The passage of the Alianna's Alert bill reminds us why we should oppose ALL named/ memorial laws

There are a few things we need to remember every time we see a bill named after someone  no matter what effects it has.

First, we should ALWAYS oppose the concept of a named law because "common sense" is typically not associated with that bill.

Second, even if a bill does something we feel is "positive," we should still be ready to confront the negative rhetoric surrounding them. Last time I went to Columbus to oppose a bill, there was a different bill in discussion we weren't there to fight related to a minor administrative change to a funding bill for SO programs and the usual rhetoric of "they all reoffend/ can't be cured"  :

Third, in regards to Alianna's Alert, consider the fact that few children are going to be absent because they were abducted and "brutally murdered" by registered citizens. Kids play hooky. Kids get sick and stay home. Sometimes, the parents don't answer the phone. Valuable resources will be wasted on routine absentees. Honestly, how many stories like the case that inspired this bill can any of us find? This is the same worst first thinking that gave us the registry.

This law is a steaming pile of bovine excrement that only exists because D'OHio is run by right wing tough on crime whack jobs that just passed the violent offender registry. We're going to go bankrupt expanding the registry even further and wasting resources on feel good measures like Alianna's Alert.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/aliannas-alert-bill-heads-to-gov-kasich-to-be-signed-into-law

'Alianna's Alert' bill heads to Gov. Kasich to be signed into law
Posted: 3:10 PM, Dec 27, 2018  Updated: 11:10 PM, Dec 27, 2018
By: Ian Cross , Jordan Vandenberge

COLUMBUS — A bill that would require schools to call parents within two hours of the start of the school day if the child is absent received final approval from the Ohio House and now heads to Governor Kasich’s desk to be signed.

The language contained in the “Alianna’s Alert” bill was rolled into a difference piece of legislation, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 85-4.

Alianna Defreeze, 14, was lured away from the bus stop on Cleveland’s east side in January 2017 by convicted sex offender, Christopher Whittaker. A year later, Whittaker was convicted of torturing, sexually assaulting and murdering the girl before dumping her body in an abandoned home. Alianna’s disappearance ignited a city-wide search, and city officials held a press conference to announce a reward for any information regarding her whereabouts. Just hours after the press conference, authorities confirmed the worst.

The purpose of the bill is to take precautionary measures to ensure children are safe when they are absent from school.

“I’m elated. I was at work almost breaking down,” said Damon Defreeze, Alianna’s father. “It was very exciting to get a call from Senator (Sandra) Williams letting me know the bill did move onto the governor’s office.”

Senate Bill 82 was amended into House Bill 66 in an effort to get it passed by the end of the year. The Senate passed the amended bill last week unanimously. The bill now heads heads to Gov. Kasich to be signed into law.

“I’m very excited,” Senator Williams said over the phone Thursday. “I think this is good for the Defreeze family and I think it is good for all of the children who are traveling by themselves to school.”

As part of the legislation, all school districts in the state of Ohio will be required to notify a student’s parents or guardians within two hours if the child is absent from school.

The original version of the bill required school districts to make such a notification within one hour. However, the original language of the bill drew opposition from the Ohio School Boards Association and other lobbyist groups, Senator Williams said.

“It started out shaky but once we amended the bill to satisfy some of the people who were not very happy with it, it started moving pretty quickly,” Senator Williams said. “You have to give a little to get a little. Right now, that was the only way we could get it through the [Ohio School Boards Association] and others who were saying this was an unfunded mandate.”

Activists tell Brook Park its sex offender law is 'counterproductive'

Apparently the Brook Park city council is determined to NOT listen to reason.

https://www.cleveland.com/brook-park/index.ssf/2018/10/activists_tell_brook_park_its.html

Activists tell Brook Park its sex offender law is 'counterproductive'
Updated Oct 8, 12:20 PM; Posted Oct 8, 10:47 AM
By Beth Mlady, Special to cleveland.com mladywrites@yahoo.com

City Council is still mulling an ordinance that would place further residency restrictions on registered sex offenders.

BROOK PARK, Ohio -- During their Oct. 2 regular meeting, Brook Park City Council members heard strong opinions expressed by two advocates for responsible sex offender residency laws.

City Council has proposed an ordinance tightening restrictions on where registered sex offenders can live by adding parks to the 1,000-foot perimeter list. It also would prohibit two offenders from living together in the same dwelling.

"These laws are counterproductive and cause many unintended consequences," said Shelley Cernin, a volunteer with Ohio Rational Sex Offense Laws. "Residency restrictions don't work. Let's make sure we are passing laws that do more than just make us feel good."

Barb Wright of Ohio RSOL and the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws agreed with Cernin. In addition, she maintained that Brook Park's ordinance goes against Ohio's Home Rule statutes.

"This is just another -- as our president likes to say -- witch hunt," Wright told council. "We're looking for the bad guy, but we're looking for him in the wrong places."

She followed up the next day with an e-mail to council members stating her belief that they will make their decision "based upon hysteria."

"Brook Park is not the first city to make that mistake, nor will it be the last," Wright said.

Residents previously voiced concern about three registered sex offenders staying at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham hotel on Brookpark Road. An Oct. 5 interview with Police Chief Jim Foster indicated that there was no cause for alarm.

"They stayed for the number of days they were registered for ... and then they moved on," Foster said. "It was just that simple. There was a public perception they were moving in there permanently."

Councilman Brian Poindexter said he wants "the strictest ordinance ... that won't be overturned by legal challenges," while Law Director Carol Dillon Horvath offered her assistance to make sure the city's law is "fair and rational."

"It's imperative we do something to protect the innocence of the children and protect the future of the city," added Council President Mike Vecchio, originator of the ordinance.

The legislation received its second public reading and then was placed in Safety Committee for further discussion.

Advocacy group challenges proposed Brook Park sex offender ordinance

From Cleveland.com, and Kudos to Ohio RSOL

https://www.cleveland.com/brook-park/index.ssf/2018/09/advocacy_group_member_challeng.html

Advocacy group challenges proposed Brook Park sex offender ordinance
Updated Sep 29; Posted Sep 29
By Beth Mlady, Special to cleveland.com mladywrites@yahoo.com

An ordinance to further limit where registered sex offenders can live is still under consideration by Brook Park City Council.
BROOK PARK, Ohio -- Advocate Barbara Wright opposes Brook Park City Council's intention to further limit where registered sex offenders can live. The Brook Park ordinance under consideration adds parks to vicinity restrictions and also prohibits two sex offenders from living together in the same residential dwelling.

Wright, a member of advocacy groups Ohio Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL) and the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL), sent a lengthy e-mail to cleveland.com and Brook Park Law Director Carol Dillon Horvath on Sept. 24.

"I am writing to challenge those restrictions as a violation of Brook Park's home rule authority," Wright wrote. "Brook Park is proposing restrictions which exceed Ohio law prohibiting residents from living within 1,000 feet of any school, preschool or daycare center. Ohio RSOL is in the process of identifying plaintiffs to challenge similar restrictions in Cuyahoga County."

When contacted by cleveland.com, Wright would not provide further comment.

She maintains in her e-mail, however, that the U.S. Department of Justice reports that "residency restrictions do not protect society," and she asserted that "non-registered residents of Brook Park are nine times more likely to commit sex crimes than registered residents."

"The Brook Park ordinance will do absolutely nothing to prevent the majority of sex crimes from occurring, and may even lead residents to a false sense of security, thereby allowing them to 'let their guard down,'" Wright indicated. "Vigilance starts at home, not in public parks and playgrounds."

Horvath said City Council at its most recent meeting granted her extra time to further study the issue, and she is doing that, particularly in regard to the home-rule aspect, since Brook Park is a home-rule city.

"Everybody has their own views ... and the city's position is that we're continuing to review and research the proposed legislation," Horvath told cleveland.com.

The ordinance is slated to receive its second of three public readings during City Council's Oct. 2 meeting.

Springfield Township man claims Ohio's sex offender parole law won't allow visits with son

Ohio's parole laws need to be reformed.

https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/springfield-township-man-claims-ohios-sex-offender-parole-law-won-t-allow-visits-with-son

Springfield Township man claims Ohio's sex offender parole law won't allow visits with son
Paula Christian
6:00 AM, Jul 27, 2018

CINCINNATI -- A Springfield Township man filed a federal lawsuit challenging Ohio’s sex offender parole law as unconstitutional because it forbids him from seeing his 14-year-old son.

The Ohio Justice and Policy Center filed the lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of a 50-year-old former high school teacher who is listed as John Doe in court filings.

In 2014, Doe was convicted of two counts of gross sexual imposition involving an 18-year-old female student at the school where he taught. He has no other criminal history, according to the lawsuit.

Doe served a three-year prison term and had regular visits with wife and his son. The family spoke on the phone nearly every day and sent letters and emails.

Now that Doe is out of prison, he is forbidden from moving back to the family home or having any contact with his son. He could not send his son a card or call him on his 14th birthday. He is not allowed to possess his son’s photograph, the lawsuit stated.

“Mr. Doe’s conviction made him subject to five mandatory years of what is known in Ohio as post-release control,” the lawsuit stated. “Though his offense did not involve a minor, the conditions of Mr. Doe’s PRC include a full prohibition on contact with any minors without the permission of his supervising officer.”

Now Doe is asking U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett for a temporary restraining order that would stop parole officers from enforcing the law, and allow him to live with his wife and son in their Forest Park home.

“Mr. Doe has no history of abusing his son and poses no risk to him … his son will be eighteen -- college-aged -- by the time his father is allowed to speak with him on the phone, send him a letter, or give him a hug as he did while in prison,” the lawsuit stated.

Doe is also at risk of getting a divorce from his wife of 26 years because he cannot live in the same house as his son.

“Mrs. Doe has been forced to choose between spending time with her husband … and devoting attention to her son … She feels guilty spending nights away from her son, so she does not stay overnight at Mr. Doe’s residence,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. and Mrs. Doe love each other, but Mrs. Doe is considering divorce because Mr. Doe cannot live with her or help her raise their child.”

Doe filed the lawsuit against his parole officer and parole supervisor, and a regional administrator at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s adult parole authority office in Cincinnati.

In order to see his son, a parole officer told Doe that he must apply for a visit “in a controlled setting” that is supervised by a parole officer at Doe’s financial expense. Doe is unemployed and struggling financially. And during the visit, he would not be allowed to embrace his child as he could in prison, the lawsuit stated.

His parole officer would not allow Doe's brother, a licensed social worker, to supervise weekly visits with his son. As a result, Doe has not seen his son for more than six months.

“Mr. Doe’s family has been torn apart as a result of his absence," the lawsuit states. "His son misses his father and is suffering from anxiety because of the hardship caused by Mr. Doe’s absence."

The lawsuit claims that parole officers have deprived Doe of his fundamental right to parent his son and have a spousal relationship as well as violated his right to due process.

Ohio House approves updates 'sexting' law related to minors

Still has to be approved by the Senate

http://www.norwalkreflector.com/Government/2018/06/27/Ohio-House-updates-sexting-law-related-to-minors.html

Ohio House updates 'sexting' law related to minors
• JUN 27, 2018 AT 10:22 PM

COLUMBUS — State Reps. Brian Hill (R-Zanesville) and Jeff Rezabek (R-Clayton) today applauded the House for passing legislation they jointly sponsored that provides another option to Ohio’s courts when dealing with juveniles charged with possessing sexually explicit digital material, or engaging in “sexting” with a minor.

It was one of several bills OK’d today by the Ohio House of Representatives.

This bill takes into account the growing dilemma of juveniles who engage in “sexting” with other juveniles and the charges that may be filed by prosecutors by law. House Bill 355 prohibits anyone under the age of 19 from creating, distributing, or possessing sexually explicit digital material that depicts a minor through a phone or computer.

The law serves as an alternative option for prosecutors when determining whether to charge the offender with a felony, which has lifelong implications, or nothing at all. Offenders under the age of 19, and in which the victim was less than four years younger than the offender and over the age of 13, would then be eligible for a charge which carries with it a mandatory diversion program, which would cover a host of issues related to sexting, educating our youth about the dangers of doing so.

Provisions were placed in the bill to ensure that prosecutors can charge a more serious offense under qualifying circumstances if they want to pursue a heightened charge, rather than the diversion program.

Rep. Hill introduced the legislation after an incident in his district where a young man committed suicide after he faced potentially felonious charges from sexting with his girlfriend. Rep. Hill hopes the bill will give these individuals a second chance. As scenarios differ case-by-case, House Bill 355 will give prosecutors more options to consider the facts of what happened and seek an appropriate punishment.

“I’m happy to see this bill pass that will give young people a second chance when they have made a stupid mistake,” Rep. Hill said. “I do not condone the activity, but I don’t believe a young person should be a felon or sex offender as a result of a first offense for sexting.”

Rep. Rezabek utilized his knowledge of the juvenile court system while working on the legislation, and hopes to allow prosecutors to save the felony charges for the truly heinous individuals who are preying on juveniles, and possessing or distributing child pornography.

“I’m very proud the House has passed this piece of legislation,” Rep. Rezabek said. “Along with Chairman Hill, we were able to see his vision through in helping juveniles who made a mistake to fix and correct their actions.”

The bill will now go to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

Ohio House passes bill to expand acts requiring registration

This is a stupid proposal, but Schaffer's "gateway" comment is worse. This is why even minor alterations of the law left unchecked is dangerous.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/child-flashers-may-face-sex-offender-reporting-requirements-ohio/A88PtpVwhthnCLF6JGkmkM/

Child flashers will have to register as sex offenders under bill passed by Ohio House

By Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS —
The Ohio House voted 80-0 for a bill that steps up penalties for people who masturbate in view of or expose themselves to children. These kiddie flashers would be required to register as tier 1 sex offenders for 15 years.

The ACLU of Ohio opposed the bill, saying expanding the sex offender registry in ineffective at best and harmful at worst.

“There is no evidence these policies and laws keep people safer or reduce recidivism,” said Gary Daniels of the ACLU of Ohio in written testimony. Exiling sex offenders and making it more difficult to find housing and unemployment increase the chances they will commit another offense, he said.

A panel that reviewed Ohio’s criminal laws recently recommended that court hearings should be held to determine if someone should be required to submit to tier one reporting.

People on the tier one reporting list cannot live within 1,000 feet of a day care center or school.

State Rep. Tim Schaffer, the bill sponsor, said in written testimony that he was shocked to learn that a man who exposed himself to children on passing school buses in Fairfield County wasn’t required to register as a sex offender.

He noted that the bill is written so that only offenders who knowingly expose themselves for sexual gratification would be targeted — not a college student urinating in an alley, for example. Schaffer said law enforcement told him that public indecency is sometimes a gateway to more serious crimes.

Reagan Tokes Act passes Ohio House

I am wary of any bill named after a person, but admittedly, I haven't even heard of this bill until today.

https://www.10tv.com/article/reagan-tokes-act-passes-ohio-house

Reagan Tokes Act passes Ohio House

BENNETT HAEBERLE

PUBLISHED: 06/20/18 10:37 AM EDT

UPDATED: 06/21/18 10:30 AM EDT

A bill named after murdered Ohio State student Reagan Tokes cleared a major legislative hurdle.

The Ohio House version of the Reagan Tokes Act was passed 83-3 during a floor vote Wednesday afternoon.

“This is huge day, certainly thrilled that this received such bi-partisan support,” Rep. Kristin Boggs, D – District 18 one of the primary sponsors of the bill.

The bill is named after Ohio State student Reagan Tokes, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in February of 2017 by Brian Golsby, a convicted sex offender, who was convicted in March and sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors say Tokes was abducted in the Short North area as she left work from her job at Bodega restaurant and bar.

Golsby had been released from prison just three months before Tokes’ death in November of 2016 and was wearing a GPS ankle monitor at the time of the crime. Police records show Golsby committed a string of robberies in the weeks – and even the day before – Tokes’ murder.

Golsby had served six years in prison for attempted rape and robbery and acquired 52 sanctions while behind bars. Despite evidence he was not rehabilitated, state law required him to be released. The Tokes Act seeks to change that.

House Bill 365 would dramatically change how violent felons are sentenced to prison and how they are watched once they are released.

The legislation followed a series of 10 Investigates reports that exposed failures of the state’s parole system to closely track Golsby and others.

“You've done a great job -- you and your station have analyzed a lot of this stuff and pointed out examples of where they have not been monitored and we have victims throughout the state because of it,” Rep. Jim Hughes, R – District 24, told 10 Investigates Wednesday.

The legislation also has two companion bills in the Ohio Senate.

SB 201 was voted out of the Senate in May. It seeks to create indeterminate sentencing in Ohio, which would allow judges to sentence violent felons to a range of years in prison rather than a finite amount of years.

The idea is to incentivize inmates to behave while in prison. If they behave, there’s a chance their sentences could be reduced.

If they act out – as Golsby did – they could receive a lengthier prison term.

Under current Ohio law, offenders cannot be given additional for misbehaving while incarcerated.

SB 202 attempts to address the other issues raised in the legislation – creating a statewide GPS database for offenders, forcing the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to create a re-entry program for hard-to-place offenders and reducing the caseload burdens for parole officers.

HB 365 encompasses all the components of both SB 201 and SB 202.

The major difference – HB 365 strips all the power from ODRC when it comes to the issue of determining if an inmate should be released early from prison. HB 365 calls for a sentencing judge to make that determination. SB 201 would leave the power with ODRC to determine if that the inmate is going to be released early but allows a judge to veto the decision.

The Ohio Public Defenders have spoken in opposition of HB 365 bill saying that it will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars and force the state to build more prisons. The group has said that SB 201 is more palatable.

10 Investigates reached out to ODRC for comment but did not hear back before news time.

The Tokes family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against ODRC alleging that they were negligent and failed to closely monitor Golsby.

Attorneys for the state have responded to that lawsuit – asking that it be dismissed – and stating in part that Tokes’ death was caused "by Brian Golsby. And Brian Golsby alone. DRC is not legally responsible for what he did."

CSU QB isn't on SOR because he was convicted as a minor

This article discusses whether registered persons deserve the right for second chances. Derek Logue of OnceFallen.com was also cited in this story.

https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/crime--law/csu-isn-sex-offender-registry-because-conviction-came-minor/th6R85KQTdeT46e8WobRoK/

CSU QB isn’t on sex offender registry because conviction came as minor
By Josh Sweigart and Max Filby - Staff Writer

Posted: 5:00 a.m. Saturday, March 24, 2018

Central State University football player Trent Mays was convicted in 2013 along with a Steubenville High School teammate of raping a 16-year-old girl who was incapacitated by alcohol. But because Mays was a juvenile at the time, his conviction does not appear on the sex offender registry.
If not for widespread publicity of the crime, Mays’ conviction would be unknown to many of his fellow students, and possibly to the school.

Central State officials would not comment on their decision to allow Mays to enroll and play football, citing federal laws protecting student privacy.

Mays is one of 15 registered sex offenders in Greene County and 43 in Montgomery County who are not on the public registry because they committed their crimes as juveniles. Many of them are now adults.

State law requires juvenile offenders to report to the sheriff’s office where they live, but not where they go to school.

TOM ARCHDEACON: Trent Mays learning to make right decisions at CSU 

Greene County officials say Mays is the only juvenile offender who has reported a current college address in Greene County and none have registered a college or university in Montgomery County.

Ma’lik Richmond, who was convicted along with Trent Mays for the Steubenville rape, faced intense public pressure when Youngstown State let him on their team last year. The school said the team wouldn’t let him play after an online petition called for his removal from the team. Richmond ended up playing following a settlement with the school after he filed a lawsuit.

A pitcher at Oregon State quit the college’s baseball team after a newspaper revealed he was charged with molesting a six-year-old girl when he was 15.

RELATED: Sex offender says Ohio’s registry ‘destroys lives,’ should be abolished

“He went from being a major league draft possibility to being not drafted at all and probably won’t ever play baseball his entire life,” said Derek Logue, a registered sex offender in Cincinnati who now runs a website advocating for abolishing the registry. “His life is ruined.”

In response to this incident, Oregon State this year enacted a new policy requiring all prospective students to self-report if they have prior convictions or sex offenses. Similar policies exist at some, but not all, Ohio schools.

RELATED: Student twice charged and acquitted of rape wants to put past behind

Logue doesn’t believe any new laws or restrictions are needed in Ohio schools.

“You have these laws that dictate every aspect of how we live our lives…and the laws just seem to pile up year after year,” he said. “In time it begins to restrict our ability to become a productive member of society.”

Registered Citizen says Ohio’s registry ‘destroys lives,’ should be abolished

It is not often I get a news article just on my own personal struggles with the law. Of course, they added Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser as the "Big But" to the story, but I'm just going to leave a couple of articles about him HERE and HERE and leave it at that.

https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/sex-offender-says-ohio-registry-destroys-lives-should-abolished/ANVp5LPEWrptbGOIgR5XDJ/

Sex offender says Ohio’s registry ‘destroys lives,’ should be abolished
By Josh Sweigart and Max Filby - Staff Writer

Posted: 4:00 a.m. Friday, March 23, 2018

CINCINNATI —
Derek Logue is a member of one of the few groups it is socially acceptable for people to openly hate. He knows online comments on this story will likely refer to him in the most vulgar terms, and no one will come to his defense.

But Logue said people like him are being unfairly discriminated against, and he thinks something should be done about it.

Logue is one of 17,236 adult registered sex offenders in Ohio, a group whose criminal histories are accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Offenders must list with the local sheriff’s office the addresses of where they live, work, volunteer and go to school — information, along with their photograph, that is put into an online database. Depending on the severity of their crimes, they have to register between once a year for 15 years or — in the most serious cases — every 90 days for life.

Many also face restrictions on living too close to a school or daycare.

‘I served my time’

While some people have called for more public notification and oversight of offenders, Logue believes the entire registry should be taken down.

“The registry destroys lives,” said Logue, who will spend the rest of his life on the registry. “It has destroyed my life.”

Logue was convicted in Alabama in 2001 of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl when he was 22, and spent three years in prison. When he was released, he moved to Cincinnati and was required by the state of Ohio to register as a “predator.”

Logue unsuccessfully challenged that designation in court, saying it is a higher label than Alabama considered his offense.

“I committed a crime. I served my time,” he said. “It’s one of those things you certainly regret and wish you could take back.”

Logue said the registry attaches an unfair label on individuals.

“If you’re a registered person people assume you’re a pedophile, that you’re a predator, that you’re just going to rape and molest at the first opportunity,” he said. “And that’s simply untrue.”

‘Absolutely essential’

Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser doesn’t have much sympathy for Logue’s argument, saying public distrust “is the price people pay when they commit crimes.”

“We need to track these people,” he said. “I think the sex offender registry is absolutely essential and something that perhaps a sex offender should’ve thought about before he engaged in something he presumably knew was illegal and against all social norms.”

But Logue said the harm done by the registry goes beyond public embarrassment. Because his home address is listed on a publicly searchable database, he said he faces danger every time he walks out his front door or rides his bike to the grocery store.

“It’s a very real possibility,” he said of someone taking it upon themselves to do him harm.

Forced to move

Logue is sitting in an armchair of his ramshackle apartment in northern Cincinnati a few yards from a railroad line that routinely shakes the building as trains go by.

He considers himself lucky to have a place to live. He has been homeless. He was previously forced to move because his apartment at the time was too close to a vocational school. He said it once took him 130 phone calls over seven months to find a landlord willing to rent to him.

“I would call and ask if they’d take me. I would get not just a ‘No’,” but ‘Aw, hell no!’”

He said he is on disability because of depression and anxiety.

“The day I got my disability was one of the happiest days of my life,” said Logue, who has a bachelor’s degree but said he could only get low-wage jobs that would never last more than a few months because customers or co-workers would see him on the registry.

“You’re only going to be (able to hold a job) until someone finds out you’re on the list and makes an issue out of it,” he said.

‘Balancing act’

Logue now runs a website advocating for reform to Ohio sex offender laws. There’s no registry for murderers, or drug dealers and gang members, he argues, so there shouldn’t be one for sex offenders who he says are statistically unlikely to re-offend.

“We’re focused so much on this public registry and we advertise it as a ‘tool’ to help people look for potential threats in society, but people do not use the registry for that purpose,” he said.

“First of all most people don’t look at the registry, and second of all, even when they do look at the registry, they don’t look at it because they’re necessarily concerned for their public safety, they look at it because of salacious reasons.”

But Gmoser said public safety is outweighed by any inconvenience people on the registry may face.

“It’s a balancing act and I fall in favor of society that has not engaged in crime and just wants to live a peaceful, safe life in a peaceful, safe neighborhood,” he said.

Ohio Supreme Court to review Bellevue obscenity case

From the Fremont News-Messenger

https://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/local/2018/03/11/ohio-supreme-court-review-bellevue-obscenity-case/411477002/

Ohio Supreme Court to review Bellevue obscenity case

Daniel Carson, Reporter Published 10:45 a.m. ET March 11, 2018

TOLEDO - A legal issue raised by a Bellevue man convicted of pandering obscenity will be decided by the Ohio Supreme Court

In a decision issued Friday, the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals in Toledo also vacated the four-year prison sentence of Glen Gilbert, 76, of Bellevue, remanded his case to Sandusky County Common Pleas Court, and ordered the state to pay the costs of Gilbert's appeal.

The appeals court ruled that the common pleas court did not inform Gilbert of the residential restrictions for sexual offenders, as required in Ohio Revised Code 2950.034, rendering his guilty plea involuntary.

The appeals court noted that its decision conflicted with a decision on sexual offender residential restrictions and notifications made by the 8th District Court of Appeals in State v. Creed.

The court certified Gilbert's case for review and final determination by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Sandusky County Prosecutor Tim Braun said Friday that all appellate court districts have the different ability to create law.

When there are conflicting appellate decisions, it is up to the state supreme court to review and decide the matter, Braun said.

In Gilbert's case, the 6th District Court of Appeals ruled that defendants needed to be notified of sexual offender residential restrictions, he noted.

"These are all things they (defendants) want to be advised of during their plea," Braun said.

Gilbert originally faced four felony charges after police responded to an internet post seeking a sexual encounter with a teen girl.

Gilbert posted on the website Craigslist and believed he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl when Bellevue Police Detective Eric Burt responded to the man's request for a sexual encounter with a teen, according to police.

Gilbert pleaded guilty in September 2016 to one felony count of pandering obscenity involving a minor.

In a separate ruling on Friday, the Ohio 6th District appeals court denied an appeal  involving Gage Villarreal, 20, of Gibsonburg.

The Sandusky County Common Pleas Court sentenced Villarreal to 18 months in prison in May on a telecommunications fraud charge after the man admitted he had been involved in an online banking scheme to take money from a credit union.

Villarreal appealed the trial court's decision.

The appeals court ruled that Villarreal's due process rights were not violated by the trial court and that the Sandusky County court did not err in imposing cost of confinement and court-appointed counsel on Villarreal.

A proposed bill would restrict public access to visual sex crime evidence. Not everyone agrees with it

This bill will make false allegations and false convictions harder to detect.

https://www.journal-news.com/news/proposed-bill-would-restrict-public-access-visual-sex-crime-evidence-not-everyone-agrees-with/Wlwcyfsiesl4IWPTgArIJP/

A proposed bill would restrict public access to visual sex crime evidence. Not everyone agrees with it.
Michael Pitman  Staff Writer
 12:00 a.m. Thursday, March 1, 2018

Ohio Rep. Wes Retherford’s bill designed to protect a crime victim’s rights could soon be headed for an Ohio House vote.

The bill, called the Victim’s Protection and Privacy Act, would prevent photos, videos and images of a victim of a sexually oriented crime from being accessed via a public records request. The bill was prompted by Retherford’s conversation with a Hamilton police detective.

These pieces of evidence were protected throughout a court case, including the appeals process, until the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in Caster vs. Columbus. In a split decision, the court said these pieces of investigative evidence could be released once the initial court case concludes.

House Bill 451 would prevent that. The House’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee voted 11-0 on Tuesday to move the bill out of committee on for a full vote by the House. Retherford, R-Hamilton, believes it could be up for a floor vote next week.

“With the vote (on Tuesday), we are one step closer to ensuring victims of sexual violence are not subject to being re-victimized,” he said.

The bill is supported by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, and the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

“Our members do occasionally receive public records requests for the types of records described in your bill,” wrote Steve Hall, assistant executive director for the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, to Retherford earlier this month.

“Many prosecutors have expressed to us that they make every effort to deny such requests. Others feel that there is currently no authority to do so. All agree that it would be very beneficial to have a clearly stated exclusion.”

While the Ohio Public Records Law provides transparency “critical to a functioning free society,” Camille Crary, director of legal services and policy with the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said, “this loophole infringes on the rights and privacy interest of any person who happens to end up the victim of a sex crime.”

However, the bill is not supported by all. Dennis Hetzel, president and executive director with the Ohio News Media Association, said this bill “is not an easy one to oppose” because no one wants graphic content such as photos or videos released that could be used to re-victimize crime victims.

But there’s nothing in state law — even after the Caster decision — that says this would happen, and it has never occurred “to anyone’s knowledge,” Hetzel said in his testimony to the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee.

“Requesting records and receiving records are two different things. This is why there is no documented case of an offender receiving graphic photos after a case is closed,” Hetzel said.

“If such a request were made, it would be denied, and it would be upheld based on factors such as past Ohio Supreme Court decisions on the rights to privacy and the ‘catch-all’ exemption in our open records law that keeps material exempt if it is made secret by other portions of state and federal law.”

Retherford said the bill allows the legislature to be “proactive” to a possible situation “instead of being reactive to a scenario that could happen.”

Ohio judges can dismiss sex charges against kids under 13, justices rule

The Ohio Supreme Court makes another good ruling.

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20171025/ohio-judges-can-dismiss-sex-charges-against-kids-under-13-justices-rule

Ohio judges can dismiss sex charges against kids under 13, justices rule

By Randy Ludlow
The Columbus Dispatch

Posted Oct 25, 2017 at 11:18 AM
Updated Oct 25, 2017 at 11:24 AM

Juvenile court rules empower judges to dismiss some sex charges against children under age 13 charged with molesting a child close to their age, the Ohio Supreme Court declared Wednesday.

The court was divided on the Franklin County case, voting 4-3 to overturn a decision by the Franklin County Court of Appeals.

The 2013 case involved a 12-year-old boy charged with three delinquency counts of gross sexual imposition for conduct with a boy who was nearly 10 years old.

A Juvenile Court judge dismissed the charges, finding that court rules gave him discretion to end prosecution and order treatment in lieu of taking formal action.

The judge found that the two boys were close in age and that since no threat of force or violence was involved, it would be arbitrary to pursue charges against one child, but not the other.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien appealed the ruling to the court of appeals, which reversed the judge, leading to the Ohio Supreme Court ruling.

In the majority opinion, Justice William M. O’Neill wrote that a juvenile court’s concern may not always center on determining if a crime was committed.

“As we have recognized in the past, holding a formal proceeding to determine whether a child was motivated by innocent curiosity or by culpable sexual gratification may be as bad or worse for the children involved — and for society — as was the act itself,” his opinion said.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Terrence O’Donnell agreed with O’Neill. Justice Patrick F. Fischer concurred in a separate opinion.

Justice Sharon Kennedy wrote the dissent, joined by Patrick DeWine and Judith French.

Kennedy wrote that juvenile court rules do not give judges the authority to dismiss a formally filed charge and that cases can be screened by judges for alternative treatment prior to the filing of formal delinquency charges.

YSU Football player successfully sues University for right to play football

The man served his time, let him play. And play he has, though just a little.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/convicted-rapist-malik-richmond-remains-at-youngstown-state-as-school-settles-suit/

Convicted rapist Ma'lik Richmond remains at Youngstown State as school settles suit
by Ben Kercheval

Oct 3, 2017

Ma'lik Richmond, the Youngstown State football player who was convicted in the Steubenville High School rape case of 2012 in Ohio, will be allowed to remain on the roster and play football for the program. This decision was reached when lawyers representing Richmond and Youngstown State filed a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit filed by Richmond against the school.
The case was dismissed with prejudice. As such, Richmond cannot bring forward the same complaint. Attorneys for Richmond argued that the school could not bar him from playing so long as he followed school rules.
"What is most important is that Ma'lik moves on," said Susan Stone, one of Richmond's attorneys, in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. "This was never a case about money. This is a case about Ma'lik being given all the opportunities afforded a student of good standing."
"This has been a complex situation," a Youngstown State statement read. "While the settlement agreement may cause concern for some, we believe it is in the best overall interest of the university, students and the community."
Richmond, a defensive lineman, served less than a year in juvenile detention for his crime. He attended two schools after his release and joined YSU as a walk-on this past year. The lawsuit claimed that Richmond and his family spoke with YSU president Jim Tressel and coach Bo Pelini about joining the team, and that both were supportive.
However, in August, when news of Richmond's arrival got around, a petition was created to remove Richmond from the football team. The university then said that he would not play for the team but would remain part of the program and lose a year of eligibility. Richmond quit the team before filing his lawsuit in September. A federal judge granted a temporary order saying Richmond could not be barred from playing while the case was being reviewed unless, as Football Scoop noted, the coach (Pelini) opted not to play him. 
However, Pelini played Richmond in garbage time of a 59-9 blowout of Central Connecticut State on Sept. 16. "You have to be happy for the kid," Pelini said. "This isn't about me." Richmond has not played since.
Richmond's father, Nathaniel, was shot and killed in August by a probation officer in Steubenville when he opened fire on a judge, who returned fire.

Ohio House bill seeks to help young 'sexting' offenders

Here is the text of HB 355, which made headlines during my trips out of town.

http://www.cleveland.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/ohio_house_bill_seeks_to_help.html

Ohio House bill seeks to help young 'sexting' offenders
Posted on September 21, 2017 at 5:04 PM
By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com jpelzer@cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio--New legislation in the Ohio House of Representatives would explicitly ban "sexting" in the state by people younger than 21, though the bill's sponsor says it's designed to give young offenders a second chance.

House Bill 355, introduced Thursday, would require every county in Ohio to create a "sexting educational diversion program" for Ohioans under 21 convicted for the first time of sending sexually explicit material featuring minors. Many Ohio counties already have such programs, but some smaller counties do not.

State Rep. Brian Hill, a Zanesville Republican co-sponsoring the bill, noted that it's already illegal in Ohio to possess or send explicit photos of minors. But those accused of such an offense are currently charged with possession of child pornography or another sex crime, he said, and young people convicted of "sexting" for the first time shouldn't have to face the prospect of jail time or being permanently labeled a sex offender. He said there have been several cases, including one in his district, where teens arrested for sexting became so distraught they committed suicide.

"This gives kids an opportunity to not ruin their life for something they did that's really stupid," Hill said.

Currently, there's no definition of "sexting" in Ohio law. HB 355 would prohibit people in Ohio under 21 from creating, possessing, or sending sexually explicit material featuring a minor using a telecommunications device.

The bill creates several exceptions, including for people with explicit photos of themselves or their spouse (so long as they don't distribute the photos) and those who receive unsolicited photos and immediately delete them.

Th Vindicator OpEd discusses the second chance given to football player on the registry

This is an OpEd worth reading.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2017/aug/06/the-school-of-redemption/

The school of redemption

Published: Sun, August 6, 2017 @ 12:00 a.m.

By Todd Franko

We forgive. We hate.

They are two polarizing traits that distinguish humans from all other species.

In America, we are exceptional at both, and that is the paradox in “The Land of Dreams.”

We watch news footage of kangaroo leadership and human atrocities in far-flung places and convince ourselves that we are an advanced and reasoned society as we sign checks to the needy, walk racetracks for cancer, build homes for the poor and so on.

All of it, though, conceals an ugly American truth – like a waterway masking a nasty shore.

We are the world’s best at punishment.

The International Centre for Prison Studies reported our American imprisonment at 716 per 100,000 people, followed by such world powers as, ahem, St. Kitts & Nevis (714), Seychelles (709), U.S. Virgin Islands (539), Barbados (521), Cuba (510), Rwanda (492), Belize (476) and Russia (475).

The Council of Europe measured criminal justice systems of like-minded countries. Our rate of 478 per 100,000 far exceeded Canada (188), Australia (130), New Zealand (192) and Japan (51).

These measures do not take into account the thousands of citizens trying to walk a straight line amid a societal minefield of demands such as: check this previous felon box, sign these criminal registries, don’t be this close to this place, call here at this time, don’t own this, pee here, work there and more.

Hell – in many parts of our glorious land, criminals get to pay for this privilege to be caught one inch out of line.

So by many measures, we are a society that has perfected punishment.

It is perfect, after all, right? Not one innocent person has ever been incarcerated and not one perpetrator has ever lived a purposeful life again after their crime.

That’s the legacy that now emerges in a great debate here in Youngstown in our religion that is football.

On the Youngstown State University football roster is Ma’lik Richmond. He played a role in one of the most heinous chapters in recent Ohio high-school football history in Steubenville. Richmond’s sex crime – as a teen against another teen – was horrific. What adult leadership in the city did then in trying to hide the crime was shameful.

That was Steubenville 2012.

In Youngstown 2017, Ma’lik is trying to walk on to the football team after enrolling last August.

It’s not a popular decision for many. But equally, it has support from many.

That’s how the team’s 2017 campaign will begin.

Much of the uproar is about letting a sex offender enjoy the privilege of playing on the team. Among the talk on social media:

“You give second chances to nonviolent offenders. Not to rapists.”

“Ask his victim if she believes he deserves a ‘2nd chance.’”

America – the land of perpetual punishment.

What Ma’lik did was reprehensible.

But finding punishment equitable to the pain endured by the victim is something we will never reconcile in any world calculation.

In mankind’s worst of crimes – murder – all advanced societies long ago abandoned the rule that all killers must be killed. From that foundation, all other punishments trickle.

We cannot possibly lock up forever all violent offenders – despite our best attempts.

So if we are to not lock up offenders forever, then re-entry and redemption are the paths we must plow. We trust the creation of those paths to be made at impartial times by impartial parties.

To ask a victim and family to decide on when and how punishment ends for a perpetrator is as skewed as asking the same from the perpetrator and that family. It’s a slippery, subjective slope.

Richmond’s five-year path to redemption has included a juvenile detention facility, a return to his high school and his football team (the latter I think was incorrect). It continued to one university setting, and then to another and then to YSU and now to YSU football.

All of it unblemished, as best as officials can determine.

Of the many things Youngstown State University is known for or is becoming known for, you can include a title of The School of Redemption.

From coaches to city corridors to athletes to students. If there is a national poll for rebuilding or redeeming careers, the current YSU might be ranked No. 1.

The latest chapter is Ma’lik.

If we’re enjoying much of what the university is now under President Tressel (as we seem to be) and what the team is now under Bo Pelini (as we seem to be), then this decision with Ma’lik deserves the same amount of opportunity as their other decisions.

This is their decision that they will own – made not just as president and coach, but also as husbands and fathers of daughters.

People who chide such decisions rarely have the privilege or pain of looking into someone’s eyes and making life-changing decisions such as this.

Criminals have that chance. And that they make the wrong one is always tragic and often fatal.

Our system says most such people will live amongst us at some point again.

Hopefully they see how other humans act with a life’s fate in their hands and can learn accordingly.

That’s the School of Redemption.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.

Campus Snowflakes push petition to remove football player on the registry from playing football fo YSU

Campus feminism strikes again.

http://fox8.com/2017/08/06/petition-started-to-remove-convicted-sex-offender-from-youngstown-state-football-team/

Petition started to remove convicted sex-offender from Youngstown State football team
POSTED 8:16 PM, AUGUST 6, 2017, BY FOX8WEBCENTRAL, UPDATED AT 08:24PM, AUGUST 6, 2017

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A student at Youngstown State University wants a football player who was found delinquent of rape removed from the  football team.

And she’s started a petition to make her wishes known.

Katelyn Davis started the petition on change.org on Saturday, and by Sunday evening, August 6, she had over 5,600 signatures. She says that the petition will be sent to Youngstown State President Jim Tressel and head football coach Bo Pellini.

On the petition’s home page, Davis writes:

Does he deserve a second chance? Yes, he does, and he is receiving that second chance by furthering his education on YSU’s campus. Does he deserve the privilege of playing on a football team and representing a university? Absolutely not. Education is a right, whereas playing on a sports team is not.

As the voice of the students of Youngstown State University, I ask that Richmond be removed from the football team, and this privilege be revoked from someone who absolutely does not deserve it.

Ma’Lik Richmond was found delinquent in the rape of the West Virginia girl after a party in August 2012.   He served time in a juvenile facility.

Richmond joined the YSU football team in January of  2017 as a walk-on.

Dayton Daily News reports on the Ohio Recodification Committee's recommended changes to the RC laws

It isn't too much but it IS a start. However, there's no guarantee that the legislature will make the changes, so our work is far from done.

Katie Wendell states in the article some victims' groups oppose it but didn't quote anyone but a sheriff's deputy.

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/overhaul-could-drop-thousands-from-sex-offender-registry/Vx8yW4iYcPGAdLqTqPvxxJ/

Overhaul could drop thousands from sex offender registry
Some argue putting label on sex offenders has little public benefit.
POLITICS By Katie Wedell - Staff Writer    48

Posted: 6:00 a.m. Friday, July 14, 2017

Two decades after Ohio began labeling sex offenders on a public database and setting restrictions on where they can live, a major overhaul to the law is being proposed that could drop thousands of lower-level offenders off the list

Some critics are even calling for doing away with the registry entirely, saying it’s been an expensive effort with little benefit to the public.

The Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee — tasked with overhauling Ohio’s criminal code — delivered recommendations to the state Senate last month that they say will save local sheriffs’ departments money on administration while ensuring the most serious offenders are still monitored.

The committee, in its notes on the changes, says the goal was to give judges more discretion on whether to put low-level offenders on the registry and, “to prioritize registration for those who remain a danger to the community and not to dilute the registry with offenders who no longer remain a danger to reoffend.”

Ohio currently has more than 17,000 individuals on the sex offender registry. Less than a third are labeled Tier III, the highest tier, meaning they committed crimes like rape of children, sexual battery or murder with sexual motivation.

Opponents of registration have long argued that it does more harm than good to keep those who have served their time from re-integrating into society, and they say the registry unfairly labels people who commit low-level, non-violent crimes.

“It’s the greatest reform we’ve seen in Ohio since registration originally came to be,” Barb Wright, founder of Families and Individuals for Reform, said of the committee’s report.

Residency restrictions, which currently bar sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or day care, have been a particularly hot button issue and the committee recommends getting rid of them.

“Empirical data shows there is no evidence to support that residency restrictions impact public safety,” the committee’s notes say.

In 2015 state supreme courts in California and Massachusetts struck down local residency laws that cities and counties had imposed. Texas also does not have a statewide residency rule, but numerous cities that enacted limits later withdrew them after challenges from reform groups.

“It poses huge hurdles for offenders, especially in the cities,” Wright said. “There’s literally no place that they can live.”

‘Should we have a registry at all?’

The Ohio ACLU called the recommendations an improvement, but said the committee fell far short of the sweeping reforms promised when it was formed by then Senate President Keith Faber.

“Should we have a registry at all?” said ACLU Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels. “We should be having that discussion.”

The 24-member, bi-partisan committee included prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, prison officials and others and met for two years before submitting its final set of recommendations. The plan maintains the current three-tier registration system, but allows for low-level offenders to avoid registration at a judge’s discretion, allows offenders to petition to get off the registry after a set amount of time, and moves some crimes to lower tiers.

The lower tiers have fewer restrictions.

“There’s a lot of consensus that the registry is over-inclusive and then it’s ineffective because of the number of people the sheriffs are required to monitor,” said Jill Beeler, appellate services director for the Ohio Public Defenders Office and a member of the recodification committee.

But some victims’ rights groups see the registry as a necessary piece of law enforcement’s ability to fight sexual violence.

“This is a big deal for them,” said Sgt. Julie Stephens, head of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Unit.

Stephens said victims often call her detectives upset when their attacker is no longer on the registry.

More judicial discretion

Under the committee’s recommendations, a judge would determine whether Tier I and Tier II offenders need to register.

For Tier II offenders, a group whose crimes include unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, there would be a presumption in favor of registration for 25 years, according to the committee’s report.

Tier I offenders, whose crime categories include voyeurism, would be subject to registration only if a judge deemed them a danger to the community or likely to reoffend.

Ohio currently has more than 7,000 people on the registry who are labeled Tier I or the equivalent under rules prior to the Adam Walsh Act, the federal law in 2006 (adopted in Ohio in 2007) that directed states to classify sex offenders into three tiers based on the offense they committed.

The committee did not recommend any changes to Tier III offenders, who would have the same lifetime registration requirements as they do now.

But there likely will be fewer Tier III offenders because the committee recommended moving some offenses from Tier III to Tier II.

Sexual battery, felonious assault with sexual motivation, and rape except for the rape of a child would become Tier II offenses under the proposal.

Unlawful sexual conduct with a minor would move from Tier II down to a Tier I offense.

Recidivism rates questioned

One of the main arguments in favor of registration has been that neighbors should be informed of where sex offenders live because they pose a continued risk to society.

But opponents have long demanded evidence that sex offenders re-offend more often than convicted criminals. It’s not clear that they do.

A comprehensive Department of Justice study from the late 1990s found that within three years of prison release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for another sex crime, a higher percentage than the 1.3 percent for non-sex offenders.

But sex offenders were less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any offense — 43 percent of sex offenders versus 68 percent of non-sex offenders, according to the DOJ report.

The data was collected before Ohio began registering sex offenders in 1997.

The three-year recidivism rate for all Ohio offenders released in 2011 was 27.5 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Recidivism rates among sex offenders specifically wasn’t available.

Registration opponents say many of the sex offender arrests are for non-sex crimes, including failure to register.

The recodification committee recommends making a first offense for failure to register a misdemeanor, with only subsequent violations resulting in a felony.

“There are high risk offenders, and I recognize that society wants a way to keep track of those people,” Wright said. “Unfortunately these other low-risk offenders get caught in the snare.”

She said low-level sex offenders can end up committing further crimes down the road because they are unable to find steady housing and employment due to the stigma of registration.

Local law enforcement sees things differently.

“We often see low level offenders re-offending,” Stephens said. Particularly they see Tier I offenders convicted for child pornography committing the same offenses again. And Stephens said those crimes are not victimless, as offenders often use children known to them in their crimes.

“I don’t know how much it changes a person’s behavior, but at least we know where to find them if they have reoffended,” she said. “At least we have some type of control and at least we’re letting people know where they want to be cautious.”

Ability to deregister

Another change would allow sex offenders the ability to petition to get off the registry after a certain amount of time.

The petition could be filed after five years for Tier I offenders, 10 years for Tier II and 15 years for Tier III.

A judge would be able to order a risk assessment of the offender and hold a hearing, if necessary, to decide whether to grant or deny the request.

Wright’s son is on the registry for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor due to what she says was a consensual relationship with a younger girlfriend when they were teens. She sees the ability to deregister as a good thing.

“There are just so many people on the register that don’t belong there,” she said. “(The committee) recognizes the cost and they recognize that there is capacity for rehabilitation.”

Josh and Jennah Strader of Beavercreek also have spoken in favor of reforms.

They were 19 and 14 when she became pregnant with their first child. A decade later they are married with three children, but Josh — now 28 — remains a Tier II registered sex offender because of his conviction for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

“If he’s able to get off the registry, it would tremendously change our lives in such a positive way,” Jennah Strader said in December. “He would be able to be the father that he wants to be that he can’t be now.”

Under the proposed changes, Strader would be able to immediately petition a judge to get off the registry.

If the changes are adopted, it will be illegal for anyone age 13 or younger to have sex with an adult over 18, but anyone 14 and up could have consensual sex with an older teen or an adult as long as there is only a five year age difference or less.

“When children of similar age engage in consensual activity, criminally charging youths for such behavior is generally not appropriate,” the committee wrote in its notes. “These changes ensure that the vulnerable are protected, predators are punished, and youthful indiscretions do not carry a lifetime of unwarranted consequences.”

There is no timetable for when the Senate will act on the recommendations, which are included in hundreds of other changes to the Ohio criminal code.

Beeler said the committee has been given no indication if the recommendations will be taken on as a whole or split into smaller bills.

Summary of Ohio Recodification Committee recommendations relevant to RCs

Below is the intro to a 27-page summary of Recod Committee proposed changes passed along by Ohio RSOL. I do have the full report but I'm waiting for confirmation to share it online. [Disclaimer: There are only recommendations. This isn't a guarantee this will become law.] --

Welcome to Recod Cliff Notes, Round 2! This is my second attempt to make sense of the more than 4,000 pages of the proposed draft legislation by the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee. In order to provide a concise summary of relevant provisions, I concentrated on major revisions to sex crimes and registration. But changes have been made which affect sentencing, and in murder, kidnapping and abduction offenses which can lead to registration.

For the “plain text” version,, go to: http://ocjrc.legislature.ohio.gov/Assets/Files/final-plain-language-draft.pdf  or to http://ocjrc.legislature.ohio.gov/Assets/Files/final-lsc-draft.pdf for the actual legislative draft.
Definitions
Definitions for the entire Title 29 of the Revised Code have been moved to Section 2901.01 and are presented in alphabetical order. This proposal includes revised definitions of “eligible offender” for the purpose of a filing a petition for termination of registration under 2950.15, “sexually oriented offenses,” among others, and distinguishes between “Tier I, II and III offenses” and “Tier I, II, and III registrants.”  A few of these definitions are included below.

Sex Crimes

Several sex crimes have been modified to change the statutory age difference between an accused and his accuser to 5 years before he is criminally liable. Others have been modified to provide a standard of “known or should have known,” as in mistaken belief as to the age of the minor. Still others remove the marital exception as a defense to a sex crime (rape), while others retain that as an element of the crime. A brief summary of these changes is shown below.
Registration

Changes to SORN allow relief in the following areas:

1. Several offenses have been re-classified as lower tier offenses.
2. New Tier I and II registrants will be classified according to a risk assessment hearing. 
3. The residency restriction has been removed for all offenders.
4. The Attorney General is required to establish a centralized database.
5. All existing (and future) offenders are entitled to petition for termination of registration responsibilities or re-classification of offense.
6. The penalty for registration violations will be reduced to a misdemeanor offense for a first time sex offender, and a fifth degree misdemeanor for a repeat sex offender.

Registered citizen runs for Cleveland City Council and as usual, the local media goes crazy

I hope he wins, quite frankly. And shame on the Incompetent-Team at Faux 8 for spinning the story. Normally I redact the articles, but i think this guy WANTS to be public. Well, if he was running for Cincinnati City Council, he wouldn't have enough criminal convictions to be a candidate here. (Joking, folks)

http://fox8.com/2017/05/25/i-team-finds-candidate-running-for-local-office-is-convicted-sex-offender/

I-Team finds candidate running for local office is convicted sex offender
POSTED 5:58 PM, MAY 25, 2017, BY ED GALLEK

CLEVELAND--The FOX 8 I TEAM has found a convicted sex offender running for Cleveland City Council.

Edward Hudson-Bey is gathering names on petitions to get on the ballot to represent Ward 10 on the city’s northeast side. So we went to see him. We asked why anyone should vote for him as a sex offender with other criminal convictions. He responded, "Your past is your past. It's where you are today and what you're looking for tomorrow.”

But when we revealed this to voters in the ward, we found them taken aback.

The ward includes Glenville and other neighborhoods -- poor areas with lots of violence. Current Councilman Jeff Johnson has a record for a federal corruption conviction. Yet Johnson is now running for mayor.

Hudson-Bey pleaded guilty to robbery in ’07. His sex offense conviction came in ’03 for sex with a minor, a 14-year-old boy. Hudson-Bey still has to register with the sheriff’s department as a sex offender. We also found Hudson-Bey has older convictions dealing with stolen cars.

The I TEAM wondered how can a guy like that even be eligible for a council seat? The state says, in general, Ohio law allows a convicted felon to run for office. However, it does not allow a convicted felon from taking office. Ultimately, what would happen if Hudson-Bey were to win could come down to a ruling by a local prosecutor or the state attorney general.

Hudson-Bey is just one of several candidates exploring a run for Cleveland City Council in Ward 10. Seems like an incredible long-shot, but Hudson-Bey believes, somehow, he can go from sex convict to councilman. He said, “Nobody’s perfect.” And he added, "I’m unbeatable. I'm honest. I'm open. I'm trustworthy."

Katie Wedell of Dayton Daily News feels RSOs is a bigger issue than a multiple shooting in nursing home

I'm grateful that at least the comment section responses is generally angry at the reporter for writing this article.

Based on the timeline of events by the same news outlet, it seems the shooter had a prior relationship to one of the victims, none of whom were the residents. Thus, their statuses are irrelevant to the story, because their only involvement in this story is being at the place where the crime occurred. It reminds me of the news stories focusing on the registrants in a trailer park rather than the non-RSO killer in the Aliahna Lemmon case.

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/breaking-news/what-know-about-the-pine-kirk-care-center-kirkersville/Qp3zV0xbanCcFNGyYJCYoJ/

What we know about the Pine Kirk Care Center in Kirkersville
Nearly half the small home’s residents are registered sex offenders.
By Katie Wedell
Updated: 12:46 p.m. Friday, May 12, 2017 |  Posted: 10:53 a.m. Friday, May 12, 2017

Kirkersville — The Pine Kirk Care Center nursing home in Kirkersville is a small facility of 24 beds. It had 23 residents at its last inspection by the state. 

The Kirkersville Police Chief and two employees of the home were killed today when a gunman entered the nursing home and them killed himself.

The home is rated as average for health and fire safety inspections and nursing levels on Medicare.gov’s Nursing Home Compare tool, which compiles inspection reports of licensed nursing homes from each state. 

In late 2016, when the Dayton Daily News did an investigation into sex offenders living in Ohio nursing homes, there were 10 residents living at Pine Kirk who were on the Ohio sex offender registry. Their crimes ranged from gross sexual imposition to rape of children. 

Some crimes were decades old, while others occurred within the past 10 years. 

A search of the registry today showed there are currently nine residents who are registered sex offenders. 

There was also a complaint inspection done at the home a year ago after one resident hit another resident with a cane, resulting in the victim being admitted to the hospital intensive care unit. 

Pine Kirk has not received any federal fines or denials of Medicare payments in the past three years, according to the Medicare page.