Posted on July 8th, 2010
The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors must provide evidence that shows they are not engaging in “selective prosecution” of the state’s statutory rape law against gay youth.
The case reached the state’s highest court after a juvenile court judge ruled last year that the district attorney must provide data on statutory rape cases, which the D.A. appealed. The lower court’s ruling stemmed from a case in Norfolk County in which prosecutors charged a boy with delinquency for allegedly having sex with a thirteen year-old boy, when he was sixteen. Lawyers for the defendant said he would not have been charged had the alleged victim been a female.
The state’s highest court upheld the lower courts ruling, but narrowed the scope of the evidence that must be turned over.
If you have been accused of a serious crime or you are looking for help in the realm of sex crime law, call Massachusetts sex crimes attorney James Powderly today at 508-343-0676.
Posted on June 9th, 2010
A Virginia man was convicted of attempted kidnapping and child enticement. According to Massachusetts court reports, the man was convicted in Middlesex Superior Court.
The man apparently communicated with the girl over the Internet. Prosecutors argues that the man intended to bring the girl to Virginia and have sex with her.
If you or anyone you know has been charged with a sex crime, contact the Massachusetts sex crime defense attorney James Powderly at 508-343-0676.
Posted on May 26th, 2010
A new bill being reviewed in the California legislature would prevent registered sex offenders from using social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. If caught, they could be imprisoned based solely off of that violation.
Harriet Salarno, president of Crime Victims United, said in support of the bill, “Predators have left the playground and are now going to the Internet.”
Parole agents and civil libertarians oppose the bill, questioning whether or not time could be better spent policing the offenders’ physical contact with children, child pornography, and other similar activities.
“All they have to do is go to a public library and use a fake name and we’re not going to find it,” said Melinda Silva, a Sacramento parole agent and president of their statewide union.
The measure would allow the use of social networking sites for work-related purposes if OKed by authorities.
A San Diego State University criminal justice professor, Paul Sutton, cautioned lawmakers to tread carefully. Monitoring Internet use “is all but impossible” and some registered sex offenders need the Internet for work or use it to find jobs, he said.
Posted on May 19th, 2010
The United States Supreme Court on Monday announced in a ruling a new law that allows the federal government to hold convicted sex offenders indefinitely after they have served their sentences if they are expected to be “sexually dangerous” following release.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the majority opinion, “The federal government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the danger such prisoners may pose.”
Justice Clarence Thomas, in his dissenting ruling, wrote that nothing in the constitution “expressly delegates to Congress the power to enact a civil commitment regime for sexually dangerous persons, nor does any other provision in the Constitution vest Congress or the other branches of the federal government with such a power.”
The Texas judiciary approved a measure similar to this for the state prior to this, but this ruling allows the federal government to fill in any “gaps” in state holding procedures.
Posted on May 13th, 2010
The Portland Police Department has announced a decision to scale back on the ordinance that restricts sex offenders from living near schools. This kind of ordinance is very common, and is found in most large cities in America.
Instead, only “high-risk” offenders would be limited in their place of residence.
Officers from the department will be the ones to assess offenders and determine their risk-level.
Posted on May 4th, 2010
A 59-year-old Mesquite man who served as a police officer in Highland Park, TX, from 1973 to 1978 and as a Plano, TX, police officer from 1979-2004 was convicted this Monday of possession of child pornography. The man was sentenced to ten years in federal prison.
An undercover Plano police officer uncovered evidence of the man’s child pornography while working on an FBI task force in 2007. The FBI was given a warrant to search the man’s home in 2008 and found pornography on his computer. The man was charged with possession of child pornography.
The 59-year-old pleaded guilty in December, 2009, to one count of receipt of child pornography.
In February, the man was given permission from a judge to visit his daughter and grandchildren on supervised trips.
U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay in Dallas has released the man and ordered him to report to prison by July 6. The man will be registered as a sex offender and be on supervised release for the rest of his life after his release.
Posted on April 27th, 2010
Last week, the Alabama legislature approved a new bill sponsored by House representative Oliver Robinson and State Senator Priscilla Dunn that would limit the number of registered sex offenders living under the same roof in Jefferson County.
The measure bars landlords from renting out properties to multiple sex offenders and also requires that any sex offenders who live in the same apartment complex reside at least 100 yards from one another.
City officials in Mulga, a town in western Jefferson County, requested that Dunn sponsor a bill that separated sex offenders from one another. This was due to the fact that Mulga has no schools or day care facilities, and thus the law barring sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of one had no effect on sex offender residence locations.
“This bill is going to put many of the residents of Mulga at ease now,” Dunn said. “I feel good about it. I was glad I was able to do this.”
Mulga Mayor Dennis McCrary said he was “tickled to the death” that the bill passed the Legislature and is hoping the governor signs it into law.
Sex offender laws are constantly changing, from state to state. If you have been accused of a serious crime or you are looking for help in the realm of sex crime law, call Massachusetts sex crimes attorneyJames Powderly today at 508-343-0676.
Posted on April 19th, 2010
The North Carolina Guilford County Sheriff’s Department biannual Operation Sex Offender Verification was carried out this Sunday as police officers knocked on the doors of registered sex offenders to ensure that they resided where they’d registered.
“It makes them realize that this is important and it’s not something they can just fluff off by not registering,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Lord.
Over 250 homes were visited by 50 deputies in Guilford County alone, with checks taking place throughout the state. A sex offender who fails to register with the Sheriff’s Department is under danger of arrest.
According to one registered sex offender, these checks are unnecessary. “Everytime I hear a car or a knock, I’m afraid someone is coming to get me or arrest me whether I’ve done anything or not,” he continued.
U.S. Marshal Lord says that while most sex offenders do keep in contact with the Sheriff’s Department, the checks are to let sex offenders know that law enforcement is serious about verification and registration.
The operation was a success and no warrants were issued.
If you have been accused of committing a serious crime or are seeking more information on sex crimes laws, contact Massachusetts sex crimes lawyer James Powderly today at 508-343-0676.
Posted on April 12th, 2010
Controversy has arisen over the way that Texas classifies its registered sex offenders. According to Adam Taylor Puckett, a sex offender officer with the Lubbock-Crosby County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, the sex offender risk classification does not measure how violent the offender is, and can lull neighbors into a false sense of safety.
A low-risk offender could be someone who committed a violent crime or molested multiple victims. Under the Static 99 form, which is used to determined risk level, a sex offender must answer 10 questions. These questions include whether the victim was a stranger or family member and whether the offender had previous offenses, but not the age of the victim. The victim’s age is not a factor on the form.
A younger offender is automatically given a higher base risk rating, as they are statistically more likely than an older offender to commit another sex crime.
“We’re not sure what benefit this has to the public,” said Jennifer Mora, a sex offender supervisor with the Lubbock-Crosby County office. Sex offenders convicted before 2000,the year the risk-assessment system was put into place, are not classified at all.
If you have been charged with a sex crime, or need to discuss sex crime laws in Massachusetts, contact Massachusetts sex crimes attorneyJames Powderly today at 508-343-0676.
Posted on April 6th, 2010
The Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board says it is working towards compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act implemented under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The SORNA guidelines require more stringent sex offender registration. Noncompliance with the mandate will result in a loss of 10 percent of the state’s justice assistance grant funding. For the Massachusetts 2009 fiscal year, this totaled $9.9 million.
Currently, Ohio is the only state to have fully complied with the SORNA, which would create a national register for sex offenders as well as establish a minimum set of standards for registration. The original deadline for states to comply without suffering funding cuts was July 2009, but it has now been extended to July 27, 2010.
If you have been charged with a sex crime, or need to discuss sex crime laws in Massachusetts, contact Massachusetts sex crimes attorney James Powderly today at 508-343-0676.
