Sex Crimes

MI Court: Man Doesn't Belong on Sex Offender List for Youthful Romance

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that a man convicted for a so-called "Romeo and Juliet" relationship does not belong on the state's sex offender list. You may read the decision here. From the Associated Press:

Robert Dipiazza had a consensual relationship when he was 18 with a nearly 15-year-old in 2004. A teacher contacted authorities because the age of consent is 16 in Michigan.

A third-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct charge was eventually erased from his record, but he still had to register as a sex offender. He says he had trouble finding jobs and became depressed.

The state appeals court on ordered a Muskegon County judge to strike his name from the registry, calling it cruel punishment. Dipiazza and his girlfriend were married in April and had a baby during the summer.

Prosecutor Declines to Bring "Sexting" Charges

A Michigan prosecutor has decided not to charge several high school students who distributed nude cell phone pictures of a 14-year old girl. From Fox News:

Prosecutor David Morse told reporters Monday that Pinckney High School and parents handled the matter appropriately. Morse says no purpose would be served by putting the teens on the state sex offender registry.

The sheriff's department in October confiscated a dozen mobile phones after the girl took a photo showing her genitals and sent it to friends. Authorities say about 200 people wound up getting the pictures.

About 20 students were disciplined.

This entire area of law depends upon the discretion of prosecutors. Legislatures really need to be more proactive to cure the problem so that it is not left to individual prosecutors.

Michigan Official Caught Having Sex on Public Sidewalk

According to police, a Michigan official was caught having sex with a woman (who was not his wife) on a public sidewalk. His defense? he claims he was urinating and not having sex. He has been sentenced to two years probation. From WLNS:

A married Oakland County official who police say was caught having sex with another woman on a sidewalk in the Detroit suburb of Novi has been sentenced to two years' probation.

District Judge Dennis Powers on Wednesday also ordered 56-year-old Kim Capello to perform 50 hours of community service and undergo intensive outpatient substance-abuse counseling.

Capello pleaded guilty to indecent exposure. The misdemeanor charge may be dismissed if he successfully completes his sentence.

Police say officers on April 18 found an unclothed man and woman apparently having sex against a wall.

The least surprising detail of the story was that "[t]he couple said they'd been drinking."

H/T: Sentencing Law & Policy.

News of the Weird

In case you were wondering what the likely sentence for having sex with a car wash vacuum in Michigan is, the answer is: 90 days in prison. From the Associated Press (via Fox News):

A man police caught performing a sex act with a car wash vacuum has been sentenced to 90 days in prison.

Jason Leroy Savage must also submit to drug testing.

The 29-year-old from Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday at Saginaw County Circuit Court.

Savage pleaded no contest to indecent exposure last month.

Police say Savage was arrested after a resident called officers early on Oct. 16 to report suspicious activity at a car wash in Thomas Township, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit.

Savage's attorney, Philip Sturtz, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

Don't ever let it be said that I fail to bring you the most important coverage of sex crimes issues in the blogosphere. I'm not sure "indecent exposure" fully captures the nature of the defendant's conduct, but I doubt the legislature anticipated sex with a car wash vacuum as a possible crime.

Is Masturbation "Sexual Contact?"

Sentencing Law & Policy points to a split-panel decision by the Sixth Circuit released today, where the court struck down an unusual sentencing enhancement imposed by the district court. You can read the decision here. From the opinion:

Shafer contends that the district court erred when it imposed the two-level enhancement pursuant to § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A) because: (1) “sexual contact” does not include self-masturbation and (2) Shafer did not commit any “sexual contact” that can be considered “relevant conduct” for purposes of the enhancement.  Although we disagree with Shafer’s assertion that “sexual contact” does not include self-masturbation, we conclude that the district court’s imposition of an enhancement under § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A) cannot be supported by either theory advanced by the district court....
Shafer contends that the term “sexual contact” does not include self-masturbation.  Neither party provided the court with any caselaw addressing whether self-masturbation is covered by 18 U.S.C. § 2246(3)’s definition of “sexual contact.”  We also were unable to locate such a case in any circuit.  Thus, this issue of statutory interpretation appears to be a question of first impression.

Maybe the Sixth Circuit should have checked with Justice Scalia to find out about the laws of masturbation.

Homeless Sex Offender Denied Bed, Dies on the Street

A Michigan sex offender was found dead on the streets recently after he had tried to seek entrance to a shelter, but was "denied a bed because he is a registered sex offender."  Sentencing Law & Policy has more.  Sex Offender Research is also covering the story. From MLive.com

Officials say its possible Thomas Pauli might be alive today except for a state law prohibiting him from establishing a residence even for one night within 1,000 feet of a school, in this case, Catholic Central High, also located in the Heartside district.

"It's heartbreaking. I have a hard time even talking about it," said Marge Palmerlee, executive director at Degage Ministries.

Palmerlee said she had talked to at least two people who told her Pauli had tried earlier this month to secure a bed at one or both missions.
Tom Rademacher column: So is this what it finally takes for us to hear the muffled cries of the homeless.

Bill Merchut of Mel Trotter and Bill Shaffer of Guiding Light agreed that Pauli may have tried to gain entrance, but that their missions risk fines and loss of license if they admit sex offenders. They do not track everyone who applies for a bed, only those who are admitted, so while they were sure Pauli had not been admitted, they couldn't be sure if he had tried.

They both decried a system where there are no exceptions to the so-called Megan's Law, which sets boundaries and restrictions for those on the list.

"We have to follow the law, but ethically, it feels like were responsible," said Merchut.

Added Shaffer, "These men and women are clearly 'The Scarlet Letter' folks of our day. And where do they go? I have no answer."

Pauli, 52, served 11 years in prison for a 1991 conviction in Grand Traverse County for second-degree criminal sexual conduct, state records show. He was released in 2003 and was required to register as a sex offender.

Michigan Court Rules that Bestiality Crime Doesn't Result in Registry Listing

A recent ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals found that a man who pled no contest "to sodomizing a sheep does not have to register as a sex offender after his release from prison."  You can view the opinion here. From the Chicago Tribune:

In a 3-0 opinion released Wednesday, the appeals court said the state sex offender registry is intended to track people who have committed crimes against humans, not animals.

Judges Jane Markey, William Whitbeck and Elizabeth Gleicher vacated a Calhoun County judge's order that [the man] register as a sex offender upon his release. They said "courts may not read or include provisions into a statute that the Legislature did not."

Calhoun County Prosecutor John Hallacy, who wanted [the man] on the sex offender list, called the ruling "well thought out" and said he would not appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.

I'm guessing this one of those decisions where the "ick" factor will lead to public outcry and the legislature will adopt a quick fix.

Around the Web

As reported yesterday, the State of Louisiana has asked the Supreme Court "to revisit its recent decision outlawing the death penalty for people convicted of raping children."  Also, the primary author of the filing was Georgetown University law professor Neal Katyal, who previously represented a Guantanamo Bay detainee before the Supreme Court. For more, see Volokh Conspiracy, ABA Journal, New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the Associated Press.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals threw out "a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring 'wardrobe malfunction.'"  In a 2-1 decision, the Court found that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity.  You may read the ruling here.  The New York Times and Washington Post have more.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed a lower court ruling "that struck down as unconstitutional a 1998 law intended to protect children from sexual material and other objectionable content on the Internet."  The decision is "the latest twist in a decade-long legal battle over the Child Online Protection Act."  The law, which has yet to come into effect, would "bar Web sites from making harmful content available to minors over the Internet."  For more, see Sentencing Law and Policy, Wall Street Journal Blog, and Ars Technica.  You can read the ruling here.

Concurring Opinions has an interesting new post entitled: Who is Responsible? The Criminalization of HIV Transmission, which discusses a surge in criminalization of HIV transmission throughout the world.  According to the post, many West African countries "have added new statutes on HIV exposure in the past two years," and "there have been high-profile prosecutions in countries as different as Britain and Singapore."

Sentencing Law and Policy directs us to an article discussing "a notable new technology that school[s] are using to try to prevent sex offenders from getting into schools."  According to the article, "[t]he device scans a visitor's driver's license to quickly let school personnel know if the visitor is on the national sex offender list."

Around the Web

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an interesting op-ed article discussing the difficulties juvenile sex offenders face as adults.  In Washington state  more than 3,500 children in the state have been charged and convicted as felony sex offenders, a mark that remains on their records forever, barring them from careers in medicine, teaching, and a host of other professions.

Many blogs are reporting that "[a] lawyer for a pornographic website operator plans to use statistics from Google to establish community standards in Florida."  The attorney plans to introduce evidence that the local community is more likely to search for words like "orgy" than for "apple pie" or "water melon."  For more, check out CrimProf Blog, Feminist Law Professors, WSJ Law Blog and the New York Times article.

Crime and Consequences points us to an LA Times article which mentions that the state of Georgia has "the most restrictive laws for registered sex offenders in the country, including bans on living within a certain radius of school bus stops and volunteering at church."  Five Georgia sex offenders argue that the restrictions limit their ability to practice their faith under the First Amendment. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that a local women is accused of beating her neighbor (a 7'3" sex offender) with an aluminum baseball bat in a trailer park.  The woman remains in jail as does the sex offender who failed to register at his most recent address.  Though the article notes that there is a movement to collect money to bail her out of jail, the County Sheriff's Office notes that the woman "has no less than a dozen arrests over the last few years, for assault, drugs, driving crimes -- you name it."

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "[t]he winner of last week's $57 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot is a registered sex offender who also pleaded guilty to two breaking and entering charges in the 1980s."  The man was discharged from Michigan Department of Correction in late 2006.  The man chose to take the prize as a $34 million lump sum payment, before taxes.

Around the Web

A Michigan sex offender, who walked away from prison work detail 38 years ago, was arrested this week in Wisconsin.  The man was sentenced in 1968 to a term of five to ten years after a conviction for taking indecent liberties with a minor.

A Public Defender has a post discussing a proposed change to the Connecticut Code of Evidence which "would permit a statement made by a child to be admissible in lieu of live testimony," if certain circumstances were met: 1) the court would have to find the statement trustworthy; 2) the statement was not made in preparation for litigation; and 3) the child either testifies and is subject to cross-examination or is otherwise unavailable.  The post notes the distributing nature of that third circumstance, as "unvailability does not mean physically unavailable; reluctance to testify qualifies. The scary part is that this unvailability requirement essentially permits the introduction of inculpatory and incriminating statements with zero opportunity to cross-examine." This proposed rule change has obvious implications for child molestation cases.

The Southeast Texas Record is running an op-ed piece written by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) entitled: Protecting Children in the Modern World.  In the editorial, Sen. Cornyn discusses why he "strongly supported is the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act," but complains that "Congress has not yet provided significant funding for this effort."

A manager of the high priced prostitution ring allegedly link to former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court, agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.  The 23 year-old woman pled guilty to conspiracy, money laundering and federal prostitution charges concerning an alleged role in running the Emperors Club V.I.P. escort service.