Texas sex offenders who are twice convicted of raping children under 14 could get the death penalty under a bill state lawmakers approved Friday.
The state House passed Texas' version of "Jessica's Law," a crackdown on sex offenders who prey on children, a day after the Senate approved it.
The bill is named for Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl who was abducted and killed. More than a dozen states have passed versions of Jessica's Law.
Gov. Rick Perry has said he was open to the idea of the death penalty in child sex cases and that passage of a child sex offender bill is a legislative emergency. Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said the governor will wait to read the final version of the bill before deciding whether to sign it into law.
"The purpose is to make Texas a safer place for children and a more dangerous place for their predators," said Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle, the bill's House sponsor.
Texas would be the sixth state to add the death penalty for some child rape cases, although legal experts debate whether the punishment would be unconstitutional in cases where the victim did not die. Louisiana has an inmate on death row in a child sex crime, but that case is being appealed.
Democratic Rep. Lon Burnam called child sex crimes horrendous but said the state that executes more inmates than any other should not expand its use of the death penalty.
Victim advocates have warned that adding the death penalty would do more harm than good if it leads perpetrators to kill victims to avoid leaving witness.
The bill also creates a new category of crime - continual sexual abuse of a young child or children, carrying a minimum penalty of 25 years to life in prison.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
MySpace
MySpace says it will not turn over names of sex offenders to attorneys general
AP
RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) - MySpace.com said Tuesday it will not comply with a request by attorneys general from eight U.S. states to hand over the names of registered sex offenders who use the social networking Web site.
In a statement, MySpace's chief security officer said state and federal laws prohibit the Web site from sharing such information.
"We are doing everything short of breaking the law to ensure that the information about these predators gets to the proper authorities," the security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, said in the news release.
The statement did not specify which laws MySpace would break by handing authorities the information, and a call to the company was not immediately returned.
In December, MySpace announced it was partnering with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. to build a database with information on sex offenders in the United States.
Software to identify and remove sex offenders from the site has been used for 12 days, and MySpace has "removed every registered sex offender that we identified out of our more than 175 million profiles," Nigam said.
In a letter Monday, attorneys general from North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania asked MySpace to provide the number of registered sex offenders using the site and where they live.
MySpace, which is owned by News Corp., and other social networking sites allow users to create online profiles with photos, music and personal information, including hometowns and education. Users can send messages to one another and, in many cases, browse other profiles.
MySpace's policy prevents children under 14 from setting up profiles, but it relies on users to specify their ages.
AP
RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) - MySpace.com said Tuesday it will not comply with a request by attorneys general from eight U.S. states to hand over the names of registered sex offenders who use the social networking Web site.
In a statement, MySpace's chief security officer said state and federal laws prohibit the Web site from sharing such information.
"We are doing everything short of breaking the law to ensure that the information about these predators gets to the proper authorities," the security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, said in the news release.
The statement did not specify which laws MySpace would break by handing authorities the information, and a call to the company was not immediately returned.
In December, MySpace announced it was partnering with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. to build a database with information on sex offenders in the United States.
Software to identify and remove sex offenders from the site has been used for 12 days, and MySpace has "removed every registered sex offender that we identified out of our more than 175 million profiles," Nigam said.
In a letter Monday, attorneys general from North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania asked MySpace to provide the number of registered sex offenders using the site and where they live.
MySpace, which is owned by News Corp., and other social networking sites allow users to create online profiles with photos, music and personal information, including hometowns and education. Users can send messages to one another and, in many cases, browse other profiles.
MySpace's policy prevents children under 14 from setting up profiles, but it relies on users to specify their ages.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
STANFORD, Elijah P.
Stanford was convicted of 1st Degree Child Molestation in 1998 for exposing himself and molesting his daughter’s friend, age 11. He also exposed himself to another child on numerous occasions. Stanford has a long history of molestation and exposing himself, by his own estimation exposing himself to at least 100 victims and molesting at least five. Stanford was unsuccessful in sex offender treatment, being terminated from the program for lack of progress and an unwillingness to acknowledge he has a problem. He is considered likely to re-offend.
WM, DOB/ 06-01-62
5'11", 190#, red hair, blue eye
Transient
Walla Walla, WA
JACKSON, Gary D.
In 1996 Jackson was convicted of two counts of Child Molestation 1st degree; his victims were female children, aged three and six. In 2000 he pled guilty to Residential Burglary with Sexual Motivation after burglarizing two homes and stealing women's’ and girls’ underwear. In addition to the crimes of conviction, Jackson has admitted to other child victims and sexually deviant behavior. He did participate in sex offender treatment during his most recent incarceration but made only minimal progress. He is considered at a moderate to high risk to re offend, possibly with sexual violence.
Jackson is on supervision with DOC, and his conditions of supervision prohibit him from having any contact with minors or enter areas frequented by minors, such as parks, pools, school yards or playgrounds
WM, DOB/ 12-12-80
5'07", 180#, brown hair, brown eyes
500 block S 2nd, Walla Walla, WA
2 sex offenders
Spokane police want residents to know that two level 3 sex offenders with the potential to offend again have recently moved to the area.
Jeffrey W. Naftel, 49, and Albert R. Bohen, 57, are not wanted by police at this time but have moved to Spokane.
Bohen was charged with indecent liberties involving sexual assault on children in 1993 in Spokane County and has an extensive history of repeated sexual attacks on children and women, according to police.
Bohen is living in the northeast part of Spokane with a caretaker, and he is constantly supervised. He is not supposed to leave his home without his caretaker.
Bohen is 5-foot-6, 207 pounds and has gray hair and blue eyes.
Naftel is a transient and has reported being in the Spokane area. He pled guilty to raping 5- and 7-year-old boys and one count of child molestation in Chelan County in 1991.
Naftel is 5-foot-10, 220 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes.
Naftel is no longer supervised by the state Corrections Department, but police are warning residents that he and Bohen have the potential to offend again.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
What to do about sex offenders
Prison sentences, no matter how lengthy, can't cure sexual predators. But neither has it been proved that castration works.
Virginia lawmakers who think castration is a simple solution to a complex problem should remember that even armless thieves can steal.
Lawmakers are worried, and rightly so, that if the worst of the worst -- serial rapists and violent child molesters -- are released into society they will again prey upon unsuspecting victims.
The challenge then is to find an acceptable remedy that protects the public from mentally defective criminals who can't keep from re-offending. Lawmakers thought they had this figured out with civil commitments. Rather than release sexually violent offenders after they've served out their sentence, those judged likely to re-offend are locked away on civil confinements.
But this tidy solution has two major glitches. First, civil commitments can't go on indefinitely, as treatment and rehabilitation are still the goals. Second, the cost is steep. Sen. Emmett Hanger told The Washington Post that the program will soon cost $50 million a year.
Last year, lawmakers began searching for more answers. They tip-toed around the topic of castration. This year Hanger wrote it into a bill that would have allowed sexually violent predators to opt for castration and reintegration into society rather than risk a lifetime lockup. By the time the Senate and the House got through amending the bill, it was boiled down to a directive that the attorney general study the feasibility of using physical castration as a treatment option.
Gov. Tim Kaine struck the term "physical castration" and broadened the study to look at a "full range of treatment options." Kaine reasoned that the "bill was overly prescriptive of matters best left to the professionals in our state mental health agency."
The Senate agreed; the House didn't. This doesn't mean, though, that the castration debate is over. Kaine is asking his top mental health officials to review options for sex offender treatment, and lawmakers will surely revisit it next year.
Hanger believes that giving offenders the option of castration would be more humane than locking them away for life, and it would cost Virginia far less money.
However, the question remains as to whether castration would prevent violent offenders from committing other crimes. It has yet to be proved that either surgical or chemical castration is effective.
The governor and lawmakers would do well to use the next few months to call together experts in sexual disorders and mental health to explore all options rather than to assume castration provides an answer.
Virginia lawmakers who think castration is a simple solution to a complex problem should remember that even armless thieves can steal.
Lawmakers are worried, and rightly so, that if the worst of the worst -- serial rapists and violent child molesters -- are released into society they will again prey upon unsuspecting victims.
The challenge then is to find an acceptable remedy that protects the public from mentally defective criminals who can't keep from re-offending. Lawmakers thought they had this figured out with civil commitments. Rather than release sexually violent offenders after they've served out their sentence, those judged likely to re-offend are locked away on civil confinements.
But this tidy solution has two major glitches. First, civil commitments can't go on indefinitely, as treatment and rehabilitation are still the goals. Second, the cost is steep. Sen. Emmett Hanger told The Washington Post that the program will soon cost $50 million a year.
Last year, lawmakers began searching for more answers. They tip-toed around the topic of castration. This year Hanger wrote it into a bill that would have allowed sexually violent predators to opt for castration and reintegration into society rather than risk a lifetime lockup. By the time the Senate and the House got through amending the bill, it was boiled down to a directive that the attorney general study the feasibility of using physical castration as a treatment option.
Gov. Tim Kaine struck the term "physical castration" and broadened the study to look at a "full range of treatment options." Kaine reasoned that the "bill was overly prescriptive of matters best left to the professionals in our state mental health agency."
The Senate agreed; the House didn't. This doesn't mean, though, that the castration debate is over. Kaine is asking his top mental health officials to review options for sex offender treatment, and lawmakers will surely revisit it next year.
Hanger believes that giving offenders the option of castration would be more humane than locking them away for life, and it would cost Virginia far less money.
However, the question remains as to whether castration would prevent violent offenders from committing other crimes. It has yet to be proved that either surgical or chemical castration is effective.
The governor and lawmakers would do well to use the next few months to call together experts in sexual disorders and mental health to explore all options rather than to assume castration provides an answer.
Proximity violations uproot sex offenders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/12/07
Gwinnett sheriff's deputies are using new technology to keep an eye on convicted sex offenders.
With the help of a satellite-based computer program, deputies arrested six offenders Wednesday for living within 1,000 feet of a school, church, day care or community pool. A seventh person was jailed for failing to register as a sex offender within 72 hours of his birthday.
Satellites are being used to measure the distance from the offenders' residences to one of those locations, said Stacey Bourbonnais, sheriff's department spokeswoman.
"In the past, we had to go out and measure to determine if they were within 1,000 feet," Bourbonnais said.
In late February and early March, deputies hand-delivered letters to 49 of Gwinnett's 308 registered sex offenders informing them that they were living too close to forbidden facilities.
The six men arrested Wednesday refused to move after receiving the letter, Bourbonnais said.
• Deputies arrested convicted child molester Michael McKeithen of Lawrenceville for being within 742 feet of the Flowers Crossing Community pool.
• Also arrested was Bernard Ayers of Lilburn, who was convicted of rape and sodomy, for living within 260 feet of Hopkins Elementary School.
• Stephen Butler of Lawrenceville, who has a computer pornography conviction, was arrested for living within 446 feet of a registered home day care center.
• Convicted child molester Hector Candelaria of Doraville was arrested for living within 1,000 feet of the Longwood Vista Apartments pool.
• Terry Hill of Lawrenceville, a convicted child molester, was arrested for living within 413 feet of Covenant Life Church.
• John Stafinbil, who was convicted of lewd and lascivious crime involving a child, was arrested for living in a Norcross home within 752 feet of the Al-Farooq Masjid of Atlanta mosque.
Deputies also arrested Terrence Anderson of Snellville for failing to register on the sex offender list on his birthday. Anderson, who also goes by the name Lance House, was required to register on the list because of a conviction of prostitution of minors.
Published on: 04/12/07
Gwinnett sheriff's deputies are using new technology to keep an eye on convicted sex offenders.
With the help of a satellite-based computer program, deputies arrested six offenders Wednesday for living within 1,000 feet of a school, church, day care or community pool. A seventh person was jailed for failing to register as a sex offender within 72 hours of his birthday.
Satellites are being used to measure the distance from the offenders' residences to one of those locations, said Stacey Bourbonnais, sheriff's department spokeswoman.
"In the past, we had to go out and measure to determine if they were within 1,000 feet," Bourbonnais said.
In late February and early March, deputies hand-delivered letters to 49 of Gwinnett's 308 registered sex offenders informing them that they were living too close to forbidden facilities.
The six men arrested Wednesday refused to move after receiving the letter, Bourbonnais said.
• Deputies arrested convicted child molester Michael McKeithen of Lawrenceville for being within 742 feet of the Flowers Crossing Community pool.
• Also arrested was Bernard Ayers of Lilburn, who was convicted of rape and sodomy, for living within 260 feet of Hopkins Elementary School.
• Stephen Butler of Lawrenceville, who has a computer pornography conviction, was arrested for living within 446 feet of a registered home day care center.
• Convicted child molester Hector Candelaria of Doraville was arrested for living within 1,000 feet of the Longwood Vista Apartments pool.
• Terry Hill of Lawrenceville, a convicted child molester, was arrested for living within 413 feet of Covenant Life Church.
• John Stafinbil, who was convicted of lewd and lascivious crime involving a child, was arrested for living in a Norcross home within 752 feet of the Al-Farooq Masjid of Atlanta mosque.
Deputies also arrested Terrence Anderson of Snellville for failing to register on the sex offender list on his birthday. Anderson, who also goes by the name Lance House, was required to register on the list because of a conviction of prostitution of minors.
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