Weekly Update 2017-11-18
Dear Members and Advocates,
This weekly update comes a bit late in the week because we were anxiously waiting (and hoping) to have news to report from our Internet Identifier case, but unfortunately, we are still waiting for the Court to issue an order. From our perspective, it’s good that the Judge is putting a lot of research and thought into his decision, as we believe the law is on our side. Rest assured that as soon as we know, you’ll know.
In the meantime, another story out of Florida is making international headlines; an almost fifty-million-dollar judgment was awarded to a former Miami-Dade County High-school student who was raped by her teacher. That is in addition to an undisclosed amount already paid by the County school board as a settlement in a separate case over the incidents. Last week, the Miami Herald published an article entitled, “Code of silence is breaking on Tallahassee’s sex secrets” which exposed patterns of sexual harassment and abuse alleged to have been committed by Florida legislators and a couple weeks before, they published a series exposing the horrors at Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, including instances of Juveniles being sexually assaulted by those charged with supervising them.
Sexual assault is tragic and unfortunately prevalent in our State and across the country. It’s an issue that absolutely does need to be addressed, but the problem is; our legislators are tackling the issue in a completely wrong way. They focus on punishment, rather than prevention.
On Apr 27, 2017, FAC sent a public information request to the FDLE and the Florida Department of Education (and subsequently every County School Board in the State) to determine (a) the number of sex offenders accused/arrested/convicted of committing a sexual crime on school property in 2016, and (b) the number of teachers or school employees accused/arrested/convicted of committing a sexual crime on school property in 2016. The number of sex offenders was ZERO, while the count of teachers is already in the double digits (without all Counties reporting back yet)! All the money and resources that go into monitoring whether registered sex offenders are living within 2500 feet of a school should be invested into monitoring what’s taking place inside the schools and prevention education.
Daily, we are learning of another actor or politician being accused of a sex crime. While the underlying crimes are a tragedy and we hate to hear of them, the exposure these stories are getting present an opportunity for FAC members to open dialogue and present the facts. Undoubtedly people in your circles will be talking about these teacher/student incidences, about Roy Moore or Harvey Weinstein. You should be talking back or posting comments to these online news stories.
The fact is, 97% of sex crimes are committed by someone not on the registry (Source: U.S Department of Justice Study, Bureau of Justice Statistics). In almost all cases it’s someone known to the registrant and in most of those cases it’s a family member or family friend. Help our cause by taking a few moments to post comments to these news stories and educating your family and friends!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
Housing restrictions being debated in Boulder, Colorado
The city of Boulder, Colorado is debating a residency restriction for “sexually violent predators”, but even when it comes to the most dangerous classification of sex offenders, it seems cooler heads prevail in Colorado and the City is taking research and facts into…
Must Watch: Understanding sex offenders: the untold story
This is a MUST WATCH video. Very insightful information by Dr. Lisa Sample, a dynamic criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and one of the foremost researchers of sex offenders in the nation….
Contact Homeland Defense and ICE about Angel Watch process
With implementation of IML looming, many registrants and their family members are understandably concerned about the passport identifier and Angle Watch. You deserve answers but I have not been able to get much direct information from the State Department or…
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