Showing posts with label sex offender; wisconsin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sex offender; wisconsin. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Reports Everyone should take some time to Read.

ERICA R. MEINERS - Never Innocent: Feminist Trouble with Sex Offender Registries and Protection in a Prison Nation


The Evolution of Unconstitutionality in Sex Offender Registration Laws
*CATHERINE L. CARPENTER
*AMY E. BEVERLIN
ABSTRACT
More is not always better. Consider sex offender registration laws. Initially anchored by rational basis, registration schemes have spiraled out of control because legislators, eager to please a fearful public, have been given unfettered freedom by a deferential judiciary.
This particular article does not challenge the state’s legislative power to enact sex offender registration laws. Instead, this piece posits that, even if sex offender registration schemes were initially constitutional, serially amended sex offender registration schemes – what this piece dubs super-registration schemes – are not. Their emergence over the last several years demands reexamination of traditionally held assumptions that shaped the original legislation.
Two intertwined causes are responsible for the schemes’ constitutional downfall. The first is a legislative body eager to draft increasingly harsh registration and notification schemes to please an electorate that subsists on a steady diet of fear. When combined with the second cause, a Supreme Court that has yet to signal much needed boundaries, the ensuing consequence is runaway legislation that is no longer rationally connected to its regulatory purpose. Ultimately, this article is a cautionary tale of legislation that has unmoored from its constitutional grounding because of its punitive effect and excessive reach.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Why Sex Offender Laws Do More Harm Than Good

By Deborah Jacobs

There are few crimes more heinous than child molestation. Whether violently attacked by a stranger or preyed upon by a trusted adult in the home, school or place of worship, children who survive such assaults are often left to walk a lifelong path of sorrow and pain.

Unfortunately, our government has failed to take steps that will make a meaningful difference in preventing sex offenses. Megan's Law, civil commitment, and the newest trend in anti-sex offender legislation, banishment zones, which restrict sex offenders from living within certain geographic areas, all play to the fears of the public. But when it comes to stopping sex assaults, these measures do more harm than good.

To understand why, one must look at the realities of sex crimes in America today. The vast majority of sex offenses are committed by trusted adults-family members, friends, clergy-and go unreported because of manipulation of the victims, unconscionable decisions by other adults, or both. We saw this most vividly when lawsuits uncovered that the Catholic Church hierarchy had hidden and ignored countless cases of child sexual abuse for decades, choosing to protect its reputation over the children under its care. Unfortunately, this happens in family hierarchies even more frequently.

Because the most common type of sex crime so often goes unreported, most sex offenders never become part of the criminal justice system and therefore are not affected by Megan's Law or banishment zone laws. As a result, these laws give the public a false sense of security, letting us believe that sex offenders have been exiled from their neighborhood, or that if a sex offender does live nearby, we will receive notification of his presence. If we believe that, we are fooling ourselves and, worse, doing our children a disservice. Sex offenders live in every American community, and children need supervision no matter what.

Laws like banishment zone ordinances actually make us less safe, as they impede offender rehabilitation and thereby increase the likelihood of reoffense. People who transition from prison into society face countless challenges, and most have very limited resources, financial or otherwise. People who want to lead law-abiding lives after serving a prison sentence need to establish stability in their homes, jobs and families. Those are difficult things to achieve, but add to this the consequences of Megan's Law and limits to where offenders can live, and few have hope of succeeding. Indeed, the fear of the stigma of Megan's Law can force offenders underground, out of the watchful eye of police and parole officers.

Banishment zone laws may very likely force sexual offenders to move from environments in which they have support networks into other communities in which they have no support, putting residents in their new communities at risk. Further, people who are labeled as sex offenders lose jobs, get evicted, are threatened with death, and harassed by neighbors. Some have had their homes burned down or been beaten in acts of vigilantism. Coping with this kind of stress is almost impossible, and without exceptionally strong support systems, most are doomed to fail.

If you doubt whether we should care about the stress and suffering of someone who committed a sex crime, consider the consequences for society when the ex-offender fails. When nothing works out - job, home, family-individuals are more likely to give up and reoffend.

Rather than banishing sex offenders and asking them to succeed in a hostile environment, we should focus resources on programs and policies that will actually reduce the likelihood of sex offenses occurring in the first place. We need to develop and fund public education programs that teach about the effects of sex abuse and the importance of reporting abuse so that it can be stopped.

We need to improve our systems for handling reports of abuse, looking to models like Wynona's House in Essex County, which brings different agencies together to ease the burden on victims reporting abuse. And we need to provide mental health treatment for victims and offenders, in prison and out.

There is no simple fix to the devastating problem of sex abuse. Instead of politically popular measures that make no difference or in fact make us less safe, we need to turn our attention and resources to ways of addressing the epidemic of sex abuse that, while perhaps not as politically popular, will actually work so that more potential victims can be spared.

The issue is not whether our children should be protected from sex offenders, but how to accomplish that in an effective and meaningful way. Our children deserve nothing less.

Deborah Jacobs is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Equal Protection Under the Law? Really???

Actor Dough Hutchinson (51) married Courtney Alexis Stodden (16). Is he a child rapist?

Is actor Dough Hutchinson a child rapist?

51 year old Dough Hutchinson married a 16 year old child (yes, by law she is a child) . Do you think, that, before marriage, Dough Hutchinson never touched Courtney Alexis Stodden indecently? Because that would be a heinous crime of child rape and grave victimization of poor Alexis. Or if he chatted with her on the internet, he would be in violation of grooming laws.
doug-hutchinson-courtney-alexis-stoddenShe is 16 y, he 51 y (35 years difference)
Age ain’t nothing but a number – just ask 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison. Hutchison, whose film and TV credits include ‘The Green Mile,’ ‘Lost’ and ’24,’ said ‘I do’ to 16-year-old aspiring country star Courtney Alexis Stodden on May 20 in Las Vegas.
While the couple’s 35-year age difference has already raised many eyebrows, the newlyweds insist they are truly in love.
‘We’re aware that our vast age difference is extremely controversial,’ the couple told E! Online. ‘But we’re very much in love and want to get the message out there that true love can be ageless.’ NY Daily News
The age of consent in California is 18, for sex law purposes she is a child. If Dough Hutchinson ever had sex with Courtney before marriage, this is rape. All rapes are equal. Nowadays, marriage does not remedy such heinous felony.
Courtney Alexis Stodden’s mother claims:
"Courtney was a virgin when she married Doug," said Krista Stoddden. "She is a good Christian girl. NY Daily News
If he just engaged in oral sex or indecent touching, indecent acts with a minor are rape too, at least sexual assault. Even if he never touched her, then he might have sent her seductive emails and thus run afoul of grooming laws. If he crossed state lines with the intent of having as much as oral sex with her in a state where it 16 is the legal age of consent, he would be violating federal law in the USA.
Even if he consumated the sexual acts only in marriage, it still leaves open the significant question:
  • why is Courtney unable to *consent to sex, but she can consent to marriage.
  • And why, after marriage, can she consent to sex?
We need a criminal investigation. This husband needs to be arrested without bail, the minor child needs to be saved. Obviously she has been brainwashed. Furthermore, it is just disgusting how an old guy like that can be with an innocent child of 16. We need new laws to outlaw such behavior, to protect innocent 16 year old children from such a marriage. 
In California, any person, of any age, that has sex with a minor, is a child rapist and felon. Most ( teens have sex before 18 years. 65-70% have sex before they are 18.  That means, the average teen gets raped at least once and one person should go to prison.  So Millions of Californians need to be locked up in prison. The law is the law, and the law has to be obeyed.
Do you think our proposals are stupid, wrong, immoral?  Well, stand up and fight for all these laws to be revoked.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Oddly enough, none of the men arrested were registered sex offenders.

32 Arrested In Child Sex Sting Operation

Undercover detectives went online posing as children or the parents of children trolling for sex. Police said 32 men showed up at a house looking for sex and some brought gifts and candy, all of them were not registered sex offenders.


The Lake County Sheriff's Office held a press conference on Tuesday to announce the arrests and show what they said were the faces of men who want to have sex with children.

"Honestly, I was a little surprised at the number," said Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders.

Detectives said the 32 men traveled to a vacation home that the Lake County Sheriff's Office rented in the Four Corners area. Each of the men was expecting to have sex with a child. One man came all the way from Georgia with two young children of his own in the car, detectives said.

"It's bad enough he's driving to Lake County to meet with what he thinks is a child to have sex with, but to bring his own children with him. The best place for him is jail," said Borders.

The youngest man arrested was 19 and the oldest 63. Every one of the men were considered dangerous, which is why the sheriff's office said they had plenty of manpower during the take downs.

"We're just trying to make a safe arrest. One of the suspects had a gun in his pants," said Borders.

Each time a suspect came to the door of the home, detectives said they were waiting inside and during the operation things got very busy.

"At some points, they had three or four members sitting in cuffs on the floor of the home trying to get them processed and taken out before others showed up. So, it was very much a difficult operation to pull off," said a lieutenant of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Borders said his cyber crimes team has been in place for a few years, but this is the unit's largest sting. While the 32 men were essentially tricked by detectives, Borders said that trolling for sex with children is very real.

"I would tell you that there is that type of real activity going on on the Internet," said Borders.

Detectives said some of the suspects are in jail on Tuesday night and they all face felony charges. The men could receive a maximum of 25 years in prison if convicted.

Oddly enough, none of the men arrested were registered sex offenders.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

News... News... News...

Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are among ... Most troubling of all, he'll be listed as a sex offender until he's 43. ...

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mark Foley - Sex Offender by Today's laws? Arrested, NOPE.

Here is an excerpt from the end of this interview that happened on June 9th.

Interesting that he, the former Chairman of the Missing and Exploited Childrens' Network, wrote the Adam Walsh Act, yet does NOT think that he did anything that should be prosecuted or arrested.

-------------------------------------------------

HANNITY: Do you think somebody who sends e-mails and has instant messages with children like you did, should that be a crime, should people go to jail for that? Because, you know, one of the things you said you had to deal with is your exploitation. If somebody talks the way you spoke to these kids, should they go to jail?

FOLEY: No.

HANNITY: Should they be arrested?

FOLEY: No.

HANNITY: How do people trust people that talk like that with kids, how do they trust them around kids?

FOLEY: Well, I think, again, it goes to behavior.

HANNITY: You can write anything you want to a kid on the internet?

FOLEY: No, again, Sean and I'm not going to sit here and try and excuse my behavior. But should I have gone to jail? No, absolutely not.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Is He a Sex Offender by Today's Standards? Or Do the Rules NOT Apply to Him?

Anthony Weiner Facebook Chats: Lisa Weiss Conversations Revealed: Report 

A female Las Vegas blackjack dealer has released to RadarOnline.com what appear to be Facebook chats she exchanged with embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). The messages, which came to light on Tuesday, are sexual in their nature and surface on the heels of the congressman's admission that he engaged in "inappropriate" conservations online with six women in recent years.

SEE FULL ARTICLE

Click here to read the messages in full relayed by RadarOnline.com.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Free Speech... It covers more than just what comes out of your mouth...

The U.N. Declares Internet Access a Human Right
By Adam Clark Estes Jun 06, 2011

The United Nations counts internet access as a basic human right in a report that bears implications both to on-going events in the Arab Spring and to the Obama administration's war on whistleblowers. Acting as special rapporteur, a human rights watchdog role appointed by the UN Secretary General, Frank La Rue takes a hard line on the importance of the internet as "an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress." Presented to the General Assembly on Friday, La Rue's report comes as the capstone of a year's worth of meetings held between La Rue and local human rights organizations around the world, from Cairo to Bangkok. The report's introduction points to the impact of online collaboration in the Arab Spring and says that "facilitating access to the Internet for all individuals, with as little restriction to online content as possible, should be a priority for all States."


The UN report overwhelmingly supports the internet as a communication platform, a boon to all democratic societies, but it also warns how the internet's unique architecture threatens power brokers in those societies:

The vast potential and benefits of the Internet are rooted in its unique characteristics, such as its speed, worldwide reach and relative anonymity. At the same time, these distinctive features of the Internet that enable individuals to disseminate information in "real time" and to mobilize people has also created fear amongst Governments and the powerful. This has led to increased restrictions on the Internet through the use of increasingly sophisticated technologies to block content, monitor and identify activists and critics, criminalization of legitimate expression, and adoption of restrictive legislation to justify such measures.

La Rue's mention of reach and anonymity celebrates Twitter and Facebook role in Egypt as much as it validates WikiLeaks in the United States. The Electronic Freedom Foundation says that the UN's support for anonymous expression and the protection it affords should inform how governments regulate security and surveillance. Forms of online surveillance--be it Facebook's privacy policy or the United States government's expanding treason law to document leaks--"often [take] place for political, rather than security reasons in an arbitrary and covert manner," La Rue argues. In short, broad surveillance powers or the erosion of privacy online endanger anonymity's ability to protect dissenters and journalists alike when they speak out.

Stacked against the administration's assault on whistleblowers, La Rue's warnings are condemning:

The Special Rapporteur remains concerned that legitimate online expression is being criminalized in contravention of States' international human rights obligations, whether it is through the application of existing criminal laws to online expression, or through the creation of new laws specifically designed to criminalize expression on the Internet. Such laws are often justified as being necessary to protect individuals' reputation, national security or to counter terrorism. However, in practice, they are frequently used to censor content that the Government and other powerful entities do not like or agree with.

La Rue acknowledges the logistical barriers that some nations face when it comes to delivering internet service. Without the proper infrastructure, some nations simply can't engage the internet as the "revolutionary" and "interactive medium" it's proven itself to be. However, all nations should make plans to offer universal access and also maintain policy that won't limit access for political purposes. In doing so, La Rue calls on governments to decriminalize defamation, do away with real-name registration systems--including the parameters in Facebook's terms and conditions that allows governments to collect users' names and passwords--and restrict rights only in the face of an imminent threat.

The United Nations' strong position on anonymity online reads like a hat tip to WikiLeaks and its campaign for transparency, but it also sounds scolding towards governments like the United States' that have waged wars against transparency. Likening the Obama administration's increasing number of convictions using old treason laws against information leakers is censorship in no uncertain terms, the UN seems to say. And the government's bad track record of protecting this type of free expression is ideologically just as bad as shutting the internet down altogether.

Sources
United Nations report: Internet access is a human right, Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Los Angeles Times

U.N. Special Rapporteur Calls Upon States to Protect Anonymous Speakers Online, Katitza Rodriguez, Electronic Freedom Foundation

It is good to see that Judges are learning....

In the news by Karen Franklin PhD

Monday, June 6, 2011


Pornography sentence unconstitutionally cruel, judge rules

"C.R." grew up in a chaotic, highly conflictual home. He was immature, socially klutzy, anxious and depressed. Friends introduced him to online pornography, readily accessible for free via peer-to-peer file sharing. He took to smoking marijuana and escaping into sexual fantasy. Between the ages of 15 and 19, he downloaded pornography, much of it involving boys ages 10-12, and shared files with other users.


When he was 19 years old, the FBI ensnared him in a sting and the world came crashing down. Under federal law, “C.R.” faced a statutory minimum of five years in prison.

Until Judge Jack B. Weinstein intervened, ruling that the 5-year minimum is unconstitutional in C.R.’s case, due to the youth’s age and immaturity.

Full Article

Thursday, June 2, 2011

At Large with Tom Williams > Zero Tolerance – and missing the circle

Shore News Today
A six year-old-boy from Wisconsin was accused of first-degree sexual assault for “playing doctor” with a five-year-old girl. Prosecutors presented the allegations to a judge, even though the boy is too young to face criminal charges, to “make sure he ...

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

City Leaders infringing on the rights of others... Again.

Thorny Marriage-Race Problem in Wisconsin

By IULIA FILIP




MILWAUKEE (CN) - An interracial married couple sued the city of Niagara, saying the city has prohibited them from living together with the woman's children because the man was convicted of second-degree sexual assault when he was 16 and the victim was 15.

In his federal complaint, Lawrence Dear says the city ordinance does not apply to him, city officials are enforcing it because he is black.

Dear, who lives in Appleton, was convicted of second-degree sexual assault in March 2003. Dear says he is a registered sex offender in Wisconsin.

In September 2009, Niagara passed an ordinance restricting residency for certain sex offenders. It prohibits the designated sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of schools, day-care centers, parks, playgrounds, churches and other areas where children routinely gather.

Dear claims Niagara officials prevented him from moving to the city, to live with his wife, Tanya, and her children, although he "is not a 'designated offender' as defined under the ordinance."

Dear says the ordinance primarily targets registered sex offenders convicted of a sexual offense against a minor younger than 14.

In September 2010, Dear says, he appealed the city's decision to ban him from moving into his wife's home, but it denied the appeal on grounds that he was a "sex offender" and his moving to the area would violate the 2009 ordinance.

Dear claims that "in rejecting the plaintiff's appeal, the defendants failed to follow proper procedures and failed to base their decision on appropriate grounds."

Dear says he informed the defendants he intended to use an exception to the ordinance, which provided that a designated offender could reside in a "prohibited area" if his or her spouse had lived there for at least 2 years.

He says that shortly thereafter, at a November 2010 City Council meeting, the defendants recommended that the ordinance be amended to prevent him from qualifying for the exception.

He says the defendants violated his constitutional rights, including his right to reside with his wife, and discriminated against him based on his race.

He seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and wants the ordinance declared unconstitutional.

The Dears sued the city of Niagara, its City Council, its Public Safety Committee, the Offender/Predator Residence Board and all seven members of the City Council, including Mayor George Bousley.

They are represented by Michael Menghini with the Herrling Clark Law Firm, of Appleton.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Our Tax Dollars HARD at Work - Is this what you thought they were using the money for?

Union Support of Teachers in Porn Cases is Obscene

By James Wigderson

Special Guest Perspective for the MacIver Institute


Most of us know the rules of our jobs. Show up to work on time. Do your work. Don’t skip work to attend protests.


Don’t send pornography on the company computer using the company e-mail.

Pretty simple, straightforward stuff.

Unless you’re a teacher.

With union backing, the rules on sending pornography via the school system’s e-mail suddenly become vague and subjective.

Andrew Harris, a former seventh-grade science teacher at Glacier Creek Middle School in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District, was investigated and found to have 23 emails in just over one year containing pornographic images, videos and inappropriate jokes. The school board fired him in May 2010, but Harris’ union has filed a grievance on his behalf.


What should be an automatic termination has already cost the school district about $300,000, and the case is still in arbitration. The situation is already over a year old and the decision by the arbitrator is not expected until October at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the school district is forced to spend money fighting the union instead of putting that money into the classroom to improve education in the district.

The union is claiming that the district policy against “deliberate accessing or transmitting materials that are obscene, sexually explicit or child pornography” is vague. It’s like George Costanza from Seinfeld when caught having sex with the cleaning lady in the workplace, “Was that wrong?”

Of course, Costanza was fired on the spot. A teacher can fight being fired for years at tremendous expense to the school district. Moreover, these fights waste dollars that shoud be spent in the classroom.

In Cedarburg, former Cedarburg High School science teacher Robert Zellner just had his appeal rejected last month by a three-judge panel of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Zellner claims he was wrongly terminated in 2006 after he was caught viewing pornographic images on his school computer. Prior to the incident that led to Zellner’s dismissal, the Cedarburg schools superintendent told Zellner he was aware of Zellner’s interest in pornography. When Zellner’s computer had issues, the school district installed monitoring software. Later Zellner disabled the “safe search” option and starting looking at images of “blondes” on Google.

In 2008, Zellner filed the $9 million federal lawsuit against the district that was recently defeated. Interestingly, in both the Zellner and Harris cases the teachers allege that they were singled out for discipline because of their union activities.

Prior to Zellner’s case going to federal court, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in December 2008 the Cedarburg school district spent $267,000 to keep Zellner fired. Meanwhile, Zellner enjoyed the legal services of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union.

From one obscenity to another, the Peshtigo school board is forced to deal with a case of teacher who went a little too wild on his school e-mail account during spring break. Rob Schneider, a chorus teacher in the school district, used his e-mail account to send an obscenity-laden tirade to state Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette.

“(Expletive) you!!! I pray that a semi-truck will run you over you piece of (expletive) (expletive)! If there is a God that (expletive) Governor Walker will be riding with you when the truck hits your sorry (expletive)!!!!!!!!!! Stop (expletive) sending me your (expletive)!!! You are a waste of human space!!!!”

Nice. The Peshtigo school district placed Schneider on administrative leave on April 4th and is expected to take up the disciplinary case today. If they decide to discipline Schneider they better be prepared for some big legal bills, Schneider is already using WEAC to issue his public statements.

Lost in all of this is the reason why taxpayers send money to support the schools. It isn’t so teachers unions can fight to the last taxpayer dollar in obvious cases for dismissal. It’s to educate children. Unfortunately the teachers unions in Wisconsin seem to think that the school districts are run for the benefit of the union members, not the educating of children.

It’s reasonable for the taxpayers to expect that the school district should have the ability to remove teachers whose behavior is unprofessional. Under Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair law, school districts would have more authority in setting work rules. However, that law is still tied up in the courts.

The state legislature is actually considering a law to allow for the automatic firing of teachers viewing pornography at work. It’s a shame that its come to that since common sense would dictate that looking at pornography at work would be immediate grounds for dismissal. However, we’re not talking common sense, but union sense—which is uncommonly expensive

Monday, May 23, 2011

Sex Offender Registry Not Retroactive, Kentucky High Court Rules, May 19, 2011: 
In a 5-2 decision, the high court found that anyone convicted of a sex offense before 1994 cannot be forced to give their address to law enforcement officials.
“As he was not required to register, he cannot be guilty of the crime of failing to register, and any sentence imposed on him would be manifestly infirm,” Justice Wil Schroeder wrote for the majority.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110519/NEWS01/305190061/Sex-offender-registry-not-retroactive-Kentucky-high-court-rules?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Big Brother - Your Computer Repair Tech

Waunakee man faces 14 counts of child porn

A Waunakee man was charged Wednesday with 14 counts of possessing child pornography after a service technician discovered a porn cache on the man's computer as it was being repaired.

By: By Ed Treleven, The Wisconsin State Journal, Superior Telegram

See rest of article here

 

Monday, May 16, 2011

False Allegations - Even Now Still a Never Ending Battle

Fairfax teacher Sean Lanigan still suffering from false molestation allegations

By Tom Jackman, Published: May 14

Sean Lanigan’s nightmare began in January 2010, when the principal at Centre Ridge Elementary School pulled him out of the physical education class he was teaching and quietly walked him into an interrogation with two Fairfax County police detectives.

He had no warning that a 12-year-old girl at the Centreville school had accused him of groping and molesting her in the gym.

The girl, angry at Lanigan about something else entirely, had made the whole thing up. But her accusations launched a soul-sapping rollercoaster ride that still hasn’t ended.

“Emotionally, a part of me has died inside,” Lanigan said in a recent interview. “I’m physically and mentally exhausted all the time, how the whole process has been dragged out to this date. It certainly has affected the quality of life for me and my family at home.”

Lanigan remains in limbo, nearly a year after a jury’s acquittal. The Fairfax School District transferred him from Centre Ridge in a move that ultimately forced his wife to quit her job. School officials are now transferring him again. And the district has refused to pay his $125,000 in legal fees, even though Virginia law allows reimbursement for employees who are cleared of wrongdoing on the job.

Lanigan will never forget the day he was pulled from class. Shortly after the detectives questioned him, Lanigan, then 43 — a married father of three with a long history of service as a teacher, top-ranked soccer coach and neighborhood babysitter — had to tell his children he was going to be arrested.

“We try to teach them to do the right thing,” Lanigan said, “and I had to tell them that Daddy was going to jail and my name was going to be on the news. It was heartbreaking.”

That was followed by four nights in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

“It was scary,” he said. “I was just wide-eyed. I’m an accused child molester. I’m thinking, ‘How am I going to last in here?’ ”

From there, Lanigan spent months in anxious exile, forced from his school, his players, his neighbors and his friends, pondering the possibility of up to 40 years in a state penitentiary.

That soon turned to relief. A jury found him not guilty after just 47 minutes of deliberation — virtually unheard of in a child sex abuse case. Jurors were outraged by the lack of evidence, with one weeping in sympathy during closing arguments.

But still the nightmare continues, as Lanigan struggles to earn back his reputation and career.


Within two weeks of the accuser’s report — without ever speaking to the girl — Fairfax detectives arrested Lanigan and charged him with aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The Washington Post is not naming the accuser because she is a minor.

Police issued a press release with Lanigan’s booking photo and home address, and the school district sent home a letter about his arrest. TV trucks descended on the school and his neighborhood, and Lanigan’s reputation took a lasting beating. Even today, the first thing that comes up in a Google search of Sean Lanigan is a Web site called “Bad Bad Teacher.”

Police declined to allow Nicole Christian, the lead detective on the case, to be interviewed for this article. Several months after Lanigan was acquitted, Fairfax prosecutors dismissed another of Christian’s child abuse cases in the middle of trial, a rarity, when the detective acknowledged that she had “misstated” some key facts in her sworn testimony.

Instead of Christian, Fairfax police allowed a former child sex abuse lieutenant to be interviewed about investigative procedures, but he was not involved with Lanigan’s case.

In addition, they released this statement from Officer Don Gotthardt, a spokesman: “There is a system of checks and balances between the police department, the commonwealth attorney and the magistrate. That system was followed, and it was determined that sufficient probable cause existed to proceed with prosecution.”

Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh declined to comment for this article.
The Fairfax County School District declined to comment.

The parents of the accuser declined to comment.

Sean Lanigan grew up in Herndon, graduated from Herndon High School and earned a business degree from George Mason University. But he struggled to find a career until he volunteered to coach the crew team at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

Lanigan is a jock, a soccer fanatic, a goalkeeper with “GK” tattooed on his leg. Coaching and teaching was a way to keep sports in his life.

“I fell in love with it,” he said. “Seeing kids through and watching them develop, mature, grow into productive citizens. I come to work with a smile on my face every day.”

After working in the mortgage business, Lanigan had to return to college to earn another degree, in physical education, to get a teaching job in Fairfax. But he did it, and after working briefly at Stone Middle School in Centreville, he was placed at Centre Ridge in 1998.

“His heart was really with the kids,” said Kathy Young, a longtime sixth-grade teacher at Centre Ridge. “He’d pick kids up and twirl them. But what I really liked about Sean, as much as he liked playing with them, he’d always say, ‘Your schoolwork comes first.’ ”

In his Centreville neighborhood, where Lanigan lives with his wife and children, ages 14, 11 and 8, he was the dad all the kids loved, the carpool driver, the babysitter, the human jungle gym, with nicknames for everyone. “I have no qualms about having him around my children,” one mother said. “He makes my kids feel at ease. My son just adores him. He doesn’t understand how all of this happened.”

Lanigan has coached soccer continually, both at the youth travel level and high school at his alma mater — Herndon is unbeaten and the top-ranked team in the region. But Centre Ridge was his second home. When Young’s future son-in-law died in a fire, Lanigan arranged a fundraiser. In 2002, when the school needed a new playground, he and another teacher helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to get one built.


In December 2009, Lanigan was head of the Centre Ridge safety patrols. He received a phone call from a parent, complaining that a 12-year-old girl on patrol on a school bus was abusive to other children. Lanigan warned the girl that she would lose the privilege of being on patrol if she did not behave. Another teacher heard this exchange and told the girl she could also be removed as a news reader on Centre Ridge’s morning TV news show.

See the rest of the article HERE

The accuser although found to be Perjures is still not in trouble.  Why?  Because she is a girl, for even a 6 yr old male is not save in our society.  NO WONDER we are made fun of all over the world....   

False Rape charges by trespassing maid against IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn?


Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director and French presidential candidate accused of rape. As the feminist dominated press is scared to even think that the rape accusations are false, Human-Stupidity has to speak up. The story is very strange, and dominated by clear mistakes committed by accuser.  A five star hotel maid trespasses into a naked client’s room?  Unforgivable. 5 Star hotel ecurity lets a rapist check out? The maid is not trained to instantly report crimes to security staff?

Maid violates professional ethics and walks into a prominent naked guest’s room

The New York Police Department claims that at about 1 p.m. on Saturday, a hotel maid entered a $3,000-a-night suite at the Sofitel near Times Square, believing that it was empty.
 No possibility of false rape charges set up against Dominique Strauss Kahn. Gulty verdict has already been decided by the press. No presumption of innocence.That is a bad start.  She made a mistake. This should not happen in a top class hotel. Were the sex roles inverted, were a male employee walk in on a prominent naked female guest, like Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the male employee would be fired and arrested for sexual harassment.  Usually, hotels have a policy to avoid such embarrassment: cleaners should knock on the door, ring the bell, yell "room service" when walking into rooms.
Strauss-Kahn then emerged naked from the bathroom, and grabbed her, pulled her into the bedroom and threw her on to the bed, before trying to lock the suite’s main door, according to New York Police Dept. Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, who outlined the charges to reporters. "She fights him off, and then he drags her down the hallway to the bathroom, where he sexually assaults her a second time," he told Reuters.
What a coincidence: she makes a serious professional mistake. A hitherto well behaved, civilized man, suddenly goes crazy? Just because he was naked he wanted to take advantage of her and rape her?
A man on the covers of all magazines, admired by millions of women, who could get women at a snap of his fingers. A man from a country with legalized prostitution who could afford 2 luxury prostitutes per day, in case he is a sex addict.  And this guy, exactly the moment the woman walks in, illegally, incorrectly, grabs her and rapes her?
The maid, 32, finally managed to push Strauss-Kahn away and escape, according to Browne, and her colleagues called 911. Strauss-Kahn had checked out by the time police arrived at the hotel, leaving behind his cell phone.
Very strange. No rapist makes it out of a 5 star hotel, full of security agents, trained to catch thieves, impostors, troublemakers.  Especially people who cause trouble and then want to slip away without getting caught. Top hotels have a very professional security staff. I am sure maids are trained to instantly report crimes to security. So any delay in reporting would be her second professional failure of the day.
New York Police usually does not take longer then 5 minutes to arrive.  And he made it all the way into the plane? Check out of hotel, check into the airport, pass security?
Strauss-Kahn was arrested on charges of attempted rape, conducting a criminal sexual act, and unlawful imprisonment of the woman.  Arrest of IMF Chief on Attempted Rape Charges Throws French Presidential Race Into Chaos | Time Magazine
A really important man:
In fact DSK, as the French call one of the country’s leading political figures, happens to be on the cover of virtually every French magazine this week as the country’s possible next President, [...]
Across Europe, too, Strauss-Kahn’s arrest will have a major impact. It could impact critical negotiations over the E.U.’s deep debt crisis, in which Strauss-Kahn has been a key — if not the key — player. He was due to be at emergency debt meetings in Brussels this week, and perhaps mindful that he could soon be one of the E.U.’s most powerful leaders

False rape charges to cover up own wrong, or for political reasons?

What are the alternative explanations? Don’t forget, she committed a serious professional lapse, almost a crime. So it is quite likely that she did that for a reason, with intent.
  • Many political and economic enemies would pay millions to get him out of the way.  maybe they bribed a lowly hotel maid?
But there is a much easier and parsimonious explanation:
The room maid, in serious violation of her professional duties, walked into a client’s room and surprised him naked. Even if that was a honest mistake, it could have serious consequences for her. 
  • Maybe he reacted with strong irritation, wanted to complain and get her fired (for good reasons). That scared her. There is no talk about her getting fired now.
  • Maybe she walked in with the intent to steal and was caught
  • Maybe she walked in with the intent to seduce a famous man
  • Maybe she planned to seduce him and was rejected. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"
  • Maybe she walked in with the intent to seduce a famous man and then blackmail him by threatening to cry rape.
  • Maybe he made an indecent proposal, even tried to indecently touch her. In revenge, she cried rape.
As we learn in the false rape society, many women have a knee jerk reaction to cry "rape" in order to distract from their own problems.  Did you notice? Nobody talks of firing her for her transgression.
Let us see if there is any hard corroborating evidence, except an accusation by a guilty woman that committed a serious, unforgivable professional mistake.


Jacques Attalli, the economist, a prominent Socialist and friend of Strauss-Kahn said: "The most likely outcome is that this case will stick and even if he pleads not guilty, which he may be, he won’t be able to be candidate for the Socialist primary for the presidency and he won’t be able to stay at the IMF."
Michel Taubmann, author of a new official and approved biography of Strauss-Kahn, said: "He is a well-known seducer but does not have the profile of a rapist."
Dominique Strauss-Kahn charged with sex attack on New York hotel maid | The Guardian

Something for Everyone to Keep in Mind when talking to Police...

This site is a great wealth of information for everyone, whether you have ever been in trouble or NEVER been in trouble. 

http://flexyourrights.org/faq

We are taught from a very young age that the Police are our friends, Officer Friendly was concocted to help people 'feel better' about law enforcement.  What people like to say is, "the police work for us, we pay taxes"  or "Police, our tax dollars hard at work, helping the working man"  Neither of which holds much truth.  Yes we pay taxes, but that is about the extent of "Truth" in those to statements.  In reality Law Enforcement Officers are NOT our friends, they are NOT out to "protect and serve" any of us and they are above all Human, subject to all the flaws they prosecute the rest of us for.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Female Sexual Assault - The Facts...

Female - Offenders

Excellent site, good information.   Check it out!

Case asks: Can a 6-year-old commit sexual assault?

SANDY CULLEN | scullen@madison.com | 608-252-6137 madison.com | Posted: Sunday, May 1, 2011 6:05 am

SEE ARTICLE HERE 



So how young is TOO YOUNG to prosecute for sexual offenses?  This child was SIX YEARS OLD when this happened.  These laws were supposed to PROTECT THE CHILDREN not put them on a sex offender registry and with this type of offense Lifetime GPS.


Stand up for your childrens' rights!  Write your representatives and our Governor here in Wisconsin and tell them how absurd these laws, this case and the way they handle ALL offenses.  They have a revolving door on all of our jails and prisons, if it is revolving then they aren't really the Department of Corrections, but the Department of Prisons, for all they do is house and punish.

And the Supreme Court of Wisconsin Speaks...

Confession thrown out in sexual assault case

11:08 PM, Apr. 29, 2011 
 The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday threw out a confession given by a Whitefish Bay man accused of trying to rape an 18-year-old woman at his Town of Holland vacation home.
The court ruled statements made by Brad B. Forbush, 50, are inadmissible in court because he previously retained an attorney. Police say Forbush confessed after being tracked down in Michigan, but he has claimed the interrogation violated his constitutional rights because he did not have an attorney present.
The case, from a May 2008 incident, now returns to the courtroom of Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge Terence Bourke, who originally suppressed the confession in November 2008. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Waukesha overturned Bourke in December 2009, but Forbush then appealed to the state's highest court.

Forbush is charged with attempted second-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment, facing up to 15 years in prison, if convicted. He is free on a $25,000 cash bond.
During the interrogation in question, Forbush waived his right to have his lawyer present. He argued later, though, that he can't waive that right after it's been invoked and his statements must be suppressed. A divided Supreme Court agreed, saying the interrogation was improper.

A spokesman for the state Justice Department, which handled Forbush's appeal for prosecutors, called the ruling disappointing.

A criminal complaint says Forbush asked the woman — a neighbor who sometimes babysat Forbush's children — to come into his home and watch a video of his triplets. He instead played a pornographic DVD and told the woman that's what they were going to do, the complaint said.

Forbush then allegedly blocked the woman's path and grabbed her as she tried to leave the home, but she was able to drag him outside and escape. Forbush fled but was arrested the next day when police spotted his SUV in a motel parking lot in Saginaw, Mich.

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco called the ruling "disappointing" and said it would establish no precedent, or give clear guidance to law enforcement, for future similar cases because the justices in the majority cited different reasons for their ruling.

"So we'll see. It will take another case similar to this" to clarify the issues involved, DeCecco said. "It's very disappointing. But we'll do what we have to do and bring the guy back to trial."

A precedent set here in the State of Wisconsin, the interrogation tactics in some Law Enforcement Offices is not being held to the highest standards and this case has shown that.