Arizona Governor Doug Ducey vetos beneficial sex offense legislation over balanced budget dispute

I suppose I've seen dumber reasons to veto a beneficial registry reform bill, but pouting over a budget issue is pretty stupid. 

https://www.azmirror.com/2021/05/28/ducey-vetoes-22-bills-says-nothing-will-be-signed-until-budget-is-approved/

Ducey vetoes 22 bills, says nothing will be signed until budget is approved

By Jeremy Duda -May 28, 2021, Last Updated: May 28, 2021 3:00 pm

Gov. Doug Ducey is ratcheting up the pressure on GOP lawmakers to reach an agreement on the budget, vowing not to sign any other legislation that reaches his desk until he gets a budget, and backing up his threat by vetoing 22 bills.

Ducey made the announcement in response to both the House of Representatives and Senate adjourning until June 10 after Republican legislative leaders failed to round up a majority to pass the budget deal they forged with the governor. The GOP has only a one-vote majority in both legislative chambers and Democrats oppose the proposed budget, meaning Republican lawmakers must vote unanimously to approve the plan.

“We have the opportunity to make responsible and significant investments in K-12 education, higher education, infrastructure and local communities, all while delivering historic tax relief to working families and small businesses,” Ducey wrote on Twitter on Friday afternoon. “Once the budget passes, I’m willing to consider some of these other issues. But until then, I will not be signing any additional bills. Let’s focus on our jobs, get to work and pass the budget.”

The governor wasted no time acting on his ultimatum, vetoing all 22 bills that were on his desk. That list of bills included legislation to ban certain kinds of anti-racism training for government employees, a bill that would make it a felony for election officials to send early ballots to voters who don’t request them, a bill that make it easier for some low-level sex offenders to remove their names from the state’s sex offender registry and legislation improving treatment for pregnant prison inmates. 

“Some are good policy, but with one month left until the end of the fiscal year, we need to focus first on passing a budget. That should be priority one. The other stuff can wait,” Ducey wrote on Twitter. 

Useful Idiot: Wisconsin State Rep. Samantha Kerkman admits civil commitment is just an extension of prison time

There are a lot of bad things to unpack here, like the use of "pocket parks" to banish Registered Persons from living in the community, but a Republican state rep potentially helps out future lawsuits by admitting civil commitment is being used to incarcerate people beyond their sentences. I'm sure her cohorts in the WI legislature are unhappy she spilled the beans. 

https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/new-hearing-set-friday-on-placement-of-two-sex-offenders-in-camp-lake/article_638a7bbc-2bff-596d-8740-855324734219.html

RESIDENTS OBJECT TO SEX OFFENDER PLAN

WATCH NOW: New hearing set Friday on placement of two sex offenders in Camp Lake

JILL TATGE-ROZELL 18 hrs ago

SALEM LAKES — Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas is scheduled to consider new information Friday about the proximity of parks to a village home where two sex offenders were ordered for placement, District Attorney Michael Graveley told more than 200 people at a meeting on the issue Wednesday night.

“We’re going to see what happens on Friday, but from my perspective you have a reason to be optimistic,” Graveley said, adding he can’t promise anything.

The hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. All parties will be communicating via telephone conference. However, the public will be able to listen if present in the courtroom at the Kenosha County Courthouse.

Both Graveley and Sheriff David Beth said Salem Lakes Village Administrator Mike Murdock supplied information about the location of parks not initially presented to the judges who approved the placement at a home at 2756 Camp Lake Road.

“If there’s a hero today whose here, it’s Mike Murdock,” Graveley said, garnering applause from the public.

Beth said, based on the information provided by Murdock, “detectives were able to determine there are several small parks within 1,500 feet of the residence.” Both state statute and village ordinance prohibit the placement of sex offenders within this range.

“The Sheriff’s Department no longer feels that this house fits for the placement of these two people,” Beth said, also to the applause of the crowd, which did get vocal in opposition to the pending placements at times during the meeting.

A map with a 1,500-foot radius drawn around the home address, on display at the meeting, clearly shows the locations of multiple parks. Graveley and Beth said this information is part of a new report that will be provided to the judge.

Resident Adrienne Kiesler, who spoke to the panel Wednesday, provided a photo showing the line of sight from her pier to the house located 175 feet away.

“My children are their number-one target,” Kiesler said, adding one of her sons in the same age as one of the offender’s victims. “All I can do is beg and plead that this gets to the right people to turn this down.”

Offenders’ records

The sex offenders scheduled for release are Dale H. Peshek, 48, and Brian T. Threlkeld, 39. Peshek was convicted in 1998 for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in 1997, and with child enticement involving the same boy in 1995.

Threlkeld was convicted in 2000 for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy, and, according to archival news reports, admitted to assaulting others.

Both Peshek and Brian Threlkeld were found to be “sexually violent persons” by the court under Chapter 980 of state statutes. To be declared as such, an offender must have a mental disorder that predisposes the person to engage in acts of sexual violence and make it likely the person will engage in future acts of sexual violence.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which handled the petition to declare Peshek as a sexually violent offender, Peshek also committed sexual assaults of younger children in 1986 and 1988 when he was a juvenile.

Sex offenders who are deemed sexually violent begin a civil commitment at a treatment facility in Mauston after they have completed their criminal sentence. It is not for a specific time. The sexually violent offender is reevaluated yearly for supervised release.

Since 2017, an offender’s county of residence has been mandated by law to find a location for placement of upon their release.

Offenders will stay in county

Graveley said should the court decide Friday the home in Camp Lake is not an appropriate placement, another different location in Kenosha County will need to be found.

Representatives from the Department of Corrections, Department of Health Services, and other agencies involved explained the supervised release process and were on hand to answer questions.

State Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Salem Lakes, said she and state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, “are working together to enhance our 980 statute” with additional notification rules. The legislators’ districts include Salem Lakes.

“We are lucky the statute was put on the books in 1994 because it’s helped keep people who are sexually violent incarcerated for an additional time period,” Kerkman said. “It’s an involuntary commitment essentially to help keep our communities safe.”

Triggered Campus Snowflake Caresse Boulter of Riverside City College Apparently Can't Handle the Real World

I was expecting this campus snowflake to be a gender studies major, but apparently she's a political science major, which is, incidentally, also a degree that specializes in spreading bovine excrement. God help us if she enters the workforce, especially if she becomes a public official. 

There's Registered Citizens EVERYWHERE, Caresse. Welcome to the real world. 

https://www.pe.com/2021/05/23/another-convicted-sex-offender-running-for-student-body-president-at-rcc/

Another convicted sex offender running for student body president at RCC

"What's disheartening is when there's no consideration being given to survivors of sexual abuse," says one student

For the second time in the past eight years, a convicted sex offender is running unopposed for student body president at Riverside City College, and once again it is generating quite a stir among some students.

Since enrolling at RCC in January 2019, J., 45, of Moreno Valley has been a model student and taken an active role in student government and leadership. Less than three years since his release from prison, he is seeking office in a special election this week, May 25 through May 27.

But some students have complained about Jaramillo’s criminal background and status as a registered sex offender, and at least one student has demanded that he withdraw his candidacy.

RCC senior Caresse Boulter believes administrators have been insensitive to the concerns of students, especially survivors of sexual abuse. She said she complained to Student Activities Coordinator Deborah Hall about J’s bid for president and was told nothing could be done.

“What’s disheartening is when there’s no consideration being given to survivors of sexual abuse. It is what it is and you just have to deal with it,” Boulter said in a telephone interview.

Boulter, who served in student government and leadership herself, said she has nothing personal against J. “It’s purely because I am concerned for the mental well-being of survivors at the school,” she said.

RCC spokeswoman Peggy Lomas said community colleges are open access institutions supporting anyone seeking higher education. She said J, in his two years at RCC, formerly served as the director of special events and is now the director of the Inter Club Council.

“In student government, he’s been nothing but a model leader,” Lomas said.

Moving forward

J said in an email he has been diligent in following the conditions of his parole and was deemed by the state to not be a threat to public safety.

“I understand the severity of the nature of my offense and have taken tremendous steps to learn and grow from it,” J said, adding that he understands the concerns of some students about his past transgressions.

“I will continue to advocate for students to ensure that victims of any crime can receive the help they need,”  J said. “I will also advocate for formerly incarcerated students, of any crime, to be allowed the same opportunity to achieve higher education in a safe college environment.”

Conviction disclosed

J’s conviction was revealed to students during a recent meeting of RCC’s Inter Council Club, of which J is the director, when a student broached the subject, Boulter said.

Boulter said she personally asked J to withdraw from the election on Friday, May 14. She said she also spoke out against Jaramillo’s candidacy at the most recent ICC meeting on Monday, May 17, but was not allowed to directly address J. Instead, student body Vice President Stefany Moctezuma Perez fielded the questions regarding J, Boulter said.

Perez could not be reached for comment.

“Now that this news is out, what’s going to be done for students interested in joining clubs or in student government?” Boulter asked. “It’s actually triggering to see that there’s somebody who has this record who’s now in the position of power making decisions for students.”

Lomas would not comment further on how the college was addressing student complaints, nor how many complaints college administrators received about J’s sex offender status.

Model student

J, who was released from prison in October 2018, joined the Transitioning Minds club at RCC shortly after enrolling more than two years ago. The club assists formerly incarcerated students with their educational goals. He was subsequently appointed special events council director and then took on the role this year as Inter Council Club director.

He said he is on track to complete his associate degree in welding technologies and is also pursuing a degree in entrepreneurship. “My goal is to open my own business, with the skills and knowledge gained here at RCC,” J said.

Among J’s other leadership responsibilities at RCC include serving as the student body representative for several college committees as well as for the Riverside Community College District’s Board of trustees.

J has been forthright about his conviction, and told RCC’s student newspaper Viewpoints he would be willing to address the matter with the student body during a live forum, but would not go into details. When he enrolled at RCC, J said the first thing he did was report his conviction and sex offender status to campus police.

Boulter said she understands J has rights and has paid his debt to society. She even commends him on his academic successes and ambition. But she remains disturbed by what she says is the lack of concern of college administrators and other student body leaders.

If J becomes student body president, Boulter said, it can potentially trigger painful memories and traumas for survivors of sexual abuse.

“It’s just a big mess, and it’s an unfortunate situation,” Boulter said.

Civilian Virginia State Police SOR employee charged with possessing CP

On the one had, the pics were of someone just shy of her 18th birthday (and she's being charged with making the pics); on the other hand, this guy worked for the agency that adds people to the public registry in VA, so you'd think he would know what happens to those convicted of a sex offense. 

https://swvatoday.com/news/article_0ad662fa-b286-11eb-86e3-d7d9a02eac1c.html

VSP employee charged with possessing child porn in Wythe

By JEFFREY SIMMONS | Staff May 11, 2021

Wythe County man who made sure men and women on Virginia’s sex offender registry were following the rules has been charged with crimes that could ultimately land him on registry

Shane Alan Underwood, 47, of Speedwell was arrested on May 5 and charged with seven counts of possessing child pornography, according to arrest warrants obtained by Virginia State Police Trooper B.R. Edwards.

In a criminal complaint, Edwards said investigators searched Underwood’s cell phone in March and found seven images of possible child porn. Underwood, who’s on unpaid leave, was a civilian employee with the state police’s firearms and sex offender investigate unit, according to a VSP spokesperson.

Police were able to identify the female in the images who confirmed she was 17 during the offense dates – Dec. 4, 2019, to Dec. 4, 2020. Now an adult, the female named in the complaint, 18-year-old Keilee Jude whose birthday is Dec. 4, is facing Bland County charges of possessing child porn.

Jude and 41-year-old William Dean Blankenship were arrested in February after police searched a Bland County residence and reported finding drugs and cell phones containing pornographic images of Jude and two other juveniles – one 17 and one 16.

“Both the phone that Mr. Blankenship identified as his and the phone Ms. Jude identified as hers contain dozens of pictures depicting Ms. Jude nude or performing sexual acts while under the age of 18,” a deputy wrote in court documents.

The search warrant related to Underwood was sealed by a Wythe County judge.

In addition to his state police job where he verified information reported by sex offenders, Underwood also worked for GFS Secure Solutions but is now on a leave of absence, according to court documents.

A Linkedin page under his name said he had 17 years of experience in corrections, law enforcement and security.

“States he will appear in court and has a steady job,” a magistrate wrote when setting Underwood’s bond at $5,000. “Very cooperative and polite.”

Given a court-appointed attorney to represent him, Underwood has a June 24 preliminary hearing set in Wythe County General District Court.

If convicted of possessing child porn, Underwood faces a maximum five-year prison sentence on each count.