Sex Crimes

Scary Story about Prostitutes in New Mexico

Feminist Law Professors directs us to this interesting article concerning the mysterious disappearance of more than a dozen prostitutes. From the Associated Press:

In the desert outside Albuquerque, hikers have sometimes stumbled upon human remains partially buried under the hardy scrub and hard-baked dirt.

But few people could have imagined the crime scene now emerging: The bones of at least 13 people have been uncovered on the site of an abandoned housing development.

The grisly discovery last month caused authorities to reopen dozens of cold cases involving missing prostitutes, some of whom vanished as much as 20 years ago.

Since the bones came to light, forensic experts, detectives, anthropologists and medical investigators have raked tediously through mounds of dirt for the next sliver of bone or clump of human hair.

Police believe one person or group of people is responsible for the slayings, but they have been reluctant to make comparisons to any existing serial murder cases.

"We don't want to limit our investigation," Police Chief Ray Schultz said, calling the scene "one of the largest and most complex" ever investigated by his department.

So far, only two sets of remains have been identified. But detectives are reviewing cases involving dozens of women who vanished from the city over the last two decades. All of them were suspected of being drug addicts and prostitutes. Of particular interest are 16 women reported missing between 2001 and 2006.

The two bodies identified so far were Michelle Valdez and Victoria Chavez, both women who disappeared within months of each other in 2004.

New Mexico Seeks Adam Walsh Act Compliance

State legislators in New Mexico are expected to introduce Adam Walsh Act-compliant legislation soon and it will be up to the former Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of Commerce-nominee Governor Bill Richardson to sign it.  From the Valencia County News-Bulletin:

With the turn of a calendar page, a new year begins. With it come new federal guidelines for the registration of convicted sex offenders in the form of the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act.

The federal act was passed in 2007, and the final guidelines were issued in 2008, Regina Chacon of the State Department of Public Safety (DPS) said. Now it's New Mexico's turn to come into compliance with the federal statute.

Compliancy with the act includes juvenile registration, retroactive registration and technology enhancements that include mapping of registrants, e-mail notifications of their locations and a link to a national database.

Chacon said during the January legislative session, which begins its 60-day session on Jan. 20., the act will be introduced to the legislature and the governor will have to sign the bill into effect.

"We have tried to come up with something that will comply with the Adam Walsh bill. We are already compliant with the requirements for our Web site and database," Chacon said. "We will have to start the juvenile and retroactive registrations."

An example of when retroactive registry would happen is if someone is convicted on a burglary charge in 2009, after the act goes into effect, and was convicted of criminal sexual penetration in the first degree in 1975. "They were not required to register then, but they would be now," Chacon said.

She went on to say that with the retroactive registration in place, registered sex offender numbers would increase as well as the research it takes to put them in the state's database.

"We do in-depth research of conviction and court documents," Chacon said. "We will not put someone on the registry until we have absolutely verified the conviction. We will have to get that information from court documents, which, with the older records, those documents are the sole source. That will probably be one of the hardest tasks."

Currently, the state will place a juvenile on the sex offender registry if they are convicted and sentenced under adult sanctions. "A 17-year-old convicted as an adult would have to register," Chacon said. "Under the Adam Walsh Act, they will be registered even if the juvenile is simply adjudicated."

New Mexico Cult Leader Arrested on Sex Crime Charges

While not currently the biggest criminal law story regarding a religious compound, a leader in New Mexico has been arrested on sex crime charges.  It seems like a bad time to be in a religious compound.  From CNN:

The leader of an apocalyptic New Mexico church who claims to be the Messiah was arrested Tuesday on sex charges, state police said.

Wayne Bent, who also goes by the name Michael Travesser, was arrested at the compound that is home to his Lord Our Righteousness Church, called Strong City by members. He was being interviewed, said state police spokesman Peter Olson.

The arrests come after three children were removed from the compound late last month.

A Tuesday post on the group's Web site said Bent was arrested Tuesday morning.

"I was told by the agent in charge of the case that the arrest warrant specified charges of three counts of sexual contact with a minor, and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor," said the post, written by an unnamed follower. "The bail was set at half a million dollars."

Meanwhile, Grits and TalkLeft are covering the religious compound story that most people are following.  I still don't have anything insightful to add to the story, but if you are interested, Grits is definitely providing some thorough and provocative posts about the story.