Sex Crimes

Around the Web

Sex offender registry websites all over Ohio are being disabled while they are brought into compliance with the state's version of the Adam Walsh Act.  One glitch already discovered may have "allowed the posting of photos of juvenile sex offenders," which is not allowed without a court order.

One Indiana county sheriff's department will now charge sex offenders listed on the website's registry an annual $50 fee.  The money will go to administration of the site and "education and equipment for sheriff's personnel as it relates to the registration of sex and violent offenders."

Lawmakers in New Hampshire are considering vastly expanding the public sex offender registry to include not only child molesters, but also Peeping-Tom incidents, indecent exposures, and people who have victimized adults.  Currently, the public list identifies only acts committed against children.

The Attorney General of Iowa is asking the state legislature to amend Iowa's civil commitment law for sex offenders.  The law passed currently gives the state the option of keeping sex offenders who've served their prison time locked up for mental treatment if a court determines they're a violent predator likely to strike again.  The Attorney General however wants to give the state the right to appeal any lower court ruling that released the sex offender on parole.

Elsewhere in Iowa, a sex offender who failed to re-register has turned himself in to court authorities.

Around the Web

Capital Defense Weekly reports that in Iran, two sisters accused of adultery will be stoned to death.  The conviction is "based on video of the two women merely in the presence of men who were not their husbands or otherwise related to him."

Law enforcement officials in the Sacramento, California area have launched a program that sends out live e-mail alerts regarding sex offender's whereabouts.

California's Jessica's Law inadvertently contributed to a sex offender being released on parole last year. An appellate court ruled that a district court correctly dismissed prosecutor's attempt to have the man declared a sexually violent predator and commit him to a state mental hospital indefinitely because the man was in "unlawful custody" when the petition was filed.

Vigilantes in Evansville, Indiana set a man's property on fire and wrote "GET OUT PERV" on his garage door.  However, they had the wrong address. Police say the fire and writings were likely intended for a man who lived nearby.

How Appealing reports that the Ninth Circuit has issued its ruling that a former police officer’s First Amendment rights were not violated when he was fired for running a sexually explicit Web site.

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A school district in suburban Alabama is implementing a security program that involves checking visitor's driver's licenses against sex offender databases.  School officials have not said what they will do if they get a positive match.

A lakeside town in Texas is considering an ordinance that would restrict not only where registered sex offenders live but also where they can go. According to this article, about sixty-eight percent of the land in town would be restricted to registered sex offenders.

An Indiana father received a letter from his children's school informing him that, as a convicted sex offender, he was banned from school property. The letter also stated that if he wanted to pick up his two children or to attend a meeting he would have to be escorted. The problem is that he is not a sex offender.

The Psychology and Crime News Blog has an interesting article about a new study published last week discussing the "complex cycle of violent crime among young people that challenges pre-conceived ideas that young people are simply either victims or offenders."

Around the Web

There are a few other notable posts and articles around the web today (some sent by helpful readers - thanks!).

The news about the McCain campaign official who got busted for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover police officer probably isn't going to help get his campaign going again.

Indiana has legally permitted (as of July 1) certain teen sex acts as part of a "Romeo and Juliet" defense.

The Nazis had prison brothels.  While it was not surprising to Feminist Law Professors, I had no idea.

Here is a story about what the state attorney has termed "the worst crime I've seen in 37 years in the business."

A sex offender's suicide in a Texas prison has helped shine a light on the horrible prison conditions there.

Via TalkLeft, the state bar has filed its Nifong ruling.

The Use of Sex Offender Registries

If the numbers out of Indiana are reliable, then it appears that a lot of people are using sex offender registries to find out where sex offenders live in their communities:

Tuesday is the first anniversary of the Indiana Sex Offender Registry. Since it went online, there have been more than 3 million page views to the site to look at maps of where sex offenders live. And in the first year, a new personal notification system has been added.