Cheryl W. Thompson uses her reporting at NPR to harm Registered Persons

Cheryl W. Thompson wrote a shameless article claiming FTR cases are rampant and implying that everyone failing to keep their confusing sex offense registration pin-point accurate is out committing sex offenses even though that myth has been proven wrong. Personally, I find her going after a registrant in hit piece to be beyond yellow journalism (brown journalism, perhaps?). 

As other activist put it, "Incredibly, the reporter tracks down one of the people who the D.C. registry lists as non-compliant and interviews them. Whether or not what NPR did here is ethical — that is tracking down and hassling a 61-year old man over a 30-year-old conviction and functionally threatening him with imprisonment because his paperwork wasn’t in order — is up for debate... At least, unlike the USA TODAY piece that ran a little while ago, it didn’t include his home address in the story. Small blessings. But the point is that Mr. Lang wasn’t “hiding,” he was just living his life, and ostensibly isn’t a threat to anyone. The piece could ask why are we harassing this man? why are we devoting public safety resources to tracking him over a crime that occurred in the early 90’s? but, of course, does not."

When I contacted this reporter with a few facts, her only response was to question if I live in one state or another (I visited a friend earlier this month in Oregon, and Nebraska illegally posted the temporary address). 

She was not interested in rational discussion; she was hoping to find another victim of her crappy reporting. I can't help but question the integrity of this reporter. NPR used to be a good source for information but it seems they've bent the knee to the victim industrial complex. 

And for anyone who thinks maybe that's a stretch, I'll leave this here:

Perhaps most disturbing is she teaches journalism. 

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/25/808229392/sex-offender-registries-often-fail-those-they-are-designed-to-protect?t=1598362751061

Sex Offender Registries Often Fail Those They Are Designed To Protect

August 25, 20205:00 AM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Cheryl W Thompson

Inside the sprawling two-story tan and coral stucco building on New York Avenue in Northeast Washington, D.C., is a men's homeless shelter that once served as a halfway house run by the government.

It's a place that some 20 registered sex offenders call home — according to the city's sex offender registry. But at least one-third of them don't really live there, and D.C. authorities have no idea where they are.

The men are among the more than 25,000 convicted sex offenders and predators across the U.S. who have absconded, their whereabouts unknown to law enforcement or the victims — often children — whom they sexually assaulted or abused, an NPR investigation has found. Tens of thousands of others are out of compliance with sex offender registry laws.

"Law enforcement are losing people," says Kelly Socia, an associate professor of criminology and justice studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Like so much else in American life, enforcement of sex offender registries across the country has been upended by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Many states with in-person monitoring and registration have had to search for alternatives. Some states have seemingly stopped enforcement altogether.

But most of the shortcomings predate the pandemic. NPR reviewed sex offender registry databases and records from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and found that a system intended to keep track of sex offenders often fails the very people it was designed to protect.

Many state registries are rife with errors, such as wrong addresses or names of offenders who died as long as 20 years ago. Others include the names of hundreds of offenders who have failed to verify their whereabouts in more than a decade.

The registries also list absconders whom law enforcement say they can't find but often are hiding in plain sight. Like a Colorado man — one of that state's 100 most wanted sex offender fugitives — on the run since 2016. NPR found him in Washington state, where he has never registered as a sex offender, according to public records.

Some sex offenders commit additional sex crimes after failing to tell police their whereabouts. In Missouri, for instance, a man who pleaded guilty in 1991 to sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl was convicted in 1998 and in 2017 of sex crimes against other minors, after moving between states without registering.

"The registry really doesn't work," Socia says. "It's a bloated, inefficient system that is incredibly expensive to maintain. I don't think it really protects anybody."

A federal law passed in 1994 known as the Jacob Wetterling Act requires states to establish registration programs for people convicted of sex crimes or crimes against children. The law was named for a Minnesota boy abducted by a man as the 11-year-old rode his bicycle home from the store in 1989. That law also requires states to verify addresses of convicted sex offenders every year for at least 10 years.

Since then, the laws relating to sex offenders have been amended to include such things as making the registries publicly accessible, placing certain juveniles on the registry and requiring law enforcement to notify the public when sex offenders move into the community.

Slipping through the system

NPR combed through those registries and counted tens of thousands of offenders who are considered absconders or whose locations are unknown. Among them were men whom NPR found easily using public records.

Curtis Lang Sr. is a convicted sex offender who hasn't registered for years. He is pictured at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park in Washington, D.C., in January 2020.

Lang, 61, was convicted in 1994 of raping an ex-girlfriend in her Washington, D.C., home. He says that he was high on PCP when the woman came home, that he raped her and that she tried to run away.

"I was out of my mind," Lang recalls. "But we did have rough sex and she tried to get away from me and I put my hands on her, yeah."

Lang, who served a decade in prison for the rape, was required to register as a sex offender and update that registration every three months for life. But it has been five years since he registered, according to D.C.'s sex offender registry.

NPR found Lang after checking court documents in Maryland and discovering a traffic citation from May 2019 for driving with an expired license. The court record listed an address in Northwest D.C., about 9 miles from the address he listed on D.C.'s public sex offender registry.

Authorities haven't gone after him for failing to register, despite stopping him for several traffic violations, including the 2019 incident.

"That's the system," Lang says. "I can't help it if I slipped through the system, the cracks, you know? That's on them."

The agency that registers and monitors sex offenders in the nation's capital is called the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, or CSOSA. Authorities there are supposed to report noncompliance to the Metropolitan Police Department, which acts as an enforcer.

"When we're notified of a violation, we do everything we can to bring the offender into compliance," says D.C. Police Commander Leslie Parsons, who oversees the sex offender registry.

That's how Jimmy Ferguson came to the department's attention. He is required to register as a sex offender every 90 days because of a conviction for assault with intent to commit rape. But he stopped registering several years ago, records show.

CSOSA said it sent a violation notice about Ferguson to police in March 2017, and again two years later, and police told NPR they tried to find him.

Jimmy Ferguson is required to register as a sex offender every 90 days but stopped for several years, records show. Ferguson registered after NPR found him.

District of Columbia Sex Offender Registry

Ferguson said no one came looking for him in the most obvious place — the address on his sex offender registration form. While Ferguson admitted he wasn't complying with the registration law at the time, he has been living in the same modest second-floor apartment across the street from a school in Southeast D.C. for years, records show.

"I've been living right here going on four years," he told NPR. "If you can find me, why the law can't find me?"

"This is ridiculous, man. I'm not hiding," he added.

Ferguson registered six weeks later, records show.

Alissa Ackerman, an assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University, Fullerton and a sex crimes expert, said she understands why offenders don't register.

"The burdens that come with it are tremendous," Ackerman says. "The shame that it brings upon you is tremendous."

Missing but not a priority

When offenders don't register, state officials throughout the country acknowledge, finding them can be tough. And that difficulty is made worse because law enforcement agencies often don't place a high priority on going after them, even though authorities know the sex offenders have broken the law.

In Illinois, 12.5% of the state's 32,249 sex offenders are missing or have failed to comply with reverification laws. Police there often catch absconders during routine traffic stops or while responding to domestic calls, according to Tracie Newton, the program administrator for the state's sex offender and murder registries.

"Many times, that's how they're found," she says, adding that it is the job of local police or sheriff's departments to track offenders so that they don't abscond.

In Nevada, where 7.5% of the 29,271 offenders are missing or have failed to comply, authorities rarely check to ensure that sex offenders live where they say they do, says Mindy McKay, who oversees the records, communications and compliance division of the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

"Short of implanting a chip in someone ... we can't keep track of people like that," she says. "If they abscond, they abscond. There's nothing we can do about it."

Chelsea Ross, who oversees Nevada's sex offender registry, says the number of absconders or those who are not up to date with their registration is likely to increase because of the coronavirus. That state and others shut down in-person registration offices when the pandemic hit, forcing sex offenders to register online, by phone or by mail, and halting law enforcement efforts to do in-person verification checks.

"We didn't do an announcement to tell the public or to tell the offenders we weren't doing in person," Ross says. "We thought that would open a door for people not to check in. We didn't want offenders to say, 'Hey, nobody's going to be checking on us.' "

Derek Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon, says his agency has also halted residence verifications.

"Patrol officers were helping check residences of sex offenders, but since the pandemic ... no checks are being completed by patrol," Carmon says.

NPR also found at least a dozen states where some of the longest-missing offenders actually had died – something the states could have verified with their own records.

In Arkansas, for instance, authorities say Leroy Hair has been missing for nearly two decades — 7,153 days. Hair received a 40-year sentence for a 1979 rape and registered as a sex offender for life on the eve of his release in November 2000.

"He registered, then disappeared," says Paula Stitz, manager of that state's sex offender registry.

Public records show that Hair died in 2001.

A danger to the community again

Austin Kelly was required to register as a sex offender but absconded in both Tennessee and Oklahoma. He was later convicted again of sexual abuse.

Mistakes in the registries can have dire consequences. NPR found examples of unregistered offenders moving undetected — sometimes from one state to another — and committing additional sex crimes.

Austin Kelly, 26, was released from prison in March 2019 after serving 10 years for attempted rape of a child in Tennessee. Officials there placed him on community supervision for life, and he was forced to register as a sex offender.

Within six weeks of leaving prison, Kelly absconded, records show. He landed a job 600 miles away in Owasso, Okla., at the Sonic Drive-In and found a place to live. He filled out a sex offender registration form, but when the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office mailed the address verification form to him, he didn't send it back as required by law, police said. That made him an absconder in Oklahoma, too.

Late last year, police said that Kelly walked into a McDonald's across the street from his job and followed a 3-year-old girl and her 7-year-old brother into the men's bathroom. He was arrested 13 days later and charged with sexual abuse of the girl, along with aggravated possession of child pornography. He was convicted in December and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Sexual abuse survivor Kristen Trogler says she believes the system created to track sex offenders is broken.

Kristen Trogler, a sexual abuse survivor, says she believes the system designed to track sex offenders is broken: "What's their punishment for not registering? A little bit of time in jail? It's not enough."

She has gone to the Missouri sex offender registry over the years looking for one man in particular: Robert Maurer. He went to jail for sexually abusing her when she was in kindergarten.

She didn't find him.

That's because once Maurer was released from prison for assaulting her, he failed to register at least twice — in Missouri and in Florida, records show. Authorities had no idea of his whereabouts for months at a time.

"The system doesn't work," says Trogler, who lives in St. Louis. "What's their punishment for not registering? A little bit of time in jail? It's not enough."

Robert Maurer went to jail for sexually abusing Kristen Trogler when she was in kindergarten. Once Maurer was released from prison, he failed to register as a sex offender in both Missouri and Florida.

Trogler first met Maurer when she and his daughter sat next to each other in kindergarten at the Oak Hill School in St. Louis and quickly became best friends. When the class took a field trip, Trogler's mother and Maurer chaperoned. Soon after, she allowed Maurer to babysit while she worked.

That's when the inappropriate touching began.

"It started off slowly," Trogler recalls. "I remember thinking it was not right."

Five years after his release for that crime, police arrested Maurer for molesting two girls, ages 12 and 13, in his home over a two-year period. Maurer pled guilty in 1998 to child molestation and statutory sodomy, and received a 10-year sentence.

After being released in December 2007, Maurer moved to Florida and ignored the requirement to register. He was charged with failure to register and got a six-year prison sentence.

Maurer was released in August 2013 and returned to Missouri without reporting his new address within three days, as required by law. While an absconder, Maurer sexually abused another 12-year-old girl — a relative with whom he lived. Authorities charged him with statutory sodomy and failure to register as a sex offender.

Kristen Trogler keeps family photos, including one of her as a baby and then as a mother with her three children.

A jury convicted Maurer of a lesser charge of attempted statutory sodomy and failure to register in 2017, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Trogler testified at his trial, calling him a real-life "boogeyman."

"He is what nightmares are made of," she told the court.

Thirty years have passed since Trogler's abuse, but she relives it daily. She says she turned to drugs and alcohol as a teen.

"I was in pain," she told NPR. "I wanted to not be in this black hole that I'm still in every single day."

Now, at 36, she's divorced with three children. She lives in a small rented house in St. Louis and makes ends meet with a county tax-collecting job.

Prescription drugs sit on a table in Trogler's home in St. Louis. She suffers from depression and anxiety because of sexual abuse she suffered as a child.

Trogler's dining room table is filled with prescription bottles: pills for anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. She sees a therapist, a decision she made three years ago.

"He's a monster," she says about Maurer. "He stole everything from me. I hate him."

Trogler says law enforcement fail people like her and others by not keeping track of offenders who don't register and abscond.

"The system is broken," Trogler says. "I don't know if there is a way to fix it."

US Rep Ann Wagner uses Predator Panic to declare her opponent a supporter of "sexual predators"

To be fair, her opponent isn't exactly an ally to our cause but she voted in favor of modest reforms to Missouri's bloat lifetime-for-all registry, converting it to a 3 tier system. That vote had bipartisan suipport. Ann Wagner things juveniles shiould register for life. 

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gop-attacks-distort-congressional-challenger-s-record-on-sex-offender-laws/article_a116d215-a6c4-54cc-82d4-407908de9af3.html

Schupp says GOP attacks distort her record on sex offender laws

Nassim Benchaabane, 8/23/20

ST. LOUIS — U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner and Missouri Republicans have attacked Democratic challenger Jill Schupp for her votes as a state representative on a handful of bills meant to revise the sex offender registry — without noting one of them received unanimous, bipartisan support.

Wagner, in her first television advertisement ahead of the Nov. 3 election between her and Missouri Sen. Jill Schupp, accused Schupp of spending “her entire political career siding with dangerous criminals.”

Jean Evans, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, repeated the criticisms in a news release, citing a handful of votes by Schupp in the Missouri Legislature on proposed revisions to the state sex offender registry.

Schupp, in response, said the attacks, which began with a television advertisement Aug. 16, use isolated votes to distort her record and are meant to distract from Wagner’s record on other issues, like expanding health care coverage.

The race between Wagner, R-Ballwin, and Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, has received national attention as part of congressional Democrats’ bid to flip competitive House seats in the Midwest. Wagner, who was elected to Congress in 2012, represents a suburban St. Louis district that includes parts of St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties and has favored Republicans in past years, but the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which analyzes the competitiveness of congressional contests, has rated the race a “toss-up,” citing Schupp’s recent fundraising haul and electoral record as one of a few Missouri Democrats to win a high-profile race in the last several election cycles.

One of the bills the Wagner camp has cited is House Bill 301, a 2013 measure that passed the House unanimously and the Senate by a 28-4 vote, drawing support from Republicans, including Gov. Mike Parson, then a state senator. The bill was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat.

The bill would have removed from the public sex offender registry anyone who was under 18 when convicted, while keeping their names visible to law enforcement. They could petition for complete removal from the list five years after finishing their sentences.

Supporters of the bill argued the registry was severe because offenders were placed on the list for life, regardless of the severity of the original crime or the offender’s age at the time. In his veto, Nixon argued it didn’t separate minor offenders from those who used force or violence and warned it could endanger the public by hiding the whereabouts of violent sex offenders. The Legislature did not pursue an override of Nixon’s veto.

‘Bipartisan issue’

The vote on the bill is an example of how sex offender laws generally draw wide support, said Jessica Seitz, public policy director for Missouri KidsFirst, a nonprofit that lobbies for laws designed to protect children.

Legislation on the sex offender registry is introduced almost every year, Seitz said, and most bills in recent years have proposed technical changes to the sex offender registry or further limits on offenders, like exactly how close they can live to a school, Seitz said. Isolated votes may not reflect the nuances of policy debates over the registry, she said.

“Whether sex offenders are held accountable for their actions is a bipartisan issue,” said Seitz, who noted the group does not comment on political candidates. “That has been shown by multiple bills in past years.”

Schupp noted the same criticisms were levied against her in 2014 by Jay Ashcroft, her Republican opponent in her campaign for Missouri Senate. Schupp won the competitive race that year; Ashcroft is now secretary of state.

“I’ll say the same thing to Congresswoman Wagner that I said to Jay Aschroft when he launched these attacks in 2014,” Schupp said in a news release. “A good friend of mine was brutally murdered by a sexual predator, and I’ve worked hard to keep sexual predators behind bars.”

“Instead of discussing the issues, Wagner is using the issue of sexual violence for political gain in attacks that distort my record and attempt to mislead the voters,” Schupp said.

Republicans also criticized Schupp for her vote in 2013 against placing on the statewide ballot a constitutional amendment that allowed juries in child sex abuse cases to hear evidence of a defendant’s prior criminal acts, whether or not the defendant was charged with those offenses. Schupp was one of 23 House Democrats and three Republicans who voted against placing the amendment on the ballot.

The amendment drew support from prosecuting attorneys and child welfare advocates, and opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that allowing evidence from cases where someone was never convicted presumes suspects are guilty instead of innocent. The amendment passed with support from 72% of Missouri voters.

Wagner also accused Schupp of “voting to allow hundreds” of sex offenders “to coach youth sports,” referring to a 2009 vote for an amendment that struck some language restricting sex offenders from a bill that made several changes to the state criminal code. The bill went through several changes as lawmakers debated the legal scope of the provisions. Schupp was among 124 House members that eventually voted to approve the final version.

A fourth bill, House Bill 731, would have required Missouri to add citizenship status to the sex offender registry and report undocumented names on the list to federal officials for possible deportation.

‘They’re inexcusable’

Stephen Puetz, a spokesman for Wagner’s campaign, denied the votes were taken out of context.

“They’re inexcusable, and on the whole, she has no ability to justify her position,” Puetz said.

Puetz denied that criticizing Schupp for a vote shared by many Republicans without noting unanimous support for the provision was misleading. Just because other politicians supported the bill doesn’t mean they weren’t wrong, he said, noting the Legislature did not try to override Nixon’s veto.

“That’s a weak excuse,” Puetz said. “Anyone who supported it, including Jill Schupp, are wrong.”

In the campaign, Wagner has pointed to her advocacy in Congress to protect survivors of sexual assault and to protect children from sex trafficking, which included the 2015 SAVE Act that criminalized the advertisement of trafficked children.

Wagner also pushed through the House a 2018 law that made it more difficult for websites to advertise sex, by amending a 1996 law designed to protect websites from liability for the speech of advertisers and others. Sites like Backpage had won legal challenges based on the protections.

Large tech firms put up a multiyear fight against the legislation, which eventually passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, including from Sen. Claire McCaskill, whose investigation of Backpage led to several legal showdowns and who pushed a Senate version of the bill.

Right now, Ron Book is looking at Cecilia Celeste Fulbright and thinking, "Why didn't I use that excuse?"

This has to be the dumbest excuse for drunken driving I've ever seen, even dumber than Ron Book's excuse. I bet Ron took notes on this for the nest time he rear ends a guy in a Lambo. 

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/affidavit-drunk-driver-who-rammed-car-claimed-to-be-chasing-pedophile/article_5989fa98-49fb-5db1-a5f2-2cef7a42e009.html

Affidavit: Drunk driver who rammed car claimed to be chasing pedophile

Kristin Hoppa Aug 13, 2020 

Waco police arrested a 30-year-old woman Wednesday morning on driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault charges after she chased at least two cars and intentionally crashed into one, later telling police she thought she was chasing a pedophile who had kidnapped a girl, arrest affidavits state.

Officers arrested Cecilia Celeste Fulbright, of Waco, at about 10 a.m., after she crashed into a barrier near the gas pumps at H-E-B on North 19th Street, police reported.

A driver called police at about 9:20 a.m. to report a small red car had chased them on North 19th Street but that they were able to get away, according to the affidavit.

About 20 minutes later, another driver reported the red car was chasing her and that the driver, Fulbright, was yelling at her and rammed her car multiple times before the caller pulled into the H-E-B parking lot on 19th Street, the affidavit states.

"Ms. Fulbright pursued (the driver) through the parking lot striking her again and an uninvolved Dodge Durango before Ms. Fulbright crashed into a cement pylon at the gas pumps," police reported.

The other driver was uninjured.

When officers arrived, Fulbright was in her car "crying hysterically" and yelling that the other driver "was a pedophile and had kidnapped a girl for human trafficking." She said she rammed the other car "because she believed she was saving a child" from a pedophile she followed from Speegleville, but her account "did not match the timeline or any facts or evidence," the affidavit states.

She appeared to be "delusional" and under the influence of drugs, and a breath test showed her blood alcohol content was between 0.21% and 0.217%, more than double the legal limit of 0.08%, according to the affidavit. Officers reported they found "multiple cans of spray paint" in Fulbright's car. She said she had at least one beer but denied using other drugs, according to the affidavit.

After medical clearance, she was taken to McLennan County Jail on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a Class A misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. She was released by Thursday on $11,000 bond.

Utah US Attorney John Huber uses Predator Panic as argument against defunding the police

"Who will protect the childrenz" if you don't fund these jackboots? 

If anything, Huber the Goober (and the others in this article) is making a good argument for defunding the registry. 

https://www.abc4.com/news/law-enforcement-speaks-out-about-defunding-the-police/

Who will protect our children?’: Top law enforcement officials react to calls to ‘defund the police’

by: Brittany Johnson

Posted: Aug 20, 2020 / 10:58 PM MDT / Updated: Aug 21, 2020 / 08:11 AM MDT

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) – For weeks now, we’ve heard cries to ‘defund the police’ and reallocate money. Protesters have called for a new era of policing.

ABC4 News spoke with high-ranking members of law enforcement to get their thoughts on the demands.

“This extensive, expensive operation brings into focus how ludicrous the demands and chants of the activists are,” U.S. Attorney John Huber said. “This type of operation shows how ridiculous the demands are to defund the police — to defund law enforcement. Who will protect our children in such a bizarre counter universe?”

The U.S. attorney was referring to “Operation Reboot” in which law enforcement from across the state, cracked down on sex offenders who were “not abiding by sex offense registry laws,” and “trying to evade law enforcement.”

Law enforcement said if police departments were defunded, these perpetrators could be left wandering the streets and pose a risk to the community.

“If we were defunded I don’t know who would be doing these checks or who would be registering the local registrants,” Detective Tammy Thacker, with the Heber City Police Department, told ABC4’s, Brittany Johnson.

Heber City Police Department was one of 11 agencies to participate in “Operation Reboot.” Thacker said her police department is like many others, in that they do not have ample funding to perform sex offender crackdowns on a regular basis.

The operation was made possible with funding from the U.S. Marshals.

“Nights, weekends, overtime, long hours. “Those things are often cut when you talk about police budgets being cut right now. And that’s what this type of operation requires; nights, weekends door to door,” explained Matt Harris, U.S. Marshal for the District of Utah.

Taking away money from child sex crimes, which is an area of already tight for cash, is something that doesn’t bode well with U.S. Attorney John Huber.

“This operation is a classic example of why that argument to defund the police is outrageous,” Huber said.

“We try not to get involved in the political cells that are going on in the winds. We just try to stay focused on what we need to do when it comes to keeping our citizens safe,” said Thacker.

“Despite the noise that’s going on in our communities, cops are the good guys, and this is the type of work that good guys do,” Harris said.

Convicted Drug Offender Kevin Maxson is PA's Voice 4 the Brainless

 

Convicted dope boy Kevin Maxson runs a group called "Voices 4 the Voiceless", and while they generally protest stuff like jail conditions and give support to BLM issues, Maxson hypocritically wants increased punishment for Registered Persons. This is typical of BLM supporters, unfortunately. 

Maxson erroneously claims drug offenders like him get less time than someone convicted of a sex offense; that is complete bullshit. Perhaps if he stopped threatening violent actions, he would not spend that much time behind bars, but even then, he spent less time behind bars than a person convicted for a sex offense. Obviously, his time seerved did not help his overall lack of education on this subject. 

If Maxson was that worried about his community, he'd talk about drugs ands gangs, something far more of a problem than Registered Persons. 

https://www.abc27.com/news/local/harrisburg/activists-call-for-protecting-children-during-save-our-children-rally-in-harrisburg/

“I would like to see like a network of parents being out on the street, walking up and down the street, walking through the playgrounds,” said Kevin Maxson, CEO of Voices 4 the Voiceless. “I would like to see some of the people who are sexual offenders having to wear ankle monitors to monitor 24 hours a day.”

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/08/save-our-children-protest-in-harrisburg-calls-for-action-against-child-predators.html

Maxson said people who are charged with drug possession or drug dealing often serve longer sentences than sex offenders. He said the state should require sex offenders to wear ankle monitoring devices and be placed in affordable housing away from children and families.

Annie Kenny isn't okay, and she wants to destroy the lives of Maryland's registered persons

This crackpot is trying to ensure the lives of registered persons are disrupted as much as possible. Any idiot who uses the term "convicted pedophile" is completely uneducated on this subject. Not only is she spouting outlated statistics, her shirt just proves she has a severely slanted opinion on this subject. Why the media contunies to promote this loon is beyond me. 

But if you want to educate this idiot, her email is keepthebabiessafe@gmail.com

https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/maryland-mom-discovers-vital-info-vanishes-from-sex-offender-registry

Over the past several weeks if you looked at the Maryland Sex Offender Registry you might have missed something.

It’s here where anyone can find the details of men and women who have preyed on children. Several weeks ago, Annie Kenny, a mom raising her kids in Maryland, noticed something very odd when she landed on this website.

“Recently when I checked the website what I found was that although there was a space for scars and tattoos the information was listed as unavailable and there was no spot at all any more for work addresses or vehicle information,” says Annie Kenny.

Vital information that helps people identify sex offenders missing for weeks. Kenny did some research and discovered Maryland was in violation of state and federal guidelines.

“It’s really disturbing to think that an entire state's sex offender registry could be non-compliant with the U.S Department of Justice requirements. To me that’s pretty concerning,” says Kenny.

7 On Your Side did some digging and found out in April, Maryland joined 21 other states and switched its sex offender website to the Offender Watch. It allows law enforcement and public safety agencies to share and manage information in real-time.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services admits it was this Maryland mom who discovered the issues.

It says: "The data was in fact present on the site however the vendor had a security rights issue and some information wasn’t visible to the public."

Here is the email from the Maryland Department of Public Safety :

In April, the State of Maryland joined 21 states in switching to the OffenderWatch system for its Sex Offender Registry. OffenderWatch allows multiple law enforcement and public safety agencies to share and manage information in real-time, while dramatically reducing the number of hours spent on administrative tasks related to the Registry.

The Department received a single constituent concern about a portion of a registrant’s data not being visible on the public site. The Department investigated and found that the problem was a data display issue. The data was in fact present on the site; however, because the vendor had a security rights issue, some data in the system was not visible to the public. At no time was any information lost.

The vendor corrected the issue several weeks ago. The Department's IT professionals have reviewed the system and found no further issues.

The Department believes the problem was an anomaly, and the Department has not received any other constituent concerns since that first call.

The Department considers OffenderWatch to be a vastly superior tool for the public to use when inquiring about registered sex offenders, a significant upgrade to the previous platform used to manage the Registry.

“I got to be honest with all of this it feels like nobody is paying attention,” says Kenny.

All the info that wasn’t visible you can now see on the site. It’s been fixed thanks to one very determined mom, Annie Kenny.

https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/maryland-mom-wants-more-restrictions-on-lifetime-sex-offenders

Maryland mom calls for more restrictions on lifetime sex offenders

by Scott Taylor, ABC7 Tuesday, February 11th 2020

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — “HI, my name is Ann Kenny, I am a single mother of three daughters from St. Mary’s County,” says Annie Kenny in front of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

She is asking Maryland lawmakers to overhaul state guidelines on sex offenders by requiring lifetime supervision in Senate Bill 320.

Right now in Maryland, the majority of registered sex offenders are only supervised for a maximum of five years during probation even though many are on the State’s Sex Offender Registry for 15 to 25 years or life.

Kenny wants enforceable supervision or restrictions for lifetime offenders.

"I know sexual abuse, especially in children, is a topic people don't want to talk about. It is heartbreaking and painful,” says Annie Kenny on her change.org petition. aa

Last spring, Kenny, created a change.org campaign after learning it isn’t a crime for a convicted child sex offender to sleep in the same bed with a minor and some offenders can legally contact kids through electronic devices with no parental supervision.

Kenny thought she had the answer last year in a bill that had more restrictions but that bill never reached the floor for a vote. 

https://www.change.org/p/governor-hogan-better-sex-offender-laws-to-protect-our-children-32540612-ac2b-4c2a-9771-2c0287b39ebf

Did you know that currently in the State of Maryland, it is not against the law for a Tier III Registered Sex Offender to be alone with a minor?  It is considered child neglect or endangerment to leave a young child home alone or in a car, but you can tuck a child into bed next to a convicted pedophile and walk away for the night having committed no crime. 

Smear by New Jersey GOP State Chairman Doug Steinhardt claims Democratic legislator opposed the Adam Walsh Act (like that is a bad thing)

This is a political smear against a pol that once worked in the Human Rights Watch, but had nothing to do wit HRW's opposition to the controversial Adam Walsh Act. But even if he was, that opposition was good because the AWA is somplete shiitake. 

https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/steinhardt-says-malinowski-opposed-2006-bill-to-create-national-sex-offender-registry/

Steinhardt says Malinowski opposed 2006 bill to create national sex offender registry, but official disputes that

Former Human Rights Watch official says GOP is wrong, that Malinowski was not involved in lobbying effort on federal crime bill

By David Wildstein, August 06 2020 6:33 pm

The state’s top Republican today accused Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) of trying to derail the formation of a national sex offender registry while working as a lobbyist fourteen years ago, but one of the freshman congressman’s former co-workers strongly disputed the claim.

In the harshest attack so far in what may be New Jersey’s most competitive congressional race, GOP State Chairman Doug Steinhardt charged that Malinowski lobbied against a section of a 2006 crime bill that forced sex offenders to register as part of a national database while working at Human Rights Watch.

“Tom Malinowski’s roots are rotten, and his values are hollow,” Steinhardt said.  “That he was bought and paid for to lobby against protecting children from sex offenders is emblematic of his self-serving nature.”

Human Rights Watch opposed the legislation, suggesting that while sex offender registration was warranted, there was “no legitimate community safety justification for the provisions in this legislation that require offenders to register for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether they have lived offense free for decades.”

But the Human Rights Watch attorney who signed a statement urging Congress to reject the bill said that Malinowski had no part of it.

“He was not involved in this issue at all,” said Jennifer Daskal, who was the advocacy director for the group’s U.S. Program. “He was working on foreign policy issues.”

Daskal, who later served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security in the Obama administration and is now a law professor at American University, said that Malinowski did not attend any meetings on the topic and not involved in any discussions involving the stance Human Rights Watch would take on the bill now known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

“It was a long time ago, but I have no recollection of him being involved,” Daskal told the New Jersey Globe.

Steinhardt rejected assertions that Malinowski should not be held accountable for every position taken by an organization he worked for.

“There is no possible good explanation for his lobbying record, therefore it isn’t even worth demanding one,” said Steinhardt.  “Tom Malinowski makes me sick.”

Malinowski had worked for the U.S. Department of State in the 1990s and later joined the Clinton White House staff as a senior director of the National Security Council.  He later spent twelve years at Human Rights Watch before President Barack Obama nominated him to serve as Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in 2013.

Republicans sought to tie Malinowski to issues related to Human Rights Watch when he challenged incumbent Leonard Lance (R-Clinton Township) in 2018.

In that race, Steinhardt sought to tie Malinowski to another colleague who was suspended in 2009 for collecting Nazi memorabilia.  That individual, Marc Garlasco, worked in the New York office while Malinowski was in Washington.

Lance labeled Malinowski as anti-Israel for Human Rights Watch’s opposition of the construction of settlements in the West Bank and for Gaza to continue receiving U.S. military aide.

Malinowski shot back that Lance’s effort to make Israel into a campaign issue could damage its relationship with the United States.

A super PAC tied to then-House Speaker Paul Ryan aired TV ads in 2018 alleging that Malinowski lobbied for the rights of terrorists.

Malinowski and Human Rights Watch lobbied for access to courts and Habeus Corpus rights for detainees in Guantanamo Bay between 2006 and 2008.

While the Malinowski campaign pointed to his backing the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, a bill outlawing the use of torture that was authored by U.S. Sen. John McCain, the ad does not directly refer to the bill, and it cites lobbying disclosures dated to 2007, after the bill had already passed.

McCain’s former chief of staff, Mark Salter, defended Malinowski on Twitter.

“Tom worked with Republicans and Democrats who believed American ideals are worth protecting in war and peace,” Salter said. “That’s a reason to vote for him not against him.”

While there is no evidence that Malinowski personally supported or opposed the 2006 legislation – his name appears on a lobbying report filed by Human Rights Watch, something Daskal said was routine — it’s possible that his opponent in the hugely competitive 7th district race, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr., will the issue to attack the incumbent.

“As far as an ad writer is concerned, everything is fair game,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “But there were several problems with the national registry, including state approaches like New Jersey, were tougher and more comprehensive.”

Rasmussen said that when he teaches his students about federalism, he looks at how conservative state legislatures like Arizona opposed the federal registry.

“Could Malinowski suffer a negative mailer about it?  Absolutely,” he said.  “But it is certainly not going to be a defining issue in an election that’s going to overwhelmingly be about the top of the ticket.”

Josh Salman of USA Today ruins Registered Person's job with hit piece

FAC already says it best: "Well this is horrible… a man convicted of a sexual offense in 2007 turned his life around and started a janitorial business. He gets a contract providing janitorial services for the VA. USA today writes a story about it and the VA cancels the contract. Here we have someone who has tried to turn his life around (and seemingly was successful in doing so) gets re-punished for something he did more than a decade ago. He and the many people who work for him are fired and the agency doing the firing is the VA, who is supposed to help veterans (the man served 8 years in the Army)!

The story is offensive because it illustrates: (a) how people on the registry are barred from career opportunities everywhere, including as janitors, (b) how the label undermines rehabilitation by permanently destabilizing people, (c) how the VA can easily discard a sub-class of persons it’s supposed to be helping, and (d) how the label not only stigmatizes the registrant but anyone who chooses to give them a chance and do business with them."

If you want to tell Josh where he can shove his shitty reporting: Contact him at jsalman@gatehousemedia.com or @joshsalman or (941) 361-4967

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/08/11/convicted-sex-offender-got-lucrative-government-covid-19-contracts/3314931001/

Sex offender loses COVID-19 contract at VA hospital after USA TODAY asks questions

Josh Salman, USA TODAY

Ezekiel Lopez is a registered child sexual predator in Illinois who spent more than three years in prison for sexually abusing two teenage girls under his care. 

The conviction was not a barrier between Lopez and more than $700,000 in federal contracts to provide cleaning and janitorial services to help fight COVID-19 at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital just outside Chicago.

No rules specifically prevented it.

Government contractors are supposed to indicate on their applications whether they’ve had any felony convictions within the past two years. But Lopez was convicted in 2007.

The federal government can ban vendors convicted of fraud or other procurement violations from future contracts, usually for up to three years. But that debarment does not include sex crimes.

As a result neither Lopez nor his company, America’s Best at Work – which offers auto tire distribution as well as janitorial services – appeared on any list of parties excluded from Department of Veterans Affairs contracting.

VA spokeswoman Christina Noel said the company met the criteria to become a vendor under federal law, which includes being deemed “responsible” through its registration with the System for Award Management. The vendor also was in good standing with the federal government’s database for “performance and integrity.” 

But days after USA TODAY began questioning the agency about Lopez’s background, the VA hospital changed course, ending its relationship with the business as of July 23. 

Candace Oliva, a health systems specialist to the hospital director, said in an email that “nothing questionable” had turned up in the vendor’s two-year background check. But “after discovering this particular issue, Hines VA Hospital terminated its relationship with the contractor.”

Lopez did not respond to several calls and emails seeking comment for this story. A voice mailbox for the number listed for his company was full.

Procurement experts described the situation as a result of federal procurement laws aimed at helping the disadvantaged. Lopez received preferences on all of his contracts because his business is considered small and is owned by a veteran and American Indian.

Some cite the need for offenders released from prison to find meaningful employment and argue laws restricting felons from access to work have gone too far. The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits federal contractors from requesting criminal histories from candidates until a conditional job offer has been extended, and civil rights laws prohibit discrimination against applicants for prior records.

Others questioned whether a child sex offender should be able to land lucrative public contracts funded by taxpayers. While different in each state, regulations in Illinois bar sex offenders from working in more than 100 professions that either require a license or are off limits to felons, including health care providers.

His prior conviction, they noted, likely would have been more of a hindrance to finding work in the private sector.

“You don’t land on the (excluded parties) list for a sex crime,” said Charles Tiefer, a professor at the University of Baltimore who specializes in federal procurement. “People can just turn right around and do this. The federal government says, ‘We’re open for business – come on in.’”

...

Lopez was convicted of criminal sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual assault on a victim between the ages of 13 and 17, according to the sex offender registry. He served time in an Illinois state prison from April 2007 through August 2010 and spent another two years on parole before he was discharged from the system. 

The residence listed for Lopez on the sex offender registry matches the business address used by America’s Best at Work Corp. in federal contracting documents. The state corporation database in Illinois lists Lopez as the company’s president.

Federal spending records show Lopez and his business were handed more than $700,000 in COVID-19 work from the federal government this year, all without any competition from other vendors.

The first COVID-19 contract was signed April 8, and through change orders and exercised options the work was scheduled to continue through Sept. 30. After the VA canceled its contract in July, that total obligation amount slid to about $443,000, according to adjustments in the federal data.

Under the contract terms, the company was responsible for managing general janitorial services at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Cook County. As owner, Lopez was in charge of managing the crews while his employees performed the actual work, said Oliva, the hospital’s health systems specialist.

Leg up in preferences for vendors

The federal government has spent more than $20 billion in response to COVID-19 in a race to secure supplies and prepare its facilities.

An ongoing USA TODAY investigation into those contracts found vendors previously accused of fraud against the government were handed new COVID-19 orders despite their costly settlements. Other vendors without any experience or qualifications also have surfaced overnight to profit from the pandemic, but many ultimately can’t deliver on their promises.

But COVID-19 was not the first time Lopez’s company had landed federal government contracts.

America’s Best at Work Corp. was awarded $139,500 in total award obligations in fiscal year 2014/15 – about three years after Lopez's release from parole. The vendor went on to earn $108,500 worth of federal contracts the following year, about $13,000 in 2016/17 and another $57,500 in 2017/18.

The $700,000 in originally awarded coronavirus contracts brought the largest windfall, federal records show.

In all, since becoming a federal contractor, the company has received eight awards in Illinois ranging from sourcing dental instruments to ground treating and janitorial services. All of that money came from the VA.

Federal agencies like the VA are encouraged to do business with small, disadvantaged companies, along with those owned by veterans – part of an effort to undo past disparities. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has vowed to further improve contracting opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

Lopez checks all the boxes. He was enlisted in the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1997, according to records from his criminal case. His business also has applied as a certified Indian Preference Firm of the Tohono O'odham Nation in Sells, Arizona, the company’s website says. 

That military service, along with the company’s status as Native American-owned, gave Lopez a leg up when he bid for federal government work under rules designed to help these traditionally disadvantaged groups.

The government also focuses its backgrounding efforts on a company’s history – and not that of its principals and shareholders – looking more at the vendor’s financial strength, past performance and ability to meet the specifications of the contract.

That’s especially true for more routine services like janitorial work, said Benjamin Brunjes, assistant professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

Brunjes said that even if the principal of a company was under sanction, loopholes allow executives convicted of crimes to start new corporations and win new contracts. 

“The federal government is worried about (the) performance and financial solvency of its vendors,” he said, “not the backgrounds of their owners.”

Balance of public safety and recidivism

Industry trade groups for janitorial contractors cite best practices that call for their members to background screen employees. 

Additional oversight followed the 2015 publication of “Rape on the Night Shift,” an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and other media partners. It found that the late nights and weekend hours surrounding the commercial janitorial industry created a setting that left workers susceptible to assault. 

While he could not comment on Lopez’s case, Mikel Gabrielson, a representative of ISSA — The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association – said that if a janitorial employee was hired despite a sex abuse conviction, it could be problematic, especially if the company has any clients near schools, day cares or other places with restrictions and potential access to victims.

Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that provides facility cleaning, among other services, also requires conditional hires to undergo post-offer, pre-employment screening, as part of the hiring process to “ensure customer safety,” a spokesman said. Other large competitors have similar protocols. 

In addition, in Illinois, sex offenders are not allowed within 500 feet of any school buildings, they are not allowed in public parks and those convicted after 2010 were  banned from using social media until the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the rule last year. They are still prohibited from obtaining various professional licenses, including health care.

That means doctors, nurses and other medical professionals with past sex crime convictions are not allowed to practice in VA hospitals and clinics in Illinois without a special waiver. Others argued those same protections for the public should extend to janitors and other contractors who might work in these buildings, where an offender could have access to VA employees and patients.

Robert Burton, a Washington, D.C., attorney who served as a career procurement official in the White House, said the janitorial contract was an example of a federal acquisition system in need of reform.

“It’s disturbing,” Burton said. “Especially if it’s a small business, you want to look at the business owner and whether they are responsible.”

But industry trade groups have worked with various programs in the past to help train certain inmates. And the “ban the box” movement across the U.S. has emphasized giving offenders a second chance at meaningful work after their release back to society to help lower crime and prevent recidivism.

Jill Levenson, a professor at Barry University in Miami who studies how society monitors and treats sex criminals, said laws designed to protect the public need to be balanced with a past offender’s ability to find work and support themselves.

“It all has to be weighed and balanced,” Levenson said. “People have to work. When people have been incarcerated or committed a crime, the expectation is they go back into society, be acclimated and be law-abiding … employment is a tough one.”

Josh Salman is a reporter on the USA TODAY Network investigations team. Contact him at jsalman@gatehousemedia.com or @joshsalman or (941) 361-4967.  

Woolley Bully: Johnson Co TX Commissioner Larry Woolley is shocked people actually oppose the registry

Well, Commissioner Woolley, there is opposition to residency restriction laws because they DO NOT WORK. That should be simple enough to understand. 

https://www.cleburnetimesreview.com/news/county-budget-presentations-wrap-up-officials-discuss-sex-offender-problem/article_94fb9a10-d72e-11ea-ae72-93dab79625cf.html

Opposition to granting counties the authority to make such rules comes from property owners who benefit by renting homes to such offenders, commissioners said.

“We’ve pushed for it before and it fell on deaf ears outside of our local representatives,” Commissioner Larry Woolley said. “But we have to keep pushing because counties have to have the right to put these rules in place just like cities do. It blows my mind that we don’t because it’s only right. Unfortunately, the state’s not a big fan of giving local control to counties or cities right now so this probably isn’t the best time to be pushing for it, but we have to keep pushing on all the same.”

Woolley said it also blows his mind that some actually oppose such legislation.

“But, when I said that before, I received phone calls and emails in opposition, and not from Johnson County people,” Woolley said.

NYC Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal does not care if Homeless Registered Persons get COVID-19

What a heartless POS. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/remove-sex-offenders-from-uws-hotel-councilmember-demands/ar-BB17pVQI

Remove Sex Offenders From UWS Hotel, Councilmember Demands

Gus Saltonstall  7/31/2020

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — In response to the recent arrival of 283 homeless people at the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side, City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal announced multiple demands to the city regarding the use of neighborhood hotels as temporary homeless shelters.

Approximately 500 shelter residents have been placed within nine blocks of each other on the Upper West Side: 100 at the Belnord Hotel at 225 W. 86th St., 100 at the Hotel Belleclaire at 77th and Broadway, and most recently almost 300 at the Lucerne on 79th Street and Amsterdam.

At the center of Rosenthal's demands is the removal of 14 registered sex offenders living at the Belleclaire, along with the demand that no registered sex offenders be allowed to live at the Lucerne.

Out of the 14 registered sex offenders initially placed at the Belleclaire, 10 were level 2 offenders, and four were level 3 offenders, according to the NYS Sex Offender Registry.

Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Steven Banks confirmed to Rosenthal's office that all level 3 sex offenders have been moved out of the Belleclaire.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Service describes level 3 sex offenders as being at a "high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety."

Rosenthal is demanding the rest of the offenders are also moved out of the Belleclaire.

Despite Bank's comments to Rosenthal, the Sex Offender Registration Act cannot restrict where a registered sex offender lives unless the offender is under parole or probation supervision, according to New York's Criminal Justice Service.

However, other New York state laws may limit the offender from living within 1,000 feet of a school or other facility caring for children, according to New York's Criminal Justice Service.

Rosenthal noted in her newsletter to the Upper West Side community that the majority of shelter residents pose no threat to the community and the fact that they have "voluntarily entered shelters signifies their acceptance that they need help."

However, the local official also made it clear that 500 temporary shelter residents are too many in the neighborhood.

"I believe there should be fewer temporary shelter residents in our neighborhood — 500 is just too many," she wrote in her newsletter. "I've made it clear to Commissioner Banks and City Hall that it will be far more feasible to keep our community safe, and properly serve shelter residents, if there are fewer persons living at the Lucerne."