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Sex Offender Issues
"The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice." - Benjamin Franklin
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MI - 'Romeo' not cleared, gets life on list
Original Article
05/09/2012
By Ken Kolker
Request denied to take him off Sex Offender list
GRAND RAPIDS (WOOD) - He was a poster child for what was wrong with Michigan's sex offender registry -- a teen on the list for a one-night stand with an under-age girl.
Then, the state passed sweeping reforms to the sex offender list, and it appeared [name withheld]'s name would be erased, and his life would change.
A year later, Target 8 found his life has changed -- for the worse.
Not only is [name withheld] still on Michigan's public sex offender registry, but he now is listed as a Tier 3 offender -- the worst of the worst.
"He looks like a dangerous predator because he's on the list, and he's on this very high tier," said Barb Lester, a crime-prevention organizer in Grand Rapids who opposes the list. "That would give you the impression that this man is dangerous to the general public."
[name withheld], now 30, said he is "baffled."
"I was astonished that it changed to a Tier 3," he said. "I was like, 'This can't be right. I haven't done anything since then; I haven't gotten into any trouble.' It just makes no sense to me."
And, instead of being on the list for another 10 years under the old law, he's now on it for life.
"You always get those glances, like, oh my God, he's a Tier 3. Stay away from him."
[name withheld] says it all started with a one-afternoon stand with a girl he'd just met and who got pregnant.
"I was 17; she was 15," he said.
Records show she claimed he "somewhat forced her" to have sex at her parents' home, and that he claimed it was consensual. But nobody had to prove force. She was too young to legally consent. It got him 2 years probation.
Before the sex offender law changed, the victim's stepfather told Target 8 [name withheld] didn't belong on the list. Even the judge back then called it unfair.
"Almost to the point of being cruel and unusual, cruel and unusual punishment," Kent County Circuit Judge Paul Sullivan said at the time.
So what went wrong?
While the law says that "new" Romeo-Juliet cases will no longer make the list, it requires existing Romeos to petition a judge to get their names removed.
Raquel Olivo, an attorney at Legal Aid of Western Michigan, has helped three or four men off the list locally, but couldn't help [name withheld].
"It isn't an automatic right," she said.
They have to show they were less than 4 years older than the victim, and that the victim was between 13 and 16 -- no problem with this case.
Then, they need to prove the sex was consensual -- and often that means reaching out to the victim. The burden is on the offender.
"That is the problem that he's facing is finding that evidence to show there was a consensual relationship, that there was no force or coercion at the time," Olivo said.
Since the new law passed, the sex offender registry has shrunk by about 8,000 names, but it's likely only a small number were Romeo-Juliet cases. The state doesn't keep track that way.
Last August, the judge denied [name withheld]'s request.
"When I got out of the courtroom, I actually started crying, because I had my hopes up too high," [name withheld] said.
He says he's tried to reach his victim, who is now in her late 20s.
"I sent her a message on Facebook. I found her on Facebook, and didn't get any response back."
When Target 8 reached her on Facebook for last year's story, she told us she didn't want to get involved. She didn't respond to our recent Facebook post.
"She's moved on; she don't care," [name withheld] said. "Sucks for me, but what can you do?"
As for [name withheld], he was recently forced to move from a friend's house, because it's too close to a school. He's now living with his parents.
He says the list has kept him out of the military, cost him jobs, and kept him out of his kids' schools.
"No matter where I go, no matter what I do, I have to register," he said.
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MI - Michigan sex offender tiers confusing
Original Article
05/08/2012
By Ken Kolker
Even law-writer had trouble using new system
GRAND RAPIDS (WOOD) - Sitting in a corner at the Kava House, Rachel Moran clicked on convicted sex offender [name withheld].
"What did he actually do?" she asked, reading from a list of his convictions on the Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry.
"Oh, yuck. Sexually abusive material and possession. So he was in possession of child pornography?"
[name withheld], 59, is a Tier 1 offender on the registry, convicted of 4 counts of possessing child porn in 2004 in Washtenaw County.
"So would that be the worst thing you could be on this list for?" Moran asked.
Not hardly.
In fact, [name withheld] would be considered among the lowest-level offenders.
A Target 8 investigation last year exposed a sex registry that lumped together all the state's 47,000 offenders -- from serial rapists to teens who had consensual sex.
It helped lead to a new law, signed last April by Gov. Snyder, that was supposed to make it easier to find predators in your neighborhood.
The law, which follows federal guidelines, split sex offenders into three tiers:- Tier 1 (Lowest level offenders. On list for 15 years) -- Includes possession of child porn, inappropriate touching of adult victims.
- Tier 2 (Mid-level offenders. On list for 25 years) -- Generally involves victims age 13 to 17, including inappropriate touching and gross indecency; does not include sexual penetration. Also includes producing child porn and soliciting prostitutes under 18 years old.
- Tier 3 (Highest-level offenders. On list for life) -- Generally involves inappropriate touching of victims under age 13, as well as any sexual penetration or attempts (first- and third-degree sexual assault) with victims of any age.
But Target 8 recently put the new list to the test -- with help from some computer-savvy customers at the Kava House in Grand Rapids -- and found only confusion.
The big question: On which of the three tiers can you find so-called predators?
Anya Nyson and Dana Boyer have used the list before -- Nyson to protect her kids; Boyer as a social worker.
They clicked on the first face that popped up in 49503, a zip code covering downtown Grand Rapids. [name withheld], 27, a Tier 3 offender, was convicted of attempted criminal sexual conduct 2nd degree with a person under 13. That's inappropriate touching.
So, Nyson figured, Tier 3 must not be the worst.
"It says 'attempted,' so maybe that's the lower?" she guessed.
And, Target 8 tested a local crime prevention organizer, who also failed to pick out the predators.
"It seems to be vague," said Claire Fisher, of the East Hills Neighborhood Association in Grand Rapids, who was trained on the registry before last year's changes.
As it turns out, the worst of the worst are supposed to be on Tier 3.
"Tier 3 will be the dangerous predators," state Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said when he helped re-write the sex offender law.
Tier 3 includes men like [name withheld], 62, who raped at least three young women in 1987 -- two of them in separate attacks in the attic of the home where he was living, each of those attacks involving an accomplice and a knife.
That was four years after being paroled for killing a door-to-door salesman in a robbery in Grand Rapids. He and an accomplice got away with $400.
He served 9 years in prison for the murder, and got 15 to 30 years for the rapes.
Target 8 recently found [name withheld] outside his southwest Grand Rapids home, raking his yard. "I don't want to be on your camera," he said. "I ain't got nothing to say to you at all."
One of [name withheld]' rape victims says he's dangerous and belongs on the list as a predator, though she'd rather see his name in an obituary.
But there is nothing on the registry that actually says Tier 3 is the most dangerous. That's something you have to figure out for yourself.
"I shouldn't have to search for who is a predator," said Kava House customer Rachel Moran. "I should be able to just look and know."
"The problem with this system is it's a state Web site, so it's efficient for them; it's not efficient for us."
She'd prefer a way to sort offenders by tiers, and an easy-to-find definition of the tiers.
Picking out predators is a lot easier in states like Florida, Illinois and Indiana, all with top-rated lists. They label predators or the "sexually dangerous."
"It would be nice if there was a description on this site, and maybe there is, I don't know, but a description of Tier 1 equals this, Tier 2 equals this, you know," Anya Nyson said.
Turns out there is, but good luck finding it.
- I found it in a matter of seconds. Just click the FAQ and search for TIER and bam, there it is!
Even Sen. Rick Jones, who helped re-write the sex offender law, had trouble finding the definitions.
"Hmmm. I don't see anything here, right off the top," he said while searching the site in his Lansing office at Target 8's request. "I don't see anything there, clearly. There may be something."
The trooper who oversees sex offender enforcement admits the list could use some tweaks.
He points out the "Frequently Asked Questions" page on the sex offender list, but admits "the word 'tier' isn't in any of the questions."
- Remember, you are dealing with brain dead sheeple who need to be force fed information. They need Big Brother to hold their hand and tell them what to do and when to do it. Maybe you need a "Using the Michigan Sex Offender Registry For Dummies Book" or something?
"I believe it's answer No. 16 that will explain the tier levels."
The list, he said, might not be user-friendly enough.
"If they (users) have suggestions, we're willing to take those suggestions and make changes so it is useful for the public."
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MI - Oakland County errors make least egregious sex offenders look like predators, suit says
Original Article
05/04/2012
By David Ashenfelter
Update: Oakland County blames Illinois law enforcement for sex offender arrest
A Chicago man filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Oakland County officials, saying they have been miscoding sex offender conviction records for at least 10 years, making the least egregious offenders look like predators.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of [name withheld], 35, who says the practice caused him to be charged criminally with failing to register as a sex offender in Illinois. He said the coding also cost him his job as general manager of a restaurant and caused him to be publicly branded as a child molester and shunned by his neighbors.
"This guy's life has been turned upside down because of a computer programming error," his lawyer, Jonathan Marko of Royal Oak, said Thursday. He said the problem may affect hundreds of other defendants convicted of the least serious sex offenses.
There was no immediate comment from Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard Jr., who was named as a defendant in the suit. The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, which also was named as a defendant, said it is investigating the situation.
Marko and co-counsel Rachel Wisley said [name withheld] pleaded no contest in Oakland County Circuit Court in 2003 to exposing himself to an undercover cop and was sentenced to six months of probation.
In 2006, he moved to Chicago and, within three days, notified police about the conviction to find out whether he needed to register as a sex offender.
After providing police with the details about the conviction, he was told he didn't need to register, the suit said.
In 2010, federal marshals showed up on his doorstep and arrested him on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
At a court hearing, [name withheld] said, he was shocked when the prosecutor called him a child molester and asked for a $125,000 bond, which the judge granted.
- This just proves that judges, lawyers, DA's, police, etc, think all sex offenders are child molesting, pedophile predators. This man exposed himself to a cop, so how is that a "child molester?"
[name withheld] eventually contacted Marko, who petitioned Oakland County Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot to correct the problem.
But before he got a chance to speak at a hearing Wednesday, Marko said, a prosecutor acknowledged the problem and Chabot ordered that the issue be corrected.
After the hearing, Chabot's clerk re-entered the proper conviction code for [name withheld]. This time around, Marko said, the description that went with the code identified [name withheld] as someone who had sexual relations with an incapacitated person.
- Wow, gives new meaning to the term "keystone cops!" Anytime there is humans in the mix, errors will occur, and they happen all the time, this is one of those examples.
"We couldn't believe it," said Marko, who is seeking class-action status in the suit.
He said he left the courthouse with assurances that the prosecutor's office would look into the problem and fix it.
"This was a perfect storm of events," Marko said. "If the clerk hadn't re-entered the conviction code while I was standing there, I'd be getting a call from my client in six months demanding to know what I had done."
"He's having to pay legal fees in Illinois and Michigan for something that was never his fault," Marko said.
Until the problem is corrected, [name withheld], who now works as a bartender, can't resolve the failing to register charge in Chicago.
The suit accuses Bullard and Prosecutor Jessica Cooper of violating [name withheld]'s constitutional rights.
It asks U.S. District Judge Sean Cox to certify the case as a class action, order county officials to fix the problem and compensate [name withheld] and others affected by the foul-up to be compensated for emotional distress.
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MI - Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) And How It Is Changing
Video Series Description:
Are you aware of the changes to the Michigan Sex Offender's Registration Act that took effect July 1, 2011? Do you know there are new petitioning procedures to remove your clients from the sex offender registry? Are you aware of the increased penalties for non-compliance and the stringent requirements demanded from registrants? Come to this seminar to learn the ins and outs of the registry. Speaker is well known local expert and defense attorney Cheryl Carpenter. Moderated by Thomas Loeb, Esq.
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MI - Court Bailiff: Detroit Judge Wade McCree Sent a Nearly Nude Photo of Himself to My Cell Phone
Original Article
Wade McCree
04/23/2012
How Do You Judge This Photo?
A husband is upset after finding a photo of a nearly nude man on his wife's cell phone. She says the photo came from her boss? What does she do for a living? She's a court bailiff. Who's her boss? Detroit 3rd Circuit Judge Wade McCree.
Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff shows the photo to Judge McCree. The Judge seems quite proud of it. "Hot dog, yep that's me," says McCree. Play the video to get the full report and to hear what the judge himself has to say about the photo.
LeDuff also talks to legal analyst Charlie Langton who says it's possible McCree could lose his job over the photo.
McCree's father, Wade H. McCree Jr., was the first African-American judge to be appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and only the second African-American solicitor general, serving during the Carter administration.
McCree, of Detroit, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1978 and his juris doctor degree from California's Stanford Law School in 1984. In 2004, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed McCree, then of the 36th District Court in Detroit, to the Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court.
What would you think if your boss sent you a photo like this? Should there be a penalty of any kind for sending a nearly nude photo to someone's cell phone? Do you consider this 'sexting'?
