Sex Offender Records Permanent in Kansas

Kansas just passed bill HB 2568 that rules any convictions for the following crimes will be listed permanently on the Kansas sex offender registry:

"The attempt, conspiracy, or criminal solicitation to commit aggravated trafficking, rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, aggravated criminal sodomy, promoting prostitution if the prostitute is less than 14 years of age, and sexual exploitation of a child."

"Sex offenders commit some of the most heinous acts in our society to many times the most vulnerable. It is critical that these offenders remain registered for the rest of their life in order to better protect Kansas families, and i appreciate the swift work of the legislature in getting this bill passed," said KS Governor, Mark Parkinson.

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USA Swimming to Check Coaches

Recently sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting young swimmers, Andrew King had access to the young girls through his position as a USA swimming coach for more than 30 years.

The King case exposed the massive shortcomings of USA Swimming and local swim clubs in dealing with coaches who preyed on their young swimmers. The coaches manage to jump from team to team, ahead of allegations surrounding their departure.

Chuck Wielgus, the executive director of USA Swimming said that it is his goal to create a "gold standard program for dealing with conduct complaints and abuse allegations."

Some say Wieglus' attempts are too little too late. In 2005, in a "State of USA Swimming" address, USA Swimming president, Ron Van Pool said that plans for a background screening process were nearing completion. The plan was not adopted until 2006, and placed the heavy burden of paying for the expensive tests on the volunteer boards at local swim clubs.

In the past 10 years, 36 swim coaches have been banned for life from the USA Swimming for sex abuse or misconduct, but the organization doesn't always notify the police.

USA Swimming is looking to implement the following strategies for dealing with sexual misconduct:

• Anonymous reporting
• Intense examination of how complaints are made and who handles them
• How coaches, swimmers, parents, and staff are educated about appropriate behavior
• Reinforcing to local swim clubs that is their responsibility to conduct in-depth background checks

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States Reconsider Sex Offender Laws for Teens who "Sext"

It's national news now, when teens use their built in cell phone cameras and send explicit photographs of each other to other teens. It becomes national criminal news when those teens responsible are labeled as felony level sex offenders for distributing child pornography.

Phillip Alpert, 18, was one such teen charged with distribution of child pornography for mass texting photographs of his 16-year-old girlfriend after they had a fight.

A growing consensus of lawyers and legislators are starting to believe that child pornography laws are too blunt an instrument to deal with the new wave of adolescent cyberculture.

Last year, Nebraska, Utah, and Vermont reduced the penalties for teens who engage in "sexting" and in 2010, it is thought that 14 other states will consider such legislation as well.

"There is a lot of confusion about how to regulate cellphones and sex and 16-year-olds," Amy Adler, a law professor at New York University stated. "We're in this cultural shift, not only because of technology, but because of what's happening in terms of the representation of teen sexuality as you can see on 'Gossip Girl'."

Lawyers say that these cases are not what the harsh child pornography laws were intended for, however, some state supreme courts uphold the laws and penalties faced by the offenders, though young people are rarely, if ever, jailed for the practice.

One survey reports 1 in 5 teens engages in "sexting."

The laws themselves may be harsh, but some might argue that these teens don't truly understand the consequences of mass distribution of the private images of underage children. Their intentions, fueled by adolescent passions, could fall into the wrong hands, and the teens could be exploited unknowingly. The issue won't be going away anytime soon, and Liberty will be sure to keep you updated here at our blog.

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In 2000, a man named John Gardner plead guilty to molesting his 13 year-old-neighbor. His psychiatrist testified that Gardner was "a continued danger to underage girls" and he recommended a 30 year sentence. But, in an effort to protect the victim, Gardner was given just 5 years jail time.

When 17 year-old Chelsea King disappeared outside her San Diego home last week, police say she was abducted and raped by Gardner. He later dumped her body nearby.

Though Gardner was forced to wear a GPS monitoring device until 2008, investigators believe he may have been involved in the disappearance of another teen and a 22 year-old-woman.

Jake Goldenflame spoke out as a convicted sex offender, "It's wishful thinking to believe that simply by locking someone up for a number of years that it's going to magically transform him when he comes out."

It's reminiscent of the Jaycee Dugard case in which, though Phillip Garrido was monitored for heinous sex crimes, Dugard went undetected for 18 years.

John Gardner will spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted in the Chelsea King case.

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Teen Registers as "Sext" Offender

Philip Alpert made a big mistake. He got angry at his girlfriend.

At the age of 18, he took sexually explicit pictures she sent him and forwarded them to his entire contact list.

Alpert was quickly arrested on child pornography charges. Albert had to register as a sex offender, which in all likelihood could ruin his life.

Alpert's lawyer, Lawrence Walters claims, "Society is starting to recognize that maybe this is something different, a phenomenon we haven't dealt with before, but currently they're doing it in the worst way possible, by lumping these kids in with pedophiles and molesters."

While it may be true that the punishment far outweighs the crime, Albert can't live with his father - too close to a school - and can't pursue his dream of computer animation due to restrictions on the Internet, Albert did break the law and his actions should be punishable.

Albert is a sex offender whether he'd like to be categorized as one or not. And whether or not he realizes it, he broke a serious law and committed a serious crime. The law does not discriminate toward an angry adult man and a man who is not angry, but disturbed. They both distribute sexually explicit photographs of underage teens. The motivation is not necessarily relevant, and if the judge is making an example of Albert, I say, so be it.

These laws are developed to protect the innocent and underaged, not the adult men who knowingly break them.

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Religious Groups Refuse to Ordain Sex Offenders

A man from Indiana became an ordained minister through an independent church earlier this month. While that in itself is not headline new, the fact that he is a sex offender is. The church defended the action citing that the man has been reformed.

Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Assemblies of God and the Jehovah's Witnesses are all churches that refuse to ordain sex offenders, reformed or not. They concluded the risk of a repeat offense is serious enough that they deny the offenders the ability to access their denominations.

“If the candidate has committed a sex-related crime, he or she should be permanently disqualified” for ministry, according to United Methodist guidelines, which cite “the massive legal exposure,” as well as “the awareness that currently available treatments for such offenses are of limited utility, with high rates of recidivism.”

“My question to the church would be — why?” Fortune said in a phone interview. “If this person has been in treatment and served their time and so forth, that's fine and that's good. But as a registered sex offender, part of what they're supposed to understand about themselves is that they remain at risk to reoffend.”

She said ordaining such a person is also hurtful to people who have been sexually abused as children, particularly by clergy.

“Repentance, redemption and restoration do not mean that that person is lifted into a position of public leadership,” she said. “There are many other ways they can serve in their community and in their church that would not put them in that kind of role.”

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California City Regulates Mobile Vendors

Lathrop city officials are working to pass a mobile vendor ordinance to regulate pushcarts and food wagons. The ordinance would give officials and local police to oversee the mobile vendors and require them to provide information about their equipment and merchandise. They would be subject to criminal background checks and inspections by policy. Parking hours and areas of operation would also be regulated.

Lathrop is one among a few cities nationwide opening policy to overseeing such vendors. In large cities, vendors such as these go largely unregulated and unwatched. The vendors in Lathrop will be required to pay a feed from $225 per cart. The amount of time a vendor can be in one location has increased from 10 minutes to 30 minutes.

And those mandatory criminal background checks for every vendor, a result of the unfortunate incident of a sex offender found operating an ice cream truck in Sacramento. The man was caught taking photographs of children and their homes. An ice cream truck driver who has access to children and provides those children with a false sense of security.

Mayor Kirsty Sayles said, "It's a cheaper and better way to do business and to protect the children, I can sign on to that."

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Violent Sex Offenders Re-Evaluated

The discovery of Jaycee Dugard, the woman who was abducted when she was 11 from a bus stop in Lake Tahoe, NV, has raised many questions about the monitoring and sentencing of men like the one who kidnapped her, Phillip Garrido. Garrido was a convicted, violent sex offender at the time of Dugard's abduction. On parole, officers visited the Garrido home on several occasions and never discovered Dugard and her children living in the backyard. A neighbor even alerted the police that children were there. Police knocked on the front door, but never searched the home or yard.

Many experts believe violent sex offenders can never be rehabilitated and that the likelihood of them offending again is so high that there should be different standards to which they are held. Garrido's first documented offense in 1976 involved an elaborate hideout in Reno, NV where he assaulted a woman for hours after handcuffing and binding her with a leather strap.

Garrido was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but was released after just 10 on parole. Recent laws have made sentences tougher, violent offender's mandatory sentencing was raised from just 5 years to 35. However, advocates of tougher laws are pushing imprisonment and then treatment "for as long as it takes to rehabilitate" the violent offenders. And in some cases, they will never be rehabilitated, which mean, simply, they would never be released.

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New Hampshire Representative Seeks Looser Laws for Sex Offenders

Charged with two felonies, the 20 year old son of New Hampshire state Representative Jennifer Brown, plead his crimes down to misdemeanors and registered as a sex offender. His attempts to lure a 14 year old girl to a meeting place to have sex were recorded by undercover police officers.

Brown connected with the girl in an Internet chat room. When she agreed to meet him, he drove to the designated spot, waited for a few minutes and left. He was arrested on felony charges, attempted 2nd degree assault and the misdemeanor offense of attempted sexual assault.

He received suspended sentence and was required to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.

His state representative mother has now introduced a bill that would remove her son's name from the list of registered sex offenders.

"He didn't meet anyone," Brown said. "He got there, turned around and left so fast. . . . He went to the meeting, then said, 'I'm just leaving,' and that's what our state calls a criminal. What happens when you're young derails your career," Brown went on, "You have none. Being on the list is an onerous responsibility."

Brown's proposed change would exempt Tier 1 sex offenders, which includes only those convicted of misdemeanors, from the public list. Those who were exempted would still need to register on a private list with the police department. A Tier 1 sex offender can currently petition to come off the public list five years after he or she completes his or her sentence.

The New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union has given their support to the bill. "To put all individuals who have committed an offense in a very broad category in the same pot is absurd," said Claire Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union.

But state law enforcement are in stiff opposition. Federal funding could be jeopardized if the bill passes. Also, the law enforcement community is adamant that the Tier 1 offenders are more dangerous than the bill allows. Offenses listed under Tier 1 offenders include:

• Sexual contact with a person age 13 to 18 under aggravating circumstances, which could include using physical force, touching a victim who is physically unable to resist, or coercion by a person in authority.
• Sexual contact with a person aged 13 to 15, with an age difference of five years or more.
• Sexual penetration with a person who is incarcerated, on probation or parole by a person in a position of authority.
• Violation of privacy, including sending out photographs or recordings of private body parts.
• A second or subsequent incident of indecent exposure.
• Sexual penetration or contact in the presence of a child.

Tom Reid, deputy county attorney said, "A defendant who could be any age overcomes a victim through application of physical force or violence, holds a person down and grabs their sexual parts . . . that's a Tier 1 sex offender who the bill would exempt." Reid said. "You could have a 60-year-old man who fondles a 13-year-old child for sexual gratification. This bill would exempt that person."

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Illinois Children are a Little Safer

It only seems natural that sex offenders would be banned from operating ice cream trucks, but until recently, in Illinois, they had every right. But a new law bars sex offenders from operating trucks or vehicles that sell food or beverage.

The law was signed into being on Tuesday by Governor Pat Quinn.

The move is good for the children. Many states around the nation already have protections in place. And they don't just stop at sex offenders either, they require background checks to obtain the license in the first place.

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Authors Required to Pass Checks Before Reading to Children

Authors across Britain will now be required to register themselves in a national database and submit to background investigations before they will be allowed into schools or classrooms to promote their books to children.

The authors will have to pay a fee to get registered, of 104 euros.

Said author Anthony Horowitz, “After 30 years writing books, visiting schools, hospitals, prisons, spreading an enthusiasm for culture and literacy, I find this incredibly insulting.”

But the government doesn't want to take any risks. The authors are allowed access to children and should be screened. In a time where you can't even trust your child psychologist, it isn't extreme to think an author could have bad intentions as well.

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Not all Volunteers have Good Intentions

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Sex Offender Residing at Nursing Home Commits Crime

A male resident living at a nursing home in Illinois molested 10 female residents and was removed to a psychiatric facility off-site.

The man had a history of being a sex offender, and residents of nursing homes are now asking the questions, can sex offenders live in nursing homes?

The Illinois Department of Public Health said that administrators failed to protect the female residents from the man. And even though the man was removed from the nursing home, there are reports than another sex offenders is residing there.

In Illinois, the nursing home is required to tell the Illinois Department of Public Health about any resident who is a sex offender and must do a “risk analysis” of the offender to determine whether staff will be able to care for the offender and to prepare a care plan. The sex offender must be placed in a private room and the home is required to tell residents, prospective residents, and families they can ask whether an offender lives at the home.

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New Law For Sex Offenders

Under current law, young sex offenders do not garner as much attention as older offenders do. Their photos are not currently added to online databases, due in large part to their positive response to intensive rehabilitation therapy efforts.

Tim, 19, sexually abused an 8-year-old girl in Chicago five years ago, and his name was logged onto a state registry for juvenile sex offenders. Tim has been rejected for employment by several companies, including military recruiters. He was also rejected after submitted a college application.

University of Oklahoma psychologist Barbara Bonner says ample evidence suggests treatment works for young sex offenders. Studies have found that 5 to 14 percent of those who receive counseling commit another sexual crime. But a new federal law to be inacted in July 2010 will require states to post juvinelle sex offenders photos on their websites for at least 25 years, making it more difficult for them to function in society.

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MySpace Ejects 90,000 Sex Offenders

Sex offenders have long been known to lurk on social networking sites like MySpace, and recent estimates by the North Carolina Attorney General put the number at about 29,000.

After a subpoena by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, MySpace successfully identified 90,000 sex offenders - a staggering number. They immediately terminated the accounts and have begun implementing procedures to keep the numbers down.

Blumenthal said, “That these convicted, registered sex offenders are creating profiles under their own names unmasks MySpace’s monstrously inadequate countermeasures."

Age verification, restrictions against older users searching for minors on MySpace, an an outright ban on sex offenders registering for accounts in the first place are among the measures being taken to stop predators.

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Holes in Screening Methods Lead to Vulnerability

Most companies and institutions that practice applicant background checks and doing so because they believe in creating a safe and comfortable work environment. Once a worker is hired, however, background checks for criminal activity are not routinely conducted.

Mount Anthony Union High School regularly screens employees before hiring them. Shawn R. Pratt was screened prior to his employment as a paraprofessional. Charges against Pratt for aggravated sexual assault on a child under 10 and lewd and lascivious behavior with a child are still pending. During Pratt's six year employment at Mount Anthony he racked up several misdemeanor charges including assault and marijuana posseson. His criminal history accrued while he was employed and without the school's knowledge.

The school is not required to run background checks on currently employed individuals, in fact, they are regulated against doing so by the state of Vermont. Health care institution in Vermont have that right, but there is no generally accepted procedure in place.

Joel Cook, the executive director of the Vermont chapter o the National Education Association said, "The purpose of the law is to provide school information about people they are considering hiring and keep bad actors out of the system and away from children. If you have someone in your employ and they get in trouble ... I think we believed that in small town Vermont - and all of Vermont is small towns - more than likely, you'll know about it."

Not a very efficient process for insuring the safety of the children attending Vermont schools.

It is unknown how many state's have laws such as Vermont's on the books. It might be time to reconsider the background checking process after employment.

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Sex Offender Caught at Local Carnival

The offender in the video below used a fake social security number to dupe his employers and their background screen:



Liberty's Identification Verification Trace (or SSN trace, address trace report) could have caught the fact that the SSN and the name did not match. When hiring somebody to work around children, or hiring a person for any position of trust, it is important to understand the types of background checks available and what they uncover. A single background check will not uncover everything, it is best practice to use them in combination for the most accurate results.

Fortunately, this man was removed from his position before he caused any harm to the company or its patrons.

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Norwich, CT Gives Convicts a Chance

City Council members of Norwich, Connecticut are hearing from advocates wanting change in the application process for city employees. The group: Think Outside the Box, advocates delaying a criminal background check until the applicants qualifications have been determined. They want ex-criminals to have a fair judgement of their skills before having to check the box that states they have been convicted of a crime.

Employment is one of the the biggest limitations facing convicted criminals after they are released from prison. The advocates stress that it is not about trying to put sex offenders where they don't belong, but about trying to help people get back on their feet after being released from their punishment. Cities in New England are considering the change, and Boston has begun implementation of the new policy.

Once the applicant passes through the job qualification procedure, they will have to admit to their crimes, and are expected to speak frankly on the matter. It will be up to the hiring manager to make the final decision and they are granted full prudence on the decision-making process.

The procedure change is good, in a way, because criminals who have served their time are considered to be "rehabilitated." However, most people arrested for criminal offenses have prior arrest records and records in more than one state. (Federal Bureau of Investigation). Taking a chance on criminals by providing them a job might give them enough reason to stay off the streets and out of the life of crime. The fall-out from this program could be impressive, or it could work. I know I'll be waiting to see how it pans out.

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Screening Hurricane Evacuees

Amid the many oversights that were discovered in faulty evacuation procedures during hurricanes Katrina and Rita was the lack of information regarding the history of those who were being provided with shelter, food, and transport. As this year's hurricane season rages on, authorities are learning their lessons and not leaving anything to chance.

Hurricane Gustav was the first opportunity to implement background checks on evacuees seeking shelter from the storm. Louisiana implemented the procedure to keep sex offenders from seeking shelter with children after the disaster of Katrina, and the long wake of problems that followed in the months after.

"Authorities said "a couple" of men who were convicted sex offenders arrived with their families. Authorities said the men notified them of their past convictions; their families were allowed in the shelters and the men were taken to a separate location where state probation officials are making arrangements for them to be housed elsewhere. "

As Ike approaches the Gulf of Mexico, Texas is now gearing up for it's own background investigations. Any person needing transportation by bus will be screened in an effort to protect the vulnerable evacuees from any potential threat.

"...state officials would be able to segregate evacuees, even in the chaos of an emergency. “We’ll have procedures,” he [ Jack Colley] said, “and we’re not going to advertise what they are.”

With the possibility of the devastation of hurricanes, and the chaotic process of evacuating large cities, it is nice to know the authorities are taking measures to protect their citizens from further harm.

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