Second Chance for Sex Offenders?

From Tristatehomepage.com

Offenders of sexual crimes are by many, considered the worst.
They are often isolated from other inmates in prison--and once they go back into society--they're isolated even more---with their name on the public sex offender registry--they must live among us with a proverbial scarlet letter.
Most of the organizations involved with the Evansville Police Department's Offender Re-entry program do not include violent or sex offenders.
One of those offenders, is a man we'll call "John".
He was convicted in 2000 of child molestation. He served time for the crime, and was released three years and nine months years later. The hardest part for him, was finding a job, although he does have one now.
John believes more programs like the offender re-entry program are needed--and need to include more serious crimes--but Deputy Tom Wedding, who maintains the Vanderburgh County sex offender registry says--some offenders may be beyond rehabilitation.

Some offenders may be beyond rehabilitation ... So Deputy Fife, as an 'expert' can you please explain your qualifications that you have to make such a statement? What certificates do you have, Can you explain the topic of your Ph.D papers, and when was your opinion published?

I doubt seriously this badge wearing retard has much more of an education than the average high school drop out. Donut Eating 101, huh Dep. Goober? This guy has no intelligent opinion to share, yet the person who made the story published it on the Internet without so much as a counterpoint, nor a disclaimer stating that Goober has no medical certifications to be able to make such a statement.

No, he's just the schmuck that got stuck with registry duty.. Just like the person that monitors mine in my town, and possibly the person in your town as well. All third rate flunkies, that can't do patrol duty due to , in my town's case, the person in charge is rather obese and cannot fit in a squad car. maybe Deputy Goober here, is too large to wear anything more than a moo-moo, or he just sucks with a handgun..

EDIT. For Anon: http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=38951

Okla. To Build Sex Offender Nursing Home

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma is a step closer to building the nation's first long-term care facility exclusively for sex offenders.

A nonprofit group, A Perfect Cause, said there are currently 30 sex offenders living in Oklahoma nursing homes. The group hopes that moving offenders out of those facilities will make them safer for other residents.

"The Department of Corrections talked about there being thousands of people moving from the criminal justice system who are 65 or older in the coming years," said Wes Bledsoe, of A Perfect Cause.

Bledsoe's group said it has calculated more than 60 murders, rapes and assaults committed by criminal offenders while living in nursing homes throughout the country.

Gov. Brad Henry signed a bill into law last July that required the state to build a separate nursing home for sex offenders. The Oklahoma Health Department is preparing to seek bids to run the facility, but also wants to know how those bidders would plan to operate it.

"The proposal will include provisions for heightened, 24-hour security to protect the residents and the public," said Henry Hartsell, of Protective Health Services.

State health officials hope to begin accepting bids next month and will pick a winner by February.

Once the nursing home is built, it will be used as an example to other health departments around the country.

60 Murders, rapes, and assaults... Ok, identify the people who did it. Were these murderers, and rapists previously convicted of similar crimes? Were they patients or staff?

See, he sort of 'forgets' to bring that little point out. He leaves it hanging so that he allows you to believe all of this were due to Sex Offenders. I call Bullshit.

How does this 'protect' the public? Advocates for harsh treatment of Sex Offenders always seem to have information based on nothing more then their bullshit opinion that they are more than willing to spew across the airwaves, in print and on the Internet, yet noone will ask them where they get their information. Why is that? Are the reporters in on it too? We all know the Media has a horse in this race too. No sensational stories, readers and watchers go down the tubes. Publish information that is truthful, and amazingly everyone knows. It becomes a a non-story. It isn't large majorities of Sex Offenders, it is actually a very small percentage.. Oh no, no more headlines.. No more free grants to John Walsh and the pro-Fem hate groups....

Why is it that the experts are all people that had a hard time passing grade school, and they never actually talk to the people that went to college and studied SO's? where are the therapists here, those are the real experts.

Court upholds Iowa sex offender cohabitant law

Associated Press
8:50 AM CST, November 14, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a law that bars single parents from living with sex offenders.

The case involves a Coralville woman who was found guilty of child endangerment and sentenced to one year probation. The woman, Holly Mitchell, lived with a convicted sex offender and let her children stay with the man while she was at work.

Mitchell appealed her conviction, claiming the state's law is unconstitutional because it treats people who are not married and living with a sex offender differently than people who are married and living with a sex offender.

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected that argument, saying it's reasonable to believe that an unmarried parent living with a sex offender poses a greater risk to a child than a parent who is married to a sex offender.

So now they say who we can and cannot live with? How is that constitutional..


There is this little thing called the Constitution that was just used to wipe the ass of the State Supreme Court... How in the hell can this be justified? I do not see in the story if dude was convicted of sexually offending against a minor,or what his conviction if for...

So can anyone else see a problem with this? Who you can live with, who you can't.. How is this law again? Truly speechless here. So now the State of Iowa is creating their own laws, making people live as the government wants, infringing on the rights of citizens...

Senator's Aide Arrested for Child Porn

WASHINGTON - A former high-level aide to California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer has been charged in federal court with receiving and distributing child pornography.

The aide, Jeff Rosato, 32, was arrested last Friday. Boxer's office fired him the same day upon learning of the charges.

Rosato appeared in federal court in suburban northern Virginia on Wednesday and was released to home detention on condition he not interact with children or use a computer. He was not required to post bail or bond money but is being told to undergo medical treatment.

"On Friday, the Justice Department informed our office of criminal charges made against a Senate employee. Sen. Boxer has zero tolerance for crimes against children, and the employee was immediately terminated," Boxer spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz said in a statement Thursday. "Our office is cooperating fully with the Department of Justice in this matter."

Rosato had worked for Boxer since early 2005, beginning in her personal office as a legislative assistant and last year becoming a counsel to the Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer chairs. His areas of expertise included water policy, oceans and endangered species.

Rosato's attorney, Patrick N. Anderson of Alexandria, Va., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

According to an FBI affidavit supporting the criminal complaint and arrest warrant, Rosato used a now-defunct Google program called Google Hello to share child porn images and movies with an undercover detective whom Rosato believed was a 13-year-old boy.

Between Jan. 2 and Jan. 23, during more than 15 online chats, Rosato sent the detective more than 600 files of graphic images, according to the affidavit by FBI special agent Chad Gallagher. An analysis of Rosato's computer revealed he was also trading child porn with other Google Hello users.

Investigators subpoenaed Google Inc. and Comcast in order to identify Rosato and last week executed a search warrant on his Arlington, Va., home, seizing computers and hard drives.

A preliminary review of Rosato's personal laptop computer, which was in his bedroom, found some 200 child porn images and some videos, according to the affidavit. "Many of the images and videos depict prepubescent boys engaged in sexual acts," the affidavit stated.

The criminal complaint charged Rosato with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography, both felonies.

The charges were first reported Thursday by The (Washington) Examiner newspaper.

Five bucks says this will disappear...

He was arrested but released to his home? no bond, only an order to seek medical treatment??? Oh come on, how lopsided is this fucking thing.

Criminals, advocates target Texas parole restrictions as unfair to low-level offenders

It's called Condition X: tough restrictions on the way some criminals, mostly paroled sex offenders, must live once they're out of prison.

'I'm not at war trying to defend sex offenders,' says Bill Habern , with fellow attorney Richard Gladden. 'I'm at war trying to protect our Consti- tution.'

Condition X determines the minutiae of their daily lives – whether they can visit a school or attend church; whether they can live with their families or in an apartment with a swimming pool; whether they can access the Internet, work at a convenience store, even whom they can date or marry.

But a growing number of offenders are fighting back against the strict limits, which they say are most often imposed without a fair hearing, and treat low-level offenders and violent predators alike.

"I'm not at war trying to defend sex offenders," said attorney Bill Habern, who has scored several incremental victories in court against how Condition X is imposed. "I'm at war trying to protect our Constitution."

The current system is unfair to low-level offenders such as young people who had consensual sex with minors, said Mary Sue Molnar, co-founder of Texas Voices, a new organization devoted to changing sex offender laws.

Ms. Molnar's son was 22 when he had sex with his 16-year-old girlfriend. He received deferred adjudication but was sent to prison several months later when he was caught with drugs and alcohol. She worries how he'll cope with the Condition X restrictions he'll face upon release.

"You're looking at a young man who, because the place of employment is listed on the [public] registration, cannot find or keep a job – which is one of his probation or parole conditions.

"Where is he supposed to live? You're looking at a man who cannot come up with the money for the order to pay probation fees, treatment fees, polygraph."

Matter of due process

Ms. Molnar and others say they're not championing pedophiles or rapists. But when someone has consensual sex with an older teen, "it is not as serious a crime as someone who has fondled a 6-year-old," she said.

That distinction is one reason Mr. Habern and attorney Richard Gladden are determined to force state officials to give parolees more due process.

And though their efforts mostly have been rebuffed by state judges, they're gaining some traction in federal courts:

• In 2004, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "Condition X" can't be imposed on parolees who haven't been convicted of a sex offense, without an "appropriate hearing."

• In 2006, the Texas parole board quit automatically denying sex offenders access to their own children, after a lawsuit claimed the board did not give a parolee notice or a hearing.

• Earlier this year, federal Judge Sam Sparks in Austin expressed "grave concerns over the fundamental fairness" of such parole board hearings and commented that the Texas attorney general's office, which represents state agencies, "has apparently failed to take such constitutional challenges seriously."

Assistant Attorney General David Morales said his office "takes all constitutional challenges seriously."

Condition X is imposed on almost all paroled sex offenders, from those who had consensual sex with an underage teen to violent pedophiles. In some instances, sex offender conditions are even imposed on offenders who don't have a conviction for a sex crime, but whose offense included a sexual aspect. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, about 90 percent of paroled sex offenders have Condition X imposed on them.

Majority vote

It doesn't take much to require the sweeping restrictions of Condition X – just a majority vote of a three-person panel from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. No face-to-face hearing is held before the vote. Instead, each member individually reviews a "parole packet" with information from an institutional parole officer and prison officials, and any supporting material from the inmate's friends and family.

The system gives "someone who is getting out on parole with sex offense stuff less due process than someone who is having their driver's license suspended," said Mr. Gladden, whose business card bears a picture of the Revolutionary War-era "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

Mr. Gladden and Mr. Habern are challenging that procedure in Judge Sparks' court.

When board members consider putting a convict under Condition X, the inmate doesn't know what evidence is presented against him and has no opportunity to respond. He can't even be sure panel members have read his file, Judge Sparks noted.

A parole division employee testified in one case that board members spend an average of 10 to 30 minutes reviewing materials in each case.

"It would certainly appear that if the voting members actually reviewed the files, the ... [process] would take substantially longer than 30 minutes," the judge wrote.

Parole board member Jose Aliseda, who is a lawyer and former county judge, said the recent court cases "have caused us to examine our policy," and the board is trying "to make sure our policies meet constitutional muster." But he said he's "sufficiently comfortable" with the current process.

In a recent 5-4 decision in one case, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found the system acceptable.

Going case-by-case

But Mr. Habern intends to keep chipping away, hoping eventually to "force the parole board to examine each individual situation" about what restrictions are needed, rather than impose blanket restrictions on all offenders.

Mr. Gladden agreed.

"In Texas, before your driver's license can be suspended, you have a right to an in-person hearing," he said. "You have a right to know on what grounds they're going to suspend. You have a right to be heard as to why your license should not be suspended. And you have a right to appeal from that determination.

"And it seems to me that ... you start saying, 'What's more important – my driver's license or not being able to live with my kids?' "

Ms. Molnar, of Texas Voices, which has about a thousand members and supporters, said the system is not set up for offenders "to reintegrate into society and be productive members of society. It's set up for them to be roadblocked at every single turn."

Parole board member Aliseda acknowledges that the restrictions make life difficult, but "I see success stories all the time," he said. "It's not impossible and it's especially not impossible after an offender has established the trust."

Torie Camp, deputy director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, a victim's advocacy group, said the restriction issue is difficult for everyone.

"I can easily see how being a parole board member, you would want to err on the side of caution," she said. "They want to do their very best to keep the community safe."

Balancing the offender's constitutional rights with public safety is hard, she said. But painting all sex offenders with a broad brush "does a disservice to victims of sexual assault," she said, because the restrictions become meaningless.

Like Mr. Habern, she advocates a more individualized approach instead of the restrictions routinely recommended by the parole division and imposed by the parole board.

"For our own community safety, we actually have to look at reasonable and fair treatment for sex offenders when they're coming back into our communities, so they can reintegrate," Ms. Camp said.

Those concerned about the process blame the parole division and the Legislature, which crafted the sweeping laws, for the problem, not the parole board.

"The parole division does not exercise discerning judgment," said parole attorney Gary Cohen. Mr. Cohen said he has no doubt the parole division "deliberately sat down to fashion the most minimal cursory review that they possibly could."

Officials with the parole division declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Mr. Cohen has little faith that politicians will rush to protect the constitutional rights of sex offenders.

"It's not a politically favorable position for them," he said.

Michele Deitch, who teaches criminal justice policy at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, said that eventually, the courts will have to address the issue of how to balance public safety with restricting individual freedoms.

The issue of restrictions is "affecting more and more people," she said, and the inability to live a certain way is more than an inconvenience.

"It's very clear there's an open question. ... Clearly there's deprivation going on there that needs some kind of due process protection," Ms. Deitch said.

Well, this needs to be looked at from the level of ALL SO's not just parolee's. Those little things that are written in the Constitution are not suggestions, those are our civil rights. Texas, AND the US government, have been trampling on our rights for well over 10 years now. it is a time for a change. If not, then as they pass more and more restrictive laws, more and more of us will begin to slip off the registry.

Ultimately it is the call of legislators to stop their "regulatory" laws in favor of intelligent laws that allow for the worst to be watched, and the low level offenders to be allowed to pck up their lives and live like any other citizen.

S.O.'s ARE Everywhere

WASHINGTON - A sergeant in the uniformed division of the Secret Service was early Saturday after he allegedly solicited sex from an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute.

Uniformed Secret Service Sgt. Michael Wright was arrested about 12:50 a.m. Saturday near 11th and K streets NW.

D.C. police say they were running a prostitution sting there. Investigators say Sgt. Wright was in uniform when he pulled up in a marked Secret Service vehicle around 12:50 a.m.

Wright asked one of the undercover officers about what she would charge for a sex act, police said. She quoted him a price between $50 to $100, depending on the nature of the act; the officer allegedly claimed to have only $20.

The undercover Metro police officer told him to wait around the corner, which is the point at which other Metro officers appeared to arrest the man.

"No matter, you know, who you are, or what job or title that you have, you know, us with the Metropolitan Police Department (web|news) are out doing our job," said Lt. Brian Christian, MPD.

The Washington Post reports that the officer was cited for soliciting a prostitute and released.

The Secret Service confirms that one of their officers has been arrested but will not discuss the charges, saying only that the case has been turned over to internal affairs and the employee is on administrative leave.

District resident Grace Lee responds, "There's definitely going to be a need for re-evaluation of some of their officers, especially with the new administration coming in and with D.C. sort of being a focal point for all of that -- that's amazing."

There you have it folks. Sex Offenders are in all walks of life in ANY job... ANY...

This guy is part of the overall organization to protect the President of the United States. He's off trying to find a hooker..

I can only hope that they will keep this one in the spotlight. This one incident needs to be watched very closely.