News & Updates

If you, as a member of the public, seek to identify West Virginia residents who have been convicted of a sexual offense, you can simply search the Sex Offender Registry website run by the West Virginia State Police. But what if that website does a poor job of identifying who presents a risk?  And what if, even worse, the agency

In recent days, we are hearing of the weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice along with the uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.  What about the weaponization in the state of Florida that is used against tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens that are labeled as sex offenders, with Florida being considered by many people to

See an example of what happens when people forced to register on the sex offender registry get out there and speak to the media, even anonymously. In this case, a registrant spoke to the Utah news outlet KSL, resulting in more balanced, less hysterical coverage. The outlet also spoke to the Department of Corrections treatment director and accurately represented the

Kelsey Turner with InvestigateWest shows readers that what we are doing to prevent future sex crimes against children is NOT working. “Researchers say sex offender registration and notification laws can be counterproductive for public safety by keeping registrants on the streets: Tenino cited as example” According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a Michigan study “found lack

At least one State Attorney last year declined to prosecute six people forced to register on the sex offender registry in cases similar to those later brought against 20 ex-felons by Florida’s election police unit and statewide prosecutors.  This State Attorney determined instead that, as the Orlando Sentinel summarized it, the fraud was not willful. Read more from the Orlando

A 53-year-old man on the sex offender registry was sentenced to 36 months in prison after “willfully” voting in the 2020 election while “not qualified” to do so.  The problem, though, is that no one in an official capacity was able to determine that he was not qualified.  Sandra McDonald and Maria Fernanda Camacho with WUFT News in Alachua County