FAC Weekly Update 2026-04-06-The Human Cost and Business Profit of the Registry
Weekly update for April 6, 2026. This is recording number 364
Dear Members and Advocates,
This past week, FAC posted two stories which collided in a way that should force a long-overdue conversation. But won’t. Because it’s the one conversation no politician wants to have.
On one hand, we exposed the uncomfortable truth that the sex offender registry is no longer a public safety tool, it’s an industry. As detailed in “The Sex Offender Registry is Big Business for Private Industry and Politicians,” (link below) the registry has evolved into a revenue-producing ecosystem. Private companies profit from monitoring, software, compliance systems, and data management, while lining the coffers of politicians that campaign on expanding it. Fear sells, and the registry is the product. It grows not because it works, but because it pays – financially and politically.
On the other hand, we were confronted with the real-world consequences of that system. Last week in Brevard County, a man was brutally murdered because he was on the registry. Killed with a baseball bat, dismembered, and his body parts dumped in bins across the County. According to investigators, the suspect didn’t just act impulsively; he reportedly used the registry as a tool, identifying his victim and even compiling a list of others to target. The FAC post, “ENOUGH!!!”, (link below) didn’t mince words: this is exactly what happens when you create a public database that functions as a roadmap for vigilantes. It serves as a hit list.
And that’s the contradiction no one in power wants to acknowledge. You cannot simultaneously defend the endless expansion of a public registry, broadcasting names, photos, addresses, vehicles, employment and other personal details, while ignoring the predictable outcome; that people on the list and their families become targets of harassment and violence. Not hypothetically. Not theoretically. But in reality! This week proved that in the most horrific way possible. It’s not the first time and it certainly won’t be the last.
But addressing that contradiction would require honesty. It would mean admitting that the registry, as it exists today, does not just fail to prevent harm, it creates it! It would mean questioning an entire system that generates massive revenue for private vendors and political capital for lawmakers. And that is precisely why the conversation is avoided.
Instead, we get more of the same. More restrictions. More expansion. More rhetoric about “public safety,” while ignoring the growing body of evidence and bloodshed that tells a different story. It’s what FAC has been saying for years. When you turn human beings into permanent public targets, you don’t create safety. You create risk. Not just for registrants, but for their families, their communities, and ultimately, society.
In response to this tragedy, FAC took immediate action. A formal letter was sent to Mark Glass, Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, demanding that the public-facing registry be taken offline until meaningful safeguards are implemented to protect the individuals listed on it. The letter made clear that the state cannot continue to ignore the growing and very real dangers created by unrestricted public access to this information.
This week wasn’t just another news cycle. It was a warning. One post exposed the profit motive driving the system. The other showed the human cost. The question is whether anyone in the legislature has the integrity to connect the dots.
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
Some Headlines from the Week
The Sex Offender Registry is Big Business for Private Industry and Politicians
Commercial Website Facilitates Harassment of Persons Forced to Register as Sex Offenders
Wrong Target, Wrong Tool: Why the Registry Fails to Prevent Sexual Harm
Florida Fails Its Most Vulnerable Children – And a Federal Court Just Called Them Out
Discover more from Florida Action Committee (FAC)
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My big question os how do we use the truths of this case to deal with the problem.
The killer was originally charges with improper disposal of human remains. That was upgraded to second degree murder.
Once he admitted to planning it and the hit list was found this should have been upgraded to First degree murder however they have not done that. We all know the registry violates the equal protection clause. We all also know that any who reside in the house of a registrant are not afforded the same protections from LEO that are guaranteed to other citizens. Now we have proof that crimes against registrants are charged less severely than crimes against those that are not on a registry yet.
How do we use this to aid us?
It is premeditated first degree murder by how you defined it and should be charged as such. The people can pressure the DA to up the charge from second to first by flooding the DA’s office with this pressue, but it will be up to them to acknowledge and then agree to it.
The charges listed as of today are:
918.13 TAMPERING OR FABRICATING WITH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
872.06.2 ABUSE OF DEAD BODY
497.386.3 TRANSPORT HUMAN BODY IN UNAUTHORIZED CONTAINER
782.04.2-Y MURDER DANGEROUS DEPRAVED WITHOUT PREMEDITATION
It’s difficult to see how someone printing out a list and targeting a persons on the list is not premeditated, but this is Brevard County and they are known to be unsympathetic to registrants. The phone number to the State Attorney’s Office is (321) 617-7510, they would be the best situated to explain why.
I look forward to the Commissoner’s reply.
Unfortunately, some people would say, it’s working as intended! Make no mistake, there’s plenty of people who feel, that it’s justice being served. There’s plenty of people that despise us, and I don’t expect this to be the last time we’re going to hear about, something like this happening again.