KY - Two Kids Have Sex, The Boy Goes to Jail and Becomes a Sex Offender While the Girl Goes Free

Original Article

02/16/2015

FRANKFORT - An eighth grade boy and his seventh grade girlfriend engaged in voluntary sex at her house in Kentucky. After it was discovered, the boy was arrested and prosecuted. The girl walked free.

State Assistant Attorney General Gregory Fuchs said the boy initiated acts that were “within the parameters of the crime.” The boy pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for having sex with his girlfriend, as well as exchanging nude photos with her. He will be required to register as a sex offender.

The attorney for the boy, John Wampler, argued that voluntary sex between children should not be prosecuted as criminal. The boy was apparently too young to consent to sex, with the minimum age of consent in Kentucky set at 16, but he was prosecuted anyway.

Read the entire article

AZ - Arizona Boy, 5, Gets Accused Of ‘Sexual Misconduct’

Original Article

06/27/2014

By Lisa Fogarty

_____, a kindergartner at Ashton Ranch Elementary School in Surprise, Arizona, was recently forced to serve detention for an unusual offense: sexual misconduct.

The little boy was playing on his school’s playground when another child instructed him to pull his pants down “or else he would do it for him,” reports Daily Mail. The child did as he was told, pulling down both his pants and underwear in front of other students.

School administrators responded to this incident by taking _____ to the principal’s office and forcing him to sign a document that labeled his actions as "sexual misconduct," according to the child’s mother.
- So what about the bully who told him to do this?

_____ says the school did not contact her immediately after the incident and that she only learned about it after her son was told to sign the paper.

“He’s a 5-year-old,” _____ said. “He does not know right from wrong yet.”

_____ says she fears the label will follow her son throughout school and that he only signed the paper because he was forced to do so. When she tried to appeal the school’s actions and have the document removed from _____’s permanent record, she was told it couldn't be done.

“My son is not a sexualized minor,” _____ told AZ Family. “I’m just heartbroken. That’s not my son.”

Dysart Unified School District representatives insist the school’s administrators were simply following the proper protocol when they took disciplinary action against the young boy. Indecent exposure is considered a form of sexual misconduct, according to their rules, and parents are not required to be at the school during the meeting that follows the incident, unless the child asks for them.

PA - Should young sex offenders be identified that way for life?

Original Article

05/12/2014

By LAURA BENSHOFF

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether teens found guilty of certain types of sexual offenses must be registered on public sex offender lists.

In some cases, that label can last for a lifetime. Pennsylvania adopted the federal Adam Walsh Act in 2012, which means that juveniles between 14 and 17 convicted of certain categories of sex crimes must register as sex offenders.

The challenge to the current registratrion requirements has brought more attention to the issue of juvenlie sex offenders — some of them are as young as 10 — and it raises tough questions: Where do kids learn to act that way? And how do judges and therapists currently treat sex offenders who are also children?

Natalie Dallard is a therapist at the Joseph J. Peters Institute in Philadelphia, an organization that provides treatment for survivors and perpetrators of sexual abuse. A variety of factors influence kids' behavior, she said.

"Probably nine out of 10 of the girls that I've worked with have been victims," said Dallard. "With boys, not as much as people think. Generally with boys there's a lot of other anger issues, and a lot of exposure to pornography, poor boundaries, and association with older peers, negative peers."

If kids are charged with a sexual assault, disclosing their own sexual trauma or family environment may actually backfire, said Megan Perez, a supervisor with the Public Defenders Association of Philadelphia. She said that if her clients have themselves been abused, she would not share that information in the courtroom.

"A lot of people assume that people who have been perpetrated against are more likely to be a perpetrator themselves," said Perez. "I think our Family Court judges in Philadelphia would look at a factor like that as more indicative of guilt than of innocence."

Consequences to fit the crime

There is a lot of evidence that kids' brains work differently than those of adults, especially when it comes to understanding consequences and controlling behavior.

"Impulse control develops as you get older," said Dallard. "You have a greater ability to manage some of these feelings. And young kids are also a lot more susceptible to outside influences, and they don't have that critical thinking to think out outcomes."

Dallard believes that sexual offenses elicit such an emotional response in people that it clouds their understanding of who the offender is.

"People are always asking me how I do what I do, but, at the end of the day, I'm helping children. Sex crimes are so stigmatized that people fail to see that these are children," said Dallard.

She recommends teaching boundaries and reducing access to pornography as keys to reducing assaults by young people.

In Pennsylvania, juvenile sex offenders who are found guilty are typically ordered to receive treatment — the minimum is six months of individual and group therapy. Depending on their own history of trauma, treatment could continue for two years.

Juveniles commit around 30 percent of sexual assaults against victims 18 and younger. Statistically, sex offenders – particularly young ones – are not likely to reoffend.

VA - Underage Virginia ‘sexting’ ring ensnares 100 teens, uncovers 1,000 pictures

Original Article

04/04/2014

By SASHA GOLDSTEIN

A sprawling central Virginian “sexting” ring was busted up by authorities after pictures of naked 14- and 15-year-olds sprang up on Instagram, cops say.

The disturbing investigation revealed more than 1,000 pictures, some videos and more than 100 involved teens through six different counties who may not realize sharing such photos of underage kids can be a felony, police told the Central Virginian.

"Out of those thousand images, there are some of them that are not sexually explicit, but are what we would call inappropriate or provocative — in their underwear,” Major Donald A. Lowe, chief deputy of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office, told the newspaper. “It looks like the majority will be sexually explicit.”

A mother tipped off authorities last month after she noticed some scandalous photos on her child’s Instagram profile. Once police started digging, they found two different Instagram accounts that allowed teens to access them only if they shared a nude photo or scantily clad photo of themselves first.

Officers then learned teens from Louisa, Fluvanna, Orange, Goochland, Albemarle and Hanover counties were sharing photos of themselves either on the site or by sexting each other, the newspaper reported.

About 23 cellphones have been seized as authorities look into the massive ring.

Photos of naked underage teens is child pornography, a felony criminal charge in the state that could even lead to lifelong registration as a sex offender if convicted.

Police are still in the early stages of investigation, and no arrests have been made.

“I think if people thought for a minute and didn't do that, they'd save themselves a lot of grief … They're having fun but I can tell you colleges and universities, agencies who hire people, including us, look for those things and those are not going to be positive if they're found in a kids' past," Goochland Sheriff Jim Agnew told WWBT-TV.

Teens told the TV station sexting is a common occurrence — and parents said they put limits on their kid’s Internet access to prevent such pictures.

Lowe, the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said it starts with personal responsibility.

"We're trying to save these teens from themselves," he told the NBC affiliate.

See Also:

• ACLU questions validity of massive child pornography investigation in Louisa

IL - Teens and the Sex Offender Registry – No Good Outcomes for Anyone

George Timberlake

Original Article

02/04/2014

By George Timberlake

Last week, I hailed a taxi in Washington, D C, and asked the driver to take me to the Keck Building for a meeting with a committee of the National Research Council. The cabby recognized the address and asked if I was a scientist. I explained that I am a retired judge and that applying science and research to juvenile court could make us all safer, save taxpayer dollars and improve the futures of kids in the justice system. He said, “That makes sense but just how can that happen?”

The day before, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission (IJJC), which I chair, released its nearly two-yearlong study entitled “Improving Illinois’ Response to Sexual Offenses Committed by Youth” (PDF). So, I used it as an example. We found that the number of sexual offenders in our juvenile justice system is very small — 232 arrests in 2010 — and 50 percent of those kids were 14 years old or younger.

The offenses charged were the alleged result of a very wide range of behavior from inappropriate exposure to touching or fondling to sexual penetration. Furthermore, national and Illinois studies reveal that the vast majority of these youth have not acted in response to a deviant sexual arousal or a focused intent to harm others. The victims in the majority of these cases are family members or persons known to the youth.

I continued my “taxi-ride speech” by re-counting the study’s findings that these kids very rarely commit another sex offense and that individually structured treatment is extraordinarily effective. Finally, the study concluded that sex offender registries for juveniles do not increase public safety and often interfere with positive outcomes for both victims and offenders. The report recommends that Illinois’ categorical registry requirements of 10 years to life should be abolished.
- The same applies for adult registrants.  They have a low recidivism rate and have the same issues with housing, employment, etc.

The cabbie asked several pertinent questions, and I told him about adolescent brain development: that kids lack the ability to exercise impulse control, to think of consequences and follow the best course of action. Teenagers are extraordinarily subject to peer influence and genuinely cannot make moral judgments to dictate their behavior. They cannot assess risks, consider future consequences, evaluate rewards and punishments nor react to positive and negative feedback.

He said that he understood how the findings lead to the conclusion about registries. Perhaps because he was a black man in his 60s, he was in a better position than most in realizing that law and practice do not always create justice and public safety.

In the week prior to my D.C. taxi ride, I met with many interested parties to preview the IJJC’s report. While meeting with a former prosecutor, I explained that our report revealed that treatment is effective if it is based on adequate assessment of a youth’s risk of re-offending with a validated assessment tool such as JSOAP or ERASOR. The treatment should be community-based, family-focused evidence-informed and attentive to the needs of the victims and their families while promoting offender accountability. For those few high-risk kids, intensive, specialized and sometimes residential treatment should be available and utilized.

The report recommends training for all juvenile justice system stakeholders; developing adequate and informed standards for sex offender risk assessment; creating a qualification method for treatment professionals and establishing case-planning methods for all those court personnel who deal with youth who have sexually offended.

Finally, based upon low re-offending rates and victim and offender therapists’ agreement that sex offense stigma interferes with successfully treating their clients, the IJJC recommends removing young people from the state’s counter-productive sex offender registry.
- As said above, the same applies to adult registrants as well.

That last recommendation caused the ex-prosecutor to comment and question. He understood the findings from his career in the justice system — the few sex offense cases in a prosecutor or judge’s career make a strong impression and they usually involve a very young offender in a family, peer or neighborhood situation. He had no knowledge of caseload numbers, recidivism rates or treatment effectiveness but was unwilling to abandon registration. As with many court professionals and the public, he believed that registries somehow make us safer.
- We don't think that's reality.  It's called self-preservation!  If one stands up for today's modern day leper and scapegoat, it could ruin their career and reputation!

The contention that registration can somehow prevent future sex crimes simply is not supported by evidence. On the contrary, we found that registries and their requirements can damage the futures of victims and offenders. If the principle of “Do No Harm” applies to the justice system, we must find common ground to protect public safety, exercise fiscal responsibility and create positive outcomes for victims and offenders.

My cab driver understands that. Now, we just have to convince our elected representatives.

NE - Norfolk man gets chance to be free of the label 'offender'

Original Article

03/30/2014

By Joe Duggan

LINCOLN - _____ stands before two rare opportunities that could change the course of his life.

One could restore his reputation.

The other could revive a dream.

The 25-year-old Norfolk man recently participated in a free-agent tryout for a chance to punt in the National Football League. His odds of making it, though slim, would improve if not for three words that turn up on the background check: registered sex offender.

So when _____ isn't punting, he's working toward a pardon.

He took a step closer Thursday when the Nebraska Board of Pardons granted his request for a hearing. On May 20 he'll get to make a case for clemency, which also would scrub his name from the sex offender registry.

The Pardons Board rarely considers the applications of sex offenders. But board members said they are willing to listen to this one because _____ has lived an exemplary life except for one crime committed as a 14-year-old.

He didn't rape, fondle or even touch anyone. In 2003 he and two other teenage boys made a secret video of two or three female classmates using a shower at his mother's house in Pierce, Neb. The incident involved a game of truth-or-dare and the camera also caught one of the girls using the toilet, according to documents in his Pardons Board application.

Three years later the video was discovered and turned over to police by the girls. _____, who had turned 18, was charged as an adult and later convicted of two felony counts of child pornography.

His many supporters have argued that while _____ made a serious mistake, the charges didn't fit the crime. They pointed out that the video wasn't uploaded to the Internet, nor did _____ and the other boys use it for sexual gratification.

But the video still caused harm.

A 46-year-old Pierce man whose then-13-year-old daughter was on the tape said she underwent counseling and struggled with trust issues. He also said she endured pressure from those in Pierce who resented the charges against a star high school athlete.

The father said he has mixed feelings about the pardon application. On one hand, he thinks it's time for _____ to get on with his life. But it bothers him that _____ has never apologized to his daughter for what he did.

“I'm not saying he's a horrible, horrible person,” the father said. “But I wish he would have manned up and said 'Yeah, I did it, and I apologize.' ”

In an interview last week, _____ said he was friends with the girls before the crime and has long wanted to apologize. But his attorneys always advised him not to say anything.

“I feel really bad for ... the girls,” he said. “That had to be horrible.”

His mother, said the ordeal divided Pierce, a community of 1,800 in northeast Nebraska. She eventually moved and now lives in Fort Collins, Colo.

A divorced mother working two jobs to support her family, she said she has always carried guilt over what happened because she wasn't home at the time.

“I can't even tell you how bad I wanted to tell them 'Sorry,' ” she said.

The job of weighing remorse, justice and public safety falls to the members of the Pardons Board: Gov. Dave Heineman, Secretary of State John Gale and Attorney General Jon Bruning. It requires a majority vote to grant a pardon.

Not only does the board rarely pardon sex offenders, it usually requires felony applicants to live 10 years crime-free after their sentences. _____ has not yet hit that mark.

For those reasons, Gale said _____ has a high bar to clear. Heineman said he will reserve judgment until the May hearing, waiting to see if victims or others submit letters or testimony of opposition.

But it appears _____ has gained Bruning as an ally. The attorney general had one of his investigators look into the case in advance of Thursday's meeting. Bruning, who pointedly confronts applicants when he senses dishonesty, said _____'s story checked out.

However, there is some dispute about what happened to the tape after it was made. In his pardon application, _____ said he never watched the tape after that day, which Bruning adamantly supported based on his office's examination of the case. Gale said the way he understood it, _____ had shown the tape to friends.

If the tape had been discovered before _____'s 18th birthday, _____ would likely have been charged as a juvenile, Bruning said. As it was, the attorney general suggested that less-serious charges would have been a better option.

Pierce County Attorney Verlyn Luebbe prosecuted the case. He did not respond to multiple messages left last week with his receptionist.

Other factors in _____'s favor include pre-sentence psychological evaluations that found he is not a sexual predator and showed he was a minimal risk to reoffend. He completed all of his probation requirements, which included more than 20 sessions with Dr. Kevin Piske, a Norfolk psychologist who specialized in treating sex offenders.

“As part of this process, he took full responsibility for his actions while coming to a thorough understanding of the effect of his actions on the young women involved,” Piske wrote to the board, noting _____ is the first former patient he has ever endorsed for a pardon.

The psychologist was one of 93 people who submitted letters in support of _____, which likely represents a record number, said Sonya Fauver, the board's administrator.

At the top of the list were letters from a state trooper with knowledge of the case and retired District Judge Patrick Rogers, who presided over _____'s trial.

“I commend him for all of his accomplishments since 2007, even while carrying the burden of his offense,” Rogers wrote. “He could have easily given up, as I believe so many others do.”

_____'s status forced him to give up on his dream of playing football for a major college program. He had been invited to walk on at Kansas State University, but he was told the school couldn't take a chance on a sex offender. He also had to leave the dorms.

Although it was difficult, he found off-campus housing and finished his second semester at Kansas State. He transferred to Highland Community College in Highland, Kan., where he played football. Then he got a call from Dan McLaughlin, head football coach at Wayne State College.

McLaughlin had recruited _____ in high school and he still wanted him to play at the Division II college. McLaughlin knew about the circumstances of the conviction, but he also said he knew _____ personally. The coach worked it out with college administrators and offered _____ a scholarship.

Moving back to Wayne meant he would have to cross paths with others who knew about the tape. But in 2009, he accepted the offer, which required him to live off campus.

Some teammates were uncomfortable with his status as a sex offender, _____ said. When they learned that the incident did not involve violence, most players accepted him. McLaughlin said he was aware of no conflicts over the issue during _____'s years on the team.

McLaughlin called _____ the best punter he has seen in his 30 years as a coach. During _____'s junior and senior seasons he won numerous conference, regional and All American honors.

He graduated with a degree in business management in 2012.

McLaughlin appeared before the Pardons Board in December, when _____'s request initially came up for consideration.

“I don't go and speak in front of the attorney general and the governor of Nebraska for a kid that doesn't deserve it,” he said.

The registry still haunts _____, especially when it comes to finding employment and housing. He said he has held some temporary jobs but hasn't been able to get an offer related to his major when employers learn he is a registered sex offender.

Melissa Stevens, a former criminal justice instructor who spent years working with abused children, got to know _____ when he was a student at Highland. She was skeptical for several months, but she grew to admire _____ for his kindness to other students.

“How many people do you know in the world who would even have a chance to make it in the NFL?” she asked. “But he can't because of this. It just doesn't seem fair.”

Still, _____ said he finds it hard to complain. He has had so much support from family, friends, teachers and coaches, he rarely gets depressed. They and his faith in God are the reasons he has never quit, he said.

A pardon would afford him a degree of freedom he has never experienced as an adult.

If a pardon is denied?

“We try again,” he said. “I'm ready for both.”

AUSTRALIA - We don’t want consensual sex teens listed

Bill Byrne

Original Article

03/25/2014

Rockhampton MP Bill Byrne said at this stage a public register was only theoretical, and he would reserve his judgment until he had the opportunity to review all information.

"I have seen commentary that's been put out by the LNP cabinet ministers and they seem to be equally divided, as I imagine the rest of the community would be, about such a matter," he said.

"There are reasonable concerns that the notion of vigilantism would rear its head; there have been examples of that in Queensland."
- Oh it will!  All you have to do is look at these examples.

"While I'm not defending the histories of those that are targeted, it does give me concern that the prospect of vigilantism exists."

He also raised concerns about people who were not a danger to the community being placed on a public registry.

One example of this could be underage teenagers having consensual sex, which is technically illegal.

"We don't want to have two 15-year-olds that have had what I consider to be a consensual relationship to end up on the sex offender register," he said.

"It could be a catch-all legislation that has ramifications well beyond the intention of the legislation."

"The bikie legislation was meant to target the criminal element of motorcycle gangs, and it has had a much broader effect than what was the intention of the legislation."

He maintained that the idea behind the justice system was to hold people accountable for their actions, but to also offer them a chance of rehabilitation.

IL - Commission recommends removing juvenile offenders from sex registries, bolstering treatment

Original Article

03/25/2014

By JOHN O'CONOR

SPRINGFIELD - Requiring juveniles to register as sex offenders impairs rehabilitation efforts for a crime that very few of them ever commit again, a study released Tuesday says.
- The same applies to adults as well, if you look at the facts!

The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission's report recommends ending the practice of making offenders younger than 17 add their names to sex-offender registries, which can negatively affect an offender for years. Every juvenile convicted of a sex crime must register, and 70 percent of the 2,553 currently registered must do so for life, the report said.

The 150-page review of laws and treatment practices regarding juvenile sex crimes calls for the state to abolish the categorical requirement for young offenders' registration. The report, which the General Assembly requested in 2012, says sex crimes committed in youth are seldom repeated in adulthood and that individualized, community-based treatment plans are highly effective and more productive than incarceration.

"Automatic, categorical registries do not protect public safety," commission chairman George Timberlake, a retired chief circuit judge from Mount Vernon, told The Associated Press. "There's no evidentiary basis that says they do and more importantly, they have very negative consequences in the effects they have on the offenders' life, and perhaps the victim's life."

Timberlake said the victim, often a family member, loses confidentiality through offender registration and can also suffer from not being able to resume a familial relationship with an offender who is required to register. He added that a registry might be appropriate based on risk. Many states offer courts flexibility.

The report recommends developing statewide standards and training for courts and law enforcement professionals for intervening with young sex offenders and victims. It also calls for a consistent assessment tool for evaluating risks an individual juvenile poses. Also, the report says, offenders whenever possible should be kept in treatment programs in their homes that involve parents as opposed to locking them up.

There were 232 juveniles arrested for sex crimes in Illinois in 2010, down from 434 in 2004. Timberlake said only a few dozen of those were incarcerated for their crimes. He said locking the juveniles up should be a last resort for reasons including the state Juvenile Justice Department not having enough money to provide proper treatment.

More than half of juvenile sex offenders are younger than 14, he said.

"They're very young," Timberlake said. "Most of this conduct can be explained by a lack of maturity, literally, developmental disabilities, a lack of social skills, or that they were abused themselves."
- And by today's mass hysteria.  Many of these "crimes," in the old days, would not be considered a crime!

NY - The Box: Teens in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Jails, Prisons and Juvenile Halls

Video Description:
Read the stories at https://medium.com/solitary-lives. Every year, thousands of teens are placed in solitary confinement cells in juvenile halls, jails and prisons nationwide. This animation tells the story of Ismael "Izzy" Nazario and the time he spent in solitary confinement in New York City's Rikers Island jail. This story is based on an investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting and was created using real audio from an interview with Nazario. It features music from Mos Def. www.cironline.org

See Also:

• For teens at Rikers Island, solitary confinement pushes mental limits

PA - Third Pennsylvania Judge Rules Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Unconstitutional

Original Article

02/28/2014

By Tara Murtha

Under current Pennsylvania law, juvenile sex offenders have to comply with lifetime registration requirements. But this month, a third Pennsylvania judge ruled that law unconstitutional, setting the stage for the issue to be addressed by the state supreme court.

Judges from York, Monroe, and Lancaster counties have now all written opinions stating that the law fails to take juveniles’ greater capacity for reform into account. As Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge David R. Workman wrote in his opinion earlier this month:

Statistics demonstrate that juvenile sex offenders have lower recidivism rates than adult sex offenders. This is due, in part, to the fact that juveniles sexually offend for different reasons than adults. For instance, juveniles lack maturity and impulse control, behaviors which lead to the original offense, but which will not exist once the juvenile reaches adulthood. … During adolescence a juvenile’s brain is amenable to substantial change and develops considerably in areas associated with reasoning and emotion … As a result recidivism rates for juveniles are low and strikingly less than that for adults.

The registration rules for juveniles are the same as they are for adults: For initial registration, they must submit photographs, DNA samples, and fingerprints, along with information verifying all physical details such as hair style, hair color, tattoos, and piercings, as well as descriptions of what car they drive, any family cars they may occasionally drive, the names of schools attended broken down by classroom location, employer’s addresses, and Internet monikers. Following initial registration, they must appear in-person at a pre-approved registration site every 90 days to re-confirm this information and be photographed again. If anything changes, such a new hairstyle, job, or car, they must report the change in-person within three days.

And like adult offenders, juveniles who fall out of compliance are subject to mandatory incarceration for three to five years, with no opportunity to provide a defense.

Aside from the fact that the onerous and expensive system has not been proven effective at making children safer and has been mandated by the federal government, it is very possibly unconstitutional, as the three county-level judges in the state have ruled.

The York County judge cited the work of Dr. Michael Caldwell of the University of Wisconsin, co-author of “An Examination of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act as Applied to Juveniles: Evaluating the Ability to Predict Sexual Recidivism” and an expert in juvenile justice issues, as evidence of the disparity in recidivism rates.

From the York County opinion:

In what Dr. Caldwell describes as “the most extensive” research study to date, a meta-study of over sixty-three studies and over 11,200 children “found an average sexual recidivism rate of 7.09% over an average 5-year follow-up.” These rates are compared with a 13% recidivism rate for adults who commit sexual offenses.

Authors of a Human Rights Watch report point out that the concept of sex offender registration relies on the notion that children must be most protected from strangers. They note that 93 percent of sexually abused children are assaulted by family members, close friends, or acquaintances, according to the justice department.

Juvenile assailants are sometimes acting out a cycle of abuse.

“Many of the kids that we represent were sexually abused themselves and were acting out based on what was done to them,” says Riya Saha Shah, attorney at Philadelphia’s Juvenile Justice Center, the organization representing youth on the registry. “Or it was inappropriate sexual contact between siblings. Some of these kids [are] intellectually disabled. It’s not like that stranger rape or adult-predator child molester situation that you may think of when you think of adults on the sex offender registry.”

For particularly heinous crimes, a juvenile age 14 and older who commits crimes that would be felonies if an adult, or use a weapon in the course of a rape, can be tried in court as an adult in Pennsylvania.

The law requiring registration, known as the Pennsylvania Sex Offender Registration Notification Act (SORNA), has only been in effect since 2012. Like states across the country, Pennsylvania passed SORNA in order to comply with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which was signed into law by President Bush in 2006. States must comply with the act or risk losing federal funding for “essential criminal justice services,” including pre-trial diversion projects for non-violent offenders.

More than 100 Pennsylvania juveniles have been put onto the registry since the law went into effect, according to Shah. Most of them committed acts prior to the law’s implementation, but were forced onto the registry after the law was passed.

The stated goal of SORNA is that “registered sex offenders will perceive that the authorities’ knowledge of their identities, locations, and past offenses reduces the chances that they can avoid detection and apprehension if they reoffend, and this perception may help to discourage them from engaging in further criminal conduct.”

The Human Rights Watch report argues that the real psychological effect on young registrants was profound isolation.

From the report:

They are stigmatized, isolated, often depressed. Many consider suicide, and some succeed. They and their families have experienced harassment and physical violence. They are sometimes shot at, beaten, even murdered; many are repeatedly threatened with violence. Some young people have to post signs stating “sex offender lives here” in the windows of their homes; others have to carry drivers’ licenses with “sex offender” printed on them in bright orange capital letters. Youth sex offenders on the registry are sometimes denied access to education because residency restriction laws prevent them from being in or near a school.

Shah told RH Reality Check that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is scheduled to address the state’s appeal of the York County ruling, the first of the three, in late March, though it could be postponed if the state also appeals the Lancaster and Monroe County rulings and the cases are consolidated.

Meanwhile, Shah is hearing anecdotal reports that district attorneys and judges reluctant to place kids on lifetime registry are avoiding doing so by offering pleas to non-SORNA offenses or downgrading charges—for example, charging a juvenile for indecent assault, as opposed to aggravated sexual assault.

“That still provides them with the necessary treatment and supervision, but it removes that huge imposition and punishment of the registry,” said Shah.

If the state supreme court rules SORNA unconstitutional, then Pennsylvania will no longer be subject to financial penalties for non-compliance. The other states with SORNA legislation are Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Many states haven’t passed a SORNA law because the cost of implementation is higher than the penalty for non-compliance.

See Also:

• Juvenile Law Center Wins Second Ruling Declaring Pennsylvania's Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Requirements Unconstitutional
• Supreme Court throws out parts of Megan's Law

Juvy sex offender crying out

Video Description:
No where to turn, at wits end with life, crying out for help before it may be too late.

Video Description:
I was charged at 15. I am now 30. my whole life ive been punished for a mistake I made when I was 15. it will never end till I die. so I am ready to die. besides, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord....at least I hope.

RI - Study: 1 out 5 local middle school students are sexting

Original Article

We are so sick and tired of hearing this made up "1 in 5" number on almost everything. Anytime a study comes out, it seems, this magical number is used.

02/25/2014

By Melissa Randall

Tatiana Lopez, 13, and her friend Janae Smith, 12, open up about sexting. With their parents permission we had an honest conversation about what's happening in the hallways of their Providence middle school, yes, middle school.

"It's not what we would hear on TV or what ever– it's real. That's actually happening to people our age," said Lopez.

The alarming trend of sending a sexually implicit message or image of oneself to another person is now trickling down from teens to tweens. Lopez and Smith have never sent or received a sext message themselves, but say some of their friends have.

"People always think we are too young for everything," said Lopez.

"It was shocking– that someone our age would send a picture that inappropriate," said Smith.

Dr. Christopher Houck, a clinical psychologist at Rhode Island Hospital, has been studying the behaviors of *at risk 7th graders in Rhode Island. The data shows that one out of five students who participated have sexted.

"The relationship was that those who had sexted were five times more likely to report having engaged in some kind of sexual activity," said Dr. Houck.

But it doesn't end there. With the click of a button those private photos can be shared. Tatiana and Janae witnessed the reputation of a young friend be ruined by sexting.

"They told her she wasn't worth living any more– she was disgusting for sending the pictures," said Smith.

They say the girl talked about suicide but with time was able to overcome it.

Sexting is illegal in Rhode Island for anyone under the age of 18. Those found guilty face penalties ranging from counseling to having to register as a sex offender.

"If you receive a sex message and you forward it on to someone else whether you are an adult or a minor you could be charged under child pornography laws," said Peter Kilmartin, Rhode Island's Attorney General.

Rhode Island has seen several sexting cases involving teens go through the courts. There were two in 2012 and five in 2013.

In Bristol County Mass. nearly forty high school and middle school students have been investigated for sexting since 2010.

So what is the answer? How do parents protect their kids in a world of smart phones and instant communication? For the Lopez family of Pawtucket it all starts at the kitchen table.
- Um, don't give your child a cell phone with all the bells and whistles!

"I hope that the gateway is there for me to actually have that conversation– because we are talking all the time," said Tatia Lopez. "And so far, thank god, it's working!"

The younger Lopez and Smith say there is pressure from their peers to sext, but the girls have decided sending a picture is not worth the risk.

"I'd be like scared for my life," said Lopez. "It's really serious."

Experts say it is important for parents to start discussing the topic with their children and to let them know the importance of family values.

*The findings of the sexting study were based on youth with behavioral and/or emotional problems. They may not apply to all middle school kids.

FL - Pasco County eighth grader faces child porn charge

Original Article (Video available)

02/19/2014

By Chris Trenkmann

14-year-old posted nude photos on Facebook

NEW PORT RICHEY - A Pasco County eighth grader faces a felony child pornography charge after deputies say he posted nude pictures of a 13-year-old girl on Facebook.

Deputies said the 14-year old boy had been exchanging pictures on the app Kik but became angry when the girl stopped sending explicit photos.

"I can't imagine how horrified that mother was to look on Facebook and see a picture of her daughter masturbating," said Det. William Lindsey.

The girl, meanwhile, told investigators she never expected to see those photos made public.

"She's devastated," Lindsey said. "This was a guy she thought she was in a relationship with and that she had no idea that this was going to take place."

Detectives said the boy posted the photos to Facebook after she refused to send him more nude photos.

ABC Action News spoke with the suspect's mother, who said this was a case of two kids arguing and that it shouldn't have escalated into adult felony charges. She also said the girl is partly to blame for sending the nude photos in the first place.

Pasco County Sheriff's Chris Nocco said this is an example of why parents need to be careful when allowing their kids to have portable devices like tablets and cellphones. In this case, Kik doesn't require a phone line for members to text each other photos and videos. And because Kik is a foreign-owned website, it can be difficult to track or investigate criminal activity like child porn.

Deputies said parents need to pay close attention to these apps and monitor what their kids are sending and receiving because predators often use them as a place to contact minors.

"They find them. They send them sexually explicit photos. They solicit children for photographs," Lindsey said. "It becomes a problem because parents don't even realize what they're children are seeing."

WI - Sexting can be considered child porn, so what penalties should kids face?

Original Article (Video Available)

Every single time someone says "a study says," they almost always throw out the Goldilocks "1 in 5".

02/17/2014

By Colleen Henry

MILWAUKEE - Research shows one in five teens are sexting -- the sending of sexually explicit text or email messages.

WISN 12 News investigative reporter Colleen Henry looks into the problem facing parents, police and prosecutors -- what to do with kids caught sharing these explicit messages.

It's a digital world, which can change as quick as the click of a camera.

"I do think it has desensitized us to what we put out there. We share everything else. Why not share a picture of us?" University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior Emma Lundsten said.

UW-Milwaukee's sociology of sexuality class is a hotbed of content and conversation historically considered taboo.

"For me, sexting, it's not even taboo any more," freshman Amanda Storck.

The students don't condone it, but said sexting has become a mainstay of social interaction. Girls do it for attention.

"It's very confusing, especially at a younger age when all the girls are getting attention that are doing this," Lundsten said.

For guys, it's status.

"With their friends, at least, they're like, 'Look at me. Look at me, I'm this guy who's getting a lot of pictures,'" freshman Maggie Smith said.

They've all been asked.

But when the kids in the pictures are under age, the law may see those so-called sexy pictures as child pornography, and the kids who take and share them, child pornographers.

Sexting kids have made headlines all across the Milwaukee area from Franklin to Waukesha to Brown Deer.

Despite the highly publicized sexting investigations, kids continue to swap skin online.

Greenfield Detective Doug Tweedie investigates sex crimes, including underage sexting.

"Even if your parents have blocked your phone to send or receive pictures, you can still take pictures on your phone and send them?" Henry asked.

"And send them via Kick," Tweedie said.

Kids avoid parental roadblocks with applications like Kick and Snapchat, which require just a wireless signal to share pictures and video.

"You're bypassing the system," Tweedie said.

Ironically, if caught sexting, kids face criminal penalties originally intended to protect them from dangerous adults.

"I don't think anybody necessarily wants to make a 13-year-old a felon," Tweedie said.

Wisconsin has no law that addresses sexting, so police and prosecutors can use child pornography statutes that can create some unintended results.

"The person who took picture could also be charged for possession of child pornography and then they sent it to somebody, they could be charged with possession of child pornography, and if they sent it to anybody, it could just go on and on and on," Tweedie said.

Those consequences have some states are dialing back penalties for teen sexters.

New Jersey lets first-time offenders avoid prosecution if they complete an education program.

New Hampshire won't prosecute an unwitting recipient of a sext if the teen reports it, and South Carolina is now considering limiting penalties to kids who forward sext messages without permission.

"Nobody has ever had an adolescence that is completely without moments of awkwardness, or mistakes," UWM sociology Professor Cary Costello said.

Costello said the law here fails to target the real problem.

"Extortion and stealing somebody else's images and exposing somebody without their consent, those are the inappropriate behaviors," Costello said.

Costello sees teen sexting as a digital age version of spin the bottle or truth or dare.

"They are expected to do that socially, and they can't just sort of magically mature without stumbling around and trying," Costello said.

The UW-Milwaukee students have some advice for anxious parents -- have common-sense conversations with your kids about actions and consequences.

WISN 12 News contacted the state Legislative Reference Bureau and learned that, as of yet, no one has introduced legislation to address teen sexting. Prosecutors have discretion in handling these cases. In many instances, kids may be ticketed, or if charged, those charges will expunged if kids stay out of trouble.

There have been cases where teens have been charged with felonies in cases involving deception or extortion, and offenders can end up being named on the state's sex offender registry.

UK - Children as young as 10 arrested for rape as 10 cautions given out for child sex crimes in Cambridgeshire

Original Article

02/17/2014

By RAYMOND BROWN

Ten offenders have been given a ‘slap on the wrist’ by Cambridgeshire police over sex crimes involving children, as tough new rules are brought in over cautions for serious offences.

New data has also revealed children as young as 10 have been arrested on suspicion of rape.

A total of 52 under 16 year- olds have been arrested over alleged rape since 2009 and of those, 36 saw no further action taken, including two 11-year-old boys and a boy aged 10.

A dozen were charged including two aged 13, two aged 14 and 10 aged 15 – the rest were bailed.

Police Minister Damian Green has told the News the Government is “tightening up the rules” on cautions for serious offences.

The police data revealed three cautions for causing or inciting a female child to engage in sexual activity were issued. Three cautions were handed out for sexual activity with a female child and two involving a boy.

Two cautions were issued for sexual assault on a child in the last two years and two for creating indecent images of children.

Mr Green said: “We have already changed the rules on simple cautions so they can’t be used for persistent repeat offenders or for very serious offences.”

“There have been examples of, say, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl where you may not want to have a criminal record for that.”

“Any sex with anyone under 16 is rape so there are very small numbers of examples for that but obviously in general, any kind of hugely serious offence like that shouldn’t result in a caution, and we are tightening up the rules on that.”

Police have now been banned from handing out cautions to serial offenders after Justice Secretary Chris Grayling introduced new legislation on February 5. In future, a ‘slap on the wrist’ will be banned except in exceptional circumstances.

A police spokeswoman said the “decision to caution is not made lightly” and a raft of facts are taken into account.

She added: “It should also be noted that a caution is not a soft option. It has to be accepted by the alleged offender, is a matter of permanent record and can result in the offender being placed on the Sex Offenders Register.”

“The decision to caution is also made or approved by the Crown Prosecution Service in sexual offence cases of a serious nature. If young people are involved, the Youth Offending Service become involved and, if appropriate, the cautions are conditional to the young people taking part in a suitable programme with support services.”

IA - Bills in memory of slain Iowa teenager sail through Senate committee

Original Article

02/13/2014

By Mike Wiser

Bills expand the definition and penalties for kidnapping

DES MOINES - A pair of bills drafted in the memory of slain Dayton teenager Kathlynn Shepard sailed through a Senate committee Thursday.

Senate Study Bills 3079 and 3076 expand the definition and penalties for kidnapping and allow authorities to consider the content of sealed juvenile records when sentencing sexually violent predators, respectively.

“May 20 was the worst day of my life. It was the day my daughter was kidnapped with her friend,” Denise Shepard told lawmakers during a subcommittee hearing. “Reading the autopsy report of what he did to my daughter broke me.”

_____, of rural Stratford, abducted Kathlynn Shepard and Dezi Hughes, then 15 and 12, and took them to a hog confinement facility where he worked. _____ killed Shepard and tried to dispose of her body in a river. _____ later killed himself. Hughes was able to escape when _____ separated the girls after the kidnapping.

_____ was released from the state prison system in 2011 after serving 20 years for two 1991 kidnapping convictions. The first involved a 21-year-old woman he tried to assault. The other involved a pair of 3-year-olds he snatched from a day-care center. The children were found hours later, alive, in a garbage bin.

_____ also had a sealed juvenile conviction that the judge couldn't consider during the sentencing in the 1991 cases.

“As a parent of three children, it is unimaginable for me to understand what you have gone through,” Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids and sponsor of the two bills told Denise Shepard, who attended the hearing with her husband and two others. Each wore purple T-shirts commemorating events held in Kathlynn’s honor.

She said the two bills are just a start.

“I personally would like to see a horrendous sex offender or kidnapper, you do it once, you’re put away forever,” she said. “But unfortunately, I don’t get to vote on making those rules. This is the first step in making sure we get something on the books as soon as possible and see if we can, down the road, get something that will make it harder for these sex offenders.”

AFRICA - Don't scar child sex offenders

Original Article

02/10/2014

By Lindiwe Mlandu

CAPE TOWN - The Teddy Bear Clinic says child sexual offenders should be treated differently from adult offenders.

Currently, there is the automatic inclusion of child offenders in the sexual offences registrar.

Rights groups have taken the matter to the Constitutional Court, arguing that this in an unjustifiable violation of children’s rights.

Speaking to the Redi Tlhabi Show, the Teddy Bear Clinic’s Dr Shahida Omar explained how the law works.

“If a child has committed an offence and is sentenced to a period of less than six months, then the child can only have his/her name removed from the registrar after five years. If the sentence is more than six months, then the child can only apply after 10 years to expunge the name off the registrar.”

She says this has a negative impact on the child.

“There are serious implications in terms of the psychological well being and even in terms of their future opportunities.”

Omar says they believe the law should treat children differently.

“A child cannot be treated like an adult because that’s a trickle-down phenomenon. Adults are different. And children, it has been proven empirically and from clinical practice, that children do not re-offend if they are given the necessary intervention and rehabilitation.”
- Same for adults.

She says there are proper ways to deal with the child offenders.

“The Child Justice Act clearly makes provision for restorative justice where there’s an opportunity for victim-offender mediation. And in the lot of the diversion programmes, they are given opportunities to communicate and connect with their victims. They get an opportunity to ask for forgiveness and to repair.”

She says victims also get an opportunity to address their challenges.

See Also:

• Bid to keep child sex offenders off register