Kids Recant Abuse Claims After Dad Jailed 20 Yrs

Washingtonpost.com : Kids recant abuse claims after dad jailed 20 years.

Former Vancouver police officer Clyde Ray Spencer spent nearly 20 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually molesting his son and daughter. Now, the children say it never happened.

Matthew Spencer and Kathryn Tetz, who live in Sacramento, Calif., each took the stand Friday in Clark County Superior Court to clear their father’s name, The Columbian newspaper reported. Matthew, now 33, was 9 years old at the time. He told a judge he made the allegation after months of insistent questioning by now-retired Clark County sheriff’s detective Sharon Krause just so she would leave him alone.
Tetz, 30, said she doesn’t remember what she told Krause back in 1985, but she remembers Krause buying her ice cream. She said that when she finally read the police reports she was “absolutely sure” the abuse never happened. “I would have remembered something that graphic, that violent,” Tetz said.

Spencer’s sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Gary Locke in 2004 after questions arose about his conviction. Among other problems, prosecutors withheld medical exams that showed no evidence of abuse, even though Krause claimed the abuse was repeated and violent.

Despite the commutation, Spencer remains a convicted sex offender. He is hoping to have the convictions overturned.

Both children said that while growing up in California they were told by their mother, who divorced Spencer before he was charged, that they were blocking out the memory of the abuse. They said they realized as adults the abuse never happened, and they came forward because it was the right thing to do.

Prosecutors aren’t yet conceding that Spencer was wrongly convicted. Senior deputy prosecutor Kim Farr grilled the children about why they are so certain they weren’t abused, and chief criminal deputy prosecutor Dennis Hunter said that if the convictions are tossed, his office might appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Friday’s hearing paved the way for the state Court of Appeals to allow Spencer to withdraw the no-contest pleas he entered in 1985 and have his convictions vacated. Both children had previously filed statements with the appeals court, but the judges required the hearing to ensure their new testimony held up under cross-examination.

Spencer, 61, hugged his son and daughter afterward while a dozen supporters cheered.
“For so many years, nothing went right,” he said. “When things keep going right, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.” The hardest thing about his ordeal was missing his children, he said. “They were my life, and they were taken away from me,” he said. “I could serve in prison. …”

KKK Recruits with Anti-Sex Offender Flyers

myfoxmemphis.com : KKK Recruiting with Sex Offender Flyers.

Memphis, Tenn. – Some Olive Branch residents are outraged about flyers, littering their yards.
The flyers warned of a convicted sex offender, living in the neighborhood, but they were distributed by a group with a racist, violent history toward Jews and blacks.

The flyer notifies homeowners that a convicted sex offender lives on the next street, but take a closer look and you see the flyer was distributed by the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK says it’s a public service but an organization that tracks hate groups says that’s simply ridiculous. At the bottom is a solicitation for donations.

What does this tell you about all those people who post hateful messages online about wanting to kill sex offenders?

Miami Sex Offender Camp Leads to Lawsuit

nytimes.com : Roadside Camp for Miami Sex Offenders Leads to Lawsuit.

Miami— They used to be invisible, the four or five convicted sex offenders camping out on the Julia Tuttle Causeway connecting Miami to Miami Beach. But for three years now — pushed by local laws that bar them from living within 2,500 feet of where children gather — more and more criminals have moved in.
At least 70 convicted sex offenders live here now, in a shantytown on Biscayne Bay with trash piles clawed by crabs.

It has become what even law enforcement officials call a public-safety hazard, produced by laws intended to keep the public safe. On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in state court to strike them down. The complaint argues that Miami-Dade County’s 2,500-foot restriction illegally pre-empts the state’s restriction of 1,000 feet, creating a situation in which sex offenders are more likely to flee supervision and commit new crimes.

Similar challenges to local residency restrictions in New York and New Jersey have recently succeeded in court, but legal experts say the Florida case will be watched closely because few states have tougher laws, or have drawn as much attention for child abductions — from Adam Walsh to Caylee Anthony.

“Florida is important because they have tested the bounds,” said Corey Rayburn Yung, an expert in sex-offender law at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. “If Florida’s courts are willing to say, ‘No, no, you can’t do this,’ then it’s a sign that most other courts would come out the same way.”

The camp is a community no one wants to exist. The first sex offenders here, like Patrick Wiese, 48, who said he served time in prison after having his stepdaughter touch him inappropriately, arrived nearly three years ago and would like to leave. Smoking a cigarette under the bridge on Thursday, Mr. Wiese said he wants to move to Homestead. He has money. He has a job at a sandwich shop, but cannot find an apartment that complies with the law.

Jose Diaz — the county commissioner who sponsored the law establishing the 2,500-foot boundary in 2005 — said state corrections officials were to blame for placing sex offenders on state-owned land. He defended the county law by saying, “If I can save some kids from going through this agony, I’ve done my job.”

Gov. Charlie Crist, meanwhile, placed responsibility squarely on local governments, which have “the right to do what they feel is appropriate for the citizens that they serve.”

Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Corrections, put the problem in a broader perspective: “It’s an issue that everybody needs to deal with.”

But as the camp’s continued existence shows, no one has — which is not a surprise, Mr. Rayburn Yung said. “These laws are always universally popular,” he said. “The public loves it.”

Only the courts may force a change. The A.C.L.U. lawsuit argues that extreme residency restrictions contribute to homelessness, and lead sex offenders to commit more crimes because they are “living in filth and squalor, remote from family life.”

For proof, it cites the state’s online list of registered sex offenders and predators, which shows that 236 offenders in Miami-Dade County have skipped out on their probation, including some who used to live under the bridge on the causeway.

Ms. Plessinger said corrections officials shared the A.C.L.U.’s concerns. Noting that living under an interstate was a last resort caused by lack of money and the strict local rules, she said: “It’s not a good situation. It’s not a good situation for probation officers. It’s not a good situation for the offenders under the bridge, but it’s also not a good situation for public safety in Miami-Dade.”

cbs4.com : Lawsuits Fly Over Sex Offenders’ Encampment, Miami Sues State To Clear Out Camp By The Bay.

…But the law might change, depending on the outcome of two lawsuits filed Thursday over the hovel of homeless probationers. One lawsuit planned by the City of Miami blames the Florida Department of Corrections. A second suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, blames a local law.

Miami City Commissioners authorized a suit against the Department of Corrections, arguing that the state, which is charged with monitoring the sex offenders, should find them an appropriate place to live — rather than under a bridge.

States Can’t Comply with Sex Offender Database

washingtontimes.com : States struggle to comply with sex offender database.

Congress found it easy enough to pass guidelines for a national Internet database of sex offenders. Individual states are finding it far more difficult to comply with those guidelines.

Not a single state was ready to meet a deadline set for this month, prompting Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to grant an extension. With a year’s reprieve, states are now wrestling with what they can and will do to satisfy the guidelines when they take effect in July 2010.

States that fail to comply will lose a portion of their annual federal justice grant(10% Byrne funding which is a pittance compared to the costs of implementation in every state), but California and Vermont are considering whether that would cost them less than implementing the program.

Maryland and other states will have to enact new laws, but some legislators oppose aspects of the federal guidelines involving the registration of juveniles and unlimited retroactivity. Virginia has legislation pending that would make it impossible to comply. D.C. officials say they are close to compliance but are awaiting further adjustments by Congress.

While some states are having problems with individual issues involving the new guidelines, others see an overall picture of dollars and cents. These states may ignore the guidelines entirely because implementation is too costly.

The California Sex Offender Management Board is urging the state not to comply with the act, which will involve “substantial and unreimbursed costs.” To offset the $2.1 million that would be lost in federal funding, the agency suggests using other resources to ensure local law enforcement and other programs are not affected. The board says the state’s current registry is sufficient.

Vermont has only one person updating its registry. Officials estimate the costs to implement the law would run into millions of dollars for new technology and staffing.

Citizens Banned From Library, Pools, Beaches

lemarssentinel.com – Le Mars, Iowa : New library law reads: Sex offenders stay out.

A new law, which became effective July 1, states sex offenders convicted of a sex offense against a minor cannot be on public library property without permission of a library administrator.

Under the law sex offenders also cannot loiter within 300 feet of the property boundary of a library.

As of July 1, the new law also bans these types of sex offenders from places like play areas, swimming or wading pools or beaches when available to the public and in use by a minor.

The law also requires sex offenders to obtain permission from administrators to enter nonpublic or public elementary and secondary schools or be on school property.

The trustees also discussed that within the law there is no language as to how sex offenders will be identified. They do not have to disclose their status to library personnel.

“The Legislators put it out there and leave it to the rest of us to figure out,” Kroesche said.

VT Questions Fairness of Sex Registry

burlingtonfreepress.com : Fairness of adds to Vt. sex-registry questioned.

Some Vermont sex offenders who thought they had paid their debt to society years ago are expected soon to face a new one — inclusion on the state’s online sex offender registry.

A law passed this year expands from about 400 to about 1,600 the number of people included in the registry available for public viewing. Some 740 of the newly listed people will have already completed their terms of probation and parole.

The change is raising questions about whether it’s fair for the state effectively to change the terms of a plea deal a criminal defendant entered into years before Vermont considered creating such a registry.

“The individuals aren’t getting the benefit of the bargain that they entered into years ago,” said Defender General Matthew Valerio, whose office represents defendants in criminal cases.

“Some of these folks have not had recent contact with the DOC (Department of Corrections) but are subject to an electronic registry that didn’t even exist at the time,” Valerio said.

Georgia Cumming, director of sex offender treatment programs for the department, said some crimes for which people will be placed on the registry likely date from the 1980s. She could not provide exact dates.

Valerio and Allen Gilbert, director of the Vermont office of the American Civil Liberties Union, acknowledged that courts in other states and the U.S. Supreme Court have ruled that inclusion on a sex offender registry isn’t considered punishment and therefore doesn’t violate the constitutional ban on changing the punishment after the crime. Rather, registries are considered a public-safety tool that enables members of the public to know when a person with a sex-crimes record moves into the neighborhood.

Lisa Menard, deputy Corrections commissioner, said nearly one-fifth of the 740 people who are no longer under her department’s supervision but are eligible for inclusion had asked for the paperwork by Thursday, the second day the law was in effect. She expects the number to grow by Oct. 1, when the expanded registry is set to “go live” online.

Sears and Gilbert said they expect the fairness issue to end up in court. Gilbert said the legal question likely would be not whether the constitutional ban on ex post facto punishments was being violated, but whether the state was violating contracts struck in plea agreements. He said more than 90 percent of sex-crime cases are resolved by plea agreement. “Each side is supposed to honor the terms of a contract,” Gilbert said.

Bad Legislation Comes Back to Haunt

Modesto Bee : Murphy’s Law: Bad legislation comes back to haunt author.

Sometimes bad laws have a way of coming back to bite the people most responsible for enacting them. That’s the case with state Sen. George Runner, the principal sponsor of Proposition 83, the 2006 initiative popularly known as Jessica’s Law, which voters approved overwhelmingly.

Among other things, the law severely restricts where sexual offenders can live after being released from prison. Under its provisions, those convicted of rape or child molestation or even misdemeanor indecent exposure cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school or a park.

As critics of Proposition 83 pointed out, such tight restrictions have the unintended effect of forcing paroled sex offenders either into homelessness or into rural and suburban communities where law enforcement is thin and jobs and counseling services that many offenders need to remain crime-free are virtually nonexistent.

This was not mere conjecture. Law enforcement officials in other states that had enacted similar restrictions reported those results. Because of that, many states sought to repeal or modify their versions of Jessica’s Law.

Runner was fully aware of these concerns. Nonetheless, the Republican from Lancaster continued to press the case for passage.

But even before voters approved Jessica’s Law, The Sacramento Bee’s Andy Furillo reports, Runner had taken exceptional care to see that as few parolees as possible, including ex-sex offenders, would be sent to his suburban Los Angeles district.

Because his district is home to a state prison and has a large supply of affordable housing, Runner says, a disproportionate number of released felons were being housed there.

So, he cut a deal with the Department of Corrections, 10 months before the ballot measure was voted on, to reduce the flow of parolees there.

Under what Runner called a “side agreement,” the Department of Corrections pledged to assign only parolees with “historical ties” to his north Los Angeles County district.

But the deal turns out to have been illegal. State law requires that parolees be returned to their county of origin but does not allow the prison system to direct them to or away from specific communities.

Last year, the department suspended the agreement. So now, Runner’s constituents are in position to experience the full brunt of Jessica’s Law along with the rest of the state. Because the suburban district Runner represents is less populated, its parks and schools more spread out, it means that more sex offenders will likely wind up there.

A special board set up to monitor the effects of Jessica’s Law thinks homelessness among parolees poses a significant public safety threat. Since Runner’s initiative went into effect, the number of homeless sex offenders has jumped from 88 to 1,000.

The costly, dangerous mistake that is Jessica’s Law hurts all of California. Now it will be felt in full force in Runner’s home district — as it should be.

Judge Hears First Sex Offender Challenge

Salem News – Ohio : Judge hears first sex offender to offer challenge.

Lisbon, OH – The first sex offender to challenge new classification requirements last year finally had his case heard by a judge, who said he should be designated Tier I, the level with the least requirements.

Brendan McClaskey, who lived in the Salem when he filed his case, received notification from the state in December 2007 that he was being reclassified as a sexual oriented offender and that his reporting requirements were being extended beyond the time of his original classification. According to the document, he was convicted of corruption of a minor and attempt to corrupt a minor in Erie County, Ohio. The notification from the Ohio Attorney General said the offense under the law was unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

In a recent entry filed by Judge David Tobin of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, he found the McClaskey didn’t actually get served with a letter from the state designating his Tier level, but he felt he should be designated Tier I, which means he has to register once a year for 15 years.

If he wants to contest that, Tobin said he could do than in the county of his residence.

In another case, Tobin ruled that the new registration requirement didn’t apply to Randall Culler Jr., 29, of East Palestine, in the manner specified by the state. He was reclassified by the Ohio Attorney General as a Tier III sexual offender, meaning he would have to register his address every 90 days for the rest of his life and the community would have to be notified.

Tobin disagreed and said he should have been designated Tier I considering the facts of his case. He was convicted of sexual battery involving an adult female victim.

Besides Tier I and Tier III, there is the classification of Tier II, which requires an offender to register twice a year, every 180 days, for 25 years, with no community notification required.

IN Supreme Court Nixes Retroactive Law

jconline.com : Indiana court limits sex offender residency law.

Indianapolis – Convicted sex offenders who lived near schools or other places frequented by children before a state law restricting their residency was enacted in 2006 would not have to move under a ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court.

The court ruled this week that the residency law violated the Indiana constitution by retroactively punishing Anthony W. Pollard, a Blackford County sex offender who died in December.

Pollard had owned his home in northeastern Indiana for about 10 years when he was convicted of a sex offense against a child in 1997. He was then charged in January 2007 with violating the 2006 law that prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, public park or youth program center.

The state Supreme Court decision said the residency law prevents a sex offender from living in his home even if he bought it before the law took effect and even if a school or youth center moved within 1,000 feet of a home where he already lived.

“Although the statute does not affect ownership of property, it does affect one’s freedom to live on one’s own property,” Justice Robert Rucker wrote. “A sex offender is subject to constant eviction because there is no way for him or her to find a permanent home in that there are no guarantees a school or youth program center will not open within 1,000 feet of any given location.”

Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, which handled the appeal, said a staff attorney interpreted the ruling to apply only to offenders who were charged, convicted and sentenced before the residency law was enacted.

The decision was the latest by the state Supreme Court to find that certain laws regarding state oversight of sex offenders violate the Indiana constitution’s ban on laws punishing people for acts that were legal when they were committed.

In April, the court overturned a man’s conviction for not registering as a sex offender because he had already completed a sentence for child molestation before the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act was passed.

Read decision here.

Rhode Island : 14 More Sex Offender Bills

Providence Journal : Sex-offender bills stall in R.I. Assembly.

Providence – Lawmakers introduced at least 14 bills dealing with sex offenders this session. With the General Assembly in recess, five have made it through either the House or Senate, but not both.

The bills would:

•Require registered sex offenders who temporarily live in the state for at least 14 days to register with police in the community where they are residing. The Senate approved it Tuesday.

(So if you vacation in Rhode Island for 14 days or more, you must register with police). Update: this law has now passed and is completely unenforceable. The state has no means to determine when someone visits their state for more than 14 days – it’s simply a “feel-good” law with no teeth.

•Make it a felony for convicted offenders to knowingly enter playgrounds, daycare centers and schools. The House over the weekend recommitted the bill for further study.

(Discarding the fact that this law is virtually unenforceable – what are they going to do; station a police officer at every park and playground with sex offender profiles on their laps? – is this really constitutional? Banning citizens whose taxes go toward paying for these parks and playgrounds? And what about the parent who has a child in the school?)

•Require convicted offenders to be monitored by wearing global positioning system devices while they appeal the level of their sex-offender classifications. Bill supporters say appeals last months or years and public notification about an offender is prohibited during appeals. The bill is on the House calendar.

(This one is astonishing: a sex offender who committed a crime 10-20 years ago may be forced into appealing their re-classification if they challenge the Adam Walsh Act. And as a result, they are forced into GPS monitoring?)

•Landlords registered as sex offenders would have to disclose their status on leases to prospective renters. The House passed the bill June 26.

(There is simply no reasonable purpose to this bill. Landlords provide housing to renters as a business venture. This bill is just another way to “stick it” to those so-called ‘monsters’ who once made a mistake in their past)

•Reimburse communities for the costs of public notification about sex offenders. The Senate approved the bill June 11; it last surfaced before the House Judiciary Committee.

(Yeah, they want those who are being publicly shamed to pay for the privilege of being branded)

Rep. Nicholas Mattiello, D-Cranston, sponsor of the House bill barring offenders from playgrounds, schools and daycare centers, said “neither the House nor the Senate version” of the bill, “as they are presently constructed” will pass. He said he was “very hopeful” a proposal that will pass can be drafted later this month, but he was concerned that supporters will run out of time.

Several proposals have drawn constitutional and other concerns from some lawmakers and the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.

We encourage all readers to contact legislators in the Rhode Island General Assembly.to remind them how stupid they are