Minnesota Criminals

According to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, a 23-year-old Little Canada man was indicted in Federal court recently on three counts of child pornography. Aaron Jay Lemon was charged with one count of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

The United States Attorney’s Office indictment cited that Lemon coerced “a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.” He is also accused of distributing child pornography using a computer. If convicted, this low-life faces 30 years in prison for producing child pornography, 15 years for distributing and 10 years for possessing.

Child pornography is a blight on society. This terrible crime injures many innocent children and has devastating and lasting effects. Children suffer from physical injuries in the course of their molestation, such as genital bruising, lacerations, or exposure to sexually transmitted diseases. Child victims can also experience depression, withdrawal, anger, and other psychological disorders. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s web site explains these effects on children.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in 33 children receives an unwanted sexual solicitation online each year. One in four children experiences unwanted exposure to sexually explicit material on the Internet each year. And this is shocking - more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet every week.

Recent research conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons indicates a strong correlation between possessing or distributing child pornography and committing sexual-contact crimes against children. The Project Safe Childhood (PSC) is a national initiative that encourages the use of multi-jurisdictional task forces to investigate and prosecute cases that involve the sexual exploitation of children over the Internet. PSC urges that law enforcement efforts be complemented by community-wide campaigns to assist victims of exploitation and to educate parents, other adults, and children about Internet safety.

Part 1 of Sex Offenders and Laws in Minnesota talked about the years of active legislation in Minnesota that enabled law enforcement agencies to get a handle on sex offenders through state and federal registry programs. However, once the sex offender is released from jail, the public needed to know if these sex offenders would re-offend again. As a result, the Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) conducted a study on 3,166 sex offenders who were released from jail between 1990 and 2002.

First, the study examined the factors that influenced sex offender recidivism. MCF tracked this group of sex offenders for over an eight-year period. The study analyzed whether intense supervision as well as length of supervision of sex offenders influenced recidivism. The study also tracked the effects of treatment on recidivism as well as the likelihood of re-offending.

The results of the eight-year study showed these results:

• Prior sex crimes, stranger victims, male child victims (i.e. deviant sexual interests), and treatment failures significantly increased an offender’s risk of recidivating with a sex crime.
• Post-release supervision had a significant impact on the extent to which sex offenders’ recidivated. Over the last 15 years sexual recidivism rates dropped from 15% to 3% because of intense supervisions for longer periods of time following release from prison.
• The intensity of post-release supervision decreased the extent to which sex offenders’ recidivated with sex offenses.

The study goes on to say that when sex offenders are placed on ISR (Intense Supervised Release), they are continuously supervised by a team of three to five supervision agents, whose caseloads are capped at 15 per state law. During all four phases of ISR, offenders are required to maintain steady employment, comply with random alcohol/drug testing and are subjected to unannounced face-to-face contacts with their supervision agents at both their residence and place of work.

Sex offenders must remain on ISR until they successfully complete all four phases of the program, or until they reach the expiration of their sentence. Due to the longer, more intensive periods of post-release supervision, the study found that sex offenders were getting revoked more often and returned to prison for longer periods of time.

Even though the Minnesota Correctional Facility’s study shows progress is being made in reducing sex offenders’ recidivism rate, you are the first line of defense to keep your children safe. Be aware of who is living next door to you or near your child’s school or playground. You can also check the Minnesota Registry that lists Level 3 sex offenders published by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. You can play a big part in helping to prevent crime.

Through the years, Minnesota has passed laws enforcing sex offenses against children. In 1991, the first registration program was implemented in Minnesota. Since then the sex offender registry has expanded to become a national resource for law enforcement.

Citizens now can access information on high-risk offenders in their area because of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. You can view the Minnesota registry of Level 3 sex offenders published by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

However, prior to the first Minnesota’s Sex Offender Registration Act in 1991, law enforcement was stymied in their investigation. This act was passed because of the abduction of Jacob Wetterling prior to 1991. He was an 11-year-old boy who was abducted in St. Joseph, Minnesota. A search for him was launched but he was never found. Prior to this act law enforcement didn’t have a comprehensive list of sex offenders or their locations.

In 1994, the Missing Child Response Act was passed requiring the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to assist any law enforcement agency. This act made pre-trial bail evaluations necessary for suspects detained for violent crimes and set up an integrated electronic communication network for crime prevention information between state agencies, law enforcement and the private sector.

In the late 1990’s, Minnesota passed several laws. Megan’s Law required the release of relevant offender information and a Community Notification System. The Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act was passed adding more requirements to the 1991 Wetterling Act. This act allowed the FBI to compile a national database of names and addresses of sex offenders released from prison. It also required lifetime registration for re-offenders and for those convicted of various aggravated offenses. In 1997, the Jacob Wetterling Improvements Act was passed which required heightened registration requirements for several groups and developed laws prohibiting the stalking of juveniles.

In 2000, the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act was passed and added more requirements to the Wetterling Act. This act requires offenders who are attending an educational institution to register with the agency that has jurisdiction over that institution.

In 2006, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was passed protecting children from exploitation and violent crime. The act included child abuse prevention measures and increased penalties for creating of or distribution of child pornography and the promotion of Internet safety for children.

Keeping track of sex offenders is an important part of fighting crime. With the laws passed by the Minnesota state legislature this is a very good first step. In Part 2 of this series, we’ll look at a Minnesota state report on released sex offenders and what factors they used to reduce sex offender recidivism.

The Pioneer Press reported that on April 5th a Kootenai County sheriff spotted Logan A. Mattson age 27 at a rest area along the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 west of Couer d’Alene. Mattson is a Level 3 sex offender.

A Level 3 sex offender poses a potential high risk to the community. This sex offender is a threat to re-offend if provided the opportunity. With prior sex crime convictions as well as other criminal convictions, their lifestyles and choices place them in this classification. Some of these sex offenders have predatory characteristics and may seek out victims. In addition, they may have refused or failed to complete approved treatment programs.

On Saturday, deputies pursued Mattson to Hauser Lake but ended the chase because of difficult road conditions. There he abandoned his car. However, about an hour and a half later, a homeowner on Three Forks Road reported that a man knocked on his door and said he was cold and being “chased by the cops.” Deputies responded, but were again unable to pick up his trail.

The police are still searching for Mattson who is described as a being 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. If you see him use extreme caution and contact your local police agency or call the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department at (208)446-1300.

Recently, authorities found child pornography on the laptop of Michael John Anderson, the St. Paul, MN accused Craigslist killer. Anderson, age 19, is charged with the second-degree murder of 24-year-old Katherine Ann Olson. He murdered Ms. Olson after she showed up for a fake babysitting ad in October 2007.

At first, Anderson denied any involvement in the murder but when police recovered a .357 Magnum and a spent shell casing in Anderson’s room, he changed his story. He then admitted he was present when Katherine Ann Olson was killed, but that another person had killed her. He also said that he had a friend who thought it would be funny to put an ad for a fake babysitting job.

While in custody, the police confiscated his laptop and found lewd images of nude children. The laptop contained photographs of two nude pre-teen boys engaged in a sex act. This is the same laptop used to post an ad on Craigslist.

This pervert is not only a murderer but also a child predator. He should be kept in jail for the rest of his life. His next hearing is set for May 7th and remains in jail on a $1million bond.

Sexual predators are out hunting for our kids. Are the current laws of Minnesota enough to protect them?

Recently, Ramsey County prosecutors are seeking a life sentence with no chance of parole for a St. Paul man indicted on charges that he had sex with two children and recorded it with images and video. Dan Patrick Manley, 44, was indicted on six counts involving sex with a then-14-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. The repeated incidents allegedly occurred about three years ago. When police searched Manley’s home, they found a disk drive containing child pornography and photos of him having sex with children. Manley has had two previous convictions for criminal sexual conduct with children dating back to 1984 and 1987.

In 2005, Jessica’s Law passed in several states, but not in Minnesota. This law designates sexual predators and others who have committed specific sex crimes to constant monitoring via a global positioning system. It also imposes a mandatory 25-year prison sentence.

In 2005, Minnesota passed a law requiring monitoring of sexual predators for life including GPS monitoring, but falls short of imprisoning first time offenders for 25 years. However, the law does mandate a life sentence for certain crimes.

Did this law finally catch up with a repeat offender like Dan Manley? If so, how many other children did he abuse? How many more children have to wait until “certain crimes” from a predator is considered a life-sentence? Minnesota needs stricter laws and mandated sentences to help protect our kids.

The Maplewood City Council recently tabled a proposed ordinance that would restrict where sexual predators could live in the city. Maplewood would have been only the second Minnesota city to adopt such rules. Taylors Falls passed a similar ordinance earlier this month and St. Paul and Minneapolis are considering such restrictions.
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A recent article on the Remer Area Chamber of Commerce web site asked what the Minnesota State Legislator is doing to introduce legislation on Jessica’s Law for the state of Minnesota. The author could not find any legislation introduced that would put Minnesota as a proponent for Jessica’s law. The state does have Megan’s law but that is not enough to control child predators in the state.
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Now there is a free tool that informs you of sex offenders in your area. MapSexOffenders.com is a user friendly site that combines Google’s map technology and the National sex offenders’ database. Currently this site has mapped sex offenders in 37 states with the goal of mapping all 50 states as soon as possible.
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