One to See Change: 02/01/2016

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Once Fallen Sex Offender Advocacy Blog: Well, damn, Predator Panic didn't even make the to...

The Once Fallen Sex Offender Advocacy Blog: Well, damn, Predator Panic didn't even make the to...: So what did Americans fear the most in 2015? They don't have a category for "registered sex offenders" but here are the s...

Terry Crews: Porn addiction 'messed up my life'

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/24/entertainment/terry-crews-porn-addition-feat/

Articles of Interest: National and Florida News

National Articles:

Angry Parents, Students Raise Sex Offender and Bullying Issues to Tecumseh BOE

New Carlisle News

Discussion centered on the procedures used for dealing with sex offenders and bullying, with attendees often breaking out into applause. The meeting ...

Springfield dad prompts proposed legislation

KSPR

"I try to resolve constituent issues the best I can without drafting new ... that addressed the issue of registered sex offenders and school bus stops."

State begins review of 500 sex offender cases

The Boston Globe-Feb 24, 2016

A review of cases against roughly 500 sex offenders, whose names were removed from a public registry in December, began in earnest this ...

Former Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy plays against type as sex ...

New York Post

In the pilot, 18-year-old Adam Warren (Liam James) resurfaces after being kidnapped by Hank Asher, a local sex offender, played by McCarthy.

Sex offender gets 50-55 years in prison

Wyoming Tribune

A jury found Hathaway guilty of first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and not guilty of two other counts of first-degree sexual abuse ...

Florida Recent Posts:

"Operation Predator” comes to Florida

February 25, 2016

The latest media hype, government funds cash-grab, sex offender compliance check is heading across Florida. This time it's being given the ominous name "Operaton Predator" As...

A strong argument against continued registration of departed registrants.

February 25, 2016

As any Florida registrant knows, once you are on the Florida Sex Offender Registry you don't come off. Moved to another State? You stay on the Florida Registry. Moved to another...

A Story that Makes You Say WTF?

February 25, 2016

Sometimes you read a story that just makes you scratch your head and say what the f***? Florida law requires a registered citizen to report, in person, to the Sheriff within 48...

IML – Read Janice Bellucci’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction

February 23, 2016

For those who are interested in reading an extremely well-articulated, well-argued, well-researched, brilliant motion, below you can find a link to Janice Bellucci's Motion for a...

Legislative Update: Notes and Bills

New Resource:

Saint Lucie County Housing

Email: recoveryworks772@gmail.com

Contact Phone Number: 772-940-7121

Providing housing and advocate for sex offenders Address of Housing/Resource: 1605 Florida Avenue, Fort Pierce Florida

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Pasco deputies go door-to-door to check on sexual offenders as part of Operation Predator

Man convicted of sex crime says he's lost a lot

Erik Waxler

7:30 PM, Feb 24, 2016

12:33 AM, Feb 25, 2016

Source

Johnny Driver’s choices in life have left him in a bad place.

“I’ve lost everything, and to be truthful with you. My life is s****,” Driver said.

Living on the streets, Driver sleeps behind a New Port Richey grocery store, so it's not easy to maintain a permanent address as the state requires.

“If it’s raining, I find a little shelter or a cardboard box or something like that,” Driver said.

Driver’s run-in with the law dates back to 1987, when was he charged with sexual battery.

He understands the system and laws that placed him on the sexual offender registry, Driver added.

But now it’s made it near impossible for Driver to keep a job.

“I want to be productive," Driver said. "I want to prove that I’m not what this piece of paper says. They read a piece of paper and they automatically think the wrong thing.”

Driver is one of more than 900 people registered sex offenders in Pasco County.

Deputies are paying them all a visit as part of a statewide program called Operation Predator.

The mission is verify addresses and confirm they are living where they say they are.

“We go down the list and note any change,” said detective Carlos Ocasio.

Last year, Pasco County toughened its ordinance, barring certain sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school or other places where children congregate.

“We are just trying to keep the neighborhoods safe and our kids safe. Ocasio said. "If they have to go to another county, so be it, but they committed the crime.”

But Driver said he’s never committed a crime against a child, despite what people may think, because he is on the offender registry.

“I got nieces. I got nephews. And you can go and talk with any of them and they would tell you that I never ever had anything with them whatsoever with anything like that,” said Driver.

To keep track of any sex offenders in your neighborhood, you can register on the FDLE's website: http:// www.floridaactioncommittee.org

TX: Gatesville Residents Push For Sex Offender Residency Restrictions

Four people spoke out at the Gatesville City Council meeting Tuesday to urge council members to consider passing an ordinance that would restrict where child sex offenders can live.

GATESVILLE – Four people spoke out at the Gatesville City Council meeting Tuesday to urge council members to consider passing an ordinance that would restrict where child sex offenders can live.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state's sex offender registration program itself does not restrict sex offenders from living near children or going near places with kids. Instead, a mixture of city ordinances, community supervision restrictions and parole laws govern where convicted child sex offenders may reside. In accordance with the guidelines set by the Texas Government Code, child sex offenders who are released on parole are typically prevented from going within 500 feet of schools, daycares, public swimming pools and arcades while they are on community supervision or parole restrictions.

But, once any parole or community supervision restrictions expire, child sex offenders may live wherever they choose, unless a local community ordinance or some other law prevents them from doing so. Amber Wilson and a group of Gatesville residents pressed city leaders to adopt an ordinance that would do that by creating "child safety zones."

"They shouldn't be allowed to the kids' football games. Anything directed towards children is where I would like to see a child safety zone,” Wilson said.

In essence, she asked city council to create a law, under which convicted child sex offenders would need to permanently steer clear of places where children congregate—rather than only stay away from children for a set number of years.

"The frustration is that it's gone on for so long,” Kim Dewald, who also spoke at the meeting, said. “Why hasn't it been brought to attention and had action taken sooner?”

Gatesville City Manager Bill Parry said a majority of city council believes passing an ordinance to restrict sex offenders is a solution without a problem. He cited Gatesville’s relatively low number of registered sex offenders: 26, only one or two of whom are child sex offenders currently on community supervision.

"We want to do this in a very thoughtful way, which is: if there is a problem, we want to identify what the problem is and again the issues of earlier this year would not have been addressed by an ordinance or something along those lines,” Parry said.

council members also expressed concern Tuesday that establishing a local ordinance could lead to a costly lawsuit for restricting the rights of the offenders.

The lawsuit argument has precedent. Following pressure from the nonprofit organization Texas Voices for Reason and Justice, more than 20 Texas towns recently eased similar ordinances governing where sex offenders could reside. And, the nonprofit group has already sued more than a dozen towns over such legislation.

But, Wilson and her counterparts who support and

ordinance argue fear of a lawsuit should not prevent Gatesville from adopting legislation to protect children. In the last five years, Hewitt and Woodway were among a handful of local municipalities to pass sex offender ordinances.

"I was just in complete disbelief how after all these years, how do we have nothing? Nothing for our kids,” Wilson said.

The recent conversation in Gatesville was spurred by the arrest of Chet Shelton, in connection with the January homicide of Kai Lamar. Shelton is charged with aggravated sexual assault in connection with the toddler’s death. The type of local ordinance being described would not have applied to Shelton, since he was never required to register as a sex offender.

For frequently asked questions about the state's sex offender registry program, click here.

Ohio: New policy reduces sex offender compliance issues

There are 103 convicted sex offenders living in Williams County. Since the first of the year, sheriff’s deputies have been knocking on doors and making face-to-face contact with every one of them. “It’s just another prevention measure we put in place to make sure the community is safe and people are following the rules,” Lt. Greg Rusky said. “We go out and make contact to make sure people are actually living where they registered. The vast majority are in compliance.”

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Articles of Interest (already convicted WESH)

Los Angeles police officers charged with sexual assault

Two Los Angeles police officers who once worked as partners patrolling the streets of Hollywood have been charged with sexually assaulting four women they encountered while on duty, prosecutors...

February 18, 2016 07:23 PM

Peyton Manning cited in suit against university

A lawsuit accusing the University of Tennessee of mishandling reports of alleged sexual assaults by student athletes cites a 20-year-old complaint against then-Volunteers quarterback Peyton Manning...

February 19, 2016 02:28 PM

Lake County teacher had sex with student inside classroom, deputies say

A Lake County High School teacher has been arrested, accused of having sex with a student in a classroom.

February 19, 2016 11:03 PM

Jared Fogle wants a shorter prison sentence

Fallen Subway pitchman Jared Fogle doesn't want to spend 15 years in prison.

February 20, 2016 06:58 PM

Churches need plans to deal with sex offenders, expert insists

February 18, 2016

By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

DENTON—Congregations should develop strategies for when—not if—a registered sex offender arrives at church, a licensed sex offender treatment provider told a group of Denton Baptist Association ministers.
A convicted sex offender on parole can attend a place of worship, but he or she must notify a minister or some other designated individual in authority and be accompanied by a chaperone who has completed court-approved training, said Cathy Champ, clinical director and therapist at Ranch Hand Rescue Counseling Center in Argyle.
“If the individual is not on probation or parole, a person on the sex offender registry does not have to tell the pastor or ask permission. But he should. It’s better for everyone,” Champ told a seminar on “When Sex Comes to Church,” held at First Baptist Church in Corinth.
Establish clearly defined boundaries
Not every sex offender is guilty of a contact offense, but all sex offenders need directive counseling, positive influences and clearly established boundaries, she noted.
An offender who is undergoing counseling or has completed treatment successfully should be willing to accept responsibility for past behavior, desire accountability and welcome appropriate boundaries, she said.
“As a minister, you can tell them: ‘We want our church to be safe. We want you to be safe, too.’ It will be helpful for them to have clear boundaries,” she said.
What to do
If a registered sex offender asks a minister for permission to attend worship services, Champ recommended the minister:
• Request the name and phone number of the individual’s probation officer or parole officer, if applicable.
• Ask questions about the offense for which the person was convicted, as well as what the offender actually did. While an individual may have been convicted for a single count of a lesser offense, a sex offender who wants to get better will take responsibility for other offenses committed, she noted.
“Listen for minimizing, cognitive distortions or blaming,” she said. “Listen for the word ‘just.’ That’s a sign they are not taking responsibility.”
• Inquire if the offender currently is receiving treatment or has completed treatment successfully. Ask for the name and contact information for any current or past counselor. Ask the offender to sign a release with that counselor, and then ask the counselor to contact the minister directly.
While the counselor does not have to provide details about counseling sessions, he or she should indicate whether the offender attends or attended treatment regularly and provide an evaluation regarding progress, she said.
• Ask if the offender already has a trained chaperone who will attend church with him. If not, some churches may chose to make the training available to a selected group of members who can serve in that capacity.
• Request a copy of the offender’s safety plan, once it has been approved. The plan should be a detailed set of guidelines that covers issues such as through which church door the offender should enter, where the individual sits in the sanctuary, which designated restroom will be used and which areas of the church building are off-limits.

Make a redemptive difference
Churches should establish clear policies about who in the congregation needs to know about a registered sex offender’s status, she suggested.
“You can help them by supporting the positive changes they are making and help them connect with positive social influences,” Champ said. “Give them concrete boundaries. It is for the protection of your church and for (the offender’s) protection.”
Churches need to be safe places for children, as well as places where sinners—including people with sex offenses in their past—can find redemption and transformation, she said.
“Jesus would be hanging out with sex offenders,” she said. “That’s the kind of thing he did.”

source

Thursday, February 18, 2016

San Angelo: City Council to Address Sex Offender Ordinance Tuesday

Previously, Vasquez told council members getting an ordinance in place would be difficult because of the legalities. Despite the challenges, however, City Council Member Charlotte Farmer stated, “This is the perfect opportunity for the public to come forward to voice their opinion on how strong they want their council to be on this subject. The bigger the crowd the better. Council members have a way of paying more attention when there are lots of people in the room.” This has been a topic of high interest since many of the other Texas cities who have sex offender ordinances are now having to withdraw their ordinance due to legal issues. Some are even being sued for having these restrictions in place because they “violate the civil rights of sex offenders”. Overall, these ordinances prevent convicted sex offenders from living near schools, parks, day care centers and any other place where children reside or frequent. A non-profit group, Texas Voices for Reason and Justice, has started to raise awareness of a statement made by Gov. Greg Abbott when he was attorney general in 2007. He stated his opinion is that general-law cities have no legal right to restrict where registered sex offenders may live, and it appears that statement has some bearing.

Read more: http://sanangelolive.com/news/san-angelo/2016-02-15/city-council-address-sex-offender-ordinance-tuesday
Copyright © Hyde Interactive, Inc.

At tomorrow’s City Council Meeting, San Angelo Police Chief Vasquez will be briefing council members and the public on an update to a possible sex offender ordinance.

Winters and Hamlin were among 20 other cities who are repealing their ordinance due to this non-profit group sending letters to city officials stating that this action is illegal. Also, many of these small towns do not have the funds to fight a major court battle. Since these ordinances have been in play, cities like Winters have just over a dozen or so sex offenders while Hamlin has less than five. Farmer said she believes that it is very important and that we should fight this problem with statistics so the facts are there for everyone to see. For those people who wish their voices to be heard, the City Council meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the McNease Convention Center, 501 Rio Concho Drive. The discussion on the registered sex offender ordinance will be the last item on the Regular Agenda.
Read more: http://sanangelolive.com/news/san-angelo/2016-02-15/city-council-address-sex-offender-ordinance-tuesday

City Council to Address Sex Offender Ordinance Tuesday

Read more: http://sanangelolive.com/news/san-angelo/2016-02-15/city-council-address-sex-offender-ordinance-tuesday
Copyright © Hyde Interactive, Inc.

At tomorrow’s City Council Meeting, San Angelo Police Chief Vasquez will be briefing council members and the public on an update to a possible sex offender ordinance.

Read more: http://sanangelolive.com/news/san-angelo/2016-02-15/city-council-address-sex-offender-ordinance-tuesday
Copyright © Hyde Interactive, Inc.

On a Personal Note

Thanks for the opportunity to express my thoughts regarding the issue of citizens’ rights, particularly addressing certain sex offenders’ crimes that do not fit the devastating, inequitable and endless punishment given.

As you know, many young men and women lives across the nation are being destroyed by incarceration, life-time registry and restrictive laws that do more harm than good. For those individuals, there is no second chance.

Below is a personal letter to President Obama:
* * * *
“Dear President Obama,

I truly agree with your sentiments that individuals, such as ex-felons, should be able to receive a second chance at life. Since we all know that one can veer off that path of life and travel along rough, rocky terrain, sometimes running off and ending up in some ditch. We all have made our fill of mistakes and sometimes those held a costly consequence that changed life forever. So we lived through it, trying harder to make things right with family, friends and those around us, but what about those who aren’t able to make things right even if they tried…because they’re labeled as too dirty, a leper, a person who is rejected from society and home.

But what if they’re a seventeen year old and had sex with a fifteen year old, consensual at that? Or they’re a teen that had gotten so enraged after a breakup that he sent out naked pictures of his girlfriend on his cell phone or email? Or an individual urinates where someone just happens to see them?

All are wrong and a travesty but do they deserve the life of no second chance with a registry that ends all. They are labeled, no jobs, no where to live…they have been deemed a menace to society, a plague. These certain circumstances, and many other situations similar to these, I believe still deserve a second change.

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

After my son’s early release and two years of prison, I thought I had handled that fact graciously knowing after serving his time he would be able to get that fresh start, that second chance. He was an exemplary inmate, GED, college courses and vocational classes. Little did I know that a second chance on the outside was the farthest from the truth? He now struggles and lives in a trailer park sharing a trailer with another and surrounded by others in the same rocking boat, one to float endlessly in shark infested waters. I see him little because of probation requirements (he couldn’t live with us because we were 800 feet near a school). My family is afraid of what would happen to them if he lived with them…vigilantism. My son has no other place to stay since others condemn him of his crime that is screamed from the highest rooftop. Sex offender, sex offender!

Not all sex offenders are pedophiles or predators but some are simply young kids that make one stupid and rash decision that eventually changes everything, and they have no idea what they’ve done until their life is never their own. Exactly, where is that second chance for those sex-offenders who are lumped together with pedophiles and predators? Now, it makes me sick to think of my son’s future and many like him that are on the registry and many with no second chance…ever. I am asking you as a mother and as another concerned citizen of the United States that these laws are looked at again and taken into serious consideration in what they are doing to the Constitution of the United States, not for sex offenders in general but the future rights of every citizen, before anymore are put into effect. They unjustly strip an offender of their rights and place them in a guillotine that can be easily set off by anyone and at anytime. Where is the second chance for ex-sex offenders in the present, pending and future laws?”
* * * *
What truly saddens me is the weakness and deterioration of what the sex offense issue is doing to our once, great nation. Across Europe, others are seeing the injustice and disregard of rights, but we ignore this problem and it makes me wonder where humanity is heading….

We have become a hysterical society in which our latest witch-hunt is a sex offender--no matter his/her crime.

Below is a email sent from a foreign advocate to a father of a sex offender:
* * * *
“The tragic story of your son's death is just so sad that it's difficult to explain how. It was very hard to read your letters. It seems almost unbelievable that this can take place in a democracy! From our point of view, there is no justice in this. Not in any way: not for you, your son, the former girl friend – or even the state.

It is an abusive legal system. It seems barbaric. And we are so very sorry that this takes place. That's why it's so important for us to try to neutralize the debate with this…, hopefully making some changes. ….. to show the every day life of the sex offenders, trying to show how they keep on being punished, even after served prison time…..But we will for sure tell the story of the injustice that your son has been exposed to.”
* * * *
I appreciate everyone's commitment and backing to protect everyone's civil rights, plainly as noted in the Constitution of the United States and is presupposed, giving ALL men are “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”

"One To See Change" Pages

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Once Fallen Sex Offender Advocacy Blog: Well, damn, Predator Panic didn't even make the to...

Terry Crews: Porn addiction 'messed up my life'

Articles of Interest: National and Florida News

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Pasco deputies go door-to-door to check on sexual offenders as part of Operation Predator

Man convicted of sex crime says he's lost a lot

TX: Gatesville Residents Push For Sex Offender Residency Restrictions

Ohio: New policy reduces sex offender compliance issues

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Articles of Interest (already convicted WESH)

Los Angeles police officers charged with sexual assault

Peyton Manning cited in suit against university

Lake County teacher had sex with student inside classroom, deputies say

Jared Fogle wants a shorter prison sentence

Churches need plans to deal with sex offenders, expert insists

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Don’t ‘brand’ sex-offenders’ passports - Florida Action Committee

Law and Disorder: A minister, sex offender and advocate - Florida Action Committee

Thursday, February 18, 2016

San Angelo: City Council to Address Sex Offender Ordinance Tuesday

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