Community Watch

Registered sex offender accused of lewd punching at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park

Orlando Sentinel - August 12, 2011

Moses Velasquez, 39, is accused of touching the girls in the wave pool at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon.

A sex offender was jailed Friday after three girls say he touched them inappropriately by punching their genitals at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park Thursday.

Moses Velasquez, 39, was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, according to the Orange County Jail.

Witnesses and alleged victims told an Orange County Sheriff's deputy that Velasquez was in the wave pool with the children when the alleged incidents occurred. Once a Disney employee was made aware of the incident, Velasquez was quickly removed from the pool.

"We are focused on deterring this type of behavior in coordination with law enforcement," said Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said in a statement. "Among the tools we use is a training program to raise awareness among our Cast to help them recognize and report suspicious behavior.

"

The children said Velasquez punched them in their genitals and pulled down their swimsuits while the waves were in motion, according to an arrest report.

One of the victims said another person in the pool told her Velasquez ducked under the water and kissed her buttocks.

One of the girls told the deputy she was punched so hard it caused a burning sensation.

The three girls, who are vacationing with their families, are related, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Velasquez was escorted to the park office, where he was interviewed by a deputy. Velasquez's wife, who was also at the park, went with him.

 Deputies issued Velasquez a trespass warning for all of Disney properties and took him to jail.

Velasquez is a registered sex offender who was found guilty of molesting a girl between the ages of 12 and 15 in 2002, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Community Watch comments:

Registered sex offenders in Disney Water Parks?  In 2011, that is just not acceptable based on available technology.

Consider the following: http://www.raptorware.com/

Raptor's V-soft provides an effective and affordable way to help facilities keep unwanted visitors out while tracking those they allow in. Simply scan a visitor’s Driver License (or other state issued ID) and web-based V-soft instantly screens for registered sex offenders, domestic dispute offenders and other trespassers. If a potential threat is identified, V-soft’s system instantly alerts designated officials, such as administrators and law enforcement, via email, telephone, text messaging and/or page. 

Note: Community Watch is not affiliated with Raptor and we do NOT receive affiliate or sales commissions from Raptor.

 

Michigan not alone in seeking changes to Adam Walsh Act and related sex offender registry laws

By Ed Brayton 5/10/10 12:31 PM
The Michigan Messenger

The state of Michigan is not the only state struggling to comply with the changes required by the federal Adam Walsh Act to the state’s sex offender registry. The Bangor Daily News reports that Maine is having a difficult time with those requirements as well and may ask for a delay in implementation of those changes.

Legislators from that state call many of the changes required “unworkable” and “draconian” and say they have not yet found a way to comply with the law in a way that makes sense. One of the major problems there, as here, is how to treat juvenile offenders and those in so-called Romeo and Juliet relationships.

Community Watch comments:

Agreed, the Adam Walsh Act must provide states with workable solutions for all all situations - but, these "situations" are VERY rare and these cases could be exempted from the new requirements of the Adam Walsh Act until an agreement is reached that works for all states.

Police believe Chelsea King raped and murdered by sex offender

Cops Believe Chelsea King Was Raped and Murdered

King Family Being Helped by Family of Amber DuBois Who Disappeared Last Year

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN and SARAH NETTER

March 1, 2010

Police believe a convicted sex offender arrested in the disappearance of San Diego high school student Chelsea King raped and murdered the girl, prosecutors said today.  Arrested on suspicion of first degree murder and forcible rape, John Albert Gardner III, 30, was taken into custody Sunday after police found physical evidence linking him to King, a 17-year-old high school senior who vanished Feb. 25 while jogging in a park north of San Diego.  Police have yet to find King or her body and San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said Gardner was not cooperating with the investigation.

No bail has been set for Gardner, but he is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday when he could formally be charged with murder even if King's body has not been discovered.

"There are murder cases that get tried without a body. There is one going on now," said Paul Levikow, spokesman for the San Diego County District Attorney.

"We don't know what the charges are going to be. Police arrest on suspicion, but charges are based on probable cause. [Gardner] has been arrested on suspicion of rape and murder, but only the D.A. can actually file charges," he said.

Police said arresting Gardner was the first step in finding the missing girl.

"So far we do not know where Chelsea is," Gore told "Good Morning America" today. "It is a step in the right direction. We're confident we have the right man in custody. Now we've just got to find Chelsea."

Police believe Gardner, who was arrested in 2000 for committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, may also be connected to the disappearance of Amber DuBois, a 14-year-old who disappeared near San Diego on her way to school in February 2009.

DuBois' father said he and his family have not been contacted by police, but he has been in regular contact with King's parents and have helped organize the search for King.

"It's very emotional," said Maurice DuBois who has been briefing search teams and offering support to the King family. "It brings us right back to the first week Amber went missing, all the chaos and fear."

At the time of Amber's disappearance, DuBois said police never mentioned Gardner by name, but he was told "that law enforcement had checked all the sex offenders living in the proximity."

He said he hadn't met with law enforcement yet to discuss if Gardner had been questioned last year or if he might be connected to both cases.

Police said Gardner may also be connected to an attack on a young woman along the park's same jogging path where King went missing. That jogger was able to fend off her assailant by hitting him in the face with her elbow and escaping.

Chelsea King Missing Since Thursday; Registered Sex Offender Arrested

The search for King, a straight A student and avid runner, has drawn hundreds of volunteers. Authorities have used every resource available to find her, including a hi-tech drone aircraft flown by remote control and helicopters with infrared equipment as well as searches on horseback and with tracking dogs.

Teams have waded across the park's lake, while an underwater robot was used to take pictures on its bottom.

"You can't say enough," Brent King said. "It is so heartwarming to see the effort that's been being given. It's what sustains me every single moment. It's a testament to who my daughter is."

Gardner, of Lake Elsinore, was arrested outside a restaurant in Escondido. He was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years, according to the California sex offenders registry Web site.

Chelsea is 5-feet-5 inches tall and 115 pounds, with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes.

She is a member of the San Diego Youth Symphony and a straight-A student at Poway High School, where she is due to graduate this spring.

The sheriff's department asked that anyone with information about King's whereabouts call 858-565-5200.

Obama Talks with John Walsh about sex offenders on "America's Most Wanted"

President Obama sat down yesterday with "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh at the White House to congratulate the show on hitting a 1,000 episode milestone and to reassure viewers that he would continue "providing the states the support that they need" to keep law enforcement officials on the ground. 

"Last year when we came in, obviously you had a huge economic crisis, one of the things we were most worried about was how would this affect law enforcement because you started seeing state and local budgets hemorrhaging," Mr. Obama told Walsh. 

"There were the prospects of tens of thousands of cops on the streets being laid off, and so what we did was working with state and local governments, got four billion dollars additional funding so that we kept those law enforcement officials doing great work that they do each and every day," he continued. 

The president also threw his full support behind The Adam Walsh Act, a law signed by President George W. Bush that categorizes sex offenders and ensures they can be tracked and monitored. The act is named after the son of John Walsh, who was kidnapped and murdered in Florida almost 30 years ago. 

John Walsh later became an advocate for victims and violent crimes, and soon after became the host of "America's Most Wanted," a show committed to assisting law enforcement in apprehending fugitives. 

"It's about saying we need justice, we need these people caught, we need them off the streets, and we need the highest level of politicians to focus in on our needs," Walsh told the president, grateful for his commitment. 

"Well John," the president responded, "we couldn't be prouder of what you've done and I know Adam's looking down on us and saying, you know, my dad's really done something incredible, so congratulations to you." 

The interview will be part of the 1,000th episode of America's Most Wanted, which airs this Saturday. 

Community Watch comments:

1,000 episodes have made a significant impact on our communities - congratulations John Walsh and America's Most Wanted.  

Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Registry - click image below to search

 

Indiana Supreme Court ruling that child sex offender should be removed from sex offender registry endangers public

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-sexoffenderregist,0,2138848.story

A court's ruling that a convicted child molester did not have to register with the state as a sex offender because heas convicted before the requirement became law has thrown many counties into turmoil as offenders ask to be removed from the rolls. 

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that Richard P. Wallace no longer had to register as a sex offender because his crime occurred in 1989, and the registry wasn't created until 1994. 

The Department of Correction, which maintains the state's official registry, says the ruling applied only to Wallace's case. But several counties say it applies to everyone and have begun purging their local registries of offenders who don't fall within the reporting guidelines. 

Cpl. Jeff Shimkus of the Allen County Sheriff's Department says the situation undermines the state's goal of uniform, standardized reporting on sex offenders. 

The Allen County registry, for example, is supposed to be an offshoot of the state registry. Now, though, the registries do not match. 

"It's going to cause problems with the state site because its accuracy can't be guaranteed," Shimkus said. 

Shimkus, who is charged with enforcing the registry laws in Allen county, said officials from the sheriff's department and prosecutor's office met after the Wallace ruling to determine how it would impact the local registry. 

They decided to remove the names of offenders who committed crimes before the registry was created and to purge the names of people who had committed lesser crimes that previously did not require registration. 

For instance, between 1994 and 1997, people convicted of rape were required to register only if the victim was younger than 18. Someone who raped an adult in 1995 would not have been required to register. But laws were later amended to require all convicted rapists to register as sex offenders. 

Now, people convicted of rape before the law was amended no longer appear on the Allen County sex offender registry. 

"We don't have to like it, but that's what the law says," Shimkus said. 

The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department has reviewed sex offender files but has not found any affected by the Wallace ruling, department spokesman Sgt. Chad Hill said. 

DeKalb County says it will not remove names unless given a court order. 

Brent Myers, director of registration and victims services for the Indiana Department of Correction, said that's the right approach. 

He said corrections officials, prosecutors and the Indiana Attorney General's office met after the Wallace decision and agreed that offenders who wanted off the registry because of the ruling should take their case up with a local court. 

He said DOC has received fewer than 70 orders to remove offenders from the registry. 

Shane Call, who claims he was wrongly convicted by a jury of child molesting in 1991, asked Allen Superior Court to remove him from the registry. 

He said appearing on the registry has affected his ability to work and support his wife and 13-year-old son. 

"Before I was on the list, I hated the fact I was accused of that crime, but as soon as I got on the list, things got hard," he said. 

Call hopes things get better soon. The court has agreed to remove him from the list. 

Community Watch comments:

These are not accused sex offenders being removed from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry; these are convicted sex offenders being removed from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry, all due to a legal loophole.  

So, if you are a known and convicted terrorist, should the CIA and TSA take you off their terrorist watch list because you were not a known and convicted terrorist prior to 911.  Does that make sense?  Would that make us safer?  Put yourself in the shoes of the terrorist.  Is it fair or legal to be placed on a list of terrorists if the list did not exist prior to you committing terrorist acts?  If you say our terrorist example is ridiculous, you got the point.

Search for Sex Offenders on Texas Campuses

CommunityWatch.org on January 4, 2010

The Texas Department of Public Safety provides a sex offender search for colleges, universities and community colleges in Texas.  Sex offenders will be listed if they are attending the college OR if they work at the college.

https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/SorNew/PublicSite/Search/index.aspx?PageIndex=Search&SearchType=Education

Education Campus Notification: Subscribe to one or more campuses of higher education and notification will be e-mailed when an offender is reported to be attending or employed by that campus or when an offender no longer is attending or employed by that campus.

Sex Offender Registry Notifications

The Texas Department of Public Safety has created a notification system that allows the public to subscribe to e-mail notifications regarding database changes relating to registered sex offenders. You will receive daily notifications whenever modifications are made to your related subscription(s) and a summary report once a month.

Click here to setup an account (free) and start monitoring the campus where your child or family member attends: https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Notifications/index.aspx

Community Watch comments:

These features are National Best Practices for all State Sex Offender Registries.  Great job Texas!

The WHO's Pete Townshend may have to register as a sex offender in Florida

ButlerReport.com on December 28, 2009

Was Pete Townshend a registered sex offender in the UK from 2003 to 2008? Answer: Yes.

Well that’s that then. Sorry Pete. This precludes you from not only playing at the Super Bowl, it also stops you from entering the United States to begin with.  

Since the NFL decided to hire Pete Townshend for the upcoming Super Bowl event all hell has broken loose. Child AbuseWatch, the international child prevention group, have been trying for some time to bring attention to Townshend’s sex offender status. Most notably was the Kennedy Center Awards event last year when they wrote to the organizers protesting the honoring of someone with sex offender history.

Most recently they have asked the NFL to drop Townshend from the Super Bowl. In a way they are doing the NFL a favor. How? When the family values groups get hold of this they’re going to rip the NFL and their sponsors apart. It could indeed prove to be an incredibly expensive mistake on the NFL’s part to not read more than Townshend publicists take on Pete’s past when they were planning the half time show.

Another national advocacy group, Protect Our Children, headed by Kevin Gillick has taken the NFL protest a step further; two steps actually. They have made a lot of noise with the Immigration and Naturalization Department and ICE begging to ask how a registered sex offender, with criminal record, has been given free reign to enter the US.

U.S. immigration law says authorities will deny entrance to “Aliens convicted of, and those who admit having committed a crime involving moral turpitude (or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime).” Townshend admitted to having broken the law in his search for child pornography. ‘How he has been given access to the U.S. remains a mystery or perhaps it’s another demonstration of celebrity privilege,’ Mr. Gillick said.

The second aspect of Protect Our Children’s campaign has a definitely more local sting in its tail. A letter has been sent to Florida Attorney General McCullom, demanding that Townshend comply with Florida law, specifically Florida Statute 775.21, which applies to anyone with a sex offender background.

They have asked that Townshend be taken into custody upon his reentry into Florida so that the provisions of FS775.21 may be applied – Sexual Offenders and Predators (see link below). This would include the requirement to register with local police and provide fingerprint, mug-shot and D.N.A. samples as required by law.

Media coverage has been intense since the Palm Beach Post journalist Jose Lambiet broke the story on December 22, 2009. Both Daly and Gillick have been giving interviews from Toronto to London.

Community Watch comments:

If the allegations are true, no one should should receive special treatment when it relates to sexual offenses against children - not celebrities, priests, politicians, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts - no one.

Facebook forms safety advisory board to rid sites of registered sex offenders

cnet news December 6, 2009 8:40 PM PST by Steven Musil

Facebook has formed a safety advisory board comprised of five Internet safety organizations that will consult with the social-networking site, the company said Sunday.

Facebook said it plans to meet regularly with the advisory board to review the existing safety resources it provides its users, develop new materials, and seek advice on best practices for safety in general.

"We believe that the only way to keep kids safe online is for everyone who wants to protect them to work together," Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of global communications and public policy, said in a statement. "The formation of a board to advise specifically on safety issues is a positive, innovative and collaborative step towards creating a more robust safety environment, and we are thrilled that such a well-respected, trusted group of organizations has joined us in this endeavor."

Facebook said the board is part of an effort that includes cooperating with state attorneys general to rid the social-networking site of registered sex offenders. The board's formation comes on the heels of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announcing last week that more than 3,500 sex offenders from his state had been purged from Facebook and MySpace.

The five organizations on the advisory board are Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International, and The Family Online Safety Institute.

Community Watch comments:

Great to see Facebook taking a leadership role in eliminating the obvious threats on their site - We are hoping to see Mark and Facebook use their innovation and intelligence to create an API that could be used by all internet sites to help keep our kids safe online.

CrimeReports.com Creates First Nationwide Source of Crime and Sex Offender Data

CrimeReports.com Press Release

December 9, 2009

Today CrimeReports announces the inclusion of official, nationwide sex offender data on the national crime map at www.CrimeReports.com. Already partnering with nearly 700 law enforcement agencies across North America, CrimeReports is the largest and most-trusted crime-mapping site on the web. The combined crime and sex offender map will be updated weekly and is free to the public.  

Up to this point, CrimeReports has worked with individual state sex offender databases or individual law enforcement agencies, but did not have full US coverage. Now, with the introduction of national sex offender data, anyone in the US can search the CrimeReports map and see sex offender information for their area, even if their local law enforcement agency is not yet a CrimeReports partner.

Lately the news has been rife with stories of registered sex offenders kidnapping and committing horrific acts of violence while under state supervision. “The incidents that have recently been brought to light are deeply disturbing,” says Ryan Lufkin, Director of Marketing at CrimeReports. “As a result, citizens want to know what is going on in their neighborhoods.” As families prepare for holiday travel, it becomes even more important for everyone to not only be able to check crime levels at their destinations, but also to check sex offender information easily online. “When citizens have comprehensive, official, timely information, they have peace of mind,” says Lufkin. “And that’s what we provide as the holiday travel season gets under way.”

This announcement comes after a record quarter for CrimeReports. In the 3^rd quarter 2009, CrimeReports grew its customer base by nearly 15% and secured $7.2 million in additional joint venture funding. In addition, October and November were record-breaking months for CrimeReports, forging new partnerships with over 120 law enforcement agencies across North America.

About CrimeReports

Working with nearly 700 law enforcement agencies across North America, CrimeReports is the largest and most accurate online resource for up-to-date crime and sex offender information. The CrimeReports network offers a family of affordable, easy-to-use software tools for law enforcement agencies to understand crime trends and share up-to-date neighborhood crime data with the public. Community members can access the integrated crime map and receive email crime alerts for free at www.CrimeReports.com, empowering them to make informed decisions to help improve the safety of their neighborhood and community. CrimeReports services are offered by Public Engines, Inc. For more information, visit www.CrimeReports.com.

Community Watch comments:

Great site, check it out - the site enables you to setup a daily, weekly, or monthly crime alert email  - very useful - and it's free!