Polk Co. FL Sheriff Grady Judd entrapped adults looking for other adults in online "predator" stings

It is yet another FloriDUH story. Every time I think the stories cannot get any worse, I'm proven wrong. Today's nominee is Grady Judd, the sheriff of Polk County, a cesspool of a county trapped between Tampa and Orlando. A hick county needs an equally hick sheriff, and Grady Judd fits the bill.

Sheriff DUDD is already controversial. There is a movement to remove him from office. He is mostly known for his statement about killing a fleeing man with 68 bullets because "That's all the bullets we had." Judd interjects his distorted views of Christianity on people; he was recently sued by an atheist. Of course, there is another lawsuit against him of greater importance-- two lawsuits regarding abuses at a juvenile facility run by the sheriff.

It is no wonder the Sheriff is crusading the internet with his entrapment stings. Even though many of those he arrested were not even prosecuted, Sheriff Dudd still calls them "predators." What a douche.

It is worth noting Sheriff Dudd was the sheriff who arrested that guy from Colorado who wrote an alleged pedophile book in 2010.

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/investigations/2014/08/07/law-enforcement-crosses-lines-on-sex-stings-entrapment/13734121/

Officers bend rules to boost sex sting arrest totals
Noah Pransky, WTSP 3:38 p.m. EDT August 9, 2014

This is the first of a two-part series examining how law enforcement is blurring the lines on due process.

POLK COUNTY, Florida – In the decade since Chris Hansen and "To Catch a Predator" popularized Internet sex stings, more than 1,200 men in Florida alone have been arrested, accused of preying on underage teens and children for sex.

But as the stings put more and more men behind bars, detectives are working harder and harder to keep up their arrest numbers. And the tactics they're using to put alleged sexual offenders in jail are sweeping up large numbers of law-abiding men, too.

A yearlong investigation by 10 Investigates reveals many of the men whose mugshots have been paraded out by local sheriffs in made-for-TV press conferences were not seeking to meet children online. Instead, they were minding their own business, looking for other adults, when detectives started to groom and convince them to break the law.

While detectives used to post ads suggesting an underage teen or child was available for sex, they now routinely post more innocuous personal ads of adults on traditional dating sites. When men – many of them under 25 with no criminal history - respond, officers switch the bait and typically indicate their age is really 14 or 15 years old. However, sometimes the storyline isn't switched until the men, who were looking for legal love, already start falling for the undercover agent.

According to arrest affidavits inspected by 10 Investigates, law enforcement is also now routinely making first contact with men who have done nothing wrong, responding to their ads on dating sites like PlentyOfFish.com. After men start conversing with what they think are adults, officers change the age they claim to be, but try to convince the men to continue the conversation anyway.

Officers bend rules in sex stings to boost arrest totals.

Other examples include undercover officers showing interest in a man, then later introducing the idea of having sex with the undercover's "child." If the men indicate they weren't interested, they were still often arrested for just talking to the adult.

Critics of the stings, including a number of prominent Tampa Bay law enforcement leaders, tell 10 News the operations make for better press conferences than they do crime fighting. Many of the men who are arrested for sexual predator crimes see little jail time.

But Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, when asked about over-aggressive detectives, instead went on the offensive: "The concern (I have) is that you inflate your investigative reporting to make it glitzy."

Judges have also been very critical of some of the tactics used in the stings, which violate Internet Crimes Against Children guidelines. Among the comments from judges in recent entrapment decisions (case numbers withheld to protect the defendants):

"It was the agent who repeatedly steered the conversation back to sexual activity with a minor."
"The government made a concerted effort to lure him into committing a crime."
"The undercover officer failed to follow the procedures …"
"The law does not tolerate government action to provoke a law-abiding citizen to commit a crime."
The judge in one dismissed case criticized the undercover officer for failing to follow procedures and "the officer controlled the tone, pace and subject matter of online conversation, pushing toward a discussion of sexual activity."

The blurring of legal and ethical lines has led many agencies such as the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and most of South Florida to focus their cybercrime resources on other areas of online abuse. Instead of conducting "To Catch a Predator"-style stings, they spend their time and effort on areas where there are known victims and children at immediate risk, like child porn and sex trafficking.

But the time- and resource-intensive predator stings are still alive and well in West/Central Florida, operating under the watchful eye of ICAC task force leader Judd.

Grady Judd's 'favorite topic'

Sheriff of Polk County since 2005, Judd has made it clear that targeting sexual predators is his top priority. He called hunting predators his "favorite topic" at a recent predator sting press conference, and he has invited national media outlets along for some of the operations. The predator stings have been featured in three MSNBC specials as well as a recent CNN series.

But Judd has been much less forthcoming when it comes to questions of how detectives lure in their targets and whether innocent men are getting swept up to.

Judd has failed to provide public records to 10 Investigates on the following issues:

1. The language in the ads detectives post.
2. How detectives responded when innocent men showed no interest in speaking to teens.
3. If detectives are doing the stings because there is a problem of teens looking for adults online.
4. How many men get baited before detectives find someone to investigate.

Judd said the overwhelming majority of men who communicate with detectives do the "right thing" and either end communication or report the officer posing as an underage teen -- or parent offering up a child -- to authorities. But he won't even turn over those communications over, a possible violation of Florida State Statute 119.

Judd says the records are exempt from state records laws because all of those men are still "under investigation," for they may surface in future stings. However, that indicates Judd - and other law enforcement leaders around Tampa Bay and Sarasota who have now used the same exemption to withhold records - have active investigations open on hundreds, if not thousands, of men who did nothing more than legally communicate with adults on legal websites.

The state's best-known lawman also showed little concern for due process during a Tuesday press conference to tout arrests since March in predator-style stings. He pointed to 132 mugshots on a giant posterboard and called the men "sexual predators."

But when 10 Investigates pointed out some of the men had already been cleared of charges, he said they were still fair game because "we have a very liberal - a very forgiving - criminal justice system."

That system may give defendants the benefit of doubt and assume "innocent until proven guilty;" but Judd makes sure the mugshots and stigma of being arrested for a sex crime haunts the men for the rest of their lives.

Critics point out many of the 1,200 men who are ultimately arrested in Florida and called "sexual predators" weren't preying or even looking for kids; many were seeking adults. The majority of them were in their teens or 20s at the time, and approximately 97 percent of the men had zero history of any sexual crimes or accusations.

"The biggest waste ever"

While countless West/Central Florida law enforcement agencies have gotten involved in the predator stings, including the sheriff's offices in Polk, Pinellas, Manatee, Citrus, and Sarasota, some agencies were noticeably absent at Judd's season-ending press conference.

Judd indicated the Hillsborough sheriff's office was a part of the operation, but was unable to attend. However, an HCSO spokesperson said the the agency has not been a participant.

While HCSO has a full-time "Internet Predator" unit, it has been reluctant to dedicate the huge resources needed for a "To Catch a Predator"-style sting. Instead, HCSO detectives are focused on offenders that are participating in "the proliferation of child porn," focusing on infants and young children who are exploited.

Hillsborough detectives say those type of arrests tend to yield better conviction rates, longer prison terms, and also provide law enforcement other leads on areas of crime like sex trafficking.

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco has adopted similar priorities, saying his cybercrime unit is extremely proactive and focused on the areas of the worst abuse.

"Any way you can take a sexual predator off the street is tremendous," Nocco said. "Especially those that are online looking at child pornography ... they may do something physically against a young little kid."

Pasco also spends a lot of time and effort focused on teen-on-teen cybercrime because it can often be addressed before it ruins a person's life permanently.

Nocco was complimentary of ICAC, but says he's not a huge fan of the "To Catch a Predator"-style stings, saying the prosecutions often don't hold up.

"You spend your resources, you arrest somebody and then they walk right out. It's the biggest waste ever," Nocco said.

ICAC stings typically cost tens of thousands of dollars - sometimes close to $100,000 - in costs and officers' time, and that doesn't include the costs to prosecute and jail defendants.

10 Investigates found light plea sentences are sometimes offered because the suspects simply aren't considered dangerous offenders, contrary to Judd's claims.

Local law enforcement leaders also refused to turn over ICAC guidelines, claiming they were confidential investigative material. But a copy 10 Investigates obtained through court records indicates the online undercover stings, which typically don't involve real children or victims, are not even specified in the list of priorities agencies are supposed to target:

1. A child is at immediate risk of victimization.
2. A child is vulnerable to victimization by a known offender.
3. A known suspect is aggressively soliciting a child(ren).
4. Manufacturers, distributors or possessors of images that appear to be home photography with domiciled children.
5. Aggressive, high-volume child pornography manufacturers or distributors who either are commercial distributors, repeat offenders, or specialize in sadistic images.
6. Manufacturers, distributors, or solicitors involved in high-volume trafficking or belong to an organized child pornography ring that operates as a criminal conspiracy.
7. Distributors, solicitors and possessors of images of child pornography.
8. Any other form of child victimization.

Almost all of South Florida's law enforcement agencies have moved away from the stings as well. The Broward County Sheriff's Office, which is in charge of the South Florida ICAC task force, told 10 Investigates it was time for the agency to move on to other areas of cybercrime fighting.

The "other" victims

There may be no excuses for men who victimize children or those that look for underage victims online.

However, it's easier to make the case for the men who were swept up in the stings when they were looking online for adults.

"(My son) was stalked by law enforcement for three days," said the mother of a 22-year-old arrested in one of the stings. 10 Investigates is protecting the identity of her family.

The son was on Craiglist's personals pages, looking to meet other adults. He responded to a "no strings attached" ad for a 26-year-old woman. He says her story changed a few times, including the claim she was only 13, but he was skeptical.

He spoke on the phone to the undercover and she sent a photo, in which she was wearing a wedding ring. He said he was sure she was an adult (she was), so he made plans to meet her. When he arrived, he was arrested. He was later sentenced to two years of house arrest and a lifetime as a registered sex offender.

"He had a life of promise; he had an education," his mother said. "That's all been shot."

She says her son is paying the price of opportunistic lawmen.

Board-certified defense attorney Anthony Ryan says law enforcement officers have become experts in coercing innocent men into breaking the law.

"They are really good at subtly turning conversations and normal statements into sexual innuendo - whether or not the other side intended that," he said.

Ryan, who has a practice in Sarasota, just got a 23-year-old client's case dismissed in Manatee. A judge ruled deputies entrapped his client, writing that their tactics had "no place in modern day law enforcement."

Ryan adds that officers are pushing the boundaries further and further to keep up their arrest numbers and keep the federal ICAC grants flowing. And responding to legal ads on legal dating sites crosses the line.

"Once the low-hanging fruit is sort of gone, taken off the tree," Ryan said, "there's still pressure from high above to justify these actions."

Alabama State Rep. Kurt Wallace's political swan song sends registered citizens into exile

 For years, I have been battling Alabama State Rep. Kurt "The Segregationist" Wallace over a bid to pass a statewide anti-clustering bill. While ReFORM-AL was mounting opposition for a statewide anti-clustering bill, professed "Christian Conservative" State Rep. Kurt Wallace pulled out the politician playbook and called a trick play.

This is how they built typically passes to the Alabama Legislature. A bill is introduced and assigned to a committee. There is generally time allotted for the public to become aware of a pending bill. Before a bill passes committee, the public has a right to request a public hearing on the bill at hand. It is a narrow window, but an individual generally has at least a couple of weeks or so to catch a bill as it pops up before committee.

With HB 556, and anti-clustering bill just for Chilton County, the public was literally given a single day’s notice. On Thursday, February 27, 2014, HB 556 was introduced and read for the first time before the house legislature, and was assigned to the “LL” (local legislation) committee. By Tuesday, March 4, the bill had been read a second time and placed on the calendar, and the next day, it had been read a third time and put to a vote. Only 38 representatives voted, all of them “yea,” of course, and 47 representatives were not even present to vote on March 5.

In short, the public was never truly given adequate notice. ReFORM-AL  had been checking the Alabama state legislature (“ALISON”) website every Friday during the legislative season, and not a single notice of HB 556 was seen. A bill was literally introduced and passed through the house in five business days, but that a single notice given to those who were to be impacted by these laws.

Keep in mind at this point, once a bill goes before the full legislature outside of committee, the public cannot request a public hearing. The best hope is to attempt to stop the bill by convincing legislators outside of committee to vote against the bill. To be honest, how many people do you think actually read, debated, or consider the negative consequences of this bill?

Could we have stopped the bill in the Senate? Since no one was even aware of HB 556, no one realized that the very next day, the bill was read for the first time in the Senate. The following Thursday, March 13, the bill was read a second time, and on Tuesday, March 18, the bill was read a third and final time and was put to a vote. This time, 21 people voted yea, and three people voted to abstain from voting. It was “enrolled” and sent for the governor to sign.

In total, 18 days had passed between the time the bill was first read in the time the bill was sent to the governor's office, or rather, 12 business days. That is superfast by Alabama Legislature standards.

State Rep. Kurt Wallace has been pushing his segregationist policy for years, all just to shut down a transitional housing program in his home County. This time, he got what he wanted. ReFORM-AL has already received a number of phone calls from individuals negatively impacted by this countywide ordinance. It is amazing how Wallace and his stooge CJ Robinson pushed for this idiotic legislation while admitting that residency restriction laws were the cause of the problem in the first place, testifying that these laws lead people to take advantage of registered citizens.

It seems the “good old boy” network is alive in rural Alabama. I'm sure Jesus is just ecstatic that Wallace has made people homeless in his name. On the upside, Wallace just lost his bid for re-election, so at least this fight has become his political swan song.

Al Baldasaro casts the lone vote against a NH bill that outlaws local residency restriction ordinances

New Hampshire isn't a state we tend to think of when we think bad sex offender laws. In fact, the state House passed a bill to abolish residency restrictions (though the bill is sitting idle in the Senate). The bill passed 18-1 in the House committee. Who was the lone dissenter? Al Baldasaro, the gay-bashing gun nut RepubliCON from Londonberry (Dingleberry?). It is a bit bizarre for NH, making it Shiitake-worthy.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/10425897-95/house-committee-passes-bill-prohibiting-restrictions-on-where-sex-offenders-can-live

House committee passes bill prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Concord Monitor staff
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 
(Published in print: Wednesday, January 29, 2014)

A House committee easily passed a bill, 18-1, prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live yesterday, noting that judges have twice ruled residency restrictions unconstitutional. Still, lawmakers predicted a tough fight in the Senate, which has rejected similar bills before.

“There is a perception that this bill is being soft on crime,” said Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, a Manchester Republican who voted for the bill. “All of us who have heard (this debate) know the benefits of the bill. But we’re going to need to explain it.”

Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Londonderry Republican, cast the lone vote against the bill, saying he didn’t want to tell his constituents they couldn’t determine where sex offenders could and could not live.

As many as 11 communities have residency restrictions for sex offenders, said Rep. Renny Cushing, a Hampton Democrat. Londonderry is not one of them, according to the town’s website. Locally, Tilton, Northfield and Boscawen have such restrictions. Both Northfield’s and Tilton’s ordinances prohibit people convicted of sex crimes against children from living within 2,500 feet of schools, child-care centers and playgrounds. Boscawen’s ordinance was not available yesterday.

Tilton adopted its ordinance in 2007 and added this explanation to it: “Acknowledging that sex offenders who prey on children are at a higher risk of re-offending, the town of Tilton has a compelling interest and responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its children by restricting access to areas where there (is) a high concentration of children.”

However, two judges have found otherwise. In 2009, a district court judge in Dover ruled that city’s residency restriction invalid because the city had not shown a “substantial relationship” between the ordinance and the protection of children. In 2012, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler came to the same conclusion when the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union appealed Franklin’s ordinance.

Cushing, a member of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, said the bill prohibiting residency restrictions is necessary because it will take costly legal fights to undo the 11 ordinances still in place across the state. “The simple thing that can be done is to pass a bill that incorporates the . . . courts’ decisions.”

Cushing also argued that restricting housing for sex offenders pushes them “underground,” in campgrounds, under bridges and to other places the police cannot monitor. He said communities are safer if the police know where sex offenders live and require yearly registration with the local police.

Baldasaro said he was concerned that if a sex offender moved into a Londonderry neighborhood, “everyone else wants to move out.” He added, “I want to support this bill, but I have to go back to neighborhoods in my district. Who is going to protect the neighbors?”

Rep. Larry Gagne, a Manchester Republican, responded to Baldasaro.

“My first term, I was pretty much a hard-liner,” he said. “I said, ‘Put (sex offenders) in outer space. Put them all on an island.’ But I changed my mind after a (police) sergeant came in and said, ‘If they go underground, we can’t find them.’ ”

Rep. Roger Berube, a Somersworth Democrat, questioned why the state Senate has rejected several similar bills from the House in previous years. “How can they get away with that?” he asked. “It doesn’t appear the Senate is actually listening to the . . . court.”

To that, Rep. Laura Pantelakos, chairwoman of the committee said, “Sometimes the Senate doesn’t listen to anybody.”

Mass. State Sen. Dick Moore puts the ASS in Massachusetts

Yesterday, I was half joking that some dumbass will pass a law to ban Registered Persons from winning the lottery. Well, it didn't take long for a dumbass to volunteer. Say hello to Richard T. "Dick" Moore. With a name like Dick, you know he was destined for Shiitake greatness. It is sad to see FloriDUH logic spread to the liberal states. At any rate, Moore has determined that because one registered citizen used lottery winnings to commit crimes, the solution must be to ban registrants from collecting lottery winnings.

This guy seems to be a better fit for FloriDUH than Massachusetts.

It seems Moore doesn't care much for the US Constitution, either.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20140319/NEWS/303199953/1052&Template=printart

Lawmaker wants to ban sex offenders from lottery winnings

$10M WINNER FROM UXBRIDGE CHARGED

By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Related
• Sex offender who won $10M lottery charged with sexually abusing boy in Uxbridge

UXBRIDGE — A veteran lawmaker said Tuesday he is working on a bill that would ban convicted sex offenders from payouts by the state lottery. 

State Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, was reacting to the recent arrest of a convicted Level 3 sex offender in his hometown...

Beth Bresnahan, executive director of the Massachusetts State Lottery, said the agency isn't a regulatory authority, nor does it have the legal authority to withhold a payment from a prizewinner who is holding a valid ticket. 

Winnings could be ordered withheld through a court order or "intervention" by a regulatory agency such as the Internal Revenue Service or Department of Revenue, she said. 

In a letter Tuesday to Senate President Therese Murray and Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo, state Treasurer Steven Grossman volunteered the full resources, technical expertise and cooperation of lottery staff to legislators as they contemplate changes to the law. 

"Clearly, Mr. Snay's case is one case too many, and I strongly endorse any effort to ensure that lottery winnings are not used to support criminal activities or threaten the safety and well-being of others," said Mr. Grossman, chairman of the lottery commission. 

Mr. Moore said, "The crime itself is reprehensible" and it appears wrong that a person with Mr. Snay's past should be able to profit from the lottery. 

Worse, the police believe he used some of the money to perpetrate the crimes for which he was recently arrested, Mr. Moore said. 

Mr. Moore said he is unsure whether his proposal would apply only to Level 3 sex offenders, whom the state Sex Offender Registry Board deems have the highest risk of re-offending. 

The money, Mr. Moore suggested, could be withheld and donated to a fund for victims. 

"Whenever (a sexual offense) happens, the victims of sex crimes need certainly a lot of counseling and other assistance," Mr. Moore said. "And if someone is benefiting from the state lottery, we ought to be able to access that money to help pay some of the bills of people who have been hurt." 

Asked about potential ramifications on civil liberties, Mr. Moore acknowledged he was "sure the (American Civil Liberties Union) wouldn't like it." 

But it is not unchartered territory: The lottery winnings of those who owe taxes or child support are already tapped, Mr. Moore said. 

ACLU of Massachusetts spokesman Christopher Ott said the organization would want to first see the proposed bill before weighing in.

D'oh Canada! Injustice Minister Peter MacKay makes the Shiitakes international again

Canada's Justice Minister Peter MacKay thinks USA's sex offender laws are A-OK, eh?

The Shiitake Awards has never been limited to the USA. I have hosted other nations like England and Australia in the past. However, it has been a long time since I've featured anyone outside of the US (and, for that matter, I haven't featured too many people outside of FloriDUH as of late).

Is this guy really Canadian? I watched him on TV the other day and his rhetoric sounds every bit American. Has he been coached by the FloriDUH legislature? John Walsh? Hey Canada! You know America is run by idiots, so why imitate us? MacKay is also in favor of civil commitment laws. Well if he's voted out of office I'm sure FloriDUH will hire him.

By the way, he reminds me so much of Mister Mackey from South Park. Maybe it is his manner of speaking, or that other silly pic I posted of him, m'kay?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/public-sex-offender-registry-coming-soon-says-peter-mackay-1.2556080

Public sex offender registry coming soon, says Peter MacKay
Registry among 9 new measures proposed under bill advocating tougher penalties for sexual predators act
By Amanda Connolly, CBC News Posted: Feb 28, 2014 8:18 PM MT

Names and addresses for some sex offenders could soon become public as the federal government announced a new bill Friday aimed at combating sexual predators.

A public, high-risk child sex offender registry is just one of the nine proposals highlighted in the proposed "tougher penalties for sexual predators act."

Justice Minister Peter MacKay made the announcement at the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in Calgary Friday. He said a child's right to safety trumps an offender's right to privacy.

"This isn't to encourage vigilantism," MacKay said. "It's to encourage protecting children from past proven behaviours."

Canada does currently have a sex offender registry but the names and personal information of those on the list are not public. 

Under the new proposal, personal information about high-risk child sex offenders for whom a public notification was issued will be available to the public.

Among the other proposals in the bill — which was formally introduced in the House of Commons Feb. 26 — are plans to share more information about offenders with the United States.

It's not clear what the criteria would be for that information-sharing to take place but MacKay says the decision would likely be made on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with police.

As well, the legislation proposes making it legal for spouses of those facing child pornography charges to be compelled to testify against their partner.

'It's our job,' says advocate Sheldon Kennedy

The changes represent a step in the right direction for hockey icon and sexual abuse survivor Sheldon Kennedy.

Sheldon Kennedy

Sheldon Kennedy, a former NHLer and sexual abuse victim, says new legislation announced Friday was a longtime coming. (CBC)

"These kids are vulnerable," he said. "It's our job as adults and as systems and as people that have influence over children to make a difference."

Kennedy was abused by his coach during his junior hockey career and received accolades for speaking out about it and working to end the negative stigma surrounding abuse victims.

A child advocacy centre in Calgary was named after him last year. It is a not-for-profit organization located on the University of Calgary campus that helps victims of child abuse.

He went on to co-found an organization called the Respect Group, which has created a range of programs to combat bullying and abuse in sports organizations, schools and workplaces.

Kennedy, who briefly played for the Calgary Flames in the 1990s, makes public and media appearances across Canada and regularly expresses his support for the Harper government's criminal justice agenda.

The one-time NHL player brought to light the sex crimes of his former junior hockey coach Graham James in 1997.

James has been convicted for sex assaults against four junior hockey players.

He was recently convicted on a second set of charges and sentenced to five years behind bars. James will get out of prison under statutory release in the summer of 2015.

Tougher Penalties for Sexual Predators Act 

The legislation, tabled in the House of Commons Feb. 26, proposes the following:

• Requiring those receiving separate sentences at the same time for contact child sexual offences against multiple children to serve their sentences consecutively — one after another.
• Requiring those sentenced at the same time for child pornography offences and contact child sexual offences to serve their sentences consecutively.
• Increasing maximum and minimum prison sentences for certain child sexual offences.
• Increasing penalties for violations of release conditions and supervision orders.
• Ensuring that a crime committed while on house arrest, parole, statutory release or unescorted temporary absence is an aggravating factor at sentencing.
• Ensuring that spousal testimony is available in child pornography cases.
• Requiring sex offenders to provide more information regarding travel abroad.
• Enabling information sharing on certain registered sex offenders between officials responsible for the National Sex Offender Registry and at the Canada Border Services Agency.
• Establishing a publicly-accessible database of high-risk child sex offenders who have been the subject of a public notification in a provincial/territorial jurisdiction.

WI Gov. Scott Walker helps to get man fired with assistance from FloriDUH pol Matt Gaetz

 There is a meme known as Godwin's Law which states that an argument is officially over when someone invokes a Nazi reference. Maybe I should invent my own meme, Logue's Law. It goes something like this-- if you are a politician and you use sex offender issues as a platform for publicity, that politician must be trying to distract from some kind of political scandal. This tactic has been around a long time. Mark Foley, Elliot Spitzer, Rod Blagojavich and Anthony Weiner all tried this tactic. Add embattled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to this list.

You see, Scott Walker has been in the news for a series of scandals, including racist emails and a campaign finance probe is just the tip of the iceberg. What better way to distract voters than with sex offender topics? Enter Daniel Montaldi, the scapegoat for last year's Cherish Perrywinkle fallout. Montaldi was head of FloriDUH's civil commitment program, until the Sun-Slantinel's Shiitake-worthy article accused Montaldi of being too "sympathetic" to registered persons and **gasp** stating sex offenders have low recidivism rates. So he was sacrificed as a scapegoat.

So Montaldi moved on to find a job in Wisconsin. But then a Floridiot legislator commented on the hire, and Gov. Walker added his two cents in. I sincerely hope Montaldi sues both of these individuals for this unnecessary interference in a hire of an individual who happens to believe in rehabilitation and low recidivism.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-looking-to-fire-new-sex-offender-administrator-b99209079z1-246164901.html

Madison — Gov. Scott Walker's administration Wednesday dropped a controversial new hire charged with evaluating sex offenders for release back into Wisconsin communities, a move that came only hours after Walker said he opposed the psychologist.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on the hire of Daniel Montaldi as "evaluation director" at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, a state facility for sex predators. Montaldi, who was to evaluate sex offenders and recommend to court officials which ones should be released, resigned from his post running Florida's sex predator program six months ago because he was seen as being too sympathetic to offenders.

"The Department of Health Services has rescinded the verbal offer of employment made to Daniel Montaldi for the Psychologist Supervisor-Chapter 980 (Evaluation Unit Director) position at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center," agency spokeswoman Stephanie Smiley said late Wednesday.

Smiley said Montaldi hasn't received any salary or payment from the state.

"The department will continue to protect the public by operating the program with existing resources as it has during this vacancy. Next steps for recruitment of this position have yet to be determined," she said.

Only hours before on Wednesday morning, Walker told reporters he wasn't happy about the hire of Montaldi and said it would be tricky firing him since he wasn't a political appointee under his direct control.

"I wasn't pleased with it. It's a civil service hire so ... the last two days we've been looking at what legal means we have to try to seek an alternative there," Walker said. "My hope is we'll have an answer by the end of today to do that."

Walker made that statement just as Wisconsin lawmakers began to look critically at the Montaldi hire.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), chairman of the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice, said late Tuesday that he hadn't researched Montaldi and didn't know him or his record beyond news accounts.

But "what I have read about him would give me extreme pause about whether he's the right person to ensure serious sex offenders are kept off the streets and away from our children," Kleefisch said.

Florida state Rep. Matt Gaetz said this week that he admired Walker but didn't think much of the Montaldi hire.

"This is a guy who has a catch-and-release approach to violent sexual predators," said Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican and chairman of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee. "Mr. Montaldi is a bad egg. We're just glad he's out of Florida."

Smiley said earlier this week that the governor and his staff weren't involved in the selection of Montaldi and that he was chosen as part of a civil service hiring process.

Montaldi came under fire from Gaetz and other Florida lawmakers last year when the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel wrote a three-part series examining problems in the state's sex predator program.

The newspaper found the number of potential predators identified by the state dropped by more than 50% under Montaldi's leadership. The paper also publicized an essay that Montaldi wrote in which he said he believes sex offenders as a group are "statistically unlikely to reoffend."

Wisconsin officials at first defended their decision to hire him, referring to the problems in Florida as "an aberration that resulted from factors beyond his control." Initially, Walker's office referred questions about Montaldi to the state Department of Health Services.

Montaldi has not returned calls to his Florida phone number and didn't immediately return a phone call Wednesday.

On Monday, Gaetz — whose father is president of the Florida Senate — said Montaldi resigned shortly after his chief of staff was informed that Montaldi was being called before the Criminal Justice Subcommittee to answer for recent failures in the state's violent sex offender program.

Montaldi does have an impressive résumé, Gaetz said. But Montaldi's track record should be apparent to anyone interested in hiring him, the Florida lawmaker said.

FloriDUH State Rep. Matt Gaetz wants us to forgive his past while condemning others

FloriDUH state rep Matt Gaetz has a mugshot online from a 2008 DUI arrest. Of course, he got off without enduring the same sanctions as the rest of us would for refusing a breathalyzer.

And yet, while Gaetz wants us to ignore his own past, he is using sex offenders as his platform for his reelection campaign.

Matt Gaetz already has a nomination for dumbest quote, but now that he is blatantly using sex offenders as a political platform, in addition to a recent article criticizing Wisconsin's hire of the former director of FloriDUH's SVP program, who was forced out after last year's Shiitake-worthy Sun-Slantinel article. Matt Gaetz should probably focus on not drinking and driving, or maybe his support of medical marijuana. I can see FloriDUH being the next state to legalize pot. They're obviously high down there.

http://www.wxow.com/story/24745692/2014/02/17/florida-lawmaker-says-dhs-should-face-tough-questions-about-its-new-sex-offender-evaluation-director#.UwPqZa8At_k.blogger

Florida lawmaker says DHS should face "tough questions" about its new sex offender evaluation director

Posted: Feb 17, 2014 4:00 PM EST
Updated: Feb 17, 2014 4:12 PM EST


MADISON (WXOW) -- The man hired to be the new sexual offender evaluation director for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) resigned from a similar position in Florida last September, after defending the rights of sex offenders and allowing the number of offenders tagged as "sexual predators" to drop by more than half under his watch.

A DHS spokesperson says the agency has selected Dr. Daniel Montaldi to head up sex offender evaluations at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston, but notes that the "hiring process is not complete."

Sand Ridge specializes in treatment services for offenders committed under Chapter 980, Wisconsin's sexually violent persons law.

Dr. Montaldi last served as the lead administrator for Florida's Sexually Violent Predator Program.

He resigned that position one day after the Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper wrote an article raising questions about is views and record.

As in Wisconsin, Florida law allows the state to keep sexual predators locked up after their prison sentences end.  Dr. Montaldi was in charge of the staff that would evaluate those offenders before they were released and recommend those likely to re-offend for continued confinement.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, the number of sex predator recommendations dropped considerably under Dr. Montaldi.  In the year before he became director, the program flagged 213 offenders as potential predators.  In the year under Dr. Montaldi's direction, that number dropped to 86.

"We learned that Florida had been releasing violent sexual predators under Mr. Montaldi's watch and that those violent sexual predators were re-offending, sometimes even the day or the same week they were released," Florida State Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-District 4) said on Monday.

Rep. Gaetz is the Chair of the Florida House Sub-Committee on Criminal Justice, who says he found not only Dr. Montaldi's record troubling, but also his comments on the civil rights of sex offenders.

The Sun-Sentinel reported that in an August 2013 email to members of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, Dr. Montaldi wrote:  "The value of liberty in a free society must also extend to society's most feared and despised members.  The civil rights of even sex offenders is still an important moral value."

"I think the people of Wisconsin should have a lot of questions about somebody that was essentially run out of the State of Florida because he used a position as an administrator with our sexually violent predator program to increase the propensity for releases for some very, very dangerous people," said Rep. Gaetz.

But in its statement, DHS downplayed those concerns.

"Dr. Montaldi has experience, expertise and philosophies that align with the Department's role under Chapter 980 with regard to the treatment and supervision of sex offenders as well as sex offender re-offense risk assessment.  He is widely recognized as a content expert in risk assessment and we are eager to have him join our staff," wrote DHS Spokesperson Stephanie Smiley. 

Smiley said that because the hire is not yet complete, she cannot confirm a start date or salary for Dr. Montaldi, but says the starting salary for the position was listed to go as high as $122,316 annually.

Who is exploiting who here? David Jolly for CON-gress gets endorsement from greasy Mark Lunsford

Between a pandering politician and Mark Lunsford, it is hard to tell who is the biggest leech. Florida lobbyist (my how the Shiitakes LOVE those wacky FloriDUH lobbyists) David Jolly is seeking your vote for US Congress. And he's already pulling out the sex offender trick to bring attention to himself. We all know that when a politician runs on this platform, that means he had little else to offer.

The link has the political ad embedded in the article. Keep the TP handy.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/mark-lunsford-weighs-in-for-david-jolly/2165123

Mark Lunsford weighs in for David Jolly 
Adam C. SmithAdam C. Smith, Times Political Editor
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 5:09pm

Mark Lunsford, whose nine-year-old daughter Jessica was murdered in 2005, stars in a new TV ad for Republican congressional candidate David Jolly, who helped Lunsford in his efforts to protect children.

Jolly explains his involvement in a email to supporters and would-be supporters: "Most of us know the tragic story of Mark’s loss.  His nine-year-old daughter Jessie lost her life at the hands of a child predator who lived in the neighborhood.  I’ll never forget my first conversation with Mark.  I approached him to express my condolences and to offer my encouragement for the good work he was doing to enact Jessica’s Law in states across the country and to fight for increased federal law enforcement resources through passage of the Adam Walsh Act.  When I asked Mark what he was doing in Washington that week, he replied simply, “I’m up here lobbying for some appropriations.”  Mark was referring to his efforts to secure funding for the U.S. Marshals Service to go after absconders from the sex offender registry."