Santa Sex Offender Arrested for Failure to Register Santa Business
The headline from this story on WFLA reads, “Sex offender Santa seeking Christmas party employment arrested”, but the headline doesn’t tell anything close to the story. The person required to register, in this case, had committed his offense in 1993 (25 years ago) and was no longer on probation. As such, there’s no prohibition in the Florida Statutes on his being employed as a Santa.
What the police set up the elaborate sting operation for (as detailed in his arrest report) was to arrest him for not registering his self employment.
Granted, freelancing as a Santa is probably not the best way for someone on the registry to earn a few dollars during the holidays, but there was nothing inherently illegal about it. The lesson learned was to make sure your “i”s are dotted and your “t”s crossed because any petty violation can land you back in prison after a quarter century!
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how much tax payer money wasted to set up illegal entrapment sting for the only purpose to keep someone from employment…any more questions about the criminal enterprise called the justice system ?..police equal paid thugs to stupid to get a job in private sector and to insecure to be military.
Why would a person with a past like that want to be a Santa anyway. that ain’t smart.. Putting yourself In Harm’s Way!!! Why would you do that, I question his motives.
It’s understandable that such an individual would attract the attention and suspicion of authorities— hands on offense against very young victim, even if long ago, now working as a Santa?
He should have registered his work. And how could he not know to register his e-mail addresses??
Too bad legislators are not held to the same standards as RSO’s. If an RSO is earning any kind of a decent wage the legislators become jealous. Obviously being self supportive is some sort of a disguise for devious plans.
This is exactly what I’m saying. They force you to provide information by testifing against yourself through coercion then hand over your info to a detective to stalk you looking for the littlest conflict. Technically you have the right to plead the 5th but here they force you to incriminate yourself. Lake City I see had 300 such Techs prosecuted in 2017. Isn’t this entrapment? It surly is violation of due process. Either you give up info for us to hunt you down and out you in jail or goto jail if you don’t. Being civil you should just be able to plead the 5th and they figure it out them selves right what and I missing?
Dear HC, I don’t think you’re missing anything. Although I’m not a lawyer, there are only three parts to a legitimate fifth amendment claim: compulsion, testimonial act or communication, and incrimination. See U.S. v. John Doe, 670 F.3d 1335 (11th Cir. 2012). We are all under judicial orders (i.e., compulsion) to testify and provide registry information that can be used as incriminating evidence against us in a criminal case for failing to register. The Doe case above goes into great detail of defining what incriminating testimony is, based on many U.S. Supreme Court’s binding precedents. It is also binding precedent as a published opinion by the 11th circuit Court of federal appeals. For all who don’t know, this means all state and federal courts in Florida, Georgia and Alabama must follow the mandates in the Doe case.
Does Florida seriously expect registrants to register oneself as a self-employed odd job laborer? Isn’t that synonymous with unemployed? Wouldn’t registrants who hold up “Will work for food” signs at street corners have to do that, too?
And out of curiosity, how many sex offenses have their been where the assailant was dressed up like Santa Claus?
Have to hand it to Florida law enforcement. They find new ways to be more ridiculous every year.