Political etiquette: If you're going to make a political smear ad, at least use a pic of the actual candidate you're attacking

Andrew La Grone, like most politicians these, never bother to fact check anything they send out. In this case, they did not even bother to post a picture of the actual candidate they were attacking, instead attacking a woman whose face was on the opponent's Facebook page. Sure, they look a little alike, but they did not bother to make sure they got the right person. Random lady, just be glad it wasn't a cop confusing you for a 60 year old Cuban guy like Broward County did to me. 

Well, you can't expect much from a clown who read a children's book on the legislative floor. Perhaps that is merely a book befitting his reading level. 

https://journalstar.com/legislature/attack-ad-in-district-49-race-uses-photo-of-a-campaign-volunteer-instead-of-candidate/article_0a60fc6a-0b27-5ae8-82f7-defa17bc8ef2.html

Attack ad in District 49 race uses photo of a campaign volunteer instead of candidate

Chris Dunker Sep 22, 2020 Updated Sep 22, 2020 

Voters in Sarpy County received a campaign flyer last week painting a candidate as "too extreme" to serve in the state Legislature.

But the mailer from state Sen. Andrew La Grone attacking challenger Jen Day had a glaring error.

The black-and-white photo on the campaign material of Day was not, in fact, a photo of Day. It was instead a photo of a volunteer on Day's campaign taken from her Facebook page.

"I was actually out canvassing for (Day) on Saturday when she sent it to me," said Brooklynne Rosado, the volunteer who learned her picture had been sent to thousands of voters in District 49. "It was jarring to see.

"Having my face on something like that was really humiliating," she added. "It's not me and it's not who I am and it doesn't portray who Jen is either."

La Grone, who is seeking to win his first election after being appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts prior to the 2019 session, said in an email Monday the use of the photo was "inadvertent and unfortunate."

Rosado said the negative politicking in the mailer is part of why she volunteered for Day, whom she met online in a Facebook group for people who closely watch the Legislature.

When Day announced her candidacy last year, Rosado said she was compelled to volunteer knocking doors, handing out campaign literature, and making phone calls even though she lives in the neighboring District 14.

"I just really believe in her and her message," Rosado said. "She's a regular person running for office, a mother and a small-business owner, not a typical politician. I think we need more people like that in office."

Since joining the campaign, Rosado has volunteered hundreds of hours canvassing neighborhoods in District 49, where she said she works and frequents businesses, often posting pictures to social media to spread the word.

A December 2019 Instagram post Rosado shared depicts the volunteer in a "Jen Day for Legislature" sweatshirt, ready to take advantage of an unseasonably warm day.

"Women belong in all places where decisions are being made," the caption on the post by Rosado reads, quoting the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Day shared the post on her campaign's Facebook page — a common practice by candidates in the digital age — which is where the La Grone campaign obtained it, the senator explained, saying it "very closely resembles many of the candidate's photos."

Both Day and Rosado said their only resemblance is their dark hair color and criticized the La Grone campaign for "a sloppy, lazy error" that put misinformation in front of voters.

Said Day: "I have a fairly large social media presence, where I post tons of photos of myself and my family. It's not hard to find a picture of me you know is me."

"Someone didn't do their homework," Rosado added. "Even if we do look alike, you should probably know exactly what your opponent looks like."

La Grone said he would correct the ad "to avoid any further distractions on the stark differences between myself and Jen Day and many of her supporters on support for law enforcement and sentencing reform."

The mailer casts Day, who won the District 49 primary with 53% of the vote and will square off against La Grone again on Nov. 3, as someone who supports releasing criminals and sex offenders from prison early and putting them back into Nebraska communities, citing her Twitter account.

Day said that's a misreading of her Aug. 4 tweet that was critical of La Grone for reading the Dr. Seuss book "Yertle the Turtle" on the floor of the Legislature during a filibuster on a bill to speed up parole eligibility, adding the bill (LB1004) had the backing of law enforcement and prosecutors.

The bill later passed but was vetoed by Ricketts after the session concluded, leaving no veto attempt available.

"Taking that tweet and trying to make it sound like I'm trying to release criminals and sex offenders out on the street is ridiculous," Day said.

Rosado said she believes La Grone owes her and voters an apology, both for wrongfully using her image, as well as taking the campaign negative.

"Especially this year, when things have already been really hard and full of negativity, this creates more negativity that we don't need," Rosado said. "We need our leaders to unite us and try to lead us in a more positive direction."

Connor Coonfare made death threats and harassed a registrant, now he may land on the registry himself

About a month ago, I had posted harassment and threats from residents of the town of Washington, Iowa on my anti-vigilante blog, and one of them was an explicit threat from Connor Coonfare. Well what do you know, the dumbass went and committed a sex offense. In Iowa, an indecent exposure offense can lead to 10 years on the sex offense registry. 

No mercy for doucherag vigilantes!

https://www.kciiradio.com/2020/09/03/man-arrested-for-indecent-exposure-harassment-at-registered-sex-offenders-home/

MAN ARRESTED FOR INDECENT EXPOSURE, HARASSMENT AT REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER’S HOME

Posted By: Sally Hart September 3, 2020 @ 6:26 am 

Today's Local News

A Washington man has been arrested for harassment and indecent exposure. The incident happened at the residence of a registered sex offender near the Washington Middle School where people have been protesting since the school year began.

According to the Washington County Communications Office, on Tuesday 24-year-old Connor Alexander Coonfare was arrested. He faces charges of harassment in the first degree, an aggravated misdemeanor; harassment in the third degree, a simple misdemeanor; and indecent exposure, a serious misdemeanor. The incident happened at 2 a.m., when a man rang the doorbell and exposed himself when the resident opened the door. Coonfare had no previous criminal record in Iowa. He was taken to the Washington County Jail.

Washington Police Chief Jim Lester spoke of the issue during Tuesday’s city council meeting, “I can’t stress enough the importance to the public to not reach out, and not vandalize, harass, or make threatening comments to anybody else. They’re members of our community. We take all offenses, all violations of the law seriously, as we have to. And, you know we’re doing our best to keep everybody [safe]. I know the group that’s out there protesting sees us drive by a lot. I can tell you, when you’re not there, when you weren’t there last year, we’re driving by a lot. School patrol is a priority for us every single day.”

Lester explained that the registered sex offender at that house is on a lifetime parole with quarterly check-ins with the sheriff’s office, but he does not have residency restrictions. Those are placed by the court system based on the convicted charges. Also, Lester explained that the city cannot pass ordinances with its own restrictions per Iowa law, and those wanting to change that would have to speak with state legislators. 

Phil Gianficaro claims 40% of Registered Persons will commit sex crimes within a year of release

 In addition to posting the intentional "sex offenders are 4 times as likely to reoffend" myth as well as an impliit endorsement of vigilante violence, Phil Gianficaro claims 2 out of every 5 registered persons commit a sex offense within a year of release from prison. What a complete tool!

This has to be some kind of new record for outlandish claims about Registered Persons. 

https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/opinion/2020/09/17/gianficaro-prison-sentence-child-predators-must-pack-more-punch/3460005001/

Gianficaro: Prison sentence for child sex predators must pack more punch

Phil Gianficaro

Burlington County Times

As the parent of a teenage daughter we love more than life itself, the child sexual predator’s prison sentence feels more like a jab to the chin than the iron-fisted haymaker it requires.

Four years? Only four years for attempting to lure 14-year-old girls to meet him for sex? Only four years for 25-year-old William Singleton of Pemberton Township who, but for the invaluable work of New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal’s multi-agency undercover operation, may have committed the unthinkable on someone’s young daughter and gotten away with it? Only four years for changing a young girl’s world forever? Maybe next time he would’ve remained undetected behind the cloak of social media and lured your neighbor’s daughter into his dark lair. Or maybe your daughter. Maybe mine. Only four years? For God’s sake!

Singleton was among 24 men arrested in September 2018 during “Operation Open House.” Detectives with the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force posed online as underage girls. The defendants, believing the undercover detective was a 14-year-old girl, asked the "girl" to meet him at a Toms River house for sexual activity. 

Singleton last week agreed to a guilty plea to avoid trial and was sentenced to four years in state prison. In New Jersey, second-degree child molestation or child sex abuse of a child 13 to16 years old is punishable by a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years. So, Singleton gets a light sentence only because he was caught by the law before getting the chance to carry out his heinous crime. Four years? He shouldn't get points for that.

Fathers of teenage daughters have a completely understandable and contrary view. In a father’s eyes, the attempt is seen as egregious as the act. A father's meting out of justice is this: Throw the book at the perp, and throw away the key.

Sex offenders are at least four times more likely than other criminals to be rearrested for a sex crime, according to the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. Know this: Singleton will be released from prison before he’s 30 and, statistically, there’s a 40 percent chance he’ll commit or attempt to commit the same crime within one year of discharge from prison. Maybe next time, he slips through the cracks of law enforcement. And when it comes to a next time, there’s unlikely to be a maybe.

Opportunities for predators like Singleton have increased this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic closing down schools and leading to children spending increased time on the internet. According to Grewal, from March through July, there was a 50 percent increase in tips to the task force that nabbed Singleton compared to the same months last year.

When asked what he might due if one of the William Singletons of the world lured his young daughter into a hotel room or apartment and did the unthinkable, a friend didn't hesitate.

"If I ever found him, I'd introduce the sweet spot of my Louisville Slugger to the back of his head," he said. "Prison is too good for these dirt bags."

As I look at a photo of our daughter, I understand. Don't know a father who wouldn't.

When child sex predators like Singleton are arrested, the punch of justice should be haymaker instead of jab. You get caught luring underage kids for sex, you sit in prison for a minimum of 10 years. No plea agreement, no early parole, no nothing. Prison. For a decade.

Where young girls would be safely away from a predator.

And the predator safely away from their dads.

Phil Gianficaro can be reached at 215-345-3078, pgianficaro@theintell.com, and @philgianficaro on Twitter. 

The Center Square writer Bethany Blankley uses "pedophile" and "sex offender" interchangeably in attack on Romeo and Juliet bill

Here we have yet another example of a poorly written article by a reporter with an agenda. 

My email to this reporter, sent to bblankley@watchdog.org

Your use of the term “pedophile” is incorrect.

By your own words, “The bill specifically gives judges discretion over whether to make an adult register as a sex offender if they had anal or oral sex with a willing minor, and only if the minor is 14 years old or older and the statutory rapist is less than ten years older.”

There is no criminal statute called pedophilia, only a clinical diagnosis.

From Psychology Today: “Pedophilia is an ongoing sexual attraction to pre-pubertal children. It is considered a paraphilia, a condition in which a person's sexual arousal and gratification depend on fantasizing about and engaging in sexual behavior that is atypical and extreme. Pedophilia is defined as recurrent and intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children—generally age 13 years or younger—over a period of at least six months. Pedophiles are more often men and can be attracted to either or both sexes.”

This law by its very structure cannot even cover an event that could meet the criteria for pedophilia. In other words, your headline is entirely incorrect. It seems you do not seem to understand that “sex offender” and “pedophile” are not interchangeable.

I doubt she has the intelligence to respond. After all, she cited Urban Dictionary as a reference in her report. 

https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/california-assembly-passes-bill-allowing-some-pedophiles-to-not-register-as-sex-offenders-with-stipulations/article_c8497582-edee-11ea-935e-03c280391711.html

California Assembly passes bill allowing some pedophiles to not register as sex offenders, with stipulations

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square Sep 3, 2020 

(The Center Square) – The California State Assembly this week voted to revise the state’s penal code that regulates the registration of sex offenders by passing SB-145. The revision of the bill would allow pedophiles to not be registered on the sex offender list as long as they are not 10 years older than the minor they were convicted of molesting.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Scott Weiner 18 months ago, relaxes sex offender registry requirements for sodomy and other acts with minors to reportedly end “discrimination against LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry,” according to Weiner.

The bill states that, “Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires a person convicted of one of certain crimes, as specified, to register with law enforcement as a sex offender while residing in California or while attending school or working in California, as specified.

“This bill would exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register.”

The bill specifically gives judges discretion over whether to make an adult register as a sex offender if they had anal or oral sex with a willing minor, and only if the minor is 14 years old or older and the statutory rapist is less than ten years older.

It passed by a vote of 41-18; 22 legislators did not vote on it. The Speaker of the House, Anthony Rendon, and 40 Democrats voted in favor. The Speaker’s office did not return a request for comment.

The bill passed by a vote of 23-10 in the state Senate.

Assemblyman Steven Choi, R-Irive, spoke out against the bill. He said, “In the age of historic sex trafficking and child trafficking here in California, I think this bill is entirely inappropriate. I don’t understand why a 24-year-old volunteer coach should not have to register as a sex offender for being with a 15-year-old student. Statutory rape should be a registerable offense either way. … This is intolerable.”

Assembly Appropriation Committee Chair Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, vehemently opposed the bill. She said, “I cannot in my mind as a mother understand how sex between a 24-year-old and a 14-year-old could ever be consensual, how it could ever not be a registerable offense. We should never give up on this idea that children are not, should be in any way subject to a predator. And that is what it is.”

In a recent report on the crisis of sexual predators in the U.S., the New York Times reported that “Images of child sex abuse have reached a crisis point on the internet, spreading at unprecedented rates in part because tech platforms and law enforcement agencies have failed to keep pace with the problem. But less is understood about the issue underlying it all: What drives people to sexually abuse children?”

“A majority of convicted offenders are men who prey on children ages 6 to 17,” the Times reports. “But women also commit hands-on offenses; rough estimates put the rate of pedophilic attraction at 1 to 4 percent in both men and women. Studies suggest that a small subset of male and female pedophiles have an interest in toddlers, or even infants.”

A new movement to normalize pedophilia, MAPs “minor-attracted persons” or NOMAPs or “Non-Offending Minor Attracted Persons” has emerged, which has caused concern among the gay community.

According to Gay Star News, "Many on social media are warning LGBTI people and allies to be wary of the MAPs flag during Pride season. Additionally, many also called out the problematic nature of using a term like ‘minor attracted persons’ to normalize pedophilia."

According to Urban Dictionary, MAPs include Infantophiles (being attracted to infants), Pedophiles (attracted to pre-pubescent children), Hebephiles (attracted to pubescent children), and Ephebophiles (attracted to post-pubescent children).

Below are some more of Bethany's beliefs:

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter spouts multiple lies about registrants after 10th Circuit's bad decision

The 10th Circuit made a bad ruling in last week's ruling in Millard v. Rankin (10th Cir. 2020), and this idiotic comment from Mike Hunter just makes the ruling's bias against Registered Persons that much more obvious. Oklahoma is also a very bad state for Registered Persons, and with folks like Mike Hunter in office, it is easy to see why. 

https://lawweekcolorado.com/2020/09/10th-circuit-colorados-sex-offender-registry-is-not-punishment/

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter called the decision “a major victory for public safety advocates.” Hunter led the amicus brief joined by the attorneys general from the other 10th Circuit states.

“Sex offenders are violent, and are statistically speaking, some of the most likely to reoffend. Online sex offender registries allow the public to know who among them is a child predator or has been convicted of rape,” Hunter said in a news release. “To hide this information in order to make individuals convicted of these crimes feel more comfortable is utterly irresponsible.”

The full statement from the Press Release is even nuttier:

http://www.oag.ok.gov/attorney-general-hunter-comments-on-10th-circuit-ruling-colorado-sex-offender-registry-must-remain-available-to-public

“Today’s ruling is a major victory for public safety advocates,” Attorney General Hunter said. “Sex offenders are violent, and are statistically speaking, some of the most likely to reoffend. Online sex offender registries allow the public to know who among them is a child predator or has been convicted of rape. To hide this information in order to make individuals convicted of these crimes feel more comfortable is utterly irresponsible. Anyone advocating for this position should talk to victims and survivors of these types of crimes, who will forever remain scarred by these horrific acts, to find out why the registry systems are important.

“My 10th Circuit colleagues and I applaud the court’s decision that will arm citizens with this important public safety tool.”

“The Colorado General Assembly did not intend for CSORA to inflict a “punishment.” The legislature expressly indicated through the statutory text that CSORA was not intended to “be used to inflict retribution or additional punishment on any person,” but was rather intended to address “the public’s need to adequately protect themselves and their children” from those with prior sexual convictions,” the judges wrote.