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Criminal sexual predators are getting smarter these days. They no longer are using computers to communicate with kids. Instead they are using cell phones, primarily texting features to stalk our kids.
Recently, a seventeen year old girl found out that her “friend” was a thirty year old sexual predator communicating with her via her cell phone.
The girl and the predator texted a lot and seemed to have much in common. When she received naked pictures of the man, she was afraid to tell her parents. Eventually, he showed up at her school and this is when her parents stepped in. They signed up for My Mobile Watchdog. This is a surveillance program that monitors her phone. Of course the girl was angry however this may have saved her life.
In the two years since My Mobile Watchdog has been available, police have arrested 180 people who texted inappropriate messages to kids. The program tracks pictures, messages and tells parents if a phone number they haven’t approved is calling. All of this information is sent to the parents’ account.
My Mobile Watchdog is available in 12 jurisdictions across the country. Police use it for surveillance service and have arrested 315 predators. Ninety percent of the arrested predators did not have previous criminal records.
This service is affordable – $9.95 per month for up to five children per family.
The technology currently works with smart phones but the company is working with other cell carriers to make the service cheaper and more accessible.
According to the Associated Press the Supreme Court has ruled that federal officials can indefinitely hold inmates considered “sexually dangerous” after their prison terms are complete. The Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision that said Congress overstepped its authority in allowing indefinite detentions of offenders considered “sexually dangerous.”
What this means is that last year’s ruling of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruling that Congress overstepped its authority when it enacted a law allowing the government to hold indefinitely people who are considered “sexually dangerous.” The high court has concluded that the Constitution grants Congress legislative power sufficient to enact this law.
This ruling targeted the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. This authorized the civil commitment of sexually dangerous federal inmates. The act was named after the son of “America’s Most Wanted” television host John Walsh. However, the act was challenged by four men who served prison terms ranging from three to eight years for possession of child pornography or sexual abuse of a minor. Their confinement was supposed to end more than two years ago, but prison officials said there would be a risk of sexually violent conduct or child molestation if they were released. Now these low-life sex predators can be held indefinitely.
Finally, any State laws allowing civil commitments or indenfinite detentions of sex offenders can be enforced.
Recently a televised report exposed a dirty little secret of the Post Office. They found more than 20 registered sex offenders in Texas work for the postal service. Inside Edition focused on four North Texas postal workers who are listed on the state’s registered sex offenders list.
In Texas, convicted sex offenders have to list their place of employment. Inside Edition reported they found sex offenders working for the postal service. Many of the sex offenders were convicted in the 1990’s and served their time. Now they are delivering your mail to your house every day.
Gerald McKiernan, the US Postal Service media relations manager, has defended their employment practices. His statement said that they approach these types of matters on a case-by-case basis. The postal service does examine the facts surrounding each individual case and takes the action necessary to protect the public while at the same time affording its employees and applicants for employment the due process required under the law, as well as by applicable collective bargaining agreements, federal statutes, federal regulations and postal regulations.
Sounds like the postal service didn’t do adequate background checks on these employees. Even though these sex offenders offended over ten years ago or more, why would the postal service allow them to deliver mail to homes? Aren’t they taking a chance that they may re-offend? Why didn’t they give these sex offenders a clerical job at the post office? There are many questions still unanswered.
“My Mobile Watchdog” is a cutting-edge technology geared for parents to keep in touch with what their children are texting, doing and saying on their cell phones. This technology was originally designed to help in an investigation involving an 11-year child. At that time, it wasn’t a commercial product and was called RADAR. This technology was provided only to law enforcement on an as needed basis.
However, as time went on, the problem of child exploitation and pedophiles made it necessary to make it available for commercial use. The reason was that a new generation of child predators/pedophiles was using mobile phones to gain access to children. The good news is that law enforcement still had the ability to use the technology and to date over 300 child predators have been arrested and convicted. Of those convicted 90% did not have a prior record and were not registered as sex offenders. It is estimated that there are nearly 700,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. alone.
The My Mobile Watchdog system consists of two parts: software installed on the child’s phone, and a web page for parents to view their child’s activity and control functionality. Information edited on the web page syncs with the child’s phone instantly in the background. The parent receives alerts of unauthorized activities including a copy of the actual text, photo or unauthorized and/or unknown phone number in question. These alerts are sent directly to the parent’s phone in real time. In addition, My Mobile Watchdog works on all approved networks and devices.
The cost is an initial $25 set up fee with a monthly fee of only $9.95 – a small price to pay to keep your kids safe.
A 33-year-old Case Lake, Minnesota woman was sentenced to probation in a recent sexting case. Maria Kremper was sending out about 1,500 sexually explicit text messages to a 15-year-old boy last August. She knew this boy from a grocery store where they both worked.
She was sentenced to 15 months in prison but the sentencing was stayed because she will be serving three years of supervised probation. She will be serving in-home electronic monitoring for 60 days instead of going to jail. In addition, she will be attending a sex offender treatment program and must register as a predatory offender. According to her sentencing, she is allowed no contact with males under the age of 18.
Sexting has become a serious problem among teenagers who may face the same type of punishment for their crime. Teenagers may be put on a predatory offender list for a long time. However, an adult woman sexting to a 15-year-old boy is a different story. She should know better and her sentencing should have included jail time. Instead, she received a slap on the hand. Will she continue her predatory ways because of this light sentencing? When will judges seriously take sexting as a crime especially among adults.
In today’s world with just about everybody using a cell phone that takes pictures, many states are rethinking sex offender laws for youth texting.
Many of these teenagers, even children as young as 12, are looking at felony child pornography charges and being listed for many years on a sex offender registry. It seems that sexting among teenagers has become the “in” thing to do. How the law handles this explosion of sending nude pictures will determine what we are teaching our children today.
Last year, Nebraska, Utah and Vermont changed their laws to reduce penalties for teenagers who engage in such activities. This year, according to the National Council on State Legislatures, 14 more states are considering legislation that would treat young people who engage in sexting differently from adult pornographers and sexual predators.
However, one district attorney recently threatened to bring child pornography charges against girls whose pictures showing them scantily dressed on classmates’ cell phones. The first federal appellate opinion in this sexting case recognized that a prosecutor had gone too far in trying to enforce adult moral standards.
In reality, young people are rarely, if ever, jailed under the child pornography laws for sexting. Some of the 14 states considering legislation would make sexting a misdemeanor, while others would treat it like juvenile offenses like truancy or running away.
Is this what we want to teach our children? Do we want to give them a slap on the wrist and tell them not to do this anymore? Or do we want our children to understand that there are consequences to their actions? Will today’s “sexting” child become tomorrow’s pedophile or rapist? No one knows for sure. What is important is to teach our children to be good citizens, obey laws and be morally and ethically upstanding.
This is outrageous! After a Level III sex offender does his time in prison, the system releases him but doesn’t care if he has a place to live or not. Many of them end up homeless and on the streets. Currently, Duluth police are alerting citizens about a freed convict who preyed on teenage girls for sex is now homeless on the streets of downtown Duluth.
Wesley G. Vandell, age 39, is a Level III sex offender and is most likely to reoffend. He is no longer under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, but has to check in once a week to law enforcement. Big deal, he is free to continue whatever activities he wants to.
Along with Vandell, there are 20 other Level III offenders in Minnesota who are homeless. There are 16 in Minneapolis and four in St. Paul. The total number of Level III sex offenders in Minnesota are 176.
Laws need to be changed to make sure that these low-life sex offenders are released to a shelter and not left to shift for themselves on the streets. To the people of Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul, be aware of these people and protect yourselves and your family.
Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota has been hard at work during his last term as governor. Throughout his term, he has taken steps to increase sentences for sex offenders and to improve Minnesota’s policies in this area.
Recently, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced a proposal to more than double prison time for sex offenders and a new comprehensive Internet education program to help protect children from online predators.
Under the Governor’s proposal, an offender convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct would receive a 25-year sentence, more than doubling the current presumptive sentence. Governor Pawlenty said that while he has led efforts to increase sentencing in the past, he feels that more can be done to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators. With these changes in the law it will help to keep predators off our streets.
In 2005, Governor Pawlenty led efforts that significantly enhanced sentencing for criminal sexual conduct offenses. Under the law, someone who commits a particularly egregious first offense or is a repeat sex offender could be sentenced to life in prison or until they could prove they were worthy of release. Offenders would have had to commit their first offense with two other statutorily described “heinous elements” before they could be sentenced for life.
However, under current law offenders who are convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct without such “heinous elements” face a maximum sentence of 30 years. Minnesota courts typically impose a presumptive sentence of 12 years. The Governor’s proposals will more than double the 12-year presumptive sentence to 25 years.
Governor Pawlenty also introduced a NetSmartz Internet Safety Education Program that is a comprehensive Internet safety education program that will be made available to every school in the state at no charge. NetSmartz, developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), provides detailed information for students, teachers, parents and law enforcement about the dangers that children can face when they go online.
Children face sexual predators online everyday. This program will provide training and instructional materials that teachers can use to help educate students about the dangers that exist online. The U.S. Department of Education statistics show that more than 1 in 5 children use the Internet by the time they reach nursery school age. One in three children use the Internet by Kindergarten and four in five by high school.
This program will be a partnership between the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. NetSmartz kits are made available through a Department of Justice grant.
In Buffalo, NY, a 100-year-old pedophile has been jailed again after failing to comply with the terms of his parole. This is the second time that Theodore A. Sypnier, who has more than a sixty -year history of sexually molesting children, has been declared in violation of parole. He was convicted in the late 1990’s of attacking two sisters.
His light sentence for this conviction allowed move to a halfway house and into a place of his own last December. He didn’t show up for a counseling session and was re-arrested. His own daughter, who lives in another state, is relieved that he is back in jail. He raped her and another girl years ago.
A Reverend in charge of the half-way house says whether he’s 100 or 101 or 105, the same person that was committing these crimes 10, 25, 30 years ago still exists today and has an unrepentant heart. He is someone that we as parents, as members of the community, any community, really need to fear.
Sypnier’s convictions dated back to 1987, when he was given three years’ probation for sex abuse. He spent a year in prison for sexually abusing a minor in 1994. His neighbors in Tonawanda never knew of Sypnier’s background because he was convicted before laws requiring sex offenders to register with police.
Now he is back in jail. This time the system must not fail to keep him incarcerated until he dies.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if someone commits a sex crime, he will probably do it again. However, lately judges seem to be the only ones who just don’t get it. Take for instance a St. Charles, Minnesota man convicted of multiple sex crimes. Even though he is a convicted criminal, a judge granted him a three-day furlough to move some furniture at his motel and residence in St. Charles. While there he assaulted another woman.
This sex criminal, Aric Vernon Wold age 39 is no stranger to sex crime charges. He was convicted of two sex crimes and is facing charges involving a 15-year-old girl. In addition he is charged in Winona County District Court with second-degree criminal sexual conduct for using force and causing injury during a sexual assault as well as fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for using force during a sexual assault. He was also charged with using a minor in a sexual performance or pornographic work. Back in 2004 he was convicted of fifth degree cirminal sexual conduct as well as in 2009 but was on probation for the 2009 conviction.
Why? Obviously, this man has a history of sexual crimes. He should be in jail, and not allowed any type of probation. Sadly, it seems that judges are the only ones who just don’t get it. How many times does it take repeat offenders to commit their crimes before a judge throws them in jail for their rest of their lives?
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