SEX OFFENDERS SUE A GEORGIA SHERIFF TO STOP HIM FROM PUTTING WARNING …

sex-offenders-sue-a-georgia-sheriff-to-stop-him-from-putting-warning-…

Last year, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long placed signs in their yards that said they were sex offenders and warned children not to trick-or-treat at those homes.

BUTTS COUNTY, Georgia — A Georgia Sheriff wants to protect trick-or-treaters from sex offenders using yard sings, but sex offenders argue the signs go too far and violate their rights.

On Friday’s Lunch Break with Jay Crawford and Betsy Kling, 3News Legal Analyst Stephanie Haney broke down the arguments on both sides of a lawsuit filed by sex offenders hoping to stop the signs from going up again.

Last year, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long placed signs in their yards that said they were sex offenders and warned children not to trick-or-treat at those homes ahead of Halloween festivities. 

The lawsuit filed by registered sex offenders Christopher Reed, Reginald Holden and Corey McClendon on behalf of all sex offenders in Butts County argues that this is trespass, that the Sheriff has no legal authority to place the signs in their yards, and to do so is a violation of the constitution by forcing them to sanction speech.

During a court hearing on Thursday, however, the Sheriff argued the part of the yard where the sign was placed last year, and where he wants to put them again this year, is in the public right of way near the street so trespass doesn’t apply.

He also pointed out the planned signs for this year do not say the people in the homes are sex offenders.

At the heart of this issue is what rights registered sex offenders must give up when they are convicted of their crimes and what they’re required by law to do once they’ve been released from incarceration.

The attorney for the sex offenders told CNN in a statement: “The Registry Statute affords the Sheriff many legal avenues by which he may publicize the name, address and even photograph of every registered sex offender in Butts County, but unless and until the Legislature authorizes it, coming onto their property to force them to display signs is simply not one of them.”

Unlike Georgia, Ohio has a “no candy” law, which prohibits sex offenders on probation and parole from handing out candy and otherwise being a part of trick-or-treating.

These kinds of laws can be difficult to enforce, however, without a constant police presence keeping an eye on homes where they live.

Parents who are concerned about keeping their children away from homes where registered sex offenders lives can check the Ohio sex offender registry here.

Long said on Monday in a post on Facebook: “Regardless of the Judge’s ruling on Thursday, I WILL do everything within the letter of the Law to protect the children of this Community.”

On Thursday at 2:29 P.M. the Sheriff’s Department updated that statement to say no ruling has been made yet in the case, and that they department has been advised to make no further comments at this time.

RELATED: Kelly Ripa claps back at critics and a Georgia sheriff fights to warn children about sex offenders on Lunch Break with Jay Crawford

RELATED: Here’s how you can save a ton on airline tickets this holiday season

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/mobile/article/news/local/lunch-break/georgia-sheriff-sued-sex-offenders-yard-sign-trick-or-treating/95-d3673fdc-fc60-4e5b-b0eb-745dce348cff

Georgia Sheriff sued over “no trick-or-treating” warning signs

georgia-sheriff-sued-over-“no-trick-or-treating”-warning-signs

Last year, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long placed signs in their yards that said they were sex offenders and warned children not to trick-or-treat at those homes.

BUTTS COUNTY, Georgia — A Georgia Sheriff wants to protect trick-or-treaters from sex offenders using yard sings, but sex offenders argue the signs go too far and violate their rights.

On Friday’s Lunch Break with Jay Crawford and Betsy Kling, 3News Legal Analyst Stephanie Haney broke down the arguments on both sides of a lawsuit filed by sex offenders hoping to stop the signs from going up again.

Last year, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long placed signs in their yards that said they were sex offenders and warned children not to trick-or-treat at those homes ahead of Halloween festivities. 

The lawsuit filed by registered sex offenders Christopher Reed, Reginald Holden and Corey McClendon on behalf of all sex offenders in Butts County argues that this is trespass, that the Sheriff has no legal authority to place the signs in their yards, and to do so is a violation of the constitution by forcing them to sanction speech.

During a court hearing on Thursday, however, the Sheriff argued the part of the yard where the sign was placed last year, and where he wants to put them again this year, is in the public right of way near the street so trespass doesn’t apply.

He also pointed out the planned signs for this year do not say the people in the homes are sex offenders.

At the heart of this issue is what rights registered sex offenders must give up when they are convicted of their crimes and what they’re required by law to do once they’ve been released from incarceration.

The attorney for the sex offenders told CNN in a statement: “The Registry Statute affords the Sheriff many legal avenues by which he may publicize the name, address and even photograph of every registered sex offender in Butts County, but unless and until the Legislature authorizes it, coming onto their property to force them to display signs is simply not one of them.”

Unlike Georgia, Ohio has a “no candy” law, which prohibits sex offenders on probation and parole from handing out candy and otherwise being a part of trick-or-treating.

These kinds of laws can be difficult to enforce, however, without a constant police presence keeping an eye on homes where they live.

Parents who are concerned about keeping their children away from homes where registered sex offenders lives can check the Ohio sex offender registry here.

Long said on Monday in a post on Facebook: “Regardless of the Judge’s ruling on Thursday, I WILL do everything within the letter of the Law to protect the children of this Community.”

On Thursday at 2:29 P.M. the Sheriff’s Department updated that statement to say no ruling has been made yet in the case, and that they department has been advised to make no further comments at this time.

Source: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/lunch-break/georgia-sheriff-sued-sex-offenders-yard-sign-trick-or-treating/95-d3673fdc-fc60-4e5b-b0eb-745dce348cff

Former Lewiston doctor to register as a sex offender

former-lewiston-doctor-to-register-as-a-sex-offender

LOCAL

Robert Bull will have to register as a sex offender as part of a plea for having sexual conduct with a teenage patient.

Author:

WGRZ Staff

Published:

10:04 PM EDT September 10, 2019

Updated:

10:04 PM EDT September 10, 2019

LEWISTON, N.Y. — Robert Bull, a former doctor from Lewiston, will have to register as a sex offender as part of a plea deal for having sexual conduct with a teenage patient.

Bull will also serve six years on probation as part of the sentence he received on Tuesday that did not include any jail time. It happened during an after-hours medical appointment at the Golisano Center for Community Health in Niagara Falls this past March.

The District Attorney’s Office says the victim agreed to the plea deal, which also required Bull give up his medical license.

RELATED: Over 400 sex abuse suits filed in New York as Child Victims Act window opens

RELATED: Buffalo man sentenced to 20 years in prison for West Side rape

RELATED: Orchard Park hairdresser pleads guilty to sex charge

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/former-lewiston-doctor-to-register-as-a-sex-offender/71-884dd28d-b494-4f02-a9ba-4bd7079d921b

Preacher, a registered sex offender, arrested on 500 counts of child porn

preacher,-a-registered-sex-offender,-arrested-on-500-counts-of-child-porn

Detectives served a search warrant at his home.

A minister and registered sex offender has been arrested on 500 counts of child pornography possession.

Charles Calvin Andrews, 66, of Englewood, was arrested Tuesday. Detectives first started investigating him after an IP address was linked to child porn downloads.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said detectives executed a search warrant at his home. They claim Andrews had downloaded more than 500 images to his computer, including at least 50 that investigators say depicted sexual battery of a child.

A probable cause affidavit filed in Sarasota County lists Andrews as a preacher at Osprey Church of Christ in Osprey, Fla. 10News attempted to reach the church twice by phone, but the line would not connect. We have contacted the church by email and will update this story if we get a response.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Andrews is a registered sex offender with a prior sexual abuse conviction from 2006 in Alabama.

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Source: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/preacher-a-registered-sex-offender-arrested-on-500-counts-of-child-porn/67-f939fe30-3f0c-4da3-b4be-f097ea212117

Georgia Supreme Court ruling strikes down tool for tracking sex offenders

georgia-supreme-court-ruling-strikes-down-tool-for-tracking-sex-offenders

GEORGIA

Law enforcement will still be able to track offenders through the sex offender registry

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — A recent decision from the Georgia Supreme Court is shaking up the way law enforcement tracks some sex offenders.

For years, Georgia law required lifelong electronic tracking for “sexually dangerous predators” even after they completed their sentence, including their time on probation or parole.

However, in a ruling released Monday, the state’s top court said no more.

RELATED: Lifelong monitoring of ‘sexually dangerous predators’ unconstitutional, Georgia Supreme Court rules

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that lifelong monitoring after a completed sentence violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search.

The court reasoned that an ankle bracelet feeding location data to law enforcement constituted a never ending search.

Defense attorney Frank Hogue thought the court got it right.

“I think it’s a good decision because it holds the Fourth Amendment center to our values of privacy against government intrusion,” said Hogue.

On the law enforcement side, the response was mixed.

Lieutenant Kent Bankston with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office said those post-sentence ankle monitors were reserved for serious offenders, including those who committed crimes against children.

“When you’ve committed rape, you know, or any type of felony such as that,” said Bankston.

But he said the ruling wouldn’t keep the sheriff’s office from doing their job.

“I understand the public concern, but it’s not going to change the way we do things,” he said.

Offenders who were formerly wearing the tracker will remain on the sex offender registry and will still have to provide their address to law enforcement. Bankston said law enforcement will, in turn, continue to verify those addresses with in-person checks, as they always have.

He also noted that the “predators”–the group of sex crime offenders the Georgia Bureau of Investigation deems most dangerous–make up a very small portion of Houston County’s sex offender registry.

Of 287 people on the registry, Bankston said only five were classified as predators.

Bibb County had similar numbers. 

According to Sgt. Clay Williams, the county has 404 offenders total on the registry. Five of them are deemed predators.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis was still angry at the ruling.

In a Facebook post, he said the ruling has ‘essentially removed the shackles from monsters in our society.’

He went on to ask legislators to find a way to bring the monitoring program back.

Hogue says a short concurring opinion shows that could be a possibility.

“(It) essentially tells the Georgia legislature ‘here’s an idea for how you can monitor these people with a GPS legally for the rest of their lives,” he said.

That idea, he said, is passing legislation that calls for lifetime probation sentences for the worst sex crime offenders. 

While on probation, the law provides them a diminished expectation of privacy. Under those circumstances, law enforcement could be able to legally track offenders with monitoring bracelets.

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/ga-supreme-court-ruling-strikes-down-tool-for-tracking-sex-offenders/93-16d41324-c6a3-49aa-84d4-93648f95bd16

Monitoring for Georgia’s sex offenders changes

monitoring-for-georgia’s-sex-offenders-changes

The Georgia Supreme Court recently ruled that the lifelong electronic monitoring of “sexually dangerous predators” after their sentence has been completed is unconstitutional. Here’s what local law enforcement and defense lawyers had to say about the change.

Published:

6:33 PM EST March 7, 2019

Updated:

6:31 PM EST March 7, 2019

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/video/news/local/georgia/monitoring-for-georgias-sex-offenders-changes/93-27592102-fbb0-4829-88a9-e177a5d00e76

How to look up registered sex offenders in your neighborhood

how-to-look-up-registered-sex-offenders-in-your-neighborhood

LOCAL

Before planning your trick-or-treating route, you might want to check to see who lives along it.

Halloween is nearly here and for many, that means costumes and candy…and that’s about it.

Some parents, however, are probably thinking about their kids’ safety just as much as their inevitable sugar high.

Houston County Assistant District Attorney Eric Edwards says it’s “probably the only point in the year when most parents will be letting their kids go to strangers’ houses and asking for candy.”

When a child knocks on a door, it’s hard to know who’s waiting behind it.

Law enforcement agencies in central Georgia are working to keep kids safe this Halloween.

Sergeant Clay Williams with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office says people on the sex offender registry do not need to report to county officials for supervision on the night of Halloween like some do in a city near Augusta, but he says police will be conducting random checks at sex offenders’ homes on October 31.

In Houston County, Chief Patrick Cole with the Department of Community Supervision’s Warner Robins office says a similar policy is in place. People on the registry don’t need to turn themselves in, but law enforcement will be checking on where registered sex offenders are the night of Halloween.

Houston County assistant district attorney Eric Edwards says parents also have a role to play “because this is probably the only time of the year parents are going to be letting their kids go to strangers houses…asking for candy.”

Here are two ways to help make sure the door they knock on doesn’t belong to a registered sex offender.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintains a statewide sex offender registry with the home addresses of everyone on it. You can look up specific streets and see if any registered sex offenders live there. The website can be accessed here.

You can also download this mobile app from the Department of Justice. The app provides information on sex offenders who have registered addresses near the current location of the mobile device and can be used on the go.

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/how-to-look-up-registered-sex-offenders-in-your-neighborhood/93-608460572

Georgia town to hold registered sex offenders at City Hall for 3 hours Halloween night

georgia-town-to-hold-registered-sex-offenders-at-city-hall-for-3-hours-halloween-night

NEWS

Mayor of Grovetown Gary E. Jones made the announcement on his Facebook page, stirring quite a debate.

GROVETOWN, Ga. — A mayor in Georgia plans to round up sex offenders on Halloween to house them at city hall.

Mayor of Grovetown Gary E. Jones made the announcement on his Facebook page, stirring quite a debate.

He posted, “In order to ensure the safety of our children, all sex offenders (on probation) in the City of Grovetown will be housed in the county chambers on Halloween night for three hours.”

Jones went on to say the 25 to 30 offenders will be overseen by the Georgia Department of Community Supervision and a local police officer.

If you’re wondering if this is legal, the answer is yes.

The Georgia Department of Community Supervision has the option of requiring paroled sex offenders to check into a specific location on Halloween night or at any time.

This action didn’t come from any previous incident; Mayor Jones said it is a “precautionary action.”

The action is getting quite a bit of support from residents, but some negative feedback, too. Beatrice wrote, “these offenders have paid their debt to society… to place them in a building as a criminal is wrong.”

There is no hard evidence that proves children are more vulnerable to sexual predators on Halloween than any other night of the year, but the National Safety Council reports children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than any other day. Critics believe resources are be better served tackling that rather than going after the sex offenders.

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/georgia-town-to-hold-registered-sex-offenders-at-city-hall-for-3-hours-halloween-night/93-608011452