohibition on being near such parks is a criminal law, so the prohibition against retrospective laws does not apply.

The members of the court said because the law against sex offenders being near a park is a criminal statue, “the circuit court erred in dismissing the charges against ... Carey on the ground the the statute was unconstitutionally retrospective as applied to (him).”

Supreme Court Judge Zel Fischer wrote in the majority opinion that the park law is part of the criminal code, uses the language of a criminal provision and does not depend upon someone’s registration as a sex offender. He said the law also carries a severe punishment.

“The General Assembly intended for this statute to punish felons, who had been convicted of committing specific, enumerated crimes, for engaging in future conduct that the General Assembly determined should be prohibited,” Fischer wrote.

Three of the court’s seven judges agreed with Fischer.

There was a dissenting opinion filed by Judge George Draper, who agreed with the dismissal of Carey’s case, saying the section about sex offenders being near parks should be construed as a civil law and subject to “retrospective examination.”

Draper said the law is designed to protect the public from harm and derives from the requirement for sex offenders to register, which has been deemed nonpunitive and civil in nature.

Draper was joined by two other judges in his opinion.

Carey’s dismissal was reversed and remanded to Greene County Circuit Court.

The Supreme Court case also included reviews of the cases involving the other two sex offenders: Jason Reece Peterson’s dismissed Carroll County case and Michael Wade’s conviction in St. Louis County. ..Source.. by Stephen Herzog

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Pedophilia Is A Sexual Orientation, Canadian Experts Say

12-26-2013 Canada:

Doctors in Canada say pedophilia is a sexual orientation that is partly wired in the brain and can’t be changed.

After a decade of research, Dr. James Cantor and his team at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health say some people are born pedophiles, meaning they are primarily sexually attracted to children.

Researchers say one to five percent of all men are pedophiles.

“It’s become harder and harder to explain pedophilia on just (early childhood events),” said Cantor. “It’s either purely biological or a mix of biological and experiential. But pure experience can’t explain these data.”

Cantor says physical traits, determined before birth, are predictors for pedophilia — making it “prenatal.”

Researchers examined male sex offenders using MRIs and found that they have less connective tissue in their brain than other criminal offenders.

Cantor described these sex offenders as having “cross-wiring” in the brain. Things that typically inspire nurturing or protective responses from adults, evoke sexual reactions in pedophiles.

But pedophilia expert Dr. Michael Seto says sex offenders and pedophiles must be distinguished.

“Not all sex offenders who target children are pedophiles, and not all pedophiles are sex offenders,” said Seto, forensic researcher with the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

He said only 50 to 60 percent of sex offenders are pedophiles.

Canada recently announced tougher punishment for child predators, but Seto said this is a misguided. He says these measures will “further drive individuals underground.”

“It could also lead to problems that decrease the likelihood they can successfully be integrated,” he said.

“Right now, it's really slanted so that the treatment services are for people who have gotten into trouble,” he said. “Obviously, we need that, but I think where there is a big gap is in terms of prevention. How do we reach people who are sexually attracted to children and are aware of it?”

Seto argues that labeling pedophilia as a sexual orientation could prevent child sex abuse.

“Pedophiles will remain hidden if they continue to be hated and feared, which would impede efforts to better understand this sexual orientation and thereby prevent child sexual exploitation,” he wrote. ..Source.. by Sarah Fruchtnicht

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Life without parole for juveniles is struck down in Massachusetts

12-26-2013 Massachusetts:

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck down a judge’s power to choose to give a life sentence without parole to juveniles.

The unanimous ruling by the state’s highest court came after the U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down mandatory life sentences for minors. The state’s top court went further in its Tuesday ruling, saying that even discretionary sentences should be banned.

“Given the unique characteristics of juvenile offenders, they should be afforded, in appropriate circumstances, the opportunity to be considered for parole suitability,” the court wrote in its decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court limited the use of life in prison for murderers under age 18, deciding that that judges must consider the defendants' youth and the nature of the crime before putting them behind bars with no hope for parole. In a 5-4 decision, the high court struck down as cruel and unusual punishment the laws in about 28 states that mandated a life term for murderers, including those under age 18.

In the state ruling, the court used elements of the same argument about proportionality of the punishment to the crime and noted the special conditions for juveniles who are still developing.

"Given current scientific research on adolescent brain development, and the myriad significant ways that this development impacts a juvenile's personality and behavior, a conclusive showing of traits such as an 'irretrievably depraved character,' can never be made, with integrity, by the Commonwealth at an individualized hearing to determine whether a sentence of life without parole should be imposed on a juvenile homicide offender.

"Simply put, because the brain of a juvenile is not fully developed, either structurally or functionally, by the age of eighteen, a judge cannot find with confidence that a particular offender, at that point in time, is irretrievably depraved. Therefore, it follows that the judge cannot ascertain, with any reasonable degree of certainty, whether imposition of this most severe punishment is warranted," the court wrote.

The ruling came in the case of Gregory Diatchenko, who was 17 in 1981 when he murdered a man in a car in Kenmore Square. He has been in prison for more than three decades. The court ruled that he was eligible to be considered for parole immediately.

Officials have said 61 other inmates in Massachusetts are in the same position as Diatchenko. ..Source.. by Michael Muskal

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Man Must Register as Lifetime Sex Offender For Relations With His Now-Wife

12-24-2013 California:

A married man has had to register as a sex offender for the past 24 years because of a consensual sexual act that occurred when he was 19 and his then-girlfriend, now-wife, was 17.

Lonny Leon Rivera, 43, was caught by police in 1989 for having "consensual, voluntary relations" with his 17-year-old girlfriend, Courthouse News Service reported. He pleaded guilty to a single count of oral copulation with a minor, which requires lifetime registration as a sex offender in California.

Now Rivera is pleading with the court to remove the charge so he doesn't have to keep living under the onus of sex offender status.

While Rivera originally registered, he did not update his information annually as required. In 2012, California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a criminal complaint for failure to register as a sex offender.

Rivera is now petitioning to have the status removed, claiming that the law that pinned it on him is unconstitutional.

Due to a quirk in California state law, "oral copulation" with a minor receives a heavier sentence than statutory rape, which does not require lifetime registration as a sex offender. Rivera cited the California case People v. Hofsheier in which the California Supreme Court deemed the disparity in the punishments for these two offenses unconstitutional. ..Continued.. by Allison Geller

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

WV State Police Release New App

This App mught be the greatest thing since 7-UP, but if they don't tell you the name of the App no one is going to be able to find it or use it. Nothing on WV State Police site either.

UPDATE: For both Android or Apple, search for WV State Police (Thanks to SOISSUES for finding this)

12-24-2013 West Virginia:

Every county in West Virginia has a detachment of the State Police, but now you won't even have to go there to get all the latest information from your local troopers, thanks to the State Police's brand new app. The new software is available for iPhone and Android phones, and includes access to the state tip line and sex offender registry, and much more.

"There's links to our Twitter and Facebook accounts, so you can get up-to-date information from the state police and follow the type of incidents that have been reported across the state and media reports as well," said WVSP First Sergeant Michael Baylous.

While it's a great tool to share information with the public, local law enforcement will also benefit from the app. Lewis County Chief Deputy Randy Hyre says it will help spread the word faster when people go missing; something that's essential early on in an investigation.

"The faster and the more people that's got it, the better off you're going to be, because when you have cases involving missing people or seniors, the first few hours is the most important," said Hyre.

The app is still new and Baylous says even though it's been released, it's still a work in progress, and will change to meet the needs of the people who use it, to share information in the most efficient way possible.

"In the twenty years I've been in law enforcement, wow, technology has just exploded, and it's going to continue to evolve. If we're going to be successful, we're going to have to evolve with it, and we're going to have to make changes to the way we conduct business as well," Baylous said.

Baylous added that the State Police will take suggestions about what could be included on the app. He said it's far from a completed work and they'll keep an eye out to see how its used by the public. ..Source.. by Alex Hines, Lewis, Gilmer, Barbour and Randolph County Reporter

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Is pedophilia a sexual orientation?

12-22-2013 Canada:

Dr. James Cantor of CAMH has shown pedophilia is like a sexual orientation — a deep attraction that cannot change. Now, pedophiles who have never molested children are seeking social acceptance.

Pedophilia has been widely viewed as a psychological disorder triggered by early childhood trauma.

Now, many experts see it as a biologically rooted condition that does not change — like a sexual orientation — thanks largely to a decade of research by Dr. James Cantor at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Cantor’s team has found that pedophiles share a number of physical characteristics, including differences in brain wiring. It’s now thought that about 1 to 5 per cent of men are pedophiles, meaning they are primarily attracted to children.

These findings have been widely accepted among scientists, but have had little impact on social attitudes or law. However, we are left with the alarming question: if some men are born pedophiles, what should society do with them?

Bolstered by this research, pedophiles who have never molested children are seeking social acceptance.

‘We can resist’

Ethan Edwards has always loved little girls.

For years, he told himself his feelings were protective and loving, nothing more. But when he hit 50, he found he couldn’t stifle his desires any longer.

“I realized that young girls certainly took my breath away, more than grown-ups are usually charmed by kids,” he says.

Edwards, using a pseudonym, wrote about this realization on Virtuous Pedophiles, a website he co-founded for pedophiles who have never molested children. The group says their attraction is one they were born with and cannot change, but can control.

Edwards says the goal of Virtuous Pedophiles is to prevent child abuse, by reducing the stigma against non-offender pedophiles.

“We do not choose to be attracted to children, and we cannot make that attraction go away,” reads the website, which has about 200 members.

“But we can resist the temptation to abuse children sexually, and many of us present no danger to children whatsoever. Yet we are despised for having a sexual attraction that we did not choose, cannot change, and successfully resist.”

The biology of pedophiles

Sitting inside his office at the College St. research hospital, Cantor is surrounded by books on sexology and eccentric decor — a framed sign that reads “Data Is My Porn,” a throw pillow that spells “penis” in Braille.

Down the hall at the Kurt Freund Phallometric Lab, Cantor’s research team conducts experiments on convicted sex offenders. The men view nude images of children and adults of both sexes, while a device measures blood flow to their penises.

The method, called phallometry and invented by Freund in the 1950s, accurately measures sexual interests in 90 per cent of men, Cantor says.

“It’s the most obvious test in the world,” he says. “The procedure gives us a relative measure of how he reacts to the adult categories versus the child categories.”

His team has found that pedophiles share many physical characteristics. They are shorter, on average, than other men. They are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous. Their IQs are about 10 to 15 points lower. Finally, they are more prone to childhood head injuries — which Cantor chalks up to a natural clumsiness.

These physical characteristics are determined before birth, so the explanation for pedophilia must be in part prenatal, Cantor says.

“It’s become harder and harder to explain pedophilia on just (early childhood events). It’s either purely biological or a mix of biological and experiential. But pure experience can’t explain these data.”

Cantor, an internationally respected clinical psychologist, has also conducted studies with sex offenders using MRIs. He has found they have less white matter — the connective tissue that carries messages to other parts of the brain — than other types of criminal offenders.

The evidence suggests pedophilia results from atypical wiring in the brain. Cantor calls it “cross-wiring”: the stimuli that usually evoke nurturing and protective reactions in adults is instead evoking sexual reactions in pedophiles.

Similar experiments are being conducted across the globe, most notably at Berlin’s Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, but Cantor’s research has greatly influenced the view among researchers that pedophilia has a biological basis.

Pedophiles are thought to be overwhelmingly men. About a third of those men prefer boys, about a third prefer girls, and a third will be attracted to both.

Although female sex offenders exist, they are rare and it is more difficult to test their desires. Queen’s University sexologist Dr. Meredith Chiversconducted a similar genital-based test on women, but found, curiously, that females respond to everything — including images of bonobos copulating. (One theory is that during evolution, women developed this response as an automatic defence mechanism for rape.)

Some researchers disagree on whether the brain differences in pedophiles occurred before birth or in early development. Regardless, many are coming around to the view that pedophiles cannot be “cured” — but some can be stopped from molesting children.

Preventing child abuse

“Not all sex offenders who target children are pedophiles, and not all pedophiles are sex offenders,” says Dr. Michael Seto, a pedophilia expert and forensic researcher with the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

Seto, a former colleague of Cantor’s at CAMH, has found that only 50 to 60 per cent of convicted sex offenders are pedophiles. The rest have sexually abused children for reasons beyond attraction — personality disorders, chaotic households or violent impulses.

His research has focused on psychological traits shared by sex offenders, potentially providing insight into why some pedophiles molest children, while other “virtuous” pedophiles like Edwards are apparently able to control their urges. ..Continued.. by Laura Kane News reporter

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

No Decisions Made on Sex Offender Information Request

12-20-2013 Washington:

A Benton County judge makes no final decisions today on whether or not to grant a Mesa woman information sh'es been requesting for months on low-level sex offenders.

Former Mesa Mayor Donna Zink asked for information on all sex offenders in the area this past summer, she was granted her request for higher level sex offender information but not low level.

She made another request more recently for the county to release 80,000 emails with information pertaining to sex offender information.

The court is required to inform low level sex offenders about the request and in doing so four low level sex offenders filed lawsuits against having their information released.

The judge still has more to review and will make a decision in a few weeks. ..Source.. by Lida Alikhani

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Virginia appeals court exonerates man wrongly convicted of sexual assault

12-20-2013 Virginia:

The Virginia Court of Appeals on Friday exonerated a man who spent four years in prison for a sexual assault he didn't commit.

A three-judge panel of the court unanimously granted Johnathan Montgomery's petition for a writ of actual innocence Friday, saying there was no evidence to support his conviction after his accuser admitted lying. Montgomery was convicted in 2009 of forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and animate object sexual penetration — based solely on Elizabeth Paige Coast's testimony.

Coast eventually confessed to lying and was sentenced in August to two months in jail for perjury, paving the way for Montgomery's exoneration.

"Absent Coast's original testimony, the record contains no evidence of Montgomery's guilt," the appeals court said. "There are no witnesses who testified that the incident ever occurred. There is no physical evidence that a crime ever happened. The record is entirely devoid of any evidence that incriminates Montgomery."

Montgomery's attorney, Jon M. Talotta, said he was thrilled Montgomery was cleared.

"Securing the petition of actual innocence will allow him to celebrate the holidays with his family as a free man," Talotta said.

Coast originally claimed Montgomery molested her in Hampton in 2000 when she was 10 and he was 14. She said last year that she made up the story when she was 17 to explain her behavior after her parents caught her looking at adult material on the Internet. She said she blamed Montgomery because he had moved out of state and she didn't think anything would happen to him.

Soon after Coast admitted lying, Gov. Bob McDonnell granted Montgomery a conditional pardon, freeing him from prison but leaving intact his conviction and the requirement that he register as a sex offender. One of the conditions of the pardon was that Montgomery would seek a writ of actual innocence in the appeals court.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli supported the petition and argued in person on Montgomery's behalf before the appeals court last month.

"We're gratified for the court's quick decision in exonerating Johnathan, and we're glad for this early Christmas present for him," Cuccinelli said in a written statement. "I'm thankful that justice has finally been served."

At the November hearing, the appeals court expressed concern that McDonnell might have created a constitutional separation of powers problem by making a full pardon contingent on the court's approval of the innocence petition. The court ruled that while it may not properly participate in the clemency process, it could still exercise its independent authority to consider a writ of actual innocence. ..Source.. by LARRY O'DELL

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

John Ryan Confirmed as National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's President and CEO

12-19-2013 National:

The full Board of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children unanimously confirmed John Ryan as president and CEO. Ryan was previously elected CEO of NCMEC in June 2012 after serving more than 12 years on its board, most recently as chairman.

"Revé and I are delighted that a man who shares our passion for NCMEC's cause will be leading an organization that we founded out of tragedy," NCMEC cofounder John Walsh said. "I know John will continue doing a great job leading the National Center and the charge to keep our children safe."

As CEO, Ryan has led a campaign to fight child sex trafficking in the United States, which has shifted from the streets to the Internet, where children are openly advertised for sex on classified websites. In October 2013, he was invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources about the problem of sex trafficking of youth in foster care.

"John Ryan has the experience, the passion and the vision to lead us forward," said Patty Wetterling, Board Chair of NCMEC's Board of Directors. "The board is delighted to have John at the helm of this great nonprofit organization."

Before joining NCMEC, Ryan worked for 17 years with AOL Inc. as senior vice president and deputy general counsel. While at AOL Inc., he led the Public Safety & Criminal Investigations Unit and served as a liaison with law enforcement coordinating investigations and prosecutions of criminal activities, including Internet crimes committed against children.

Prior to joining AOL Inc., Ryan was the director of investigative affairs at AT&T Wireless in New York. He also worked for 14 years in Bronx County, N.Y., where he served as an assistant district attorney and chief of major offenses. ..Source.. by About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is the leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working with law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them on issues relating to missing and sexually exploited children.

Authorized by Congress to serve as the nation's clearinghouse on these issues, NCMEC operates a hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 191,000 children. NCMEC also operates the CyberTipline, a mechanism for reporting child pornography, child sex trafficking and other forms of child sexual exploitation. Since it was created in 1998, more than 2.2 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been received, and more than 100 million suspected child pornography images have been reviewed. NCMEC works in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Trouble with Megan's Law

12-19-2013 Pennsylvania:

County district attorney reacts

The state Supreme Court has ruled parts of Megan's Law unconstitutional because of how changes were made to it nearly a decade ago, but the state's prosecutors association says the law is still in effect.

However, Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman isn't so sure there won't be problems.

The court, in a 5-1 ruling Monday, said legislation making changes to Megan's Law in 2004 violated the state constitution's single-subject rule.

The rule exists so the public — and lawmakers — can know what a bill is about before it is voted on, Justice Debra Todd wrote in her opinion.

The legislation providing for the changes to Megan's Law initially dealt only with real estate sales. But it was amended to add changes to Megan's Law, along with county park police jurisdiction, among other things, the court wrote.

The revisions to Megan's Law included creating a searchable database of all registered offenders, establishing registration and community notification procedures for sexually violent predators, adding luring and institutional sexual assault to offenses requiring registration for 10 years and establishing local police notification procedures for out-of state sexual offenders who move to Pennsylvania.

The court stayed its ruling for 90 days so the Legislature can fix the problems with the law.

In the opinion, the court stressed it wasn't taking issue with the parts of the law in question "such as Megan's Law III, which serves a vital purpose in protecting our commonwealth's citizens and children, in particular, from victimization by sexual predators."

Megan's Law III is how the version of Megan's Law in question was referred to in the court's opinion.

The court also pointed out that it was dealing only with one version of Megan's Law. That version was replaced with updates made a couple of years ago to bring it into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

"A new version of Megan's Law was enacted in 2011, so that's a brand-new Megan's Law. The court case dealt with an earlier version of Megan's Law," said Richard Long, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.

Long said that if any fix is required, however, lawmakers will do so.

Stedman said that while he was hopeful lawmakers would act, he had concerns, though he hadn't fully examined the court's opinion.

"Because they are saying the statute was unconstitutional, I am concerned that this decision will invalidate all failure-to-register cases" between 2004 and the Adam Walsh compliant law, Stedman said.

"If that turns out to be the case, the consequences of the legislative failure to abide by the single-subject standard will be terrible and cannot be fixed regardless of the fact the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stayed their decision for 90 days," Stedman said.

In his dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Ronald Castille wrote, "Reasonable minds could certainly differ on the question of whether (the law) exceeds the limits of the single-subject doctrine," but he would have upheld it. ..Source.. by DAN NEPHIN

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Idaho State Police Releases Email Notification Program Identifying Sex Offenders

12-18-2013 Idaho:

The notification system indicating when a sex offender has moved into your neighborhood just got a little tech savvier.

Idaho State Bureau of Criminal Identification announced Dec. 16 that it has developed an email notification program that does just that. Those interested in receiving the notifications fill out a brief form that requires physical and email addresses, and a radius—one, three or five miles—and voila! The Idaho State Police pass along an email alert any time a registered sex offender moves within the circle with the provided address at its center.

The system also has an option whereby subscribers can receive email alerts when a specific registrant changes location.

The alert program draws from the Idaho Sex Offender Registry. Convicted sex offenders must update their information on the registry every time it changes, so the information is up to date. Previous alert systems used mail to tell interested parties, including schools and other organizations that deal with children, when an offender has become a neighbor.

According to ISP Public Information Officer Teresa Baker, the notification system enhances services used only sporadically by the public.

"People don't check the [Idaho Sex Offender Registry] all the time. This is a more proactive solution," she said.

The new alert system moves Idaho closer to compliance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Before the state has fulfilled its obligation to the law, however, it must still enact changes to the notification system, including requiring Tier III sex offenders—those legally obligated to register their locations and places of work in perpetuity—to register more frequently than is required by Idaho law. Full compliance with the Adam Walsh Act would also obligate the workplaces of registered sex offenders to be searchable, as well as their home residences. ..Source.. by Harrison Berry

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Judge to attorneys: Watch your words when picking jurors in sex exploitation case

12-18-2013 Kansas:

When picking 12 jurors to decide whether photographs of naked youngsters younger than 18 are against the law, can a prosecutor ask prospective jurors their feelings about child pornography?

During the trial of Jason W. Hachmeister, the challenge for attorneys will be to pick their words very carefully when talking about sex, talking about children and putting the two together in photographs.

Starting Monday, Jason W. Hachmeister, 39, of Topeka, faces trial on more than 100 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Shawnee County District Court Judge Evelyn Wilson will hear the case.

During a motion hearing this week, assistant district attorney Veronica Dersch said she should be able to ask prospective jurors their feelings about child pornography. She also wanted to use the words during opening statements.

Defense attorney Jim Chappas said Dersch was asking to be able to do in jury selection what Wilson said attorneys couldn't do later during the trial.

Chappas opposed using the words "child pornography" in jury selection or during the trial.

In a motion filed Oct. 22, Chappas opposed allowing the prosecutor to use "child porn" or "child pornography" in jury selection or during the trial because it "can only unduly and unfairly prejudice this defendant's right to a fair trial."

Wilson noted that the name of the crime isn’t even "possession of child pornography."

The Kansas statute is called "sexual exploitation of a child." In this case, the statute refers to "possessing any visual depiction of a child under 18 years of age shown or heard engaging in sexually explicit conduct with intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interest of the offender or any other person."

Sexual exploitation of a child sometimes is described in jury instructions in words "we don't use very often," Wilson said.

"Prurient interest. When was the last time you used that outside the courtroom?" Wilson said. "But it is used in the description of this crime."

Wilson ruled that prosecution and defense attorneys "need to stay away from" the words "child pornography" and "child porn."

But "it is not going to automatically generate a mistrial if someone brings it up," Wilson said.

The judge later admonished the attorneys to not use the two phrases and ordered attorneys to tell any witnesses they call to testify to not use the phrases.

If there is some reason for the witness to use it, the judge wants to know about it beforehand, Wilson said.

Sexual exploitation of a child is a person felony, in which the penalty falls in the border box section of the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines if the defendant has no criminal history or no more than two or more misdemeanor convictions.

In a border box sentencing, the judge has the choice to place the defendant on probation or sentence him to prison for 31 months to 38 months per conviction.

On Wednesday, Wilson also denied a defense motion seeking to postpone the trial. The case, which was filed in 2012, already had been continued four times.

Chappas and Mark Bennett, attorney representing Hachmeister on a charge that he killed his mother in 2011, urged the judge to postpone the sex case so that it would be tried after the homicide case.

But the judge said she hadn't heard any reason, to her satisfaction, to continue the case.

In court records, Hachmeister said a police detective armed with a search warrant was examining the defendant's computer and expanded his search from terms dealing with a homicide to terms indicative of child pornography.

Photographs of children in alleged sexual situations were found on a personal computer owned by Hachmeister when investigators were looking into the killing of his mother, witnesses earlier testified.

Hachmeister's homicide trial before District Court Judge Richard Anderson is to start Jan. 21, 2014.

In the slaying case, Hachmeister was arrested Dec. 16, 2011, on a warrant charging him with premeditated first-degree murder in the September 2011 killing of Sheila Hachmeister, 58, at her home at 3520 S.W. Belle.

She was found dead shortly after 5 p.m. Sept. 10, 2011, when police responded to a medical call at her home. A call to police was made by Jason Hachmeister, who lived at the S.W. Belle address with his mother.

The victim’s body bore dozens of cuts, but she was strangled to death, a witness testified. ..Source.. by Steve Fry

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court throws out parts of Megan's Law

This problem may be short lived, but correcting the mess caused by this -Legislative Error-, will be a disaster. Some folks may have to be released from prison or probation after having certain convictions overturned. All Lawmakers need to read their State Constitutions. Now if folks remember, Pennsylvania recently became SORNA Compliant according to the SMART Office. Welcome to the world of Chaos.

12-17-2013 Pennsylvania:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out portions of the state's sex-offender registration law on Monday, telling lawmakers they violated the constitution's requirement that bills that become law must be confined to a single subject.

The justices ruled that a set of changes made to Megan's Law in 2004 was not constitutional, noting that the legislation also included such measures as a two-year statute of limitations on asbestos actions, the jurisdictional parameters of park police, and revisions to real estate law.

Pennsylvania's Constitution
Article III
Form of BillsSection 3.
No bill shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except a general appropriation bill or a bill codifying or compiling the law or a part thereof.

The court then put its decision on hold for three months to allow the Legislature to find a remedy.

"We will stay our decision, as we have done under similar circumstances, in order to provide a reasonable amount of time for the General Assembly to consider appropriate remedial remedies, and to allow for a smooth transition period," wrote Justice Debra Todd for the five-justice majority. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Wounded veterans train to help fight sex crimes

12-16-2013 National:

Las Vegas won’t be Iraq or Afghanistan for Kevin Leduc, but it will give the Army veteran the opportunity to continue to serve his country.

The 31-year-old former special operations infantryman is one of 17 veterans — many of whom were wounded in the line of duty — who will be deployed across the nation by federal law enforcement agencies to help solve criminal cases involving child pornography and online sexual exploitation.

“It’s my second chance to serve through the government,” he said Friday afternoon from Washington, D.C.

Leduc is part of a new pilot program, the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative Child Rescue Corps, called the HERO Corps. Graduates of the program will work at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations offices across the nation. Their job: to assist special agents using computer forensic skills obtained during intensive training during the past couple of weeks.

Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s western region, described the program as a “win-win” for those involved.

“It’s a great opportunity for us,” she said. “And it’s a great opportunity for the veterans.”

The original idea for the program was brought to the table by the National Association to Protect Children, Kice said. They wanted to create a program for veterans no longer able to serve in the military.

After his fourth military deployment — two to Iraq and two to Afghanistan — Leduc, from Cathedral City, Calif., was involved in a car accident that injured his right leg and made him ineligible for military service. The accident occurred while he was in the United States during a training cycle before his fifth deployment.

He has endured nine surgeries since the 2009 crash.

Doctors had to remove bone from his hip and muscle from his back to repair his leg. The young veteran is slowly recovering, but he probably won’t be able to run again.

That’s not stopping him from continuing to serve his country.

His determination to make a difference was witnessed Friday by federal officials, including Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Rand Beers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director John Sandweg and U.S. Special Operations Command Director of the Care Coalition Kevin McDonnell. National Association to Protect Children Executive Director Grier Weeks also attended the swearing-in ceremony for the program’s first class, including Leduc, in Washington.

Leduc will assume his new post in Las Vegas on Oct. 30. His soon-to-be boss, Mike Harris, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Las Vegas, said he is excited to have Leduc join his team.

His help will be valuable, Harris said, and will include retrieving data from computers seized in criminal cases.

“It’s critical,” Harris said. “We don’t have to take a criminal investigator off the street to do this work.”

Leduc was assigned to Las Vegas because he now lives here, not because there is a larger number of child pornography and online sexual exploitation cases in the area.

“It’s a major issue globally,” Harris said. “This problem is not confined to Las Vegas.”

In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 child predators have been arrested by Homeland Security on charges related to the online sexual exploitation of children, according to a program news release. Since 2003, Homeland Security has initiated more than 29,000 cases and arrested more than 10,000 individuals for these types of crimes across the country.

“These crimes affect children, and children are the most innocent victims,” Harris said. “You can never have enough law enforcement personnel working these types of cases.”

Harris has two agents trained in computer forensic skills. With Leduc on staff, he might be able to free one up to focus on other projects.

Leduc said he will also use mindsets he developed in the military on his new job.

Some include, “Never give up,” and “Keep working the mission.” ..Source.. by Yesenia Amaro

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Washington sex offenders, ACLU sue to hide low-level offenders' identities

See earlier lawsuit

12-16-2013 Washington:

Teen molester's mom: Disclosure would hurt my son's victims

“My family would lose everything.”

That’s the argument made by a King County sex offender terrified his name will be publicized if the State Patrol releases the sex offender registry it maintains.

A married father of two convicted of sex crimes in 2009, the man is one of two low-level sex offenders brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the state from releasing the names of 21,000 registered sex offenders residing in Washington.

At issue in the lawsuit are “level one” offenders, convicts judged by police evaluators to pose the least risk of further sex crimes. The names of offenders deemed more likely to commit additional sex crimes – “level two” and “level three” offenders – are already broadcast on free, public websites maintained by state law enforcement.

Filing the potential class action lawsuit earlier this month, attorneys for the offenders contend their identities and addresses should not be released to a Franklin County woman who has requested the entire database under the state public records act.

Attorneys for the State Patrol argue that the database – like the criminal convictions underlying the registry – isn’t protected by state privacy law and should be released. They also note the database has previously been released to numerous civic and media organizations, including the YMCA.

On Thursday, a King County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the release of the database until the case can be fully heard. Such orders are the norm in public records disclosure lawsuits – there wouldn’t be much point to it if documents are released before the case is decided.

Represented by the ACLU and private attorneys, the offenders contend they should be able to live in the relative privacy afforded them by the “level one” classification.

Aside from administrative differences which lower the registration burden placed on them, level one offenders enjoy one big benefit over their higher-level contemporaries – their photos, names and crimes aren’t listed on the county sex offender sites. Additionally, while their past crimes are still reported to schools they attend, but police aren’t empowered to notify the community they live in.

That lower level of notoriety is earned by scoring well on a review conducted by law enforcement, and by meeting the obligations placed on them.

In a statement to the court, the King County man – “John Doe B” in the lawsuit – contended he’s complied with probation, reported any violations of his treatment plan and has avoided sanctions from his parole officer and counselor. Still, he could lose his job and shame his family if the larger community was better informed about his past.

“Knowing the public opinion about sex offenders, and the bias and hatred that many people have toward registered sex offenders, I’m worried about mental and physical abuse to my family and myself,” the man said in a Dec. 5 statement to the court.

Filing the lawsuit in King County Superior Court, attorneys for the offenders argued the State Patrol should not release its statewide database to Donna Zink, a resident and former mayor of Mesa. Reports in the Tri-City Herald and elsewhere indicate Zink has been attempting to compile a comprehensive list of Washington’s registered sex offenders.

In a statement Friday, ACLU of Washington staff attorney Vanessa Hernandez argued publicizing the database endangers offenders.

“Being identified publicly as a sex offender puts individuals at risk of being harassed, assaulted, or losing jobs and housing,” Hernandez said via an email sent by an ACLU spokesman. “The government should follow the state’s sex offender registration law, which says that names of these individuals should not be released automatically to the general public.”

Responding to the lawsuit for the State Patrol, Assistant Attorney General Shelley Williams said the offenders’ complaint is largely moot – the cat is already out of the bag.

The state has previously released the information Zink requested to other agencies, non-profit organizations, the general public and the media. Among the organizations that have previously received the database are the YMCA, an Eastern Washington housing authority and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The Kitsap Sun received a complete copy of the database in March 2012.

Writing the court, Williams said state law simply does not protect the sex offender database from public disclosure. Beyond that, court records already provide the information the offenders would have the court hide from the public.

“The plaintiffs’ key concern is being identified as convicted sex offenders,” Williams said in court papers. “The fact that a person has been convicted of a sex offense has long been accessible by the public.

“Not only is a sex offender’s conviction readily available … but the intimate details of an offender’s life are also potentially open to the public.”

To support their claims of concern, attorneys for the offenders submitted statements to the court for the families of the men and boys whose identities would be released to Zink.

Nearly all those statements came from the parents or guardians of offenders convicted as children. Most of the offenders were convicted of sex assaults against family members, which is to be expected.

While research into the issue varies, estimates are that 1-in-4 to 1-in-3 sexual assaults against children are committed by family members, according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Juvenile offenders commit about one third of all sex assaults against children.

The offenders’ parents and guardians said releasing the registry would shame the offenders unduly and could expose their victims as well. All argued publicity would make it harder for the offenders to get on with their lives.

“If publicizing level one sex offenders’ names and pictures prevented sexual abuse, protected victims or helped protect children in the community, I would continue to be an ardent supporter of public notification laws,” the mother of a young man convicted of molesting three younger siblings said in court papers. “However, as a mother who has experienced the other side of abuse, I only see the harmful effects and humiliation public notification causes families and most especially the victims of sexual abuse who are children.”

Another woman – mother to a son who sexually assaulted two of her young nieces – argued releasing low-level offenders’ names as “tantamount to bullying.”

“Other people shouldn’t be able to have the power to influence the rest of the people’s lives,” the woman said in a statement to the court. “Yes, the offenders have done that with their choices, but they have been in court for that and are making their restitution and changes in their lives.”

On Thursday, King County Superior Court Judge Jean Rietschel issued a preliminary injunction against the state barring the release of the database until the lawsuit is resolved. A trial date has not yet been set. ..Source.. by Levi Pulkkinen

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Child pornography trader pays restitution to victim

12-16-2013 National:

More than a decade after 10-year-old “Vicky” was raped by a relative in front of a video camera, images of her assault are still circulating the Internet as child pornography, traded from one computer to another over peer-to-peer networks.

One of those computers belonged to Steven Bell, 63, of Revere, who in September pleaded guilty to child porn charges. Vicky’s image was among more than 5,000 pictures and video files of apparent child pornography police discovered in Bell’s home.

As she has done in numerous cases across the United States, Vicky sought restitution from Bell as a victim of his crimes.

And in a groundbreaking ruling, a judge has ordered Bell to pay $8,000 in restitution to Vicky, in what is believed to be the first time in Massachusetts that someone convicted of possessing child pornography has been ordered to pay restitution to a person depicted in the images, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office.

“We hope that this result helps to set a precedent in Massachusetts courts and that more victims will be awarded restitution to ensure access to crucial services and care,” Coakley said in a statement.

Vicky, now in her 20s, has been identified as a victim in hundreds of child pornography cases, according to recent media reports.

To support the request for restitution, Vicky and two family members filed devastating victim impact statements, describing the ongoing damage she suffers from the circulation of her image. The family’s identity is blacked out in the documents; they are from out-of-state.

“I live every day with the horrible knowledge that many people somewhere are watching the most terrifying moments of my life and taking grotesque pleasure in them,” the victim wrote in a 2011 court document supplied by Coakley’s office. “Unlike other forms of exploitation, this one is never ending.”

“They are trading around my trauma like treats at a party and it feels like I am being raped all over again by every one of them,” she wrote.

In an updated victim statement from last September, Vicky told the court she had recently gotten married and now has a 2-year-old stepdaughter, yet is “still having emotional and psychological problems due to knowing that the images of me being abused as a child are circulated freely on the Internet.”

She continues to need counseling and suffers from panic attacks that affect her ability to work, she said.

Vicky’s lawyer, Carol Hepburn, said the “scenes of rape and sexual torture” involving Vicky are among the most widely circulated child pornography video series on the Internet and have cropped up in thousands of child porn prosecutions. The videos were made in the 1990s, she said, and the continued sharing of what amount to “crime scene photos” continues to haunt Vicky.

“Even well-meaning people can ask what can be very hurtful questions,” Hepburn said in an interview. “It makes it very hard to live a normal life. . . . By receiving restitution she has been able to get the psychological counseling she needs.”

The case against Bell began with a September 2012 investigation by a State Police task force that specializes in fighting Internet crimes against children, according to court documents filed by Coakley. Police discovered a computer user who appeared to be offering child pornography for download. Investigators used a subpoena to get the physical location of the computer from Comcast, which led them to Bell’s house.

Police executed a search warrant at Bell’s home on Nov. 1, 2012, and discovered USB drives containing child pornography in a safe inside a closet, according to court documents.

Bell pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to seven counts of possession of child pornography and one count of dissemination of child pornography, Coakley said.

Massachusetts authorities sent material from Bell’s computer to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for analysis. Coakley said the center was able to identify the child assault victims depicted in 228 of the files on Bell’s computer, including Vicky.

He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 10 years probation.

Coakley’s office filed a court memorandum that suggested Bell should pay $26,000 in restitution to Vicky. The memorandum argued that “the psychological harm caused to Vicky by those who possess and disseminate images of her rape is incalculable.”

Coakley suggested Vicky has suffered nearly $1 million in monetary losses as a victim of child pornography, including lost earnings and future counseling needs.

“Individuals like the defendant should not be permitted to sexually gratify themselves at the expense of innocent children free from the concern that they will have to pay for a portion of the financial damages that any reasonable person would know would be inevitably caused by their exploitation,” Coakley argued to the court.

Judge Garry Inge agreed that “the award of monetary damages is justified” and said in a written ruling that the request for $26,000 in restitution was “not unreasonable.” However, he ordered Bell to pay $8,000 in restitution, imposing the lesser figure “due to the defendant’s acknowledgment of responsibility and inability to pay” the higher amount.

Bell could not be reached for comment. According to Coakley’s office, he paid the restitution in full on Dec. 12.

Vicky intends to become a child psychologist, her lawyer said. ..Source.. by Mark Arsenault

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Boston Police halt license scanning program

12-14-2013 Massachusetts:

The Boston Police Department has indefinitely suspended its use of high-tech scanners that automatically check whether drivers have outstanding parking tickets, lapsed insurance or other violations after a Globe investigation raised serious privacy concerns.

The police inadvertently released to the Globe the license plate numbers of more than 68,000 vehicles that had tripped alarms on automated license plate readers over a six-month period. Many of the vehicles were scanned dozens of times in that period alone.

The accidental release triggered immediate doubts about whether the police could reliably protect the sensitive data. It also raised questions about whether police were following up on the scans, since numerous vehicles repeatedly triggered alarms for the same offenses. One motorcycle that had been reported stolen triggered scanner alerts 59 times over six months, while another plate with lapsed insurance was scanned a total of 97 times in the same span.

“We just took [the scanner program] off-line while the commissioner reviews it,” said Boston police spokeswoman Cheryl Fiandaca. Commissioner William Evans “wants to review it so he knows that it’s being used effectively and that it doesn’t invade anyone’s privacy.”

But privacy advocates said Boston’s problems with the scanners underscore how easily the technology can be misused. The Boston police are one of the few departments in the state with explicit policies to protect privacy, but the released data calls into question how closely they follow their own rules.

“It’s not realistic to think that law enforcement will police itself when it comes to technologies like license plate readers,” said state Representative Jonathan Hecht, a Watertown Democrat who has filed a bill to regulate use of scanners and the sensitive data they collect.

Hecht believes that the scanner technology has “gotten ahead of thoughtful policymaking on its use. . . . From their point of view, more information is always better.”

Officials at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which has raised concerns about the proliferation of plate scanners, praised Boston police for suspending the program and urged other departments to follow suit. “We call on police departments statewide to cease using license plate recognition technology until the state Legislature passes regulation,” said Kade Crockford of the civil liberties union.

More than 60 law enforcement agencies across Massachusetts use automated license plate recognition technology, including every police department in the Boston area. The scanners use high-speed cameras to compare plates against police databases, including vehicles associated with outstanding warrants, lapsed registration, expired insurance, or unpaid parking tickets.

The readers also record the date, time, and GPS location of each vehicle, even in heavy traffic. The technology thus offers a wealth of information for surveillance as well as investigations: with enough scans over time, police can trace a particular vehicle’s path and discern driving habits.

Boston police started with just one experimental scanner in 2006, but expanded to a total of 14 this spring, giving the department the capacity to scan as many as 4 million vehicles a year. However, department officials confirm that the program has never been audited to determine how well it works or follows the privacy policy.

Investigators at MuckRock, a public-records group that works with the Globe, initially requested the police scan data last January. After initially denying the request, Boston police agreed in April to release a database of plates that had triggered alarms, but without individual plate numbers.

But the records finally released in July were unredacted, revealing full plate numbers and GPS location data for more than 40,000 different vehicles, most of which belonged to private citizens.

MuckRock and the Globe brought the inadvertent disclosure to police attention beginning in September. But it was not until late November that department officials acknowledged the error and asked for the information’s return. The Globe declined, but has no intention of publishing any individual plate information.

Hecht considers disclosure of private license plate numbers “a fundamental problem.”

“The fact that all of this data was released, including personal data,” said Hecht, “at a minimum says that the police don’t have an adequate oversight system in place.”

Beyond providing snapshots of where thousands of vehicles were spotted at given moments, the data indicate that Boston police routinely failed to follow up on repeat alarms.

Nearly 1,700 plates registered five or more scanner hits over the six-month period, most for insurance violations or unpaid traffic fines. The most-scanned plate came back as a hit for lapsed insurance more than 90 times.

But some repeat alarms were for serious violations. One Harley Davidson motorcycle that had been reported stolen passed license plate scanners a total of 59 times between Oct. 19, 2012, and March 13, 2013. It was often recorded on sequential days or multiple times in a single day, all by the same scanner and almost always within the same half-hour span in the early evening.

Boston police chief technical officer John Daley indicated that each of these scans prompted an e-mail alert to the department’s Stolen Car Unit, but there is no indication that the motorcycle was ever apprehended or even stopped.

Some of the most frequent hits in the database were scanned in Boston police’s own employee parking lots. More than two hundred vehicles parked in the police substation lot in South Boston, a mix of official and personal vehicles, triggered scanner alerts over the six months. Police declined to discuss why they would be scanning the parking lot or why there would be so many potential violations.

It is unclear what Boston police have done with their mountain of scans, in part because police did not keep records of follow-ups on the data. Fiandaca said that making sure the information is used effectively will be part of Evans’s review.

But the ACLU’s Crockford said the unanswered questions make her suspicious about the program’s purpose. “You can’t help but wonder whether the real purpose is simply to collect droves of data about where innocent people are driving, in case it might be useful for investigations later,” she said.

The Globe and MuckRock previously published a statewide investigation into license readers, finding that fewer than a third of departments using the scanners had any policy to govern use of this potentially revealing data. Boston does have a formal policy.

Boston’s release of six months of data appeared to violate the department’s rule that it would only keep records for three months. But Fiandaca said that was only because the Globe’s data request took so long to resolve that they collected plate records on two occasions, preserving three months of records each time.

Hecht’s License Plate Privacy Act would slash the plate scan retention period to 48 hours except by court order and require agencies to report annually on their scanner use.

“If you go too far in collecting information just because you can, it undermines people’s confidence in government,” said Hecht. “That ultimately makes law enforcement’s job much more difficult.” ..Source.. by Shawn Musgrave

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Man with sex offense on record must serve time despite change in law

The essence of this case is, that the man is being held illegally, and that calls for a Habeas corpus filing. We must remember that Starkey RELIEF was applied retroactively to remove certain folks (this man for one) from the registry. That should be argued by a qualified lawyer and appealed if necessary, which I doubt. It is clear the judge incorrectly decided this case.

12-13-2013 Oklahoma:

A district court judge has ruled a Comanche County man currently incarcerated for sex offender registry violations committed after his required registration period had expired will remain in jail for the remainder of his term.

Comanche County District Court Judge Mark Smith filed an order Tuesday denying Edward D. Turner's application for post-conviction relief, filed in October after he received a letter from the Department of Corrections stating he had been removed from the state's sex offender registry.

DOC reviews thousands of cases

DOC officials began reviewing every name on the list individually after the Supreme Court ruled in June some convicts in Oklahoma were being kept on the registry past their lapse dates when changes to registry laws were retroactively applied.

In October, when Turner filed his motion asking to withdraw his previous guilty plea, the DOC had reviewed just over 1,300 of the over 7,000 offenders on the state's registry and removed 679 offenders who were no longer subject to registry requirements. Turner was one of those offenders who was removed from the list in early October. (...Continued...)

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...